Streaming Live Interactive Audio And Video: Tools, Protocols, And Metrics

Streaming Tools

Discuss About The Streaming Live Interactive Audio And Video?

Live streaming technology is normally applied to output live programs like concerts, sports, and more other radio and TV events that are relayed live. Live streaming is the action of transmitting media to mobile devices and computers in real time or live. The main concern in media streaming to a browser is relaying a document created on the fly because it lacks pre-driven start or end contrary to playing a finite document or media.

KeyCDN Tools- These tools offer a group of online selections to evaluate website or recognize issues that comprehend connectivity. The tools simplify the process of the problem resolution of web projects. Some of the benefits of KeyCDN tools are; speed evaluation of website access in various locations, provision of geographically related data for the provided hostname, provision of HTTP response header details, and network and security checks. [1]

Cloudflare application- Cloudflare Apps simplifies the identification and usage of the tool to individuals owning a website. Some of the benefits associated with the installation of Cloudflare includes; allowing the users to watch the content live without installing any software, provision of alternatives with clear guidelines on the configuration and customization of the application user interface, showcasing the application to many audience, demonstration of app with custom-built links on websites to show previews and delivering of new updates and releases to user’s apps. [2]

Akamai- offers market-greatest, cloud-based tool and aids in developing mobile and web applications, safe e-commerce and online HD video. Putting together highly-dispersed, energy-effective computing with smart software, global platform of Akamai is completely changing the cloud into a more reasonable place to advertise, inform, collaborate, entertain and transact. [3]

The following are some of the protocols that serve adaptive streams;

HTTP-  Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the most regularly advocated protocol that aids in transferring media live or on-demand content.

RTMP- Real Time Messaging Protocol is a solution protocol created by Macromedia and sustained by the Adobe Flash link. Some of the types of RTMP are; RTMPE, RTMPS, and RTMPT.

RTSP-Real Time Streaming Protocol masters’ media programs between terminals and is often used along with Real-time Control Protocol and Real-time Transport Protocol for delivery of media stream. Applying RTCP and with RTP facilitates adaptive streaming. [4]

There are several factors that contribute to quality video, audio, and sharing of application. This includes the environment, devices used, and the network connectivity.

Streaming Protocols

Devices- In a Real-Time media program, media capturing and interpretation gadgets that all users use like web cams and headsets have a great effect on the general video and audio quality. Devices of Lower quality will generate low sound and image quality for audio and video respectively. Accredited devices, however, aids video resolution, echo cancellation, latency reduction and noise filtering. [5]

It is crucial to introduce some levels of latency for media devices streaming real-live media. As such, it greatly impacts and enhance general latency and the consumers experience.

 Environment- this is another factor for video and audio quality. Users communicating in a noisy area will experience echo, unclear and muffled sounds. Bright and clear image for quality video won’t be produced if the user is situated in a low light or a dark area. In a colloquium room set up, the locality of the video gadgets and microphone have a direct effect on the audio and video quality that users will receive. [2]

Network- the value of connectivity of the network greatly influences the value of live media over IP network, but particularly by the level of Latency. This network procreation delay is importantly connected to the width of the two points and the velocity of light, inclusive of the additional overhead captured by several routers in between. Latency is calculated as RTT (Round-trip Time). [3]

Packet Loss also impacts the quality of real-tie media. This is normally described as an allotments of packets lost in a specific window of time. Packet loss impacts sound quality from little personal lost packets having little effect, to adjacent blast losses that bring about full audio cancellation.

Inter-packet jitter also impacts the real-time media quality. It is the average variation in downtime across successive packets. A participant will only observe effects when the jitter surpasses the buffering.

Deploying Quality of Service among clogged networks- In addition, traffic crowdedness over a network will highly influence media quality. To aid video and audio packets to transmit the network faster and to be on the first line up over other network jam in a crowded network, Quality of Service can be utilized to assist in provision of an optimal consumer experience for video and audio interactions. [2]

QoS offers a way for assigning higher lead to network packets that transports video and audio information. As such, communication of audio and video is likely to commute over the network quicker, and with less interference, than network programs having things like database backups, document transfers, or web browsing. That's the reason as to why the network packets applied for document transfers or backups of database automatically are allocated best effort as the first line up and network over crowdedness won't have as big effect. If you fail to assign a high priority to the media packets and assign them as best effort, they will be prepared with the rest network traffic. In reliance to the amount of network overcrowding, it will eventually lead to a lower quality users experience of audio and video. [6]

Metrics Related to Performance of Audio and Video Transfer and Sharing

Cisco organization was seasoned with high growth in the mid of 1990s and therefore te organization was forced to research on innovative means and processes to quickly and bearably maintain the heightened needs for cross-team communication and training. Also during that time there as was insufficiency of expert IT employees, technology was evolving rapidly and there was more pressure globally due to these facts. [7]

The swift developments were coupled with expanding requirements and needs to disperse knowledge and information through the entire organization. Conventional classroom teaching and communication channels were no growing to meet the needed output and thus Cisco administration saw the need to come up with a quick fix to address this issue that would enhance the firms competitive advantage and reputation. In essence, information and communication technology was required to collect business requirements for the firm’s communications, design and develop a solution and guidelines on implementation within the employee dispersed stations. The objective as to improve productivity which included: direct and on time intercommunication for the executive, finalization and access to standard and regulations on training conformity. Ensuring that the sales force is frequently updated on emerging and new technologies and products and sanctioning constant product updates, training and announcements.

Global Cisco stakeholders including customers, partners and employees knew the benefits and essence of communication technology to address these objectives. The outcome was a powerful enterprise couple with growing demands for multimedia business fixes.

In reaction to the extant requirements for expansive scale training the Cisco media network was designed and developed. In just one moment, the organization needed the capability to administer technical education to a thousands of system engineers and sales account managers. Furthermore, the company had to offer similar training to about 25000 distribution channel partners with over 400000 employees in different locations across the globe and 35000 workers.  An increasingly big sophisticated device portfolio and advancing schedules enhanced the training scope complexity.  It was vivid that conventional classroom-based learning, which forced man students to travel, costly and almost not possible with the current time and resources allocated.

To address these challenges, and enhanced media explication able to deliver various contents including, verbal lab access, video, and audio, was provided and make sure that content access platforms were developed. [7]

The following are the steps in user centric design approach:

Identify the need; it is necessary to identify the need to come up with a solution to address the problem at hand.

Deploying Quality of Service among Clogged Networks

Context of use: determine the users of the product, for what purpose are they using and the circumstances under which they will utilize it.

Requirement specification: determine the needs and objectives of the consumers of the product in order to come up with the best solution.

Design solutions: this stage can be done in modules from an idea to a full design.

Evaluation: this is done by conducting user acceptance testing to find out if the system or solution meets the user objectives.

Figure 1: User Centric Design

Concentration on multimedia mirrored largely embraced model of training and learning; typically, human being remember 50% of what they hear and see, 10% of the read content and 20% of the heard content.  The emerging quick fix enabled the experts of subject matter and authors of content an environment to create multimedia content which enables secure and easy access of such content worldwide by channel partners and cisco workers. [8]

A key module of the elementary multimedia technique entailed streaming live video for on-demand content and live events. The video technique which offered exceptional flexibility for extending learning to global congregations was made possible by the content networking products belonging to Cisco.

The project expanded beyond the limits of e-learning to adopt the entire array of business intercommunication with the IT team going on with collecting extra business needs. Evolution of the firm to combine data, audio and video IP network was critical to allowing video streaming solutions structured to meet the fulfilled and wide assortment of business communication needs. [9]

The number of virtual conferences have surpassed that of physical or in-person conference since the year 2003 at Cisco. Videoconferences currently transcend 9000 hours every year that’s approximately 200 meetings. This has helped in increasing productivity, enhancing efficiency, saving time and cutting travel costs which has led to increased demand and use. [9]

This helps in supporting video-enhanced intercommunication. The combined framework has led to voice service comparable to video with regard to cost effectiveness, eased usability, ease of deployment and enhanced administration. [10]

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace application offers global access to web conferencing from common-based interfaces. Web conference, voice and video functions can be controlled by the user from solitary interface. The ability to see who is in the conference, the people talking, use of whiteboards, record and playback meetings and conducting elections aids in improving user productivity. Furthermore, conference participants can manage their own interfaces Conference users can control their own interfaces. [11]

The Cisco Media Network

Conclusion

Streaming live and interactive audio has several advantages including: it is very engaging, one can reach out to larger audience in different geographical locations, one can control the content, leads to longer-view-time compared to on-demand video content, some platforms like Hangouts on Air enables audience to share the content, real statistics of the performance of the content can be mined as it airs

However, it has some drawbacks including: the user has to know his/her audience to determine whether the content would suit them, some cost has to be incurred like buying bandwidth, and also there are several technological factors that have to be considered like the type of platform to use, and whether the platform needs encoding, can the content be accessed via mobile devices and so on

References

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C. Duhujamahoro, C. Twizere, P. Mazimpaka, T. O. Shema and N. Pascal, "Analysis of the Effects of Rainfall Intensity into the Performance of Video Conferencing," World Journal of Engineering and Technology, vol. 4, pp. 71-81, 2016.

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