Keynote: Simultaneous Migration of Codecs, Formats and DRM by Jason Burgess, Comcast
Abstract: Over the operational life of a large video service, codecs, formats, and digital rights management may all have to be changed to support different business needs, devices, or other technological advances. Adding or changing any one of these facets is a significant change for any service. Making changes to all three simultaneously while maintaining an uninterrupted service would seem to require feats of engineering heroics. We will explore how Comcast’s addition of HEVC, migration from HLS to DASH, and swapping of digital rights management solutions impacted its IP Video platform: what changes were needed to the architecture, and how we managed the transition of users across technologies.
Bio: Jason is the lead architect for strategic initiatives within Comcast’s VIPER (Video IP Engineering & Research) group. He has an extensive background in software and systems architecture as well as application development and systems administration. He joined Comcast 7 years ago and has lead design and development of many components of Comcast’s IP video solution. He is currently leading efforts to optimize and simplify Comcast’s IP video pipeline and prepare Comcast for the next decade of video delivery. His passion for innovation has led to multiple patent awards and filings in IP video.