AWS for M&E Blog

Part 3 – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK

Introduction

In part 1 of this 3-part series, we demonstrated how to install and configure Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio and Zixi SDK for AWS Elemental MediaConnect (Zixi-MediaConnect) Feeder on a local system, create an MediaConnect flow, and stream a local VOD asset to end-user mobile devices. In part 2, we demonstrated how to configure a local encoder (either AWS Elemental Live or FFmpeg) and MediaConnect to encode and stream Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) or local VOD assets to end-user  mobile devices.

In this document, we explore streaming to Zixi-MediaConnect Receiver and OTT workflows.

Zixi-MediaConnect Receiver resides at the point of distribution. With Zixi-MediaConnect Receiver, you can receive streams from MediaConnect flow to your on-premises or cloud systems, generate UDP multicast/unicast or TCP outputs, and integrate the streams to your lineup channels. You can also use professional Integrated Receiver/Decoders (IRDs) that support the Zixi protocol natively.

A description of Zixi-MediaConnect Feeder/Receiver, supported protocols, latency considerations, and limitations are available in part 1 of this blog.

The following protocols are supported:

Inputs:

  • Push – the stream is pushed from MediaConnect to Zixi-MediaConnect Receiver.
  • Pull – the stream is pulled by the Zixi-MediaConnect Receiver from MediaConnect

Outputs:

  • UDP
  • TCP

Pre-requisites

  • This post assumes that you already have a MediaConnect Flow configured, you can follow part 1 or part 2 of this blog series to configure a MediaConnect flow.
  • External firewall that allows communication on UDP ports 2088 and 2077 (inbound and outbound).
  • Ubuntu Linux system (this post was tested with Ubuntu Focal Fossa).

Cost of provisioning resources used in this post

  • There is no charge for Zixi-MediaConnect Feeder/Receiver.
  • MediaConnect is billed at an hourly rate for each running flow, plus either a per-gigabyte charge for data transferred using the flow or, with reserved outbound bandwidth pricing, a per-hour charge based on bandwidth for video sent to the internet. A flow that is in standby mode is not an active resource, and does not incur active resource costs even if it has outputs or entitlements configured. See https://aws.amazon.com/mediaconnect/pricing/ for more information.
  • AWS Secrets Manager comes with a 30-day free trial. After the trial is over, Secrets Manager is billed $0.40 per secret per month. For secrets that are stored for less than a month, the price is prorated (based on the number of hours). See https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/pricing/ for more information.
  • To keep charges to a minimum, be sure to clean up resources once you are finished testing by following the tasks in Step 6 of this post.

 

*Download guide (part 3) here*

This is the third in a 3-part blog series

Part 1 – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK
Part 2 – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi SDK
Part 3  (this post) – Streaming video to AWS Elemental MediaConnect using Zixi

 

If you have questions, feedback, or would like to get involved in discussions with other community members, visit the AWS Developer Forums: Media Services.