Slashdot Mirror
Video Streaming Goes Peer-to-Peer
CMU ESM Project writes "Our research group at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a peer to
peer streaming video content distribution system called End System
Multicast (ESM).
The system constructs a self-organizing and adaptive overlay network
using
the receivers that are tuning into the broadcast events. The system has
been
used fairly successfully for
quite a few events. Now we want test the system with a lot of more users
and different user join patterns. We are streaming some very cool
video, such as Triumph of the Nerds by Bob Cringely, distinguished
lecture by Eric Schmidt,
CEO of Google, ACM SIGCOMM conference paper presentation by Dave Clark,
and 2002 Sony Legged Robot Soccer Championship.
Here is the detailed
schedule. So please tune in, enjoy, and help test our system!" The streaming is based on QuickTime; for Linux users, the project page steps through installation of CodeWeaver's CrossOver plug-in.
Watching it now. Pretty cool, and pretty effective - but the video seems a little bit too bright.
Schnapple
I actually heard Hilary Rosen on the radio monday night on KGO. she said "They have a CD Burner - which is the equivalent of a CD production facility"
yes we're asking to be slashdotted. We've been planning this for several months
The fundamental problem with true video-on-demand is at the server end. Sure, you can stagger showings like todays PPV systems, but the viewer cannot pause, rewind and fast-forward.
P2P solves this. As much bandwidth as you need. The more popular a piece of media becomes, the easier it is to get. A reverse slashdot effect. It's a much more elegant solution compared to throwing bandwidth and server capacity at the problem. Put P2P in a TIVO, it's just gained a second killer app. The only problem is that if two users record the same show, they will not be HASH compatible, which is essential for a good multi-point downloading p2p network. Solve that, you've just reinvented how broadcast TV works.
The MPAA and RIAA are just going to have to accept that they can no longer control our media. We have the tools and we have the technology to do it ourselves.
Only lawyers can try stop us now. And if they do, our countries will have so much civil disobedience and lack of respect for the law that the war on (some) drugs pales in significance.
Is it real video on demand, where every user can select a show and watch it that instant, or is it like most systems where the show is broadcast on, say 12 channels, with each one starting 5 mins appart? If the later, it's not VOD. With real VOD, you have a private stream from the provider, which requires a massive server.
Streaming P2P does not, it's like a broadcast.
We're at cross purposes here, methinks. The example that this article links to is a repeater p2p network, which is pretty neat. However, I was describing a system where it's fully on demand. Jeez, if it wasn't for the .avi file format having important data at the end of the file, you could almost do this now on the existing p2p apps. All you need is enough bandwidth to watch the video in realtime. You wouldn't be able to jump 30 minutes in if you wanted, but that's only because the current p2p clients haven't even thought of that yet.
Give it a year or two... ;-)
Your post doesn't belong in this story though
Well, what I'm thinking of isn't quite a p2p repeater as described in article, but it's similar and they share a few traits. For example, imagine I am watching an episode of the Simpsons on my node. That episode will be getting cached on my system, and thus will be available to other users from me. That concept is in keeping with the article. I'm just removing the need to have defined broadcasts, limiting when and what you can watch.