Octoshape

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Octoshape is a Grid casting streaming media server and client which uses an enhanced and secure version of peer to peer technology to minimize the bandwidth for any broadcaster, CDN, ISP or last mile provider to stream material.

Contents

[edit] How Octoshape works

Octoshape can be used to Grid cast audio (Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WMA) and/or video (FLV, WMV, MPEG-4, H.264 or VP3 and other codecs), or any other stream of data, over the Internet. Octoshape uses grid casting, which is a stream sharing system to minimize the load on bandwidth for the broadcaster, the content delivery network, the ISP or the mobile operator. The intention is that each listener will relay either part or all of the stream they download to several other nodes in the grid. The makers of Octoshape hope that sound and video will continue to play without interruption when peers log off.

[edit] Design points

The design of Octoshape is intended to provide the following advantages over conventional streaming technology:

  • Allow multicasters, particularly small or independent ones, to distribute their streams without need for much bandwidth, reducing their costs.
  • Allow (in theory) an infinite number of listeners as long as there are enough relays.
  • When a relay is lost, peers connected to the grid do not lose their connection to the stream and continue playing without interruption.

[edit] Limitations to consider

  • Since users' machines are employed as servers, running Octoshape may impose networking costs on the user as in any other P2P technology
  • Users must reflect on whether Octoshape's server features are allowed by their ISP's terms of service
  • Many providers who use Octoshape to provide their media streams do not inform their listeners of the technology being employed.

[edit] Availability

Octoshape is platform agnostic and implemented with Windows Media and Adobe Flash.

The Windows version of Octoshape is in use by large public broadcasters.[1][2] It is used by EBU to broadcast Eurovision Song Contest and related videos.

Octoshape was used for the largest and second largest live streaming events to date on the Internet:

1) CNN shattered the Internet live streaming record for the 2009 Presidential Inaugurations where CNN reported 1.34 Million simultaneous users during the swearing in of President Obama using Octoshape.

2) MichaelJackson.Com linked to CNN.Com Live for the live video of the funeral. CNN.Com Live uses Octoshape. The story is here.

The Octoshape plugin is the only 3rd party plugin approved for the Adobe Flash Player. It is used by some Internet radio stations, for example Radio Paradise, and also CNN. Full versions of Octoshape are available for Linux and Mac based systems but the Flash plugin allows for cross platform deployment.

Web Sites using the Octoshape Infinite Edge technology

CDN's Supporting Octoshape

[edit] Criticisms

Points of criticism:

  • Being closed source software prevents the internal functions of the software from being publicly examined for hidden functions and other security problems.
  • Shifts the broadcaster's share of the cost of bandwidth to the listeners instead by running servers on the listeners' machines.
  • May degrade the listener's network uplink connection due to the extra bandwidth load of the server component.
  • Octoshape reserves the right to expand the scope of what its software does on listener's computers. [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "DW-TV Live Stream Utilizes Peer-To-Peer Technology". Deutsche Welle. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1965486,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
  2. ^ Franc Kozamernik and Marco de Giorgi. "Prix Europa: results of the 2006 streaming media trial". http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_308-prix_europa.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
  3. ^ www.octoshape.com/play/EULA.pdf

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octoshape"
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