Internet2 Leverages Dynamic Circuits for Uncompressed HD Video, UltraGrid

The first uncompressed high-definition videoconference application over a dynamic circuit network (DCN) is being showcased at this week's annual Internet2 Fall Member Meeting in New Orleans. The demo will showcase the use of "iHDTV" software to host a live tour of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Control Center in France.


Developed by the ResearchChannel and the University of Washington, iHDTV will be used to stream uncompressed 1080i high-definition video between the conference floor in New Orleans and LHC's Control Center at CERN in Prevessin, France. The technology interoperates internationally across three DCN network domains including the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI), Internet2 and US LHCNet.


At the conference, Internet2 and its partners also plan to highlight the use of UltraGrid high-definition video technology. Initially developed via a NSF grant to University of Southern California/Information Sciences Institute, the UltraGrid application has is now primarily developed by the Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic and is supported by CESNET. The technology will link Louisiana State University (LSU) Professor Thomas Sterling to students located in Brno, Czech Republic to showcase how advanced virtual collaboration technology can revolutionize the global educational environment. The video will also utilize international DCN connections across multiple circuit domains including LONI, Internet2 and the GÉANT2 AutoBAHN networks.


The data for the UltraGrid demo will be distributed by application- level modular programmable UDP packet reflectors that have been developed over the past five years by CESNET and Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies. This technology allows for independence on network-native multicast, while it is possible to process the data in per-user specific way.


Both iHDTV and UltraGrid technologies are under active development by the research and education community. Through the iHD DevCore partnership, the community is currently investigating how to create interoperability between these platforms to enable more widespread adoption of uncompressed high-definition video technology.http://www.internet2.edu