Etere Video Assist
The last step for a complete
tapeless workflow
Presented by: Emanuele Porfiri
Why Video Assist
 In the tape age the VTR was the last resource
 With the VTR the operator was able to play the
correct video in a short time
 But in the digital age video arrives as files, and
cannot be played back by any VTR
 Etere Video Assist is the tool to solve this
problem
Basics
 Video Assist works only with Etere MTX
 Etere MTX server is filled by Etere Workflow
 Video Assist use a different DB, that is
updated from the main database using
snapshot. The snapshot is done at every
publishing of the schedule
 Video Assist does not control external devices
except video server
 Each playlist can run in 2 different way:
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Play back to back like a normal playout
Select a group of events and in this way is possible
to do J&S like a tape inside the VTR
Video Assist Advantage
 MTX is different from the main playout
videoserver, so it should not have the same
problem, a different system avoid common errors
 Transparent copy of the files from the main
videoserver to the MTX server
 MTX can play almost every format without
trascoding process
 MTX allows J&S on a playlist instead of a single
video item
 For the operator it will be more easy to search
and preview
How it Works
 The operator has several playlist layer. The snapshot
is update automatically at every publish or on request
by the main system
 The alternate can be built as requested, also copying
from the main one
 Each player can be attached to one line of the playlist
and moved on the event timeline
 Each playlist is like a pre-compiled tape
 Plus there is the Jingle keyboard for instant play
 The player has a VTR like interface with J&S play FF
REW, so it can be used to play a segment or search in
/out in the segment
 A Resync key to go at the same event and time code
as automation
To Be Safe
 IF the update fails the last xxx versions of the
main playlist is preserved:



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A playlist import export with only today and
tomorrow can be used.
Asset forms will be created from playlist interface.
If a playlist is running the import will happen on
another ‘level’ of playlist
Playlist are Imported not synchronized
An ‘isolate’ button to avoid updates and changes
while repairing
 Insert a drop folder to add files.
 Editing of the playlist is fast and easy
 Interface similar to EE with limited commands
Screen Proposal
Player 1
Player 1
Asset orm
Jingle keyboard
Spot playlist
Player 2
Player 2
Main Playlist
Programs playlist
Main Playlist
Player 3
Player 3
Main Playlist
Main Playlist
Player 4
Player 4
Screenshot
Play
back to back
ARC Support
AFD Support
Jog & Shuttle
playlist function
Bumper Support
Snapshot from
the main DB
Multichannel Control
EDT: UDP based Data Transfer
Protocol, Results, and
Implementation Experiences
Why EDT
 FTP data transfer is used everywhere and it’s
a valid protocol
 network with long latency as WAN, FTP cannot
use all the bandwidth
 EDT use a different algorithm to use all the
available bandwidth and it’s considerably
faster than FTP
Why EDT is Better
 Etere implementation of EDT is included in
ETERE workflows so it use the same
framework and it’s transparent to the end user
 The implementation is 100% software based
and use standard windows hardware
 It offers better performances than similar
product in the market but without the overhead
to transfer data to another system and than
back
 One single control interface
Outline
 EDT Protocol
 EDT Congestion Control
 Implementation/Simulation Results
 Implementation Experiences at ETERE
Design Goals and Assumptions
 Fast, Fair, Friendly


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High utilization of the abundant bandwidth with
either single or multiplexed connections
Intra-protocol fairness, RTT independence
TCP compatibility
 Low concurrency, high bandwidth, bulk data


A small number of sources share abundant
bandwidth
Most of the packets can be packed in maximum
segment size (MSS)
What’s EDT?
 EDT: UDP based Data Transfer

Reliable, application level, duplex, transport
protocol, over UDP with reliability, congestion, and
flow control
 Two orthogonal parts


The EDT protocol framework implemented above
UDP
The EDT congestion control algorithm,
implemented in TCP
EDT Protocol
Sender
DATA
ACK
Recver
Recver
ACK2
NAK
EDT Protocol
 Packet based sequencing
 ACK sub-sequencing
 Explicit loss information feedback (NAK)
 Four timers: rate control, ACK, NAK and
retransmission timer

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Rate control and ACK are triggered periodically
NAK timer is used to resend loss information if
retransmission is not received in an increasing time
interval
Performance
 Performance result on Video files
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Average throughput of 97 MBps on a GigE LAN
Average throughput 4 time more than FTP on a
WAN with short delay as Europe to Europe
Average throughput 7 time more than FTP on a
WAN with long delay as Europe To Australia
Thank You