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streaMING

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..5

2. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….….......6

3 .THERE ARE TWO BASIC TYPES OF STREAMING MEDIA CLIENTS ..7

3.1. JAVA CIENTS
3.2. PLUG-IN-CLIENTS

4. METHODS……………………………………………………………….……8
4.1. STREAMING THE RDP PACKETS

5. STREAMING AUDIO……………………………. ………….……….…... ..9

5.1. DEFINITION
5.2. WORKING EXAMPLE
5.3. AUDIO COMPRESSION
5.4. STREAMING AUDIO PROBLEMS

6. VIDEO STREAMING ………………….….…………….……………..…...11

6.1. FORMS OF VIDEO COMMUNICATION
6.1.1. BROADCAST COMMUNICATION
6.1.2. UNICAST
6.1.3. MULTICAST
6.2. VIDEO COMPRESSOIN
6.2.1. GOAL OF VIDEO COMPRESSION
6.2.2. EXAMPLE

7. DRAWBACKS OF VIDEO STREAMING………………………………...15

7.1. BANDWITH
7.2. DELAY JITTER
7.3. LOST RATE

8. HOW DOES MEDIA STREAMING WORKS?……….……………….…..16

9. STREAMING BANDWIDTH AND STORAGE ………………..….…..… 18

10. THE ADVANTAGES OF OBJECTIVE –DESKTOP STREAMING….....20

11. APPLICATION OF DESKTOP STREAMING……………………….…..21

11.1. MATH INSTRUCTION FOR LEARNERS
11.2. INTERACTIVE TO INCREASE ARCHIVEMENT

12. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………..….…23

13. REFERENCES ……………………………..…………………...24

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 FIGURES RELATED TO THE TOPIC

FIGURE1.BROAD CAST DIAGRAM………………………………………………..11

FIGURE2.UNICAST PATH DIAGRAM……………………………………………...12
FIGURE3.MULTICAST PATH DIAGRAM…………………………………………..13
FIGURE4.STREAMING VIDEO AND AUDIO…………………………………….....17
FIGURE5.INTERACTIVE STUDY……………………………………………….….21
FIGURE 6.MOBILE APPLICATION ……………………………………………......22

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 1.ABSTRACT
Streaming media enables real-time or on-demand access to audio, video, and multimedia content
via the Internet or an intranet. Streaming media is transmitted by a specialized media server
Application, and is processed and played back by a client player application, as it is received,
leaving behind no residual copy of the content on the receiving device.

It is a technique for transferring data so that it can be processed as a steady and continuous
stream. Streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important with the growth of the
Internet because most users do not have fast enough access to download large multimedia files
quickly. With streaming, the client browser or plug-in can start displaying the data before the
entire file has been transmitted.For streaming to work, the client side receiving the data must be
able to collect the data and send it as a steady stream to the application that is processing the data
and converting it to sound or pictures. This means that if the streaming client receives the data
more quickly than required, it needs to save the excess data in a buffer. If the data doesn't come
quickly enough, however, the presentation of the data will not be smooth.

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1. INTRODUCTION
Streaming media adds engaging motion and sound to the Web experience, increasing site
stickiness, interactivity, and retention. Streaming allows timely, dynamic content to be seen by a
larger, even global audience, helping to cost-effectively disseminate information, to address new
markets, and to bring your corporate culture closer to far-reaching constituencies. Streaming in
its truest form, can help to protect video content from being “pirated” and misused. Streaming
media is no longer merely a promise. Streaming is here today. This Primer won’t tell you
everything about this rapidly emerging technology, but it will give you an overview of the
opportunities and the pitfalls, the costs, and the basics. If you are a complete beginner, you’ll
find out how easy it can be to edit, encode, and integrate streaming video into your own Web
site. And, if you are already creating video productions, this Primer will introduce you to the
state-of-the-art streaming media technologies you can use to extend your content to the Web, and
to confi dently share your productions online.

Data streaming commonly seen in forms of audio and video streaming, is when a multimedia
File can be played back without being completely downloaded first. However certain audio and
video file like real audio and quick time documents can be streaming files, meaning u can watch
a video or listen to a sound file while its being downloaded to your computer.
Major streaming video and streaming media technologies include Real System G2 from Real
Network, Microsoft Windows Media Technologies and VDO. Microsoft's approach uses the
standard MPEG compression algorithm for video. The other approaches use proprietary
algorithms. Microsoft's technology offers streaming audio at up to 96 Kbps and streaming video
at up to 8 Mbps However, for most Web users, the streaming video will be limited to the data
rates of the connection (for example, up to 128 Kbps with an ISDN connection).

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3. THERE ARE TWO BASIC TYPES OF STREAMING MEDIA
CLIENTS:

3.1. Java clients

Java clients quickly download a Java applet to the user’s machine before the streaming
content begins, so that any Java-enabled browser can play back the stream. Java clients can
provide a virtually transparent experience for the end user, playing content that appears to be
seamlessly embedded into a Web page, a banner, or an e-mail, without invoking a pop-up
window for a plug-in player that may interrupt the experience. Java clients do not, typically,
offer the full range of end-user controls provided by plug-in clients

3.2. Plug-in clients

A plug-in is an application that adds functionality to your Web browser. In the case of a
media player, the plug-in provides the client software needed to play back and control media that
is either downloaded or streamed to the browser. The three major streaming media architectures
use plug-in clients.

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4. METHODS

4.1. Streaming the RDP packets

RDP stands for Remote Desktop Protocol , which is used in the Remote Desktop connection
in Windows XP. The Windows Terminal Server generates screen updates as bitmap images
and other 2D primitives, compress them , and transfer to client.
To achieve the presentation ability, we make use of the Terminal Service, and streaming
those desktop updates to more then 1 client.
Even though the bandwidth usage of RDP is lower then other thin client systems , it can
still be lower by applying lossy compression, wavelet transform.

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5. STREAMING AUDIO

5.1. DEFINITION
It's a method of delivering an audio signal to your computer over the Internet, and differs from
the "normal" method of receiving Internet audio in one important way: instead of having to
download a ".wav", ".au" or other type of file completely before being able to listen to it, you
hear the sound as it arrives at your computer, and therefore do not have to wait for a complete
download (which would be difficult with a live broadcast anyway!). As the data arrives it is
buffered for a few seconds and then playback begins. As the audio is playing, more data is
constantly arriving (or streaming), and as long as you are receiving a constant stream of data, you
should hear constant audio. Obviously you'll need a soundcard, speakers (or headphones) and the
appropriate software for this all to work. Think of a bucket (the buffer) with a hole in the bottom,
being topped up with water (the data). As long as there is water in the bucket, it will continue to
pour out of the hole, and will do this as long as there is water in the bucket. Similarly, as long as
there is data in the buffer, you will continue to hear sound.

5.2. Working Examples:

Look at the Multiple Track Streaming Example (36 track playlist) on the main page of my site
to see another more detailed and practical example / application of the same streaming technique
described in this article.
When the Automated Jukebox starts you can either allow the jukebox to automatically advance
and play through each song in sequence without user intervention, or you may jump to any song
you like by clicking on the respective song link.

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 5.3. AUDIO COMPRESSION
It is a form of data compression designed to reduce the transmission bandwidth requirement of
digital audio streams and the storage size of audio files. Audio compression algorithms are
implemented in computer software as audio codec’s. Generic data compression algorithms
perform poorly with audio data, seldom reducing data size much below 87% from the original,
and are not designed for use in real time applications. Consequently, specifically optimized audio
lossless and lossy algorithms have been created.Lossy algorithms provide greater compression
rates and are used in mainstream consumer audio devices. In both lossy and lossless
compression, information redundancy is reduced, using methods such as coding, pattern
recognition and linear prediction to reduce the amount of information used to represent the
uncompressed data. The trade-off between slightly reduced audio quality and transmission or
storage size is outweighed by the latter for most practical audio applications in which users may
not perceive the loss in playback rendition quality. For example, one Compact Disc holds
approximately one hour of uncompressed high fidelity music, less than 2 hours of music
compressed losslessly, or 7 hours of music compressed in the MP3 format at medium bit rates.

5.4. STREAMING AUDIO PROBLEMS

There's big catch with streaming audio

● Your Internet connection has to be fast enough to keep up. Here's how it works: an MP3 audio
stream requires a certain number of bytes per second. And if your Internet connection isn't at
least that fast, it isn't possible to play the audio as it arrives without "stuttering."
● Even if the user's Internet connection is fast enough, it is still possible for the web server's
connection to be overwhelmed. Multiply the bytes per second for the MP3 file by 100
simultaneous listeners and you're looking at a lot of bytes!
● There’s one more bottleneck: the Internet itself. With more and more people
listening to streaming audio and watching streaming video, the "backbone" Internet connections
that tie everything together can also become overwhelmed at times.

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6. VIDEO STREAMING
Video has been an important media for communications and entertainment for many decades.
Initially video was captured and transmitted in analog form. The advent of digital integrated
circuits and computers led to the digitization of video, and digital video enabled a revolution in
the compression and communication of video. Video compression became an important area of
research in the late 1980’s and 1990’s and enabled a variety of applications including video
storage on DVD’s and Video-CD’s, video broadcast over digital cable, satellite and terrestrial
(over-the-air) digital television (DTV), and video conferencing and videophone over circuit
switched networks. Video over best-effort packet networks is complicated by a number of factors
including unknown and time-varying bandwidth, delay, and losses, as well as many additional
issues such as how to fairly share the network resources amongst many flows and how to
efficiently perform one-to-many communication for popular content. There exist a very diverse
range of different video communication and streaming applications, which have very different
operating conditions or properties.

6.1. FORMS OF VIDEO COMMUNICATION

6.1.1. BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS

Probably the most popular form of video communication is one-to-many (basically one-to-all)
communication or broadcast communication, where the most well known example is broadcast television.
Broadcast is a very efficient form of communication for popular content, as it can often efficiently deliver
popular content to all receivers at the same time. An important aspect of broadcast communications is that
the system must be designed to provide every intended recipient with the required signal. This is an
important issue, since different recipients may experience different channel characteristics, and as a result
the system is often designed for the worst-case channel. An example of this is digital television broadcast
where the source coding and channel coding were designed to provide adequate reception to receivers at
the fringe of the required reception area, thereby sacrificing some quality to those receivers in areas with
higher quality reception An important characteristic of broadcast communication is that, due to the large
number of receivers involved,

Figure 1: Broadcast
Communication Path Diagram

6.1.2. UNICAST COMMUNICATION

Another common form of communication is point-to-point or one-to-one communication, e.g.
videophone and unicast video streaming over the Internet. In point-to-point communications, an
important property is whether or not there is a back channel between the receiver and sender. If a back
channel exists, the receiver can provide feedback to the sender which the sender can then use to adapt its

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processing. On the other hand, without a back channel the sender has limited knowledge about the
channel.

Figure 2:Unicast Communication Path Diagram

6.1.3. MULTICAST COMMUNICATION

Another form of communication with properties that lie between point-to-point and broadcast is
multicast. Multicast is a one-to-many communication, but it is not one-to-all as in broadcast. An
example of multicast is IP-Multicast over the Internet. However, as discussed later, IP Video
Multicast is currently not widely available in the Internet, and other approaches are being

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developed to provide multicast capability, e.g. application-layer multicast via overlay networks.
To communicate to multiple receivers, multicast is more efficient than multiple unicast
connections (i.e. one dedicated unicast connection to each client), and overall multicast provides
many of the same advantages and disadvantages as broadcast.

Figure 3: Multicast Communication Path Diagram

6.2. VIDEO COMPRESSION

Video compression is achieved by exploiting the similarities or redundancies that exists in a

typical video signal. For example, consecutive frames in a video sequence exhibit temporal

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redundancy since they typically contain the same objects, perhaps undergoing some movement
between frames.

6.2.1. Goal of video compression

● Within a single frame there is spatial redundancy as the amplitudes of nearby pixels are
often correlated.
● Another goal of video compression is to reduce the irrelevancy in the video signal that is
to only code video features that are perceptually important and not to waste valuable bits
on information that is not perceptually important or irrelevant.
● Identifying and reducing the redundancy in a video signal is relatively straightforward,
however identifying what is perceptually relevant and what is not is very difficult and
therefore irrelevancy is difficult to exploit

6.2.2. Example:

JPEG exploits these features by partitioning an image into 8x8 pixel blocks and computing the 2-
D Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) for each block. The motivation for splitting an image into
small blocks is that the pixels within a small block are generally more similar to each other than
the pixels within a larger block. The DCT compacts most of the signal energy in the block into
only a small fraction of the DCT coefficients, where this small fraction of the coefficients are
sufficient to reconstruct an accurate version of the image. Each 8x8 block of DCT coefficients is
then quantized and processed using a number of techniques known as zigzag scanning, runlength
coding, and Huffman coding to produce a compressed bitstream.

7. STREAMING VEDIO PROBLEMS

There are a number of basic problems that afflict media streaming are as follows:

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7.1. Bandwidth
The bandwidth available between two points in the Internet is generally unknown and time-
varying. If the sender transmits faster than the available bandwidth then congestion occurs,
packets are lost, and there is a severe drop in video quality. If the sender transmits slower than
the available bandwidth then the receiver produces sub-optimal video quality.
● The goal to overcome the bandwidth problem:
● Estimate the available bandwidth
● Match the transmitted video bit rate to the available bandwidth.

7.2 Delay jitter

The end-to-end delay that a packet experiences may fluctuate from packet to packet. This
variation in end-to-end delay is referred to as the delay jitter. Delay jitter is a problem because
the receiver must receive/decode/display frames at a constant rate, and any late frames resulting
from the delay jitter can produce problems in the reconstructed video, e.g. jerks in the video.
This problem is typically addressed by including a playout buffer at the receiver. While the
playout buffer can compensate for the delay jitter, it also introduces additional delay.

7.3.Loss rate
The third fundamental problem is losses. A number of different types of losses may occur,
depending on the particular network under consideration. For example, wired packet networks
such as the Internet are afflicted by packet loss, where an entire packet is erased (lost). On the
other hand, wireless channels are typically afflicted by bit errors or burst errors. Losses can have
a very destructive effect on the reconstructed video quality.

8. HOW STREAMING AUDIO AND VIDEO(MEDIA) WORKS?

1. Streaming video and audio files are compact and efficient, but the best ones start out as
very large, high-quality files often known as raw files.
2. These are high-quality digital files or analog recordings that have been digitized, and they
haven’t been compressed or distorted in any way. Although you can watch a streaming

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 file on an ordinary tv, editing the raw file requires lots of storage space and processing
power.
3. It might seem strange that a file that ends up nimble and efficient started out large and
unwieldy. The reason is that the compression process, required to make an ordinary file
into a streaming file, lowers the file's quality.
4. During compression, blurry, low-quality videos or hard-to-hear audio recordings will
only get worse.
5. Before you even compress a file, you can reduce its size without lowering its quality:
● Make the picture smaller: me rate means fewer total images and less data needed to recreate
them. The reduction in frame rate is why some streaming videos flicker -- the frame rate is slow
enough that your eye and brain sense the transitions between pictures.

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 Figure.4. Streaming Video And Audio

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9. STREAMING BANDWIDTH AND STORAGE
A broadband speed of 2.5 Mbps or more is recommended for streaming movies, for example to
an Apple TV, Google TV or a Sony TV Blu-ray Disc Player, 10 Mbps for High Definition
content. Streaming media storage size is calculated from the streaming bandwidth and length of
the media using the following formula (for a single user and file):
Storage size (in megabytes) = length (in seconds) × bit rate (in bit/s) / (8 × 1024 × 1024)
Real world example:
One hour of video encoded at 300 kbit/s (this is a typical broadband video as of 2005 and it is
usually encoded in a 320 × 240 pixels window size) will be:
● (3,600 s × 300,000 bit/s) / (8×1024×1024) requires around 128 MiB of storage.
If the file is stored on a server for on-demand streaming and this stream is viewed by 1,000
people at the same time using a Unicast protocol, the requirement is:
● 300 kbit/s × 1,000 = 300,000 kbit/s = 300 Mbit/s of bandwidth
This is equivalent to around 135 GB per hour. Of course, using a multicast protocol the
server sends out only a single stream that is common to all users. Hence, such a stream would
only use 300 kbit/s of serving bandwidth. See below for more information on these protocols.
Assumptions: speed at the encoder, is 500 kbit/s. If the show last for 3 hours, with 3000
viewers then the calculation is:
● .Number of MB transferred = encoder speed (in bps) × number of seconds × number of
viewer / (8*1024*1024)
● .Number of MB transferred = 500.000 (bps) × 3 × 3600 ( = 3 hours) × 3000 (nbr of viewers) /
(8*1024*1024) = 1931190 MB

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10. THE ADVANTAGES OF DESKTOP STREAMING:
1. No waiting for complete downloads—well, not “much” waiting, anyway.

2. Streamed fi les are not written to disk—they are processed and played as they are
received, then discarded, leaving no residual copy of the content on the receiving
device, and thereby alleviating copyright concerns.

3. Streaming is capable of conveying live events around the globe in near real time.

4. Supports interactivity, allowing content to be experienced in a non-linear manner.

5. Video-on-demand, for example, can be chaptalized, allowing users to jump to desired

portions.

6. Streaming content is an excellent way to enhance otherwise static Web sites.

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11.APPLICATION OF DESKTOP STREAMING

11.1 Math Instruction and Enhanced by Technology for Diverse Learners

● Helping students that struggle in math is all about differentiating. Teachers understand
this in language arts, but rarely transfer those instructional strategies to the mathematics
classroom. In my experience mathematics, unlike some other subjects, is very textbook
driven. The use of re-teaching, or enrichment black line masters is about the extent of the
differentiating in many classrooms.

● Our students today learn in different ways. Math instruction needs to change to meet the
needs of these children. New teaching strategies are needed and lessons need to be
redesigned, and technology needs to be incorporated into the lessons to actively engage
the learner.

11.2 Interactivity to Increase Achievement

● Some students know the concepts

before they are introduced while
others need it reviewed seventeen
times. Traditional methods do not
reach all students. Let’s take an
elementary example of
understanding subtraction through
the use of base ten blocks. In the
early grades we use manipulative
to help students visualize trading
one “rod” of ten units for ten units.
Many students understand that the
trade is “even”, but so many others
can’t make that leap because the
reality is the “rod” is still
connected.
Fffigure:5 Interactive study

Creative teachers have tried MANY strategies and still we have students that struggle to
understand the concept. Turn to an innovative web site and let students see the “rod” dissolve.

● This is just one example of great ways to incorporate ethnology to help the struggling
learners. Every teacher needs a backpack of resources aligned to the curriculum in an
easy to access digital filing cabinet. I add to my math filing cabinet each time I discover a
new resource, this type of organization would help all educators have the resources they
need when a student needs to look at a concept in new ways.

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 11.3 Handheld Computers for Students

● One to one computing is the future and as costs have come down, new worlds are opening for
students that struggle with organization, need more repetition and need alternate ways to learn a
topic. Beam the handout to the student as they enter class and that student immediately files the
memo without searching for a pencil. That students has the document or the full chapter of the
textbook with them 24/7, no more books left the night before the test. The small keyboard works
great as students complete the work or access the Internet to collect research. Back in class the
student beams the document to the group for review before the test. When done beam back to the
teacher’s handheld, a hot sync by the teacher and everything is saved in the digital filing cabinet.

Figure:6 mobile application

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12. CONCLUSION
On-demand software delivery is a hot topic in the computer world. They can virtualize the local
installation and stream the applications -- and even the operating system -- from a central
distribution server in real time. The Citrix technologies are using streaming technology to
manage the desktop application environments in the company's 300-seat call center.
Application streaming technology takes advantage of the fact that LANs are getting faster
additional application and operating system components are fetched as needed once the system is
up and running. As a result of this applications can be maintained and updated on central servers.
The proliferation of fat clients and distributed applications has been the result of a natural
progression from centralized, inflexible computing to decentralized computing focused on user
productivity. Managing this new world has been difficult for IT and Security teams. This,
coupled with the rising cost of licensing and Help Desk operations, is causing organizations to
look for a ‘better way.’

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 13. References:

1. A Streaming Media Primer by Dynamic Media Group.

2. Video streaming : concepts , algorithm and systems by John G.APostopoulos ,Wai-tian Tan
J.Wee
3. Anthes, G. (2007, March). “The Virtual Desktop is here”, ComputerWorld, retrieved
June 29, 2007 from
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=282928

4. Microsoft (2007). Application Virtualization. Retrieved 13 Aug 2007, from

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/softgrid/evaluation/virtualization.mspx

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