Jin Hwan Jeong & Chuck Yoo
Korea University & Sun Microsystems
Abstract:
The current streaming technology is based on a model
that a server sends encoded streams and that a client does
decoding and rendering in real time. In this model, a
client must have a powerful hardware and must have
specific decoders to handle various compression
algorithms (e.g. MPEG, H-263, etc.). This paper starts
with a different assumption: network bandwidth is
available so that it is no longer a bottleneck. Based on
this assumption, we present a new streaming model where
both the server and the client participate in the decoding
process. The new model reduces the processing
requirement at client to the level that a thin device with
486-class CPU (called Sun Ray 1) is able to play the
full-size (640X480) NTSC video at 30 frame/sec.
Furthermore, the decoding at client becomes independent
of any compression algorithm so that Sun Ray 1 can play
streams of various compression algorithms without
specific decoders.
