2netFX Technology Used in Live HDTV-over-IP Demonstration for NASA

San Jose, CA -- Technology from 2netFX, a leading provider ofenterprise network media software for intranet and broadband Internetmedia delivery, was used in a recent HDTV-over-IP live demonstrationconducted by the government's NASA Research and Education Network(NREN). Used was the company's ThunderCastIP HDTV, a multicast serverfor high-definition video streaming over ordinary IP-basednetworks.

The entire demonstration involved the simultaneous feed of a 20MbpsHDTV signal through a satellite uplink and an optical ground network.The feed was sent from the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington,D.C., to the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California.The demonstration provided NREN with the opportunity to work with anHDTV feed in three distinct formats: ATM, DVB, and the Internet.

Eric Yao, 2netFX Chief Technical Officer, says ThunderCastIP HDTV isan industrial-strength multicast video server for professionalenterprise applications. "The software supports live or pre-recordedvideo streaming from 10Mbps to 50Mbps over ordinary IP-based networks.Video can be streamed to virtually an unlimited number of userssimultaneously via an IP multicast without significantly impacting thenetwork."

ThunderCastIP HDTV is the first multicast server for high-definitionlive or prerecorded video streaming from 10Mbps to 50Mbps over ordinaryIP-based networks, including future advanced Internets. Engineered intothe unit are advanced server features such as remote management andscheduling, multiple live encoder support, group and user management,video-on-demand media management, and support for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, andHDTV. It allows playback on a standard PC or set-top appliance, whichare displayed on most PC monitors or HDTV sets.

Yao said future upgrades will include fully scalable distributedclustering architecture with media asset management, media replication,media migration, datacasting, and store-and-forward functionality.

The demonstration originated at the Naval Research Laboratory inWashington, where a stored high-definition video was sent to twodifferent transmission sources. One was a terrestrial feed via ATDNetand NREN by way of the NASA Goddard Research facility. The other was asatellite feed via Telstar 6. Both feeds were directed to the AmesResearch Center in California.

The 2netFX ThunderCastIP HDTV server was used to transcode anddecode the satellite feed and deliver it to the monitor used to displaythe life-like images.

The demonstration successfully proved the technology exists today todeliver stunning HDTV imagery virtually anywhere in the world-or aboveit. Besides the practical applications of delivering data from oneearthbound structure to another, HDTV-over-IP data delivery andreception also has critical applications in any of NASA's outer-spaceprograms.

The goal of the NASA Research and Education Network (NREN) is toenable more effective communication and information exchange amongpeople at remote locations. It provides a test bed for anext-generation network that fuses new technologies with NASA missionapplications. These networking technologies provide NASA missions withthe advantages of enhanced data sharing, interactive collaboration,visualization, and remote instrumentation.

NREN partners with various technology companies, governmentalagencies, and research institutions to integrate multicast technology.Additionally, it partners with the NASA Integrated Services Network(NISN) and NASA local area networks (LANs) in upgrading NASA multicastsolutions. Plus, it is working with major NASA programs to incorporatethe use of high bandwidth multicasts in revolutionary NASAapplications.