Re: [rtcweb] Status of realtime/live streaming to large audiences

On Thu, 15 Aug 2013 11:10:24 -0400
Basil Mohamed Gohar <basilgohar@librevideo.org> wrote:

> This question may be naïve relative to others' knowledge to how rtcweb
> is intended to work, but I would like to bring up the issue so that a
> discussion exists on this list exists that unambiguously addresses the
> question, and can be referred to at a later date when the topic comes-up
> elsewhere.  My apologies if this, too, has already been done!
> 
> My question involves the usage of rtcweb in single-broadcaster/multiple
> listener scenario, such as streaming a real-time/live event that
> includes either audio or audio/video content, with a large audience.
> Imagine, for example, a setup that is related to distance learning, with
> one teacher and many students.
> 
> I know that theoretically, rtcweb should support this, but I wanted to
> make sure that such a setup is actually explicitly allowed and even
> designed for, because it is a usage case that is currently unavailable
> to a large portion of users that would like to use a free software-only
> solution.
> 
> The previous best case was Icecast, but that is not meant for
> low-latency streaming by design.  rtcweb, I understand, is exactly for that.
> 
> With that out of the way, I am also interested in knowing what solution
> implementing rtcweb already exist that can manage and/or handle this
> usage scenario (one broadcaster, many listeners).  The previous
> solutions seem to use almost exclusively a Flash client using rtsp-based
> solution.  The quality is variable and late packets are usually dropped
> so as to ensure the user is only seeing real-time data, even at degraded
> quality momentarily.
> 
> I am interested in further discussion on this topic, so I welcome any
> insight anyone may have into using rtcweb in this manner.
> 
> Thanks for indulging me!

Hi Basil,

we've been working exactly in that direction lately, that is a large scale streaming solution based on WebRTC called SOLEIL. I personally believe that WebRTC is perfect for the purpose, as, making use of RTP, it is absolutely suited for an as-real-time-as-possible feed. Besides, it is integrated in the browser as existing streaming solutions based on Flash/Silverlight are, which can be seen as a "selling point" as well. About your question, I think this is a scenario the current WebRTC spec is already designed for as it is, at least from a specification point of view that is.

We don't have anything usable yet, as we've mostly focused on the backend (topology, statistics, etc.) so far, but we hope to have something ready soon.

Lorenzo

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Lorenzo Miniero, COB

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