Video Streaming Through Ustream 2013-2014

VIDEO STREAMING THROUGH USTREAM
2013-2014
ABSTRACT
Streaming technologies are rapidly gaining popularity as a way to deliver dynamic

media over the Internet. As bandwidth increase and compression technologies
mature, it becomes increasingly easier to deliver real-time, dynamic media, such as
video, audio, animation, Java applications and 3-D and vector graphic using
streaming technologies. USTREAM is one such technology which allows user to
access live events as and when they are happening. USTREAM technology is
fashioned on a client-server model. It has gained popularity because most internet
users do not have fast enough connections for downloading large multimedia files.
In the streaming scenario, the client browser or plug-in starts playing dynamic data
as soon as a sufficient amount of data has arrived from the streaming server. This
directly contrasts with a static model of data delivery, where all the data is delivered
to the client machine prior to actual playback . If used properly, streaming
applications can add impressive capability to any site.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE NO.
1. INTRODUCTION
03-04
2. USTREAM
05-06
3. VIDEO STREAMING
07-09
4. VIDEO STREAMING ARCHITECTURE
10-12
5. STREAMING REQUIREMENTS
14-15
6. USTREAM PROTOCOLS
16-18
7. CONSTRAINTS OF VIDEO STREAMING
19-22
8. APPLICATIONS OF USTREAM
23-24
9. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
25-27
10. CONCLUSION
28
11. REFERENCES
29
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Video has been an important media for communications and entertainment for many
decades. Movie is a form of entertainment that enacts a story by screening a series
of images giving the delusion of continuous movement. The trick was already known
in second-century China, but remained inquisitiveness up to the end of the 19th
century. The invention of motion picture camera around 1888 allowed the individual
component images to be captured and stored on a single reel. For the first time, this
has made possible the process of recording scenes in an automatic manner. Further
to that, a hasty transformation occurred with the development of a motion picture
projector to enlarge these moving picture shows onto a screen for an entire audience.
Television broadcasting after its invention in 1928 has attracted billions of people
from different part of the world to watch both live events and recorded videos
simultaneously through their television sets. People moved from newspaper and
radio to the more immersive experience of television as their primary source of
entertainment and as a way to receive important information and news about the
world. For most of the twentieth century, the only ways to watch television were
through over-the-air broadcasts and cable signals.
A third boost in the popularity of moving pictures came at the end of the 20th century
with the invention of the Internet and of the World Wide Web. Web browsing and
file transfer are the dominant services provided through the Internet. However, these
kinds of service providing information about text, pictures and document exchange
are no longer satisfied the demand of clients. Following the success of conventional
radio and television broadcasting, research has been carried out into ways of
delivering live media over the Internet to a personal computer. As a result, people
have experimented with transmitting various multimedia data such as sound and
video over the Internet. All multimedia content were distributed no differently than
any other ordinary files such as text files and executable files. They were all
transmitted as files using file downloading protocols such as ftp and http. The full
file transfer, in the download mode, can often suffer unacceptably long transfer
times, which depend on the size of the media file and the bandwidth of the transport
channel. For example, if downloaded from http://www.mp3.com, an MP3 audio file
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encoded at 128 Kbit/s and of 5 minutes duration will occupy 4.8 MB of the users
hard disk. Using a 28.8k dial-up modem, it would take roughly 40 minutes to
download the whole file.
As a result, an audio file might take more real-time to download than the length of
the audio being played. Video, which carries much more information than audio,
entailed even longer download times. Furthermore, there was no way for the users
to peek into the content to see if it is the video they would like to watch. This was
often inconvenient for the users due to a long waiting time and a large amount of
wasted resources when the content of the video turned out to be something they were
not interested in. Thus, a new technology was needed to meet the user demands of
high speed data transmission. This gave rise to live streaming technologies.
Streaming video is one way to deliver video over the Internet. Though far from a
perfect solution, streaming video technology is becoming more powerful all the
time. With streaming video, designers can broadcast lectures, make announcements,
deliver seminars, or show exactly how something is supposed to work. And users
can see it now, quenching some of their thirst for fast, high-quality video. Streaming
video provides flexibility as well.
USTREAM is one such live streaming technology where users can watch while
event is happening OR after event has ended if owner of channel keeps previously
recorded videos uploaded. USTREAM technology is fashioned on a client-server
model. Users can view what they want, when they want. Streaming video offers
many opportunities to the web designer, and to make the best use of this technology,
designers need to understand what it is, how it works, and the advantages and
disadvantages of using streaming video.
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CHAPTER 2
USTREAM
Ustream is a website that allows members to broadcast live streaming video on the
Internet. USTREAM is a live streaming website where users can watch while event
is happening OR after event has ended if owner of channel keeps previously recorded
videos uploaded. USTREAM technology is fashioned on a client-server model.
Users can view what they want, when they want.
Ustream was established in March 2007. Ustream was initially conceived as a way
to connect soldiers overseas with their families back home. Ustream started with
U.S. Army Officers John Ham and Brad Hunstable who wanted to provide a new
way for deployed soldiers to communicate with their families. Before Ustream,
soldiers could only use a telephone or instant messenger to talk with their loved ones,
limiting their contact to only one person at a time. Officers Ham and Hunstable
partnered with Dr. Gyula Feher, and in the summer of 2006, they released Ustream,
a "live, interactive video broadcast platform" that allowed soldiers to communicate
with friends and family simultaneously across the globe. Founders felt that a product
like Ustream would provide soldiers with a way to talk to all of their relatives
simultaneously during their limited free time in the war zone.
Ustream is composed of different feeds that enable lifecasting and streaming of
videos of events online. Members can broadcast directly from the Ustream website
or from a mobile device using Ustream's mobile broadcasting application (available
for Android and iPhone). Ustream members can also record and save videos for
future broadcast distribution. Ustream's video platform is known for its ability to
provide viewers with different ways to interact with the presenter during a live
broadcast, providing broadcasters with chat and instant polling features, as well as
allowing integration with Twitter and Facebook news feeds.
The idea is pretty simple: Provide a common area for a person to broadcast him or
herself and allow the broadcaster and viewers to communicate instantaneously.
According to the Ustream Web site, it allows "anyone with a camera and an Internet
connection to quickly and easily broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size."
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Since 2006, Ustream has grown exponentially and moved from a service that helps
soldiers stay in touch with their families to an outlet for hundreds of thousands of
people to discuss and showcase everything from current world events to the joy of
new-born puppies. In fact, the site hosts more than 10 million viewers a month and
between 10,000 to 15,000 individual broadcasts every day. It requires no downloads
and can be embedded just about anywhere.
Ustream attracts more than 50 million unique monthly users, making it the world's
largest live streaming platform. The top industries taking advantage of Ustream's
live streaming are politics, entertainment and technology fields. Ustream's searching
feature allows visitors to filter through video categories such as sports,
entertainment, news, animals, music, technology, games and education. Members
can elect to be notified by email about future live videos on topics of interest.
Ustream is a place where anybody can broadcast their opinions, interests, video
game skills or even their puppies, kittens or termites. Many groups and organizations
use Ustream to expand or enhance their services. Numerous radio stations, including
Fox News Radio and Air America, use Ustream to stream their broadcasts live,
providing a free visual alternative to the radio. CBS has a live breaking news feed
on Ustream, and local news stations from across the globe stream their broadcasts to
the Internet with the service.
Ustream has also become a popular destination and outlet for famous people. From
politicians to actors and musicians, Ustream provides a new way for celebrities and
their fans to interact, and their presence has brought millions of additional visitors
to the site.
The main purpose of Ustream is for the user to have an opportunity to broadcast
whatever they want to people they want to communicate with in a face to face
fashion. The user logs on using an established username and password and the makes
sure that they have a camera connection that is properly working to allow for the
video to work. The user then broadcasts their show and can be seen by their friends
who also have a Ustream account. The site is considered a social networking and
collaboration website.
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CHAPTER 3
VIDEO STREAMING
What exactly is streaming video? Streaming is the act of sending media files (video)
over the Internet from one computer to another computer so that the media plays as
it is being delivered. Streaming video allows the user to view video over the Internet
as it downloads, instead of waiting until the entire file is downloaded to the
computer. According to the CNET glossary, data is streaming when its moving
quickly from one chunk of hardware to another and doesnt have to be all in one
place for the destination device to do something with it. Streaming video can also
be defined as a series of moving images sent in a compressed form over the
Internet and displayed as they arrive. Streaming video is available to the viewer
almost immediately after clicking on the link. After a few seconds of buffering, the
clip begins to play.
Streaming enables near instantaneous playback of multimedia content in spite of
their sizes. Streaming media utilizes a very old concept called buffering to make
feasible the playback of multimedia content as it is being downloaded. A buffer
clasps a pool of content sufficiently large to stabilize the bumps in playback that may
be caused by transitory server slowdown or network overcrowding. The basic idea
of video streaming is to split the video into parts, transmit these parts in succession,
and enable the receiver to decode and playback the video as these parts are received,
without having to wait for the entire video to be delivered.
Streaming diminishes the storage space and permits users to stop receiving the
stream, if not interesting or satisfactory, before the entire file is downloaded.
Streaming allows live and pre-recoded content to be distributed. Live streaming
captures audio/video signals from input devices (e.g. microphone, video camera),
encodes the signals using compression algorithms (e.g. MP3, MPEG-4), and
distributes them in real-time. Typical application of live streaming includes
surveillance, broadcasting of special events, and distribution of information that
have the prime importance in real-time delivery. In live streaming, the server side
has the control over the selection of the distribution content and the timing of their
streaming. The user involvement is typically limited to joining and leaving the
running streaming sessions. Pre-recorded or stored streaming distributes preencoded video files stored at a media server. Sample applications include multimedia
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archival retrievals, news clip viewing, and distance learning through which students
attend classes on-line by viewing pre-recorded lectures.
Streaming video works by downloading the initial portion of the file, which is called
the buffer, into the users player. The player then begins to play back the file while
the remainder continues to be downloaded. The buffer allows for continuous
playback by compensating for any delays in the transmission of the rest of the file.
Streaming media may be either video or audio, or most commonly a combination of
both. There are two categories of streaming, pseudo and genuine streaming. Pseudo
streaming allows for immediate playback as the file is downloaded whilst it is
playing. Pseudo streaming uses pre-compressed data. Genuine streaming requires a
specialised server and compresses the data on-the-fly, delivering content in an
efficient format. Streaming was first introduced by Real Networks some years ago.
It consists of a technique for making video, audio and other multimedia available
quickly via the Internet. The advantage of streaming is that it can enable easier access
to multimedia resources. Another possibility is the integration of video and audio
with other web-based applications, such as chat and other real-time collaboration
tools.
Difference between Downloading and Streaming

When you download a video, you have to copy the entire file to your hard disk
before you can play it.
When the video is streamed, there is a small wait as the stream 'buffers' but there is
no need to save the file.
Streaming categories
Live
When an event is delivered via the Internet at the same time it is happening.
Example: live concerts, live radio, videoconferences.
On Demand
When the event is recorded on a digital support and saved in a server and after made
accessible by Internet users.
Example: video clips, movies trailers.
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Difference between Streaming and Broadcasting

Delivery of broadcast TV:
Broadcast blankets the area with its signal (persistent)
TVs are standardized by region. Every TV knows how to receive TV
Broadcast
Any TV can reach up and grab broadcast signal and pulls it down to set;
broadcast doesnt reach every air is (line of sight)
TVs outside the broadcast line of sight cant grab signal
Delivery of streaming video:
server only sends signal out to computers which want it
(Signal is not persistent)
computer media players are not compatible with one other
Computer must request video stream. Media player must be
compatible
No physical barriers: stream can reach anywhere on the
Internet
Computers must meet minimum bandwidth requirements
The Principle of Streaming (A snapshot in time)
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CHAPTER 4
VIDEO STREAMING ARCHITRECTURE
Video compression: The large volume of raw multimedia data imposes a stringent
bandwidth requirement on the network. Hence, for achieving better transmission
efficiency, compression is widely employed. While video needs superior bandwidth
requirements (56 Kbps-15 Mbps) than audio (8 Kbps-128 Kbps) and loss of audio is
more infuriating to human than video, audio is given higher priority for transmission
in a multimedia streaming system. For this reason, only video will be used for
alteration so as to meet the QoS requirements. In Figure, raw video and audio data
are pre-compressed by video compression and audio compression algorithms and
then saved in storage devices. Video compression is accomplished by utilizing the
resemblances or redundancies that subsists in a normal video signal. Video
compression reduces the irrelevancy in the video signal by only coding video
features that are perceptually important. Video compression follows a standard for
multimedia contents that encodes the content with a specific play rate.
There are two major groups which define the video encoders: ITU (International
Telecommunications Union) and ISO (International Standards Organization). ITUT group (Telecommunication Standardization Sector of the International
Telecommunications Union) defines the H.26x video formats whereas the ISO group
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defines the formats which have materialized from committees of the Moving
Pictures Experts Group: MPEG-x. The MPEG-4 standard is commonly designed for
streaming media and CD distribution, video conversion and broadcast television.
MPEG-4 includes numerous features of MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and other associated
standards. H.264 is also known as MPEG-4 part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video
Coding). Big Internet players like Google/ You Tube or Apple Tunes are founded
on this standard.
Since raw video consumes a large amount of bandwidth, compression is usually
employed to achieve transmission efficiency. In this section, we discuss various
compression approaches and requirements imposed by streaming applications on the
video encoder and decoder. Basically, video compression schemes can be classified
into two approaches: scalable and non-scalable video coding. A non-scalable video
encoder generates one compressed bit-stream. In contrast, a scalable video encoder
compresses a raw video sequence into multiple sub-streams.
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Application-layer QoS control: Upon the clients request, a streaming server

retrieves compressed video/audio data from storage devices and then the applicationlayer QoS control module adapts the video/audio bit-streams according to the
network status and QoS requirements. The application-layer QoS control involves
congestion control and error control which are implemented at the application layer.
The former is used to determine the transmission rate of media streams based on the
estimated network bandwidth while the latter aims at matching the rate of a precompressed media bit streams to the target rate constraint by using filtering the
server looks in the appropriate folder for a hinted media of the requested name. If
the requested media is in the folder, the server streams it to the viewer using RTP
(Real-time Transport Protocol) streams.
The function of error control is to improve video presentation quality in the presence
of packet loss. Error control mechanisms include Forward Error Correction (FEC),
retransmission, error-resilient encoding and error concealment. With FEC scheme,
the received packets at the receiver end are FEC decoded and unpacked, and the
resulting bit stream is then input to the video decoder to reconstruct the original
video. Error-resilient encoding is executed by the source to enhance robustness of
compressed video before packet loss actually happens. Even when an image sample
or a block of samples are missing due to transmission errors, the decoder can try to
estimate them based on surrounding received samples, by making use of inherent
correlation among spatially and temporally adjacent samples, such techniques arc
known as error concealment techniques.
Congestion control is employed to prevent packet loss and reduce delay. Error
control, on the other hand, is to improve video presentation quality in the presence
of packet loss. Error control mechanisms include forward error correction (FEC),
retransmission, error-resilient encoding, and error concealment.
Media distribution services: After the adaptation by application-layer QoS control
module, the transport protocols packetize the compressed bit-streams and send the
video/audio packets to the Internet. Packets may be dropped or experience excessive
delay inside the Internet due to congestion. In addition to the application-layer
support, adequate network support is necessary to reduce transport delays and packet
losses. The network support involves network filtering, application-level multicast
and content replication (caching). Network filtering maximizes video quality during
network congestion. The filter at the video server can adapt the rate of video streams
according to the network congestion status. The application-level multicast provides
a multicast service on top of the Internet. These protocols do not modify the network
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infrastructure; instead they employ multicast forwarding functionality solely at endhosts. Content replication improves scalability of the media delivery system.
Streaming servers: Streaming servers play an important role in providing streaming
services. To offer superiority streaming services, streaming servers are required to
process multimedia data in real time, support VCR like functions and retrieve media
components in a synchronous fashion. A streaming server generally waits for a Real
Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) request from the viewers. When it gets a request,
the server looks in the appropriate folder for a hinted media of the requested name.
If the requested media is in the folder, the server streams it to the viewer using RTP
(Real-time Transport Protocol) streams.
Media synchronization at the receiver side: With media synchronization
mechanisms, the application at the receiver side can present various media streams
in the same way as they were originally captured. An example of media
synchronization is synchronizing the movements of a speaker's lips with the sound
of his speech.
Protocols for streaming media: Streaming protocols provide means to the client and
the server for services negotiation, data transmission and network addressing.
According to the functionalities, the protocols directly related to Internet streaming
video can be classified as network-layer protocol, transport protocol and session
control protocol. Network-layer protocol provides basic network service support
such as network addressing. The IP serves as the network-layer protocol for Internet
video streaming. Transport protocol provides end-to-end network transport
functions for streaming applications. Transport protocols include UDP, TCP, RTP,
and real-time control protocol (RTCP). RTP and RTCP are upper-layer transport
protocols implemented on top of UDP/TCP. UDP and TCP protocols support such
functions as multiplexing, error control, congestion control, or flow control. RTP is
a data transfer protocol. RTCP provides QoS feedback to the participants of an RTP
session. Session control protocol defines the messages and procedures to control the
delivery of the multimedia data during an established session.
RTSP and the session initiation protocol (SIP) are such session control protocols.
RTSP is a protocol for use in streaming media systems which allows a client to
remotely control a streaming media server, issuing VCR-like commands. It also
allows time-based access to files on a server. SIP is a session protocol which can
create and terminate sessions with one or more participants.
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CHAPTER 5
STREAMING REQUIREMENTS
The various requirements imposed by streaming applications on the video encoder
and decoder are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bandwidth
Delay
Loss
Video-cassette-recorder (VCR) like function
Decoding complexity
1. Bandwidth: To achieve acceptable perceptual quality, a streaming application

typically has minimum bandwidth requirement. However, the current Internet does
not provide bandwidth reservation to support this requirement. In addition, it is
desirable for video streaming applications to employ congestion control to avoid
congestion, which happens when the network is heavily loaded. For video streaming,
congestion control takes the form of rate control; that is, adapting the sending rate
to the available bandwidth in the network. Compared with non-scalable video,
scalable video is more adaptable to the varying available bandwidth in the network.
2. Delay: Streaming video requires bounded end-to-end delay so that packets can
arrive at the receiver in time to be decoded and displayed. If a video packet does not
arrive in time, the play out process will pause, which is annoying to human eyes. A
video packet that arrives beyond its delay bound (e.g. its play out time) is useless
and can be regarded as lost. Since the Internet introduces time-varying delay, to
provide continuous play out, a buffer at the receiver is usually introduced before
decoding.
3. Loss: Packet loss is inevitable in the Internet and can damage pictures, which is
displeasing to human eyes. Thus, it is desirable that a video stream be robust to
packet loss. Multiple description coding is such a compression technique to deal with
packet loss.
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4. Video-cassette-recorder (VCR) like function: Some streaming applications

require VCR-like functions such as stop, pause/resume, fast forward, fast backward,
and random access. Lin et al proposed a dual-bit-stream least-cost scheme to
efficiently provide VCR-like functionality for MPEG video streaming.
5. Decoding complexity: Some devices such as cellular phones and personal digital
assistants (PDAs) require low power consumption. Therefore, streaming video
applications running on these devices must be simple. In particular, low decoding
complexity is desirable. To address this issue, Lin et al. employed a least-cost
scheme to reduce decoding complexity.
The performance metrics can be given as:
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CHAPTER 6
USTREAM PROTOCOLS
The important protocols used for video streaming via Ustream are as
follows:
1. HTTP
2. UDP
3. RTP
4. RTSP
5. RSVP
6. SDP
Protocol Stacks for Media Streaming
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HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

The HTTP is the predominant way in which documents are linked on the Internet.
The client makes a connection to the server containing the file to be streamed, the
file is retrieved and the connection closed. The HTTP server communicates to the
browser the type of file to be transferred.
Benefits Using HTTP
When streaming a file using HTTP, a special streaming server is not required. As
long as your browser understands MIME types it can receive a streaming file from
a HTTP server. One of the distinct advantages of streaming files using HTTP is that
it can pass through firewalls and utilize proxy servers.
Some Disadvantages
HTTP streaming uses TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol)
to ensure reliable delivery of the files. This process checks for missing packets and
asks for them to be retransmitted. This become problematic in the streaming scenario
when you want the data to be disregarded if it is lost in delivery, so dynamic files
keep playing. HTTP cannot detect modem speed so server administrators must
purposefully produce files at different compression rates to server users with
different types of connections. Streaming files from HTTP servers is not
recommended for high-demand situations.
UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
UDP is frequently used in place of TCP as a transport protocol for real time
applications, such as digital video. UDP uses the Internet Protocol (IP) to transport
a data unit ("datagram"). UDP supports digital video because it does not divide the
data stream into packets for reassembly at the client end. However, UDP also does
not order the datagrams into the correct sequence. Applications using UDP must
insure, at the receiving end, that the complete message has arrived in the correct
sequence order.
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RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol)

RTP is a UDP protocol that provides payload type identification, sequence
numbering and time stamping. RTP allows for packets to be transported out of order
and reassembled in correct order at the receiving end. Digital video has low tolerance
for disordered packets and dropped frames. It is used on the MBONE, for interactive
audio and video, particularly conferencing sessions. RTP is used with a companion
protocol, RTCP (Real-time Control Protocol), which provides periodic control
packets to an application to monitor the quality of the data distribution.
RTSP (Real-time Streaming Protocol)
RTSP is an application-level rather than a simple protocol, since it works with many
transport protocols--TCP, UDP, RTP, and IP Multicast. RTSP was designed to
support streaming multimedia in unicast and multicast applications. It provides
increased functionality at the client end for playback, seeking, etc. and has been
described as a "video remote control" for the computer. Among other features, RTSP
allows for interoperability between server and client implementations from different
vendors. RTSP can be used with RSVP to establish and manage reserve bandwidth
streaming sessions. Progressive Networks' Real Player G2 is an example of a RTSP
client.
RSVP (Resource Reservation Protocol)
RSVP provides Quality of Service (QoS) by allowing an application invoking RSVP
to reserve end-to-end bandwidth, memory and CPU resources sufficient for the
demands of the application. RSVP requires that all network components work
together to provide guaranteed resources for the application, so all components-hosts, routers, hubs, etc.--must support RSVP. Although RSVP is a fairly mature
standard, it is not heavily implemented, due at least in part to the requirement that
all network components support the protocol.
Session Description Protocol (SDP)
SDP is intended for describing multimedia streaming sessions for the purpose of
session announcement, session invitation, and parameter negotiation.
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CHAPTER 7
CONSTRAINTS OF VIDEO STREAMING

There are a number of basic problems that afflict video streaming. In the following
discussion, we focus on the case of video streaming over the Internet since it is an
important, concrete example that helps to illustrate these problems. Video streaming
over the Internet is difficult because the Internet only offers best effort service. That
is, it provides no guarantees on bandwidth, delay jitter, or loss rate. Specifically,
these characteristics are unknown and dynamic. Therefore, a key goal of video
streaming is to design a system to reliably deliver high-quality video over the
Internet when dealing with unknown and dynamic:
Bandwidth
Delay jitter
Loss rate
BANDWIDTH:
The bandwidth available between two points in the Internet is generally unknown
and time-varying. If the sender transmits faster than the available bandwidth then
congestion occurs, packets are lost, and there is a severe drop in video quality. If the
sender transmits slower than the available bandwidth then the receiver produces suboptimal video quality. The goal to overcome the bandwidth problem is to estimate
the available bandwidth and then match the transmitted video bit rate to the available
bandwidth. Additional considerations that make the bandwidth problem very
challenging include accurately estimating the available bandwidth, matching the preencoded video to the estimated channel bandwidth, transmitting at a rate that is fair
to other concurrent flows in the Internet, and solving this problem in a multicast
situation where a single sender streams data to multiple receivers where each may
have a different available bandwidth.
DELAY JITTER:
The end-to-end delay that a packet experiences may fluctuate from packet to packet.
This variation in end-to-end delay is referred to as the delay jitter. Delay jitter is a
problem because the receiver must receive/decode/display frames at a constant rate,
and any late frames resulting from the delay jitter can produce problems in the
reconstructed video, e.g. jerks in the video. This problem is typically addressed by
including a play out buffer at the receiver. While the play out buffer can compensate
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for the delay jitter, it also introduces additional delay. If a frame arrives after its play
out time it is (generally) useless. If subsequent frames depend on the late frame, then
effects can propagate.
LOSS:
The third fundamental problem is losses. A number of different types of losses may
occur, depending on the particular network under consideration.
For example, wired packet networks such as the Internet are afflicted by packet loss,
where an entire packet is erased (lost). On the other hand, wireless channels are
typically afflicted by bit errors or burst errors. Losses can have a very destructive
effect on the reconstructed video quality. To combat the effect of losses, a video
streaming system is designed with error control. Approaches for error control can be
roughly grouped into four classes:
(1) Forward error correction (FEC), (2) Retransmissions, (3) Error concealment, and
(4) Error-resilient video coding.
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To overcome these constraints we have certain mechanisms.

1. Overcoming the Bandwidth Problem:
Rate Control
1. Estimate the available bandwidth
2. Match video rate to available bandwidth
Rate control may be performed at:
Sender
Receiver
Available bandwidth may be estimated by:
Probe-based methods
Model-based (equation-based) methods
Source-based rate control:
Source explicitly adapts the video rate.
Feedback from the receiver is used to estimate the available bandwidth.
Feedback information includes packet loss rate.
Probe-based methods:
Uses probing experiments to estimate the available bandwidth
Adapt sending rate to keep packet loss rate less than a threshold Pth
If (< Pth) then increase transmission rate
If (> Pth) then decrease transmission rate
Different strategies exist for adapting transmission rate
Simple, ad-hoc
Model-based (equation-based) methods:

Ensure fair competition with concurrent TCP flows on the network, e.g. fair sharing
of bandwidth.
Model the average throughput of a TCP flow.
Transmit video with the same throughput as if it was a TCP flow.
Similar characteristics to TCP flow on macroscopic.
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Receiver-Based Rate Control:
Receiver explicitly selects the video rate from a number of possible rates
Sender codes video with scalable or layered coder
Sends different layers over different multicast groups
Each receiver estimates its bandwidth and joins an appropriate number of
multicast groups
Receives an appropriate number of layers up to its available bandwidth
2. Overcoming Delay Jitter:
Playout Buffer
The main technique is to add a buffer at decoder to compensate for jitter.
Corresponds to adding an offset to the playout time of each packet.
If (packet delay < offset) then OK
It allows Buffer packet until its playout time
If (packet delay > offset) then problem
Playout buffer time are typically 5-15 secs. The buffer Compensates for delay jitter
and enables retransmission of lost packets.
3. Overcoming Loss:
Error Control
Error control method is used to overcome the effect of errors such as packet
loss on a packet network or bit or burst errors on a wireless link.
Types of Error control are:
Forward Error Correction (FEC)

Retransmission
Error concealment
Error-resilient video coding
They add specialized redundancy that can be used to recover from errors.
Dept. of IT, DSCE
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2013-2014
CHAPTER 8
APPLICATION OF USTREAM
Ustream provides numerous notable applications. However, the most important

application is Event Broadcasting. The major applications of Ustream are:
Video Conferences
Event broadcasting
Online TV
Trainings
Advertisements
Rising trend in USTREAM viewers

Dept. of IT, DSCE
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2013-2014
One of the most popular application of Ustream is live streaming of wedding

functions. Marriage live streaming trend is on the rise among various countries of
the world. Many prefer to live stream the Wedding reception. This is contributing to
the increase in the average live streaming time per wedding. More and more guests
are watching the wedding online. In India, on an average 32 guest watched wedding
online in 2011, which increased to 44 in 2012 and 46 in 2013.
Wedding live streaming viewer distribution

Dept. of IT, DSCE
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2013-2014
CHAPTER 9
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES:
Instant play
In the early days of the Internet, if a webmaster wanted to add videos to his
website he had to post it as a link. Web site visitors then had to download the
file completely before playing it back. This all changed with streaming video.
Content is served in a way that allows files to play almost immediately after
the file begins to download. Special streaming media servers also allow
viewers to jump forward and backward through a video file. The end-user can
decide whether she wishes to view the entire video, without having to endure
a long download before she can decide. For the host site, the quick start tends
to keep end-users on the site and interacting, increasing the chances that the
user will click on a related link or an advertisement.
Content Security- no local copy is saved
Allowing your Web site visitors to download video files -- especially
copyrighted material -- makes it much easier for your content to be pirated.
Your downloaded video files could be shared with others through file-sharing
networks and other methods. Streaming video technology is harder to copy
and prevents users from saving a copy to their computer if you don't want
them to. While it's not perfect, it may give you better peace of mind about
distributing your content online.
Reduced costs
Think of all the costs associated with travelling, lodging, venues, meals, and
more that add up when creating a traditional event. Most of these costs can
now be eliminated through the power of web streaming. The cost of web
streaming is also potentially less than those associated with satellite radio
subscriptions and buying CDs.
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2013-2014
Wider audiences
Through webcasting, you have the potential to reach anyone remotely; all a
participant needs is access to the Internet. The biggest benefit is that you can
dramatically widen access to information and events. For training employees
or sub-contractors, everyone can receive the same training and information at
the same time - which also ensures consistency. For a product launch, media
and other constituents will all get to see the release at the same time.
Convenience
On demand programming can be listened to in the comfort of your home or
office. In addition, presenters/instructors can deliver from anywhere.
Richer content
There is a wide variety of content to choose from. With webcasting, you have
the flexibility of combining various presentation methodologies and
multimedia. You even have the option of recording great videos for use
indefinitely.
Broadcasting range
Webcasting provides for unlimited range in broadcasting whereas radio, for
example, has limited signal strength.
Quality of output
Webcasting provides for good quality audio and video broadcasts.
DISADVANTAGES:
Bandwidth
Bandwidth availability is a key problem in the delivery of streaming video. If
the sender overestimates or underestimates the available bandwidth, the video
quality will suffer. Errors in bandwidth estimation lead to loss of packet or
delays in packet delivery, which can cause degraded video quality or jerky
video playback. While various error control methods, such as buffering, can
limit these problems, no solution completely eliminates them.
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2013-2014
Online Only
While the advantage of giving your users instant playback and yourself
protection from content pirates might be attractive, these can also work
against you as streaming video works only when there is an available Internet
connection. If the viewer's Internet connection is cut during playback or they
need to watch your content offline, they will be out of luck. In these cases
consider offering the user an option to both stream and download the video
file, and using copy protection to prevent piracy.
Cost
Costs mount quickly with live streaming video. Expensive camera equipment
and high-end computer equipment are needed to transmit the feed. In addition,
securing enough bandwidth to support a live broadcast typically requires the
services of an Internet service provider (ISP). While potentially less expensive
than managing the entire process in-house, the costs for bandwidth usage can
still run high.
Accessibility
Streaming video content poses two different challenges in terms of
accessibility. The first is that people who are hearing impaired cannot take full
advantage of your content if you do not add captions. The second issue, which
has much broader impact, is that anyone in a place where his computer cant
make noise cant fully experience your video, either. This can be problematic
in an office that needs to be quiet, or when someone is using his smartphone
without ear buds on public transportation. While captions can help with this
issue to some extent and can also improve your SEO, they're far from a perfect
solution.
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2013-2014
CHAPTER 10
CONCLUSION
Streaming distribution systems can be used to broadcast video live or repeat. In any
case, when carrying out a distribution of contents via streaming we must remember
at all times that most final users who access the internet are generally restricted to
2Mbps. However, the generalization of cable access and ADSL is increasing
bandwidth from 128kb/s to 512kb/s for a growing number of individuals. In the cases
of higher bandwidth we can obtain video of a quality very similar to VHS, thanks to
the latest compression techniques and sophisticated codecs technologies.
Besides bandwidth, other issues are important when distributing audio visual
material via streaming. The first one is content creation, which has to bear in mind
at all times the compression that will be suffered by the video being produced.
Because after compression the size of video images is likely to be smaller, certain
visual information will be inevitably lost. In order to minimize this loss it is
important for the content creator to ensure that the lightening throughout the video
is good, the backgrounds are plain, camera movements are limited and close-ups are
clear and plentiful.
A second issue that must be considered is the streaming server, which sends media
clips to users. Real time streaming requires specific servers. As we have seen, Real
Networks, Microsoft and Apple have streaming servers. The role of the client and
user is also important. Ideally, users must be presented with a simple interface
requiring little more than a click to download or update streaming reproduction
software. In reality, however, users often have to face huge files and complex
procedures with many more options than it is strictly necessary. The good news is
that this situation is progressively changing, and improvements are being made in
this respect.
We have seen that streaming allows the distribution of audio visual content to large
audiences in a simple way over the internet. However, as a technology in constant
evolution, it still has some limitations. To maximize its current potential, all parties
(from content creators to clients and users) must be aware of them and act
consistently.
In spite of a few problems, the advantages offered by streaming in comparison to
traditional content distribution methods are many. Given that video is increasingly
incorporated into websites, and information exchange technology is constantly
evolving, it is expected that internet streaming will soon be present everywhere. The
next step will be to improve the way video is presented on the internet, to ensure that
audio visual content interesti
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CHAPTER 11
REFERENCES
en.wikipedia.org/ustream
www.ustream.tv
www.free-video-hosting.net/embed.php
The technology of video streaming David Austerberry
www.webdevelopersjournal.com
http://blog.qstion.com/live-streaming/video-streaming-platformslivestream-vs-ustream
Video Streaming: Concepts, Algorithms, and Systems
F. Kozamernik, Streaming Media over the Internet an overview
of delivery technologies
Dept. of IT, DSCE
PAGE 29

Video Streaming Through Ustream 2013-2014

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