Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP Using MPEG-DASH

The latest MPEG standards provide enhanced mechanisms for encoding and delivery of Over-The-Top Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP. MPEG-DASH offers a new standard way to build manifest files, called Media Presentation Descriptions, for adaptive bit rate delivery or other presentation delivery systems. The design of new services depends upon understanding the new commercial and technical features.  It provides for insertion of targeted advertising as well as the ability to deliver video quality that can adapt to a range of devices, networks and platforms.

Building media presentations that can be played across many different player platforms and building payers that can play presentations from multiples different services requires that encoding, layout and presentation formats are compatible as well as being accurately described within Media Presentation Descriptions. The DASH Industry Forum (DASHIF) have produced guidelines for implementation that use Interoperability Points to ensure successful interoperation of clients and services that use AVC/H.264 codec profiles for encoding video, multi-channel audio, subtitling, content protection and high quality presentation delivery.

This course will examine Over-The-Top delivery of WebTV, demonstrating its differences from traditional broadcast TV and Multicast streamed IPTV. It will describe the key engineering problems in building WebTV services and using hands-on demonstration exercises allow attendees to experience the impact of differing levels of delay variation and packet loss using Internet simulators. It will then provide a comprehensive understanding of MPEG-DASH comparing it with Apple HLS, Adobe HDS and Microsoft Smooth Streaming. Hands-on exercises configuring MPEG-DASH services and comparing its performance with identical video delivered through other streaming technologies will allow attendees to have a sound understanding of the new technology. They will analyze the protocols used for delivery using WireShark providing attendees with the skills to use key analysis software used to troubleshoot application platforms and the network technologies used within a range of new Adaptive WebTV systems. The course also examines how to deploy the recommendations of the DASH Industry Forum “Guidelines for Implementation: DASH-AVC/264 Interoperability Points” to ensure compatibility and use the recommended extensions for quality delivery.

Who should attend this course:

This course is intended for engineers, service designers, developers and systems engineers involved in the development of WebTV products and services.  Hands-on exercises will use Windows based PCs or laptops connected to in-class Internet Simulators to test performance under controlled fault conditions. Next exercises will be run over in class LANs to test optimal conditions and then finally out over the open Internet to demonstrate real life operation. Attendees will be given an opportunity to connect their own iPAD, Android and iPhone devices to the in-class WiFi service to experience the services that they build on real devices.