Oki Introduces Advanced VOD Server, "OKI MediaServer," Incorporated with MPEG-4 ASP for Broadband Networks
Las Vegas, USA - April 9, 2002 -- Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. of Japan today announced the development of the MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP), a video-compression technology for video streaming over broadband networks. This technology is incorporated into Oki's latest VOD (video-on-demand) server, "OKI MediaServer Version 5", sales of which will begin in June 2002. The MPEG-4 ASP and OKI MediaServer are exhibited at NAB2002 National Associations of Broadcasters in Las Vegas (*1), beginning April 8, 2002.
"With the popularization of broadband networks, image-distribution services have expanded with MPEG-4 as the core technology. Oki's ASP stands to broaden the range of these services, which would have been difficult under the MPEG-2 standard," said Atsushi Nagasaka, President of the Broadband Media Company at Oki Electric. "With this standard-compliant VOD server with ASP, we are aiming to further penetrate the video streaming market."
MPEG-4 ASP is a streaming video profile formulated under MPEG-4 Amendment 4 in 2001 by the ISO/IEC/JTC1/SC29/WG11, a grouping of international standard organizations. ASP has been adopted as the video-compression format by ISMA (Internet Streaming Media Alliance), the standardization committee for the Internet streaming services.
Even in a broadband network with transfer rates greater than 1 Mbps, conventional MPEG-4 video profiles are incapable of producing images beyond a certain quality due to methods. The ASP technology (*2), however, enables the transmission of higher-quality images and the full utilization of bandwidths greater than 1 Mbps. Thanks to new technologies also incorporated into the ASP (*3), given equal bit rates, MPEG-4 ASP can transmit higher-quality images previously possible under MPEG-2. Oki succeeded in developing ASP, in addition to its MPEG-4 Simple Profile, by implementing Oki's original high-speed transmission technologies (*4), which encode and transmit images and sounds in real time.
Along with MPEG-4 ASP, the OKI MediaServer Version 5 has interfaces with accounting systems, and is enhanced with several functions including distributed VOD, contents-copyright protection, and license management, enabling it to provide contents distribution and visual communication services more effectively. The system is compliant with the industrial and international standards including ISMA and 3GPP, and in addition to supporting major operating systems such as HP-UX, Solaris, Linux, Windows NT, and Windows 2000.
The sales of the OKI MediaServer Version 5 with MPEG-4 ASP will begin in June 2002, targeting the Japanese market first. Oki plans to deploy this system with ISPs (Internet Service Providers), municipalities, and enterprises, where contents distribution and visual communication services will be provided over broadband networks.
Notes:
| *1) | Exhibited at the Sigma Designs Inc. booth. (#S6958) |
| *2) | MPEG Quantization, Quarter-pixel prediction, B-VOP, Interlace Tools (Frame/ Field Prediction, Frame/ Filed DCT) |
| *3) | AC Prediction, 3D VLC, 4 MV, Unrestricted MV, Quarter-pixel prediction, B-VOP Direct Prediction Mode, Error Resilience Tools (Video Packet, Data partitioning, RVLC)
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| *4) | Pre-filtering method, High-speed/ high-quality movement search method, Mode-determining system |
Notes:
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About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Founded more than a century ago in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With more than 24,000 employees worldwide, Oki Electric provides customers with top-quality products, technologies and solutions for telecommunication systems, information systems and electronic devices through its corporate vision, "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society."
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Phone: +81-3-3580-8950 |
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