Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) is an
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
, open-specification transport
protocol designed for reliable transmission of video over
lossy networks (including
the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
) with low latency and high quality. It is currently under development in the
Video Services Forum
The Video Services Form (VSF) is an industry association that provides a platform for cooperation and communication between organizations with a stake in media networking. VSF activities include standards development, interoperability testing and ...
's "RIST Activity Group."
RIST is intended as a more reliable successor to
Secure Reliable Transport
Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is an open source video transport protocol that utilises the UDP transport protocol.
Overview
SRT provides connection and control, reliable transmission similar to TCP; however, it does so at the applicati ...
, and as an open alternative to proprietary commercial options such as ActionStreamer, Zixi, VideoFlow, QVidium, and DVEO (Dozer).
Technology
Technically, RIST seeks to provide reliable, high performance media transport by using
RTP /
UDP at the transport layer to avoid the limitations of
TCP. Reliability is achieved by using NACK-based retransmissions (
ARQ). SMPTE-2022
Forward Error Correction
In computing, telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, an error correction code, sometimes error correcting code, (ECC) is used for controlling errors in data over unreliable or noisy communication channels. The central idea is ...
can be combined with RIST but is known to be significantly less effective than ARQ.
RIST Simple Profile
was published in October 2018 and includes the following features:
* The base stream uses RTP for compatibility with existing equipment.
* Retransmission requests use
RTCP
The RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) is a sister protocol of the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). Its basic functionality and packet structure is defined in RFC 3550. RTCP provides out-of-band statistics and control information for an RTP session. ...
. Two types of retransmission requests are defined:
** A Bitmask NACK, defined in RFC 4585.
** A Range NACK, defined as an APP RTCP packet.
*
Bonding of multiple links for load sharing.
* Seamless switching using SMPTE-2022-7.
*Out-of-band transmission of protection data.
The RIST AG is working on an update to RIST Simple Profile that adds link probing to allow for dynamic ARQ protection.
RIST Main Profile
was published in March 2020 and adds the following features to Simple Profile:
* Tunneling based on RFC 8086, with bidirectional send/receive in the same tunnel.
*Multiplexing of multiple streams into the same tunnel.
*In-band data support in the tunnel, useful for remote management.
*Client/Server architecture.
*Firewall traversal.
*
DTLS
Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) is a communications protocol providing security to datagram-based applications by allowing them to communicate in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery. The DTLS protocol ...
encryption.
* Pre-Shared Key encryption, with multicast support, access control, and authentication.
*Advanced authentication options using either
public key certificate
In cryptography, a public key certificate, also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate, is an electronic document used to prove the validity of a public key. The certificate includes information about the key, information about the ...
s or
TLS-SRP.
* Bandwidth optimization based on NULL packet deletion.
* Support for high bit-rate streams by extending the RTP sequence number.
The RIST AG has defined a number of Main Profile compliance levels. Approval of this document is expected soon.
RIST Enhanced Profile is currently under development.
VideoFlow has provided IPR that covers both Simple Profile and Main Profile under
RAND-Z
Reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms, also known as fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, denote a voluntary licensing commitment that standards organizations often request from the owner of an intellectual property ...
terms.
Open source implementations and tools
libRIST an open-source RIST implementation that includes both Simple and Main Profiles.
GStreamerplugin for RIST
UpipeWireShark dissector for RIST
References
Multimedia
Network protocols
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