Visual Communications for Distance Learning
Using Hybrid MPEG Technologies

A University of California Case Study

On February 18, 2003, the University of California hosted a lecture on Smallpox from its campus at UC Davis. The lecture was broadcast live to viewers worldwide; to PCs, TVs, PDA’s and other viewing devices. This white paper explains the equipment, networks, and services used to make this event a success.

University of California, Davis
The live smallpox lecture took place at the Medical Center on the University of California, Davis campus. In the auditorium, the UC Davis technicians placed a camera, microphone and a VBrick 6200 MPEG-2 encoder/decoder. The VBrick converted the audio and video to MPEG-2 at a rate of 6 Mbps. The stream was delivered to the Ethernet network on a multicast IP address (allows multiple users to view the same stream without flooding the network). From the UC Davis campus the live stream was transported to Internet2 advanced networks.

UC Davis Internet2 Multicast
The MPEG-2 stream was available for viewing by anyone at a multicast-enabled location connected to Internet2 advanced networks. Using VBrick’s StreamPlayer software, students and faculty were able to watch the lecture on their PC’s in full motion and DVD quality.

UCTV Decoding and Editing
The multicast stream was received at UCTV (La Jolla) and decoded with a VBrick 6200 MPEG-2 decoder. Once in analog form, UCTV performed real-time editing and text insertion. The quality of the video and audio had been preserved because of the high quality encoding (MPEG-2).

UCTV Broadcast
The edited video and audio was then placed back into the A/V switch for distribution over satellite, cable, and the Internet. Using VBrick’s VBXcast MPEG-4 encoder, UCTV streamed a single 250 Kbps stream to the Internet. The destination of the stream was Powerstream, an Internet webcasting/reflector service. Powerstream received the stream and was able to replicate it as needed, allowing thousands of viewers worldwide to tune in.

UCTV Internet Viewing
Anyone on the Internet with a connection of 250Kbps or higher was able to view the live broadcast at their desktop. Using the new MPEG-4 compression technology the video and audio quality was excellent considering the bandwidth. To view the lecture, users were directed to go to a website (www.vbrick.com/mpeg4/uctv). The MPEG-4 stream is compatible with standard viewers such as Real Networks or Apple Quicktime.

Conclusion
The University of California was able to reach a large audience by using hybrid MPEG technologies (MPEG-2 and MPEG-4). The MPEG-2 permitted viewers at multicast-enabled locations on Internet2 networks to watch the video in DVD quality on PCs or TVs. The MPEG-4 technology enabled users not connected to an Internet2 advanced network to also view the same video by just clicking on weblink. This technique can allow Internet2 member universities to extend their distance learning programs without being hampered by the network.