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3.3 Example 3: Stream Content from Media Server to Media Player Client

A key scenario for the media streaming server is the playback of multimedia content. Playback can use multicast or unicast streaming. The choice of which protocol to use depends on client and server negotiation and on the scenario being enabled by the administrator.

Unicast streaming is a form of streaming for the Media Streaming Server (MSS) system. In the Media Streaming Server system, unicast playback is supported by the following protocols: Windows Media HTTP Streaming Protocol (WMSP), Microsoft Media Server Protocol (MMSP), and Real-Time Streaming Protocol Windows Media Extensions (RTSP-WME). The process for streaming consists of three major areas:

  • Discovery

  • Stream selection

  • Playback

This section provides two examples that demonstrate the use case in section 2.5.3. One example uses WMSP as the media streaming protocol, while the other example uses RTSP-WME. An example for estimation of packet-pair bandwidth is provided separately to simplify the examples.

Prerequisites

  • The general requirements are described in section 2.4.

  • The media streaming server has to meet all preconditions as described in section 2.5.3.

Initial System State

None.

Final System State

The media server streams content to the media player client.

Sequence of Events

The following sections describe the communication flow between the media player application and the server during playback. The sequence is limited to WMSP and RTSP-WME over a TCP connection. To simplify the flow, the sequence diagrams do not show additional transport control functions, nor do they show all possible messages. For the sequence flows over a UDP connection or the MMSP protocol, see the technical documents (TDs) of the individual member protocols.