- Tomasz Stępiński-Ustasiak
- 7 February 2023
- Bez kategorii
Content Delivery Networks
The traditional way of consuming media is becoming a thing of the past.
The previous approach in which TV had bigger budgets, produced and aired the same programs for everyone, does not seem to suit modern consumers who are accustomed to the conveniences of the Internet and want to choose tailored content . The time, the medium, the length and the way of content is viewed and consumed are changing dramatically, and users expectations are increasing.
Where is the technology of the future heading?
The answer to these challenges is CDN – or Content Delivery Networks – in development over the past several years
What does it consist of?
It is a globally dispersed network of so-called IXPs (Internet Exchange Points), whose task is to deliver the best possible quality content available to many users in the shortest possible time. They make it possible to transfer a large amount of data, including video files, while ensuring adequate transfer quality and high availability of the service
Information, videos and other content aren’t stored locally. They’re stored on individual servers around the world, and depending on where the user is, the content is uploaded to the nearest server, thus minimizing delays, increasing security and securing against cyber attacks.
LowLatency
Are you annoyed when you’re watching a game and your neighbors are celebrating a goal 15 seconds earlier while you don’t know who scored?
What if you’re not the only one frustrated? What if your customers are too?
In video streaming, low latency (LowLatency) is the time it takes to transmit data from glass to glass, that is, from the camera to the subscriber’s receiver. The problem in business, however, is not the latency itself but the synchronization of latency, or rather the lack thereof.
In densely populated centers, access to content, including “live” content, is provided to subscribers by various media. Increasing penetration of OTT services has demonstrated a certain technological disadvantage in this distribution channel, which can hinder the emotional experience: a higher latency for the same channel than through broadcast distribution techniques.
Live broadcasting of sports events is the service where the issue of Low Latency streaming is key. The World Cup, or the European soccer championships are one example where the issue of the difference in latency for different distribution channels becomes visible. Events of this type generate record traffic and a high level of excitement. Classic OTT linear channel distribution versus DVB/IPTV can be delayed by up to 30s! The effect – easy to guess! An OTT viewer can hear that a counter-attack has succeeded or failed before they see it.
At the beginning of 2020, commercially available solutions appeared on the market, providing Low Latency streaming capabilities. Although the setup of such a channel itself requires a holistic approach to the distribution track, the main component is the use of a new segment streaming standard:
- common media application format (CMAF) – creating sub-segments called low latency chunks (LLC) in the range of a few hundred ms of content;
- chunked transfer encoding (CTE) – a data transfer mechanism in which the server does not know the final size of the object being sent. Consequently, it does not insert a content-length header into the response.
#technology #data #tv #CDN
Security in CDN
Security in CDN – new challenges for the system.
More and more events and programs are and will be available when broadcast rights are bought. The growing exclusivity of content is placing new demands on its providers and setting trends for the distribution infrastructure.
Do you buy broadcast rights?
Do you do it directly with the operator or via intermediary sites?
This is important, because there is a phenomenon which involves the hacking of premium content re-stramming in which fake companies charge for illegal content sharing. Unfortunately, as a result, the viewer who orders services from the operator receives a lower quality product.
That’s why the restrictions imposed by broadcast owners on broadcasters and operators require a multi-level content security strategy. This is especially true for premium broadcasts, such as #4K quality content.
It is not uncommon for an OTT operator’s level of security to determine the allocation of sports broadcasting rights within a geographic area.
Main security used to be based on DRM mechanisms (Origin Server area) or other authentication and authorization mechanisms in the application backend system area.
Currently, security in the CDN system is deployed on many levels making it difficult to define a specific and unique solution in system terms.
The main tenets of security assurance can be divided into:
- anomaly detection
- flexible geoblocking
- blocking of sources with bad reputation
- user identification via token
- overlaying of a unique watermark in a broadcast or transmission
- providing a repository of logs from the CDN and archiving user interactions with elements of the distribution infrastructure.
Currently, the market leaders in broadcast security are the largest providers like Akamai, Lumen or cloud solution CDN providers (Amazon, Google CDN). In Poland, Red CDN product from Redge Technologies is leading the way in terms of security.
#Technology #safety #tv
CDN – Programmatic
The pressure on modern TV is growing!
Today, consumers want access to increasingly engaging content anytime, anywhere and on multiple screens that they can customize and individualize.
What does this mean for a CDN provider?
To meet these needs and address the potential multiple consumption modes the broadcaster must:
– make the same content available simultaneously in different formats and technologies
– use a distribution system that responds quickly to the evolving and ever-emerging fields of transmission
Thus, it is no longer possible to maintain dedicated client-side technologies (middleware, Client-Side Ad Insertion). The breadth and speed of technology obsolescence are driving the management of client-side services back to the server side, using natively available technologies on client devices.
New era of DAI
The new era of DAI – dynamic ad insertion
That is, how to make money from CDN ads
How to do it.
In an era of rising content acquisition costs, increasing revenue from each potential viewer becomes crucial. Consumers want to see more and more interesting and engaging content, with customization.
It’s natural for us to view individually tailored ads over the Internet, social media or apps. When you’re looking for a washing machine or shoes, ads on sites will prompt you with new options in those categories, using history sourced from cookies, among other things.
When we watch classic TV, the ad block is the same for everyone. But what if we use a player, a smartphone app, a computer or TV?
This is when Programatic, Client-Side Ad Insertion or DAI technologies apply.
The benefits are mutual, the user gets ads better tailored to his needs, and the broadcasters can offer marketers an effective way to reach their target group at a higher rate.
DAI so far integrated each time with an ad server has resulted in:
- poor #userexperience related to buffering when the player switches between playlist clips
- use of AdBlocks by consumers to bypass ads
The implementation of Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) class systems enables a bufferless transition from content to ad and then back to content, providing an analogous user experience to broadcast TV. At the same time, from the player’s side, the signal is visible as a single, continuous video stream, rather than a playlist as with CSAI. This completely prevents the effective use of AdBlock plug-ins by the client.
#technology #advertisement #DAI