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# Simulcast | ||
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Simulcast is a technique where a client sends multiple encodings of the same video to the server, which is then responsible for dynamically choosing the appropraite encoding for every peer (other client). | ||
Encodings differ between each other in resolution and/or frame rate. | ||
The selection of the encoding is based on: | ||
* Receiver available bandwidth. | ||
* Receiver preferences (e.g. explicit request to receive video at HD resolution instead of FHD). | ||
* UI layout (e.g. videos displayed in smaller tiles will be sent at a lower resolution). | ||
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Simulcast is not utilized in direct client-client connections (no intermediate server) because in such cases, | ||
the sender can adjust its resolution or frame rate based on a feedback from the receiver. | ||
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Elixir WebRTC comes with: | ||
* Support for inbound simulcast - it allows to receive multiple incoming resolutions | ||
* RTP munger and keyframe detectors, which can be used for implementing encoding switching on the server side | ||
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Currently there is no support for: | ||
* Outbound simulcast | ||
* Bandwidth estimation | ||
* Automatic encoding switching | ||
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## Turning simulcast on | ||
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### Elixir WebRTC | ||
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Elixir WebRTC automatically accepts incoming simulcast tracks so there are no extra steps required. | ||
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### JavaScript | ||
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Simulcast can be enabled when adding a new track. For example: | ||
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```js | ||
const pc = new RTCPeerConnection(); | ||
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const localStream = await navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({ | ||
video: { | ||
width: { ideal: 1280 }, | ||
height: { ideal: 720 }, | ||
}, | ||
}); | ||
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pc.addTransceiver(localStream.getVideoTracks()[0], { | ||
streams: [localStream], | ||
sendEncodings: [ | ||
{ rid: 'h', maxBitrate: 1500 * 1024 }, | ||
{ rid: 'm', scaleResolutionDownBy: 2, maxBitrate: 600 * 1024 }, | ||
{ rid: 'l', scaleResolutionDownBy: 4, maxBitrate: 300 * 1024 }, | ||
], | ||
}); | ||
``` | ||
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> #### Minimal starting resolution {: .warning} | ||
> To run 3 simulcast encodings, the minimal starting resolution | ||
> must be 960x540. See more [here](https://source.chromium.org/chromium/chromium/src/+/main:third_party/webrtc/video/config/simulcast.cc;l=79?q=simulcast.cc) | ||
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## Receiving simulcast packets | ||
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When simulcast is enabled, packets are labeled with an `rid`, which denotes simulcast | ||
encoding that a packet belongs to: | ||
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```elixir | ||
{:ex_webrtc, pc_pid, {:rtp, track_id, rid, packet}} | ||
``` | ||
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## Switching between simulcast encodings | ||
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Switching between simulcast encodings requires some modifications to RTP packets. | ||
Every encoding starts with a random RTP sequence number and a random RTP timestamp. | ||
Because client that receives our stream is never aware of simulcast (they always receive | ||
a single encoding), we have to rewrite those sequence numbers and timestamps to be continuous and increasing. | ||
This process is known as munging. | ||
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1. Create munger with codec sample rate | ||
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```elixir | ||
alias ExWebRTC.PeerConnection | ||
alias ExWebRTC.RTP.{H264, Munger} | ||
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m = Munger.new(90_000) | ||
``` | ||
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2. When a packet arrives, rewrite its sequnce number and timestamp: | ||
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```elixir | ||
{packet, munger} = Munger.munge(munger, packet) | ||
``` | ||
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3. To switch to another encoding, request a keyframe for this encoding. | ||
Once the keyframe arrives, update the munger and start forwarding new packets. | ||
For example, transitioning from encoding `m` to `h`: | ||
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```elixir | ||
:ok = PeerConnection.send_pli(input_pc, track_id, "h") | ||
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# ... | ||
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def handle_info({:ex_webrtc, input_pc, {:rtp, _track_id, "h", packet}}, state) do | ||
if H264.keyframe?(packet) do | ||
munger = Munger.update(munger) | ||
{munger, packet} = Munger.munge(munger, packet) | ||
PeerConnection.send_rtp(state.output_pc, state.output_track_id, packet) | ||
state = %{state | munger: munger} | ||
{:noreply, state} | ||
else | ||
# Ignore packets from 'h' until we receive a keyframe. | ||
{:noreply, state} | ||
end | ||
end | ||
``` | ||
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See our [Broadcaster](https://github.com/elixir-webrtc/apps/tree/master/broadcaster) app source code for more. |
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