SBIR Phase I: Implementation, Testing and Refinement of a Hybrid Distributed / Traditional System for Broadcasting Live and Pre-Recorded Content to Large Online Audiences

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目专注于实施、测试和改进混合分布式/传统系统，以便以低成本向大量在线受众播放实时和预先录制的内容。传统的在线流媒体方式不太适合向广大观众提供电视式的“线性”订阅源。主要的限制是，广播公司承担的带宽成本随着受众规模的增加而同步增加--观看的人越多，广播公司的成本就越高。点对点系统可以将内容分发成本从出版商转移到有兴趣获得该内容副本的最终消费者身上。该建议直接解决了向终端用户保证特定服务质量(特定流比特率)的问题，而不管他们重复广播的能力如何。通过将广播流分割成组件，并使用传统的在线广播解决方案来增强广播系统，可以消除带宽瓶颈，为消费者提供高质量的观看体验，同时继续大幅降低广播公司的带宽成本。该项目的商业潜力巨大。通过实施独特的“增强服务器”架构来提供不能以分布式方式有效传输的广播信号的那些部分，由此产生的混合分布式/传统在线广播解决方案将结合更低的成本和更高的质量。一旦得到证实，这种功能组合很可能会对正在寻找有效利用互联网以接触更多观众的方法的广播公司产生吸引力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on the implementation, testing, and refinement of a hybrid distributed / traditional system for broadcasting live and pre-recorded content to large online audiences at low cost. Traditional approaches to streaming media online are not well suited for delivering television-style "linear" feeds to large audiences. The primary constraint is that the bandwidth costs shouldered by the broadcaster increase in lock step with increasing audience size -- the more people who watch; the more it costs the broadcaster. Peer-to-peer systems can shift content distribution costs from publishers to end-consumers interested in obtaining a copy of that content. This proposal directly addresses the issue of guaranteeing a specific quality of service (a particular streaming bit rate) to end-users, regardless of their ability to repeat the broadcast. By segmenting the broadcast stream into components and augmenting the broadcast system with a traditional online broadcast solution, the bandwidth bottleneck can be removed, providing consumers with a high quality viewing experience, while continuing to significantly reduce broadcaster bandwidth costs.The commercial potential of this project is significant. By implementing a unique "augmentation server" architecture to deliver those portions of a broadcast signal that can not be effectively transmitted in a distributed manner, the resulting hybrid distributed / traditional online broadcast solution will combine lower cost with increased quality. Once proven, this combination of features is likely to prove attractive to broadcasters who are searching for ways to effectively utilize the Internet to reach larger audiences.