SCIENCE

MOFFETT FIELD, CA -- Technology from 2netFX, a leading provider of enterprise network media software for intranet and broadband Internet media delivery, was used in a recent HDTV-over-IP live demonstration conducted by the government's NASA Research and Education Network (NREN). Used was the company's ThunderCastIP HDTV, a multicast server for high-definition video streaming over ordinary IP-based networks. "The selection says a lot about the capabilities of our technology," said Eric Yao, 2netFX Chief Technical Officer, who participated in the demonstration. "Hearing all the positive comments when the crystal-clear HDTV video images first appeared on the screen made me feel proud of our company and of all our engineers and technicians who have worked so hard on this technology." The entire demonstration involved the simultaneous feed of a 20Mbps HDTV 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 an HDTV feed in three distinct formats: ATM, DVB, and the Internet. Yao said ThunderCastIP HDTV is an industrial-strength multicast video server for professional enterprise applications. "The software supports live or pre-recorded video streaming from 10 to 50 Mbps over ordinary IP-based networks. Video can be streamed to virtually an unlimited number of users simultaneously via an IP multicast without significantly impacting the network." ThunderCastIP HDTV is the first multicast server for high-definition live or prerecorded video streaming from 10 to 50Mbps over ordinary IP-based networks, including future advanced Internets. Engineered into the unit are advanced server features such as remote management and scheduling, multiple live encoder support, group and user management, video-on-demand media management, and support for MPEG-1, 2, and HDTV. It allows playback on a standard PC or set-top appliance, which are displayed on most PC monitors or HDTV sets. Yao said future upgrades will include fully scalable distributed clustering architecture with media asset management, media replication, media migration, datacasting, and store-and-forward functionality. The demonstration originated at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, where a stored high-definition video was sent to two different transmission sources. One was a terrestrial feed via ATDNet and NREN by way of the NASA Goddard Research facility. The other was a satellite feed via Telstar 6. Both feeds were directed to the Ames Research Center in California. The 2netFX ThunderCastIP HDTV server was used to transcode and decode the satellite feed and deliver it to the monitor used to display the life-like images. The demonstration successfully proved the technology exists today to deliver stunning HDTV imagery virtually anywhere in the world -- or above it. Besides the practical applications of delivering data from one earthbound structure to another, HDTV-over-IP data delivery and reception also has critical applications in any of NASA's outer-space programs. The goal of the NASA Research and Education Network (NREN) is to enable more effective communication and information exchange among people at remote locations. It provides a test bed for a next-generation network that fuses new technologies with NASA mission applications. These networking technologies provide NASA missions with the advantages of enhanced data sharing, interactive collaboration, visualization, and remote instrumentation. NREN partners with various technology companies, governmental agencies, 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 multicast solutions. Plus, it is working with major NASA programs to incorporate the use of high bandwidth multicasts in revolutionary NASA applications. For further information visit www.2netFX.com or http://www.arc.nasa.gov/