Content delivery over broadcast and multicast networks relies on transport protocols that can deliver files and media objects one-way, without a return channel from each receiver. This project covers File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport (FLUTE) and Real-time Object delivery over Unidirectional Transport (ROUTE), which underpin 5G-MAG's broadcast and multicast work.
5G-MAG maintains open-source implementations, including the FLUTE library used in the 5G Broadcast tools, a media origin, and a Coded Multisource Media Format (CMMF) encoder.
The Problem It Solves
A broadcast or multicast bearer has no return channel, so a receiver can never ask for a retransmission — reliability has to come from somewhere else, and Forward Error Correction carried by FLUTE and ROUTE is that mechanism. Keeping the media format (DASH, HLS, CMAF) and the transport (FLUTE for files, ROUTE for real-time objects) strictly separate is what lets the same packaged content run over either one: a broadcaster packages a CMAF asset once, and it can be delivered over FLUTE for a download-style MBMS scenario or over ROUTE for ATSC 3.0-style real-time delivery, without repackaging for each transport.
Open Source, Built Together
Reference Tools for This Project
The real, running software for this technology — 4 repositories.
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