Streaming Media and RTOS: 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2016

“What are my tech predictions for 2016? #tech2016”

We are closing towards end of 2015, Fantastic year for Cloud and associated technologies. Many Big mergers and acquisitions changed whole economics of the industry. 2016 would also be focusing on many related technologies. Some of following M&A changed complete dynamics of the industry i.e. Dell & EMC, Charter Communications & TWC, Intel & Altera, Avago & Broadcom, NXP & Freescale and more.

I think following top 10 tech trends will be in focus during 2016.

Commercial Drone, Hybrid Console and Cloud Games

The use of drones has typically been the place of enthusiasts – interested in flying drones as a hobby because people enjoy flying and/or enjoy creating videos of surrounding scenery. However, drones are no longer just the personal toys of the enthusiasts and have been opened up to a wider commercial purpose.

We expect to see more of this innovation during 2016 and over the next 5 years.

2. The Device Mesh

A variety of other trends have led to an increased number of sensors embedded in many technologies and devices that we use personally and professionally. They become smarter as they gather more data on our daily patterns. More apps are being built to be plugged together, and the value of the combination is much greater than the sum of the parts. So much focus on this from industry and analysts.(Gartner in particular)

3.Virtual Reality & Consumer Robotics

2015 is already been a successful year for this field which showcase some information about both Virtual reality and robotics and it is believed that next year will be a ground breaking year for this emerging technology (robot called Pepper was launched on the market in June in Japan). It is anticipated that over the upcoming several years there will be considerable uptake of solutions in this area. This is likely to be particularly impactful in the entertainment industry, but it will also have ramifications for healthcare and industry.

4. 5G

With 4G seeming as if it only just launched yesterday, anyway 5G is just around the corner. There are reportedly plans to test a 5G network in Europe by End of 2015 but real momentum starts in 2016, and some of the big companies in this sector like Huawei, Ericsson and KPN are already involved. Verizon Wireless is planning to field test 5G and aims to put actual services onto the market by 2017.

5. QOE, IoT & IOE (IoT/IoE Architecture & Platforms)

Daily consumption of High definition videos, uninterrupted IP video delivery continues to grow, which needs to have tools to make ensure quality levels. While Quality of Experience (QOE)/ QOS indexes are most widely utilized in video delivery. These matrixes are used to validate how users perceive towards the specific technology and their usage behaviors. Ref :https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/video-streaming-qoe-reach-500-million-2020-rajeev-tiwari-acp-?trk=pulse_spock-articles

IoT platforms complement the vast network of applications and services architecture an organization can govern. Management, security and integration standards of IoT platforms are the core to building elements in the Internet of Things as a whole.

Standards in the IoT/IoE platforms also help to set the capabilities for communicating and controlling endpoints in the IoT/IoE, along with its security and overall management

 6. Adaptive Security Architecture & Advanced Systems Architecture

Developers should find new ways for perimeter defense, to detect, respond, and predict attacks through continuous blocking and adapting application scenarios. Apps should have ways to protect themselves, with security people involved at the design phase; and this needs to be supported by test and field diagnostics. Its mandatory to be reviewed by systems that continuously analyzes user and entity behavior. New architectures built around field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are being used for things such as face recognition. Due to adaptive changes in technology and gadgets its very important to have such architecture in place for personal and professional security.

7.SSDs take a bigger bite out of the data center

Already flash beats spinning disk in price-performance for IOPS-intensive applications such as VDI or high-performance databases, because equally perform ant spinning disk requires so many spindles to keep up. All-flash arrays and SSD-packed servers are no longer rare. Plus, everyone is excited about 3D NAND, which will offer much higher SSD capacities and performance. Many big players have filled their data centers with SSD’s for better power conservation and Performance reasons.

8.Advanced Machine Learning

Fundamental and research-level topics around machine learning problems mostly with discrete and combinatorial structures. Example problems, mathematical models and representations (structured prediction, estimation with sparsity structure, graphs, negative correlations and diversity, etc.) and suitable algorithmic techniques using smooth and non-smooth convex optimization, decomposition techniques, sub-modular and combinatorial optimization. People will need to engage at a higher level as a result.

 9. Bluetooth beacons

Bluetooth powered Beacons 'lighthouses' – are now being installed in shopping malls, museums, hotels, airports and even offices that can track the exact location of a smartphone or smart watch wearer, and send them real-time notifications. So far it's been rather lamely talked up as a way of texting vouchers to passing shoppers, but beyond mobile commerce the spread of intelligent, wireless Bluetooth beacon hardware also means indoor mapping and much, much more. At any rate, Bluetooth beacons are about to emerge as the links within, and between, the Internet of Things, the smart city and the smart home.

10.The hybrid cloud gets real

Difficult work “hybrid cloud.” Was it supposed to mean integration between on-premises infrastructure and the public cloud? The integration of any two clouds? If it required a private cloud set up like a public cloud, well, so few of the former exist, the hybrid cloud might as well be mythical.

Conclusion:

Other important areas could get attentions i.e, payment gateways, Smart robotics, SmartCar’s,Bitcoin technology, Cloud based video games, Fitness wearables and Self-charging phones
check following links:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-strategic-technology-trends-2016-rajeev-tiwari-acp-

Friday, December 11, 2015

Video Streaming QOE to Reach ~$500 Million by 2020

Reference: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/video-streaming-qoe-reach-500-million-2020-rajeev-tiwari-acp-?trk=pulse_spock-articles

Everyday video consumption growing and current infrastructure is not capable to support it, so underplaying Content delivery networks, have been forced to scale to keep up; even with best scaling algorithms or best available Hardware’s, single CDN architecture is not enough for current video usage. As 4K, 8K and now 11K (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/11k-mobile-display-3d-capabilities-rajeev-tiwari-acp- ) and higher bitrates become more commonplace.

This continuous momentum will affect even small operators. The increasing shift Dynamic CDN architectures to better handle this network load goes hand in hand with QoE and QOS;

Dynamic CDN setups can be handed by a big telecom giant and sometimes in a singular product. Mobile networks will also add valuable points, with an estimated 150,000+ petabytes of mobile video streaming usage predicted in 2019, the importance of mobile network optimization and QoE will continue to affect a majority of viewers.

Irrespective of mobile video streaming or traditional telecom providers service providers are primarily focused on minimizing the Quality of experience, which can reduce content delivery on mobile devices without any unwanted delay. Number of new innovations added around Congestion detection, Congestion minimization, Congestion elimination, Dynamic Bandwidth shaping, effective network topologies etc. and many more Biggest challenge for telecom operators to reduce the RTT delivery.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Gstreamer Basics

Friday, October 2, 2015

Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud Computing Types

Reality or Hype,Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud Computing Types

Cloud computing comes in three forms: public clouds, private clouds, and hybrids clouds. Depending on the type of data you're working with, you'll want to compare public, private, and hybrid clouds in terms of the different levels of security and management required

Public Cloud
A public cloud is one in which the services and infrastructure are provided off-site over the Internet. These clouds offer the greatest level of efficiency in shared resources; however, they are also more vulnerable than private clouds. A public cloud is the obvious choice when

Used to run operations significantly more efficient, for example, with the storage of non-sensitive content, like online document collaboration, emails and more.

Your standardized workload for applications is used by lots of people, such as e-mail.

You need to test and develop application code.

You have SaaS (Software as a Service) applications from a vendor who has a well-implemented security strategy.

You need incremental capacity (the ability to add computer capacity for peak times).

You’re doing collaboration projects.

You’re doing an ad-hoc software development project using a Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering cloud.

Private Cloud

A private cloud allows customers the benefits of cloud computing—self-service, automation, consolidation and metered usage—but behind the safety of their firewall on their own virtual private network. Although there are many advantages to the public cloud, enterprises very rarely deploy 100% of their applications into the public cloud. Logistically, it is often much simpler to move from your on-premises environment to a private cloud than from on-premises to public cloud. Private cloud environments can be configured to support any application, just as your datacenter currently hosts it. Private cloud is an especially attractive option if certain features in legacy applications prevent some applications from operating well in the public cloud.

Ideally suited for any organization that needs to store and process private data or carry out sensitive tasks. A private cloud could be utilized by companies that are required by regulation to store sensitive data internally and who will still want to benefit from some of the advantages of cloud computing inside their business infrastructure, like on-demand resource allocation.

Hybrid Cloud:
With hybrid clouds, organizations mix and match public- and private-cloud resources based on technical and business requirements. For example, an organization may run an application primarily in its private cloud, but tap into public-cloud resources during periods of peak demand. Or it may run an application primarily in a public- cloud environment while keeping some data relating to that application in its private cloud for compliance reasons.

A hybrid cloud could also theoretically consist of multiple private and/or public clouds. The enterprise data center denoted in the illustration may have active servers (virtualized or physical) that are not included in the private cloud.

Important benefits o Operational flexibility: run mission critical on private cloud, dev/test on public cloud o Scalability: run peak and bursty workloads on the public cloud.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Myth vs Hype >> Cloud with SDN

Cloud Computing is the use of data center servers and software networks to dynamically allocate resources and run Applications for remote end users. Typically divided into three categories (private, public, and hybrid) cloud deployments have grown rapidly in recent years, promising cost savings and greater flexibility over traditional private data centers.

Virtualization is key for cloud computing. By allowing physical servers to run one or more virtual machines on demand, cloud architectures offer rapid scaling and efficient allocation of server resources on the fly.

Cloud technology including Public Private and Hybrid explained at following article http://streamingcodecs.blogspot.com/2015/10/public-private-and-hybrid-cloud.html Private cloud refers to cloud infrastructure dedicated to a single company and accessed by a private network connection, operating on servers managed either internally or by a third-party provider. For many organizations in highly regulated industries, private clouds remain the solution of choice. Cloud infrastructure platforms such as OpenStack offer a framework for private cloud deployment and management, and a bevy of vendors have begun releasing supported versions of the open source platform.

The public cloud refers to services such as Amazon Web Services, which sell server resources (rather than dedicated physical servers) accessed over a public network such as the Internet.

Hybrid cloud (sometimes called “cloud bursting”) is the combination of multiple clouds. For example, a company could use public cloud services to handle temporary bursts of activity that exceed private cloud capacity. Some companies also use private clouds for certain sensitive business units while hosting less critical applications on the public cloud.

The equally important characteristics to successful cloud networks including: (from Brocade Open analysis report)

· Scalable and high performance

· Extensible and interoperable

· Policy and automation driven

· Software-centric

· Content-aware

· Multi-domain/multi-tenant

· Secure

Combining a variety of virtual and physical components, the networking portion of the cloud solution is much more complicated and comprehensive than typical networking solutions. Most clouds include a network orchestration or virtualization piece that provides abstractions to hide the complexity necessary to maintain and scale these clouds and make them much more manageable.

Clouds, cloud networks and related technologies will drive a significant shift in the networking market in the years ahead.

Agile, responsive enterprises are built on agile, responsive neatly into this philosophy. They reduce network complexity, adapt easily to change and enable you to respond quickly to business needs.  SDNs can trigger a dramatic revolution in data center efficiency. It’s difficult to deliver services and keep competitive with infrastructure designed for a simpler, less complicated time. During the era of client-server computing, most network traffic flowed from the data center to the clients in what’s known as a north-south traffic flow. Infrastructure. Software-defined networks (SDN) fit

Four ways to create an SDN

Create a flexible, adaptive path forward solution, regardless of the SDN approach you choose

The programmable approach. Many networking companies rely on a standards-based, programmable SDN approach that eliminates any dependency on proprietary software. You can implement programmable — as well as traditional and controller-based — networking solutions on one common platform. Open Z and S series switches support the Cumulus Networks Linux-based operating system for networking hardware, and networking operating System, and others.

Data packet payload manipulation and Service deployment:

On-box encryption and VPN, customized encryption algorithms, deep packet inspection, application awareness requiring payload inspection, ability to inject packets into a network stream Open Flow has no ability to instantiate a service directly on a network element. Service examples include firewall, Wide Area Application Services (WAAS), intrusion protection system (IPS) software, SDN Enabled broadband network gate (BNG), video monitoring, etc.

The centralized-controller approach:The Open Network Foundation, NEC and Big Switch Networks place control at the edge of the network with SDN controllers that support multiple network switching and routing devices. You can implement this approach with your choice of NEC and Big Switch Networks joint solutions.

The virtualization/hypervisor approach. VMware, Midokura and Microsoft use software-defined virtual switches to control the network — without requiring SDN/Open flow in the switching hardware. You can implement this approach with your choice of VMware, Microsoft and Midokura joint solutions.

Cloud architectures have become pervasive across data centers, enterprises, and communication service providers, but the “cloud” is more than just architecture, it is also an approach and a mindset. In today’s social, mobile world, cloud applications have to scale dramatically and fail fast or succeed fast, and the new IT infrastructure has to support these requirements.

Fifty five percent of enterprises today use cloud computing, and more than sixty percent of businesses expect to have external-facing applications in the cloud within the next two to three years.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Internet of Everything (IOE)

Many people are familiar with the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). Which defines it as "a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data." Therefore, it's not surprising that people might be confused when we start talking about the Internet of Everything (IoE).
What? and Why are we talking about IOE? Is IoE simply a rebranding of IoT?
IOE is a technology concept that sees previously unconnected objects and processes being converged with the ones that are digital-first by their nature. This all-encompassing convergence of physical and digital domains is set to disrupt individual organizations and entire industries like nothing before.
According to Cisco IOE is"The latest wave in the Internet’s evolution, IoE is the networked connection of people, process, data, and things. It represents the confluence of multiple technology trends: mobility (ubiquitous high-speed mobile networks, smart devices, and apps); cloud computing; social networks; instant collaboration with anyone, anywhere; data analytics; and finally, an explosion in connected “things,” via inexpensive, intelligent sensors. IoE brings these elements together through standards-based IP networks, and Cisco projects that it will generate a staggering $19 trillion in value over the next 10 years”
ref: http://internetofeverything.cisco.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/public_sector_jurisdiction_top_ten_insights_final.pdf

IoE will continue to create a platform of connected solutions, sensors and networks built off of sometimes sensitive data and personal information. This platform is something that will always need to be secured – in fact, the security challenges that come with the IoE will only increase down the road. Security should be thought of as a process, not a tool or a solution.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

YouTube supports 8k videos Can your PC SUPORT It?

YouTube now supports 8K videos – not that your computer can play them yet.

The ad-supported VOD service has been upping its tech game of late, in an attempt to fend off rivals such as Twitch and Vimeo. 3D support was introduced a long time ago and now 360-degree videos and 60fps live streams are also possible.

This week, though, the first video has been uploaded to the site in 8K – a resolution with high pixels that nobody can actually watch it.

Some shots [were] simply scaled up by 125% from 6.1K to meet the 7.6K standard,” adds the video description.

Think your computer can handle the processing power required to display the 8K stream in Chrome or Safari or Mozilla? Have a go below, Comments welcome

8K VIdeo Ghost Towns in 8K

4K-8K Technology Blockers

Current Industry research shows about 24% of consumers indicated their intent to purchase a 4K TV in the next 6-9 months.

Company’s likes of LG, Sony and Samsung to Netflix and Google's YouTube are putting their money into TVs that pack more pixels. Several models are on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

4K offer about four times the number of pixels compared to high-definition or 1080p. As of now, you can watch a select list of more than 70 4K films and TV shows, such as Breaking Bad and The Amazing Spider-Man.

But, content providers and online distributors including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon have announced plans to stream content in 4K, including season two of Netflix's House of Cards. Some movies and shows are already being shot at this higher resolution, but despite the buzz, companies still have some significant hurdles to overcome.

Higher the Pixels, More the data consumption

An image with four times (8 times for the 8K) the pixels means a lot more data to transmit. In order to transmit such higher resolution we need good bandwidth that will cause more data consumption. YouTube and other video providers are still struggling to get this workout most of the YouTube 4K UHD videos totally un watchable or choppy or even streaming is not smooth. We need to upgrade the hardware to keep up with higher BW needs 4K/8K video streaming places huge overhead on broadband networks. There are certain limitation with current H.265 (or HEVC) and even Google's own VP9 compression standard, true broadcast-quality 4K requires around 23-29 Mbps of dedicated network capacity per stream.

When millions of people receiving 4K/8K streams, total network traffic will exceed 100's of petabyte. Looking around such massive amounts of video traffic, the biggest challenge facing the 4K/8K industry is the construction of network infrastructure that can deliver 4K/8Kstreams — without glitches or delays — to millions of users. re-engineering of the network infrastructure is required. Big players like Comcast already announce for 4K STB support.

Display port and capability also increased to support UHD streams.
However, yesterday’s legacy networks weren’t built for this type of bandwidth-heavy data transfer. And today’s HD and high-resolution video is putting even more strain on available network capacity.

With files only bound to get bigger as we head into the 4K and 8K era, it’s clear these legacy networks built to support limited SD video will not be able to cope with the increased demand. So, network architectures must evolve to efficiently and effectively support the transfer of next generation video formats. Specifically, the network must be both scalable to meet the significant bandwidth demands as well as programmable to deliver the exact service performance required. This transformation will involve the consolidation of multiple, discreet and single-use legacy networks into high capacity, secure and low-Latency packet-optical infrastructures. It’s easier to maintain picture quality when you can keep it in its raw form, Packet-optical networks have the capacity to transport HD and other video formats, and can do so far quicker than a legacy network. With coherent optical transmission, distance is not an issue as, so data transfers from an external venue (sports ground, for instance) to the studio are quick and relatively painless.

Fault/Disaster recovery is becoming more important, and having a plan for media and entertainment companies invariably requires the need to maintain constant access to in-production and archived content. A packet-optical network opens up greater options and resolutions when faced with a disaster like an unexpected network interruption or power outage as meshed optical connections can readily include a connection between a mirrored broadcast sites.

The driver of global demand, and the price drop, will be South Asia. More than million 4K TVs were sold in South asia in 2013-2014, with demand expected to keep growing. South Asia will lead the global demand for 4K/8K TV's for next few years..

http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-to-launch-4k-uhd-set-top-box

4K broadcasts already started

Though we’re still some way off getting live 4K TV broadcasts, there are certainly plans afoot. Firstly, the BBC has said it aims to broadcast 4K as ‘standard’ by 2016, following a comprehensive survey that found 23% of users would benefit from 4K broadcasts right now. And on the pay TV side, both BT and Sky are rumored to be preparing to launch 4K set-top boxes before the end of 2015.

Tata Sky, Comcast already announce their plans for 4K supported STB’s

It won’t happen overnight and there may not be an instant flood of content, but it’s clear that broadcasters think the market is now right to make the first step. Some major Changes from Big Giants in 4K broadcasting Space.

Apple TV’s 4K Future

The new Apple TV will be 4K capable, but not 4K enabled. This distinction is critical to understanding what’s really happening with Apple and television. And then, having tied-up the 5K rights, Apple would reveal that the 5K Apple TV can down-convert to 4K for “degraded” displays, the whole point having been tying-up the rights, not really streaming 5K.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 With 4K Displays

Currently rumored to launch as Galaxy Note 5, it is expected to feature a 2K (1600×2560) or 4K (2160×3840) Super AMOLED display while being powered by the firm’s own Exynos 7422 processor. Sam Mobile citing people familiar with the matter claims that the Exynos 7422 might be the South Korean company’s first all-in-one solution, which will include the CPU, GPU,RAM, storage and modem on a single chip CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and modem on a single chip

COMCAST SET TO RELEASE A 4K UHD CABLE BOX LATER THIS YEAR

While 4K UHD TVs have been on shelves for years, content that will actually utilize all those bursting extra pixels has been hard to come by, to say the least. However, subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity service may soon be able to see some 4K light at the end of the tunnel.

References:

1. http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-to-launch-4k-uhd-set-top-box

2. http://betanews.com/2015/05/28/apple-tvs-4k-future/

3. http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/samsung-galaxy-note-5-with-4k-display-and-project-zen-dual-edge-variant-tipped-690119

4. http://news.softpedia.com/news/French-Company-Presents-256-Core-28-nm-Processor-296942.shtml

5. http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/190130-displayport-1-3-unveiled-32-4-gbps-bandwidth-support-for-4k-60-fps-5k-and-8k