Internet Protocol TV

1
Internet Protocol TV

• Next Generation Set-Top Box
• Proof-of-Concept
• Hugo Kwok
• David Shen
• Jimmy Jeong
• Allen Lai
• Group 10

2
Agenda

• Background
• Objective
• System Overview
• Challenges
• Future Developments
• Conclusion
• Demo
• Questions?

3
Background

• Currently, the TV market is dominated by cable
  and satellite providers
• IPTV is a new technology where users are able to
  view TV contents over the internet.
• IPTV is already available in certain cities
• (e.g. TELUS, ATT)

4
Background (continued)

• Two segments
• Live broadcasts
• Stored broadcasts or Video On Demand (VOD)
• Users stream contents after they are downloaded
  (e.g. to a hard drive)
• Can be easily integrated into the household
• Internet connection

5
IPTV Graphical Representation
6
Objective

• Standardized set top box compatible for multiple
  service providers
• Display internet media streams on a standard
  television set with-out using a PC
• Proof-of-concept to commercialization

7
Proof of Concept

• Stream real time Real Media file from a remote
  server on the Internet via RTSP
• Convert Real Media file through decode/encode
  algorithms into MPEG4 format
• Play resulting audio/video with Media Player
  (MPlayer) on a Linux development platform via an
  attached LCD screen on the development board

8
Equipment

• TI DaVinci System-on-Chip
• Dual-core with ARM9 and C6000 DSP CPU
• LCD screen output
• Internet connection
• Helix Server
• Simulates online media streaming from a local
  directory

9
System Flow Diagram
10
Why MPEG4?

• The set-top box shall stream various media format
  and convert it into MPEG4 video and MP2 audio
  format for storage and display due to the
  following reasons
• Easy to manage
• High compression ratio
• Further software development focused on MPEG4
  format media file

11
Why MPlayer?

• Physical media
• CDs, DVDs, Video CDs
• Container formats
• 3gp, AVI, ASF, FLV, Matroska, MOV (QuickTime),
  MP4, NUT, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia
• Video codecs
• Cinepak, DV, H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HuffYUV,
  Indeo, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part
  2, RealVideo, Sorenson, Theora, WMV
• Audio codecs
• AAC, AC3, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, MP3, RealAudio,
  Shorten, Speex, Vorbis, WMA

12
MPlayer (continued)

• Large selection of supported media formats
• Open source software

13
MEncoder

• Transcoder with MPlayer bundle
• Converts wide range of multimedia files to a
  specific file format
• Able to save a video and audio stream separately
  onto a memory location for post processing

14
MEncoder (continued)

• In the proof of concept device, the real media
  video will be developed such that the
  set-top box can stream media content in RM
  format
• Codec developed based on the source code of RV30
  from the Helix Community

15
Transcoding High Level
16
Transcoding Conversion Block
17
Problems Encountered

• Setting up development platform and OS
• Researching and understanding the technical
  backgrounds
• Understanding source code
• Obtaining Real Media Source Code
• Not open source like other codecs (only binary
  files available)
• Requires license from Helix Community
• Not successful in compiling

18
Problems Encountered

• Cross-compiling RealPlayer source code for the
  ARM
• Attempted to understand header files of codecs
  suggested by Dr. Bajic
• Tried different binary files of real video codecs
• RealMedia codec in binary form for Palm, which
  ran on ARM processor
• Extracted files were not compatible

19
Future Developments

• Implement streaming of all other input media
  formats, convert and output to one universal
  format
• e.g. Windows Media, VLC, etc. ? MPEG 4
• Migrating system from ARM CPU to C6000 Digital
  Signal Processing CPU for more efficient
  processing and algorithmic calculations
• Developing a GUI
• Integrate proof of concept and commercialize it
  in set top box

20
Budget
21
Lessons Learned

• Team Dynamics
• Problem Solving
• Project Planning
• Time Management
• Challenges in Integration

22
Acknowledgements

• Dr. Farid Azhar for his support
• Dr. Ivan Bajic for his advice
• Dr. Lucky One for insights and providing us with
  lab access and equipment
• Mr. Steve Whitmore for overseeing the project and
  advice guidance

23
Demonstration
24
Questions / Answers