Swedish VoD server firm Edgeware and US based Minerva networks, the IPTV middleware specialist, have brought both product lines together for a new advanced Over The Top (OTT) TV service.
The two players are leaders in their field with Sweden’s Edgeware building servers which can offer VoD video streams from Flash memory based servers on either the internet or over QoS controlled telco networks. Minerva has hoovered up many of the smaller incumbent telcos in the US to help introduce IPTV services.
Last week Minerva introduced its new xTVFusion platform which would offer VoD, network DVR, fast channel change and video retransmission over any broadband network to any connected device. The xTVFusion software will support all types of content including adaptive streaming content over the internet and support for both managed and unmanaged broadband networks, as well as many device types including set-tops, PCs, tablets, smart phones.
It is being pitched at not just IPTV operators but also Cablecos, Satellite DTH suppliers and ISPs and Broadcasters.
Edgeware announced its Quality of Experience (QoE) function at the Telco TV show, as part of its architecture for adding Fast Channel Change and UDP Video Retransmission, this last sounds like the resending of lost video packets, which can’t be done in a multicast, and has to fall back to a unicast system.
It looks to us like the Fast Channel Change is enabled the same way that Microsoft innovated in Mediaroom back in around 2004, when it calls for the most recently produced I-Frame using a UDP call to what Microsoft dubbed D servers, in the network. The Edgeware servers, which are like local VoD appliances, are an ideal place to tackle this problem. Usually IPTV systems have to wait until the next I-Frame comes around, often over half a second, in order to get enough data to render the in between frames. Otherwise IPTV systems can take as much as 2 seconds to change channels, and sometimes more when using H.264 compression.
In September Edgeware was one of five technology partners at IBC, the others being BeeSmart, NetView, Zenterio and Verimatrix, who launched an entire OTT WebTV solution
Edgeware’s chief executive officer, Joachim Roos stated, ‘We have been working with Minerva for some time and have been highly impressed by their technology, products and commitment to bringing innovative, reliable and effective solutions to their customers. They have a well proven and highly successful offering and we are proud to be working with them to bring our unique technology and approach to the market as an integrated part of Minerva’s xTVFusion platform.’
This whole thing gives local IPTV operators in the US a chance to compete with the features of Google and Apple TV, and harness OTT and interactive services.