VOD Over Broadband - BitBand Inc.
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[FAC: I'd be interested in comments concerning the scalability of this approach, if anyone should have any insights they'd like to share. I found this piece in thebroadbandhome.com , a monthly report put out by Jeff Pulver's Pulver.com. ]
In the previous issue (BBHR, July 19, 2001) we mentioned that "one of our Israeli delegates told us we really should visit Milan to see FastWeb's ambitious broadband business". David Milloh is VP Global Sales at BitBand, whose technology FastWeb uses to provide its video on demand (VOD) service. We were very appreciative of the introduction David provided and believe systems like BitBand's, which facilitate the move to IP TV, will grow in importance.
BitBand is a US company with headquarters in Israel. It provides streaming audio and video for broadband IP. Its product family includes both servers and content management tools.
BitBand's Vision family of "appliance-servers" was designed for broadband. It is based on a modular server occupying 1U (1.75") of rack space in a 19" rack. Each server can store up to 140GB of content in a variety of formats, and can provide up to 90 Mbps of streamed audio or audio/video. A single server can be used as a system, and servers can be stacked in clusters to increase capacity and availability. We believe that they are using off-the-shelf server hardware which will follow the cost curve of the computer/PC industry, and therefore have more favorable economics than systems based on proprietary hardware.
The decoder in the client system (a PC or digital set-top box) uses TCP to communicate with the server. It uses a memory buffer to allow for delays and retransmission between the server and the client; in effect, the buffer is "pre-loading" data from the server before the client needs it. Network problems - such as noise or heavy loading - are handled by retransmission at the TCP layer. With this approach, BitBand claims that it can achieve 90% loading of an Ethernet link - allowing 90Mbps of streamed content to be delivered over a "Fast Ethernet" (100 Mbps) link.
As service providers move to a "pure-fiber, pure-IP" architecture, video systems like BitBand's will play a major role in delivering "pure-IP TV".
( www.bitband.com ) |
