General

Try VOD Before Doing IPTV — continued

Keogh's explanation for the efficiency of the MatrixStream delivery system is somewhat simplistic. It's easily scalable, he says, and it uses the H.264 video codec standard—aka MPEG-4 Part 10, a technology that uses very high data compression. MatrixCast also uses multicasting. "There is some other stuff," Keogh says, apparently referring to the patent-pending MatrixCast IP protocol, "but I'm not allowed to get into that."

Part of it is also the way MatrixCast, when needed, uses alternatives to conventional real-time streaming. The problem with video on demand is that spikes in usage can overload the backbone.

For example, if half your subscribers decide to order up the latest hot movie at the same time, your network will be in trouble.

With MatrixCast, service providers can offer subscribers the option of downloading a movie before they watch it. Or, if the ISP guesses that five of 20 new movies they're offering will get the lion's share of hits, they can push those five to subscribers' STBs or PC hard drives at low-traffic times, even before they're publicly released on the service. When the subscriber later orders one of the movies, it's delivered straight from his STB or PC—which both eases the load on the service provider's backbone and ensures trouble-free playback.

I'm not sure how well subscribers, particularly those using PC hard drives for data storage instead of MatrixCast STBs, will like this. Movies, especially HD movies, take up a lot of storage space. Another question: how secure is the data on subscribers' hard drives?

It's all here now
The MatrixCast products are available now. MatrixStream is mainly focusing its marketing efforts on service providers looking to offer VOD over best-effort networks as a way to increase customer loyalty and revenue per customer in the face of competitive threats.

The company has so far provided equipment for over 40 lab trials by prospective customers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the UK—"from tier one players all the way down," Keogh says. Half a dozen have field trialed MatrixCast. The company sold its first full system in Australia last year, but the customer is "keeping a low profile" for now.

"We'll have some other launches in the U.S. and Canada in the next 90 days," Keogh promises. "Actual commercial launches."

While the main focus is service providers, MatrixStream also has offerings tailored for enterprise users. "We see this technology being very appealing not just to telcos and ISPs, but also companies, hotels, satellite [TV] providers—and educators," Keogh says.

The company is particularly excited about the opportunity in the education market. A school system with a broadband IP network in place could put set-top boxes in every classroom so teachers could order educational programming on demand. It could also give students access at home through the PC viewer. Teachers could assign students viewing as homework, Keogh suggests.

MatrixStream was formed by a group of "Internet industry veterans," including CEO Jack Chung. While its headquarters are officially in Silicon Valley, the company's product development facilities and original home base are in Vancouver, Canada. It currently has about 150 employees spread around five offices. MatrixStream is supported by angel funding and sales revenues. It also received some early government funding in Canada.

If MatrixStream can deliver what it's promising—broadcast quality (or better) video over typical home broadband connections—it may get some traction from ISPs. The question is, can it deliver?

—End

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