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

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

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, AT&T)

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

IPTV – Graphical Representation

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

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

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

System Flow Diagram

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

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

MPlayer (continued) Large selection of supported media formats Open source software

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

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

Transcoding – High Level

Transcoding – Conversion Block

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

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

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

Budget EquipmentEstimated Cost TI DaVinci System-on-Chip Development Board Provided Software: OpenSuse Linux, MPlayer/MEncoder, Eclipse IDE, Helix Server, Various Source Codes Open sources Total$0

Lessons Learned Team Dynamics Problem Solving Project Planning Time Management Challenges in Integration

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 advic e guidance

Demonstration

Questions / Answers