VSF RIST Activity Group continues to define the future of internet video transport

The Video Services Forum (VSF) announces the release of two new documents:

– TR-06-2:2020-Levels_Annex entitled “Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) Main Profile Interoperability Levels”

– TR-06-1:2020 entitled “Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) Protocol Specification – Simple Profile.”

Together, these new specifications improve the functionality and interoperability of RIST Simple Profile and Main Profile. They are freely available at https://vsf.tv/technical_recommendations.shtml for all to download and to use.

The new Levels-Annex document defines four levels of operation within the RIST Main profile operation that implementers can choose from to create products for a variety of applications. All Main profile devices must implement the functions of the Baseline Level. Products supporting either the DTLS or PSK Levels must implement those respective encoding schemes. Systems that implement both encryption formats are deemed to meet the Full Level of the RIST Main profile. For the Simple Profile, TR-06-1 was updated to include a new, optional “RTT Echo” message, which allows receivers to better manage their buffers by measuring the Round Trip Time between RIST senders and RIST Receivers.

“Interoperability has always been a key focus of the VSF and the RIST Activity Group. These new documents make it easier for implementers to specify and design products incorporating the best available technologies while ensuring compatibility between different vendors and service providers,” said VSF President Richard Friedel, EVP, Engineering, FOX Television Stations (FTS).

Cobalt, Evertz, Net Insight, Nevion, QVidium, SipRadius, VideoFlow and Zixi as well as the libRIST opensource implementation demonstrated RIST Main profile interoperability over a multi-week, multicontinent test during April and May, 2020. Their excellent results were achieved without in-person visits, which were not feasible due to Covid-19 travel restrictions in many countries.

“Our Activity Group continues to innovate and iterate the RIST specifications, to support an everincreasing range of applications,” said Wes Simpson, Founder of LearnIPvideo.com and co-chair of the RIST Activity Group within the VSF. “With these latest changes, we have added a useful feature to the Simple Profile and made it easier to develop compatible Main Profile implementations.”

The VSF RIST Activity Group continues to add functionality to RIST. Development of the new Enhanced Profile is well underway, working to incorporate features including multiplexed stream tunneling, automatic configuration, adaptive encoding, support for satellite links, and others. BCS Bureau