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This month we interviewed the founders of Sling Media to learn how IPTV can be used to allow consumers to access their television services from any broadband computer.
The Slingbox is a media gateway that allows television place shifting. Placeshifting is the viewing a program or information at a time other than that at which it was originally received. Place shifting allows for the viewing of media programs (such as movies or television channels) at any location that has a multimedia computer and a broadband connection.
Traditionally, movies and television programs that were pay for (subscribed) and delivered at specific time periods could not be viewed by the subscriber until they used a time shifting recording device (e.g. VCR). Time shifting is the storing of media or information so that it can be retrieved at a different time.
The Slingbox allows individuals anywhere-anytime access to their own living room television experience with no additional monthly service fees. This enables consumers to watch their cable, satellite, or digital video recorder
(DVR) programming from wherever they are. All they need is an Internet-connected laptop or desktop PC, a Slingbox and a broadband connection in their home. The Slingbox redirects or placeshifts a live TV stream from a cable box, satellite receiver, or PVR to the viewer's PC located anywhere in the home. If the Slingbox is coupled with a broadband Internet connection, the viewer's live TV stream can be placeshifted via the Internet to a PC located anywhere in the world. |
The story of Sling Media begins with the frustration of the founders Blake and Jason Krikorian from not being able to watch our Giants baseball games. They wanted to be able to watch the ballgames when we were on the road. This is when they devised the concept and prototype for what became the
Slingbox. They then saw that place shifting technology had the potential for many applications.
Sling views itself is a media solutions company. We develop software in a box of silicon instead of a box of cardboard. Our key Slingbox product is a convergence peripheral that merges PC and consumer television.
The Krikorian brothers explained that their place shifting technology can be used in a variety of different applications and is seamless helping people enjoy their TV experience wherever they happen to be located. If the viewing experience happens to be through a TiVo or a Comcast
DVR, we give you the same functionality such as recording, pausing, scheduling at other locations. The place shifting experience can be viewed on a multimedia PC or to PDAs and cell phones.
The SlingRemote takes on a unique look and feel depending on what type of device the user connects to the
Slingbox. It has been customized to allow interaction with many types of television accessories and remote control devices. This allows the viewer to have same operation as offered by their devices. For example, if the user has TiVo, their remote control it looks like a
TiVo.
From a technical perspective, the Sling Media device receives video signals from a cable line or television accessory, digitizes and compresses the analog signals and retransmits the digital signals so they can be viewed on a media viewing device. In essence: "TV video in" and "IP stream media out".
The TV source is connected to the Slingbox via S-video or composite video and analog left and right audio. The Slingbox is connected to a broadband connection (e.g. the home data router or
RF/Coaxial) via a broadband data connection via an Ethernet RJ45 data jack. The Slingbox includes an infrared emitter that is used to control a television accessory such as a set top box. The Slingbox also comes with SlingPlayer™ software application is installed to allow easy access and control of the
Slingbox.
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The Slingbox is now ready to view and access TV programming via an Internet connected Windows XP PC or Windows 2000. The viewing experience is virtually the same as if you were sitting in your living room, watching your TV source, and using its own remote control.
Using the IR transmitter, it can control television accessories and the Slingbox supports over 5,000 different types of audio-video devices including cable set top, satellite set top, DVR or DVD players. It also has a built-in tuner that allows it to operate as an aerial antenna, cable television receiver or or a cable television receiver.
The Slingbox is powered by a high-performance digital signal processor
(DSP) from Texas Instruments and leverages Microsoft's latest Windows Media Player version 9 (WMP9) technologies for live TV streaming. The Slingbox extends (improves) the digital media while being compliant with the WMP9 digital media stream. The Slingbox has the capability to update the Sling box to add additional coding and signal processing remotely improvements as well.
The Sling Media software that is used to view the streaming video from a Slingbox and to remotely control a user's cable TV, satellite box, or DVR is called SlingPlayer™. SlingPlayer uses proprietary technology designed by Sling Media to significantly enhance the con-
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-sumer viewing experience.
Streaming video reliably over many different types of broadband networks can be challenging. The types of broadband systems and available bandwidth can also vary on the sending and receiving links. For example, if the box is streaming from a home over a cable modem that has a 256 kbps connection adapting the stream based on this specific connection, through the broadband network to a laptop computer operating in a hotel 802.11 WLAN connection. The bandwidth and its reliability can constantly change.
The Slingbox is able to stream video smoothly over inherently unstable and unreliable IT networks. The consumer is able to use |
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Slingbox without having a dependencies on the type of broadband network such as fiber to the home
(FTTH) or 802.11, G triple turbo or other guaranteed type of broadband connection.
The Krikorian brothers explained that Sling Media spent a lot of time in development of core stream optimization technologies that they code-named
Lebowski. Lebowski process continually optimizes that video stream for the combined types of media, network and viewing device it's streaming to. It is able to deal with changing and inherently unreliable networks. The Slingbox client technology constantly monitors what's happening on the network and modified and adjusts the video stream.
Traditional Internet streaming sessions are buffered to overcome varying network changes. The use of buffering for fixed compression technologies can result in video distortion and the creation of freeze frames during excessive bandwidth changes. For our system, the video stream itself will change its parameters in real time. This permits the video to remain smooth and for the audio to remain intelligible.
One of the compromises the Slingbox makes is to decrease the resolution to save bandwidth when necessary. While this may result in some pixelation to the viewer, the viewers may not even notice any changes in the video because it just keeps playing nice and smooth.
Another challenge Sling Media has overcome is the delays that buffering causes when changing channels. When you're using buffered streaming, delays can range from 5 to 15 seconds or more. This can become a significant challenge during channel changes. Consumers do not want to make a selection and wait for 10 seconds or more for the channel to appear on the screen. Sling media has developed Slingstream™ technology to make TV experience and makes it much more like the traditional TV viewing experience. For example, Slingstream has a low latency mode that allows the consumer to use the remote control menus and get very quick video feedback to menu selections.
To improve the video compression process, Slingstream technology analyzes the audio-video stream or signal coming into and profiles the content before it is sent to the encoder. This allows the compression process to change dependent on if the media is a slow-moving news show or a high-motion baseball game. It's content stream optimization technology.
The SlingPlayer includes an automatic firmware upgrade capability that keeps the device updated with the latest features and
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-ments. If a new upgrade is available, the user will be notified that there's a new version of software (firmware) available and if they allow it, it's automatically updated.
Sling Media has developed a solution for allowing users to find their IP Address of their Slingbox and how to remotely connect to it. Consumers don't know and they don't want to have to know what the IP address is at their house. For most users, the IP address at their home is constantly changing. They just want to be able to click a button and say, "Watch my TV". To allow people to simply connect to their Slingbox without having to find or remember their IP address, Sling Media offers a free service called the Finder. Our servers are in constant communication with the Slingbox itself.
Another challenge for remote access is getting through firewalls. Our system has the ability for opening connections through firewalls to allow remote access. There are a variety of different types of hole-punching techniques so we can maintain connections through firewalls that can overcome number address traversal (NAT) issues.
The Slingbox has shifting bandwidth requirements that typically range from approximately 300 kbps to 1.5 Mbps.
The Slingbox can work down as low as 50 kilobits per second. However, to get a reasonable quality signal (a subjective viewpoint), data rates of 220 and 400 kbps can delivery full-motion, 30 frames per second relatively good quality video stream. The, maximum bandwidth used by the Slingbox is usually automatically managed but it can be manually adjusted by the user.
The Slingbox currently limits the number of sessions to one per
Slingbox. Only one Computer can access a single Slingbox at a time. This is how the rights of copyright media holders are protected.
Sling Media anticipates that its biggest challenge is and will continue to be is providing a great television viewing experience as easy as it needs to be. They are focused on making that experience better and improving the quality of the video.
We have worked hard to make the Slingbox easy for the user to operate even in very, very low bit rates and to help the user understand |
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what is going on For example, we provide a bandwidth gauge to inform the user when their bandwidth is limited.
This figure shows a display of that a viewer will have when controlling their Sling box.
The Slingbox incorporates several technologies including SlingStream- a proprietary streaming technology, SlingRemote™ - a virtual remote control and SlingBar™ -a simplified control bar.
SlingStream is specifically designed to address varying network conditions while optimizing your video playback experience. SlingStream provides the best possible video experience by continuously monitoring the connection speed and dynamically adjusting the video compression ratios to match the available network bandwidth.
SlingRemote is a virtual remote control, which displays on the PC screen the buttons found on the remote control of the TV source connected to your
Slingbox. If a PVR is connected, you can play your recorded programs and control the action. Recordings can even be scheduled within the SlingPlayer software. Use the SlingRemote to control whatever TV source is connected to the
Slingbox. |
SlingBar is a convenient toolbar that allows viewers to to watch TV while using your computer for other functions. SlingBar allows the viewer to watch TV while surfing the Web and running other applications.
The Slingbox is available at consumer electronics retailers including Best Buy and CompUSA. There's no additional monthly service fees and no annual subscription rates for the use of the
Slingbox.
Sling Media, Inc. is a digital lifestyle products company creating a family of consumer electronics products that are a natural extension of today's digital way of life. If you would like to contact Sling:
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