Tech Talk Radio Program
April 29, 2000 Show
Sponsored by Stratford University
Microsoft Anti-Trust Developments
Pushing Up the Bandwidth at Victoria's Secret
Audio Web Content (RealAudio, WindowsMedia, MP3)
      Dominant Compression Software Standards
      Selected MP3 Software Players
      Selected MP3 Hardware Portable Players
      What is the Underlying Technology?
      Outsourced Delivery of Streaming Audio
      What are the Issues?
Top of Page
Microsoft Anti-Trust Developments
     The US Department of Justice and 17 (out of 19) states have filed a Proposed Final Settlement with Judge Jackson on Friday, April 28th. The proposed settlement decrees that Microsoft shall be reorganized into two separate and autonomous companies---Operating Systems and Applications. The Proposed Final Settlement expires in ten years.
     The Operating Systems Business would include personal computers, other computer based on the x86 or competitive microprocessors, handheld devices (personal digital assistants and cellular phones), and television set-top boxes.
     The Applications Business would include middleware (Office, BackOffice, Internet Information Server, Structure Query Language database, SQL server), Internet Explorer, Mobile Explorer, Transaction Server software, SNA Server software, Indexing Server software,  XML servers and parsers, Management Server software, Java virtual machines, FrontPage, Outlook Express, MediaPlayer, voice recognition software, NetMeeting, Developer Tools, MSN, MSNBC, Slate,  and Expedia.
     The Proposed Settlement stipulates that Microsoft cannot undermine the plan prior the 4 month implementation deadline. The two companies shall be prohibited from merging or combining, providing insider technical information to each other (APIs or communication interface information), or providing favorable licensing, selling, or other services to each other. An internal compliance system must be setup, including keeping all email for a period of four years. The settlement stipulates the following constraints on the competitive behavior of the two entities.      The complete text for the Proposed Settlement is available on the Department of Justice Antitrust Division Web Site.
     In Tech Talk's opinion, this Proposed Settlement is too severe and an improper application of government authority. Such an action may encourage companies to simply move out of the US. In this global economy, it will become increasingly difficult for antitrust rules to be applied to International entities such as Microsoft. Furthermore, if we apply these rules to other companies, Cisco, Oracle, or AOL may well be next. Soon the US Government will be the chief software architect and that is not good for consumers. Furthermore, dividing the software as they have stipulated is not technically sound (particularly in view of the Distributed Internetworking Architecture (DNA). We stand by our April 8th recommendation.
 
Top of Page
Pushing up the Bandwidth at the Victoria's Secret
     Victoria's Secret (www.victoriassecret.com) is gearing up for this years Internet fashion show on May 18th. After melting down their server last year during the show, Victoria's Secret's IT Department is determined to make this year's event a technological success.
     VS plans to deliver streaming video to 3 million viewers over the Internet. This may well saturate the Internet backbone with more than 60 Gbps of traffic (assuming 20kbps for each feed).
     They will use a dedicated IBM hosting facility in Raleigh, NC. IBM is pushing up the bandwidth an undisclosed amount. Victoria's Secret will employ 8 Rad load balancing switches, which will be able to send traffic to two backup sites at Atlanta and San Jose. If those backups overflow, Victoria's Secret is planning additional "lounges" with static images for the overflow guests.
 
Top of Page
Audio Web Content
   Audio web content can be delivered either as an entire file (which is stored and then played) or in streaming format (which is played as it is received). Short audio segments like songs lend themselves to the first format. Radio broadcasts lend themselves to the second. In either case the files are compressed prior to transfer. We will discuss the various compression standards, including RealAudio, WindowsMedia, QuickTime, and MP3. All can be delivered as either entire files or as audio streams. We will briefly touch on various software and hardware MP3 players. Finally, we will address some of the key technical issues.
   Streaming audio is produced using three different programs: the encoder, the server, and the player.
  Encoding software samples the incoming audio signal and compresses the resulting  information so that it can efficiently be sent over the Internet.  The compression scheme chosen must tradeoff sound quality for bandwidth.
  Server software for audio data streaming is a special Internet server that is designed to handle multiple audio data streams.  The software runs on a  computer that is connected to the Internet with a high bandwidth connection.  A separate audio data stream is sent for each user, which can require substantial of bandwidth.  For example, many music radio stations broadcasting on the Internet use a 20 kbps audio data stream (the maximum recommended for a 28.8 modem user) In that case, 2250 simultaneous listeners would require 45Mbps (equivalent to a T3) connection. Such a connection might cost the station $30,000 per month.
  Player software, or browser plugin, resides on the listener's computer.  It receives the audio data stream from the server and translate it into the sound you hear from your computer.  These are available in versions for free download.
     Many of the encoding schemes used are proprietary -- as a result, the player often must be from the same company as the encoder and server.  Since the players are available free to the listener, this isn't a big problem.
Home Page
Top of Page