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may need to use Helix or VLC as streaming server instead due to Icecast's lack of multicast support
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This will utilize an architecture involving multiple peers and a single local Icecast server, all communicating over the local wireless network/mesh. When a user intends to broadcast a new video, the client will automatically send a request, authentication and identification details, to the classroom's Icecast server. The Icecast server does not necessarily have to be a dedicated server; the software could, for example, be running on the teacher's laptop; it would merely need to advertise its service via mDNS. Once confirmed, the stream is then uploaded and streamed to the local Icecast server via GStreamer, creating a unique URL for the stream. When the user invites others, or perhaps the entire class, to view the stream, then it would send the URL of the stream to the target user, and the peer's identification details. This would be done through the central server to increase security by making spoofing more difficult. By utilizing an external Icecast server to handle the video broadcasting itself, even a resource-constrained machine such as an XO-1 should be able to broadcast video, albeit encoded with less cpu-intensive codecs and settings to compensate for the lack of cpu power on such machines.
 
This will utilize an architecture involving multiple peers and a single local Icecast server, all communicating over the local wireless network/mesh. When a user intends to broadcast a new video, the client will automatically send a request, authentication and identification details, to the classroom's Icecast server. The Icecast server does not necessarily have to be a dedicated server; the software could, for example, be running on the teacher's laptop; it would merely need to advertise its service via mDNS. Once confirmed, the stream is then uploaded and streamed to the local Icecast server via GStreamer, creating a unique URL for the stream. When the user invites others, or perhaps the entire class, to view the stream, then it would send the URL of the stream to the target user, and the peer's identification details. This would be done through the central server to increase security by making spoofing more difficult. By utilizing an external Icecast server to handle the video broadcasting itself, even a resource-constrained machine such as an XO-1 should be able to broadcast video, albeit encoded with less cpu-intensive codecs and settings to compensate for the lack of cpu power on such machines.
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Since Icecast lacks support for multicast broadcasting, another FOSS streaming server such as Helix Server or VLC may need to be used; I will investigate this prior to the start of GSoC.
    
'''Accepting New Streams'''
 
'''Accepting New Streams'''
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For extremely large classrooms, bandwidth issues may arise due to limitations of the wireless network. In this case, to ensure that all students are able to view the stream without saturating the network, when the teacher selects "Broadcast to All", the software would first determine the number of new streams that could be streamed based on existing network activity, bandwidth required per stream, and the network's bandwidth capacity. Then, it would retrieve the locations of the laptops in the classroom, and select a number of laptops equivalent to the number of supported streams such that the selected laptops would be in proximity to the unselected laptops, thereby allowing those students who are not receiving the streams to their own laptop to view the stream on a nearby laptop.
 
For extremely large classrooms, bandwidth issues may arise due to limitations of the wireless network. In this case, to ensure that all students are able to view the stream without saturating the network, when the teacher selects "Broadcast to All", the software would first determine the number of new streams that could be streamed based on existing network activity, bandwidth required per stream, and the network's bandwidth capacity. Then, it would retrieve the locations of the laptops in the classroom, and select a number of laptops equivalent to the number of supported streams such that the selected laptops would be in proximity to the unselected laptops, thereby allowing those students who are not receiving the streams to their own laptop to view the stream on a nearby laptop.
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The usage of UDP multicast broadcasting will also help conserve bandwidth and prevent lag in the video, thus as mentioned in "Architecture" if a streaming server such as Helix Server is used instead then this can be taken advantage of.
    
'''Viewing Interface'''
 
'''Viewing Interface'''
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