Media networking & communications

Research opportunities

Communications networks are more sophisticated than ever, yet sharing video among devices, networks and applications is still incredibly painful.

Videos on the Web can't be easily sent to a digital TV or handheld video player, for instance. Similarly, a high-end PC and a video camera still cannot communicate with a videophone.

Research focus

Current work

Major research projects in this area are exploring:

• infrastructure solutions for video streaming over 3G, 3.5G and 4G wireless networks
• new cross-infrastructure designs to bridge differences among telecommunications, Internet and wireless networks, which all use different protocols
• network client software designed to allow devices like iPAQs, laptops and digital TVs to all work together
• peer-to-peer video streaming technology that would allow many more people to simultaneously view online video 'broadcasts' than is currently possible
• user studies to learn more about what people really want to do with mobile video in the future and what technology needs to be developed to make it possible

This work could broaden the reach and appeal of applications such as video on demand and video podcasts, and it could also help integrate Web 2.0 innovations (which are characterized by dynamic, user-created communities and content) with mobile phones. It also opens up possibilities for novel real-time, mobile, interactive games.

Technical contributions

Many Labs innovations in this area have been transferred into HP Open Call communications products. Researchers contributed to the design of sophisticated video servers for streaming over 3G and 3.5G wireless networks. These servers correspond to the multimedia resource function in the Next-Generation Network /IP Multimedia Subsystem (NGN/IMS) architecture.

Researchers also contributed to creating HP's Halo collaboration studio, and to advancements in secure media streaming and the secure adaptation of encrypted media.

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