History

It's impossible to talk about this History of ECIP without talking about S-PACK

ECIP and S-PACK are UDP based protocols that were developed as a replacement for TCP/IP and RTP, for transmission of audio and video conferencing steaming, broadcast or VOD and VOIP over the Internet. The goal for these protocols is to provide a reliable point-to-point connection, making the chaotic public Internet backbone as clean and reliable as a directly connected leased line. They are intended for applications that are sensitive to packet loss, latency and unplanned throughput reductions and also have a constant data rate flowing, such as real-time voice conversations over the Internet. These protocols have been implemented and in tests were able to reliably sustain a throughput of over 20 Mbps international over the public Internet backbones in 1997 "they must have loved us ;)".

Two approches

After a great deal of research into the problems cause by packet loss when streaming Audio and video, two methods were devised to deal with the problem.

1.) Improve the method for retransmission over TCP/IP, this became S-PACK

2.) Put a Error Correction code over the data to recover lost data without retransmissions at all, this became ECIP.

Inventors


Aryeh Friedman

John L. Sokol

Both ECIP and S-PACK's development dates back to discussions in 1995 between John Sokol and Aryeh Friedman out of a small office above the CyberJava Cafe on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice Beach California just 3 blocks from the ocean.

Test code soon followed for both Methods.

The motivation was originally was an attempt to solve the problem of poot reliability with Xing Streamworks video-streaming (John had helped develop) and the Real Audio audio-streaming products "they didn't have Real Video Back then".

The initial development was done under "Sokol & Associates" a high end web developer and ISP Support company that specialized in solving the hard problems.

Later Sokol & Assoc. partered with a customer IBS "Internet Broadcast Systems" and DVT "Digital Video Technology" that deployed SDSN, the first large scale CDN (Content distribution Network) with 20 server locations globably. SPACK was the main transport between server, and most of the Adult internet video in 1996 and 1997 was using IBS's services.

This development later went into a company that went public DVBS "Digital Video Broadcast Systems, Inc." with offices in Korea, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Vancouver BC.

DVBS shot up to $16 a share then colapsed in the Dot Com bust of 2000. All of the technology Reverted back the the Original Inventor , John Sokol.

Currently this code is now being developed by Sokol with Video Technology Magazine, Services Group

Press Releases:

Arthur Clarke Live CyberCast
CGW Appoints Internet Guru John Sokol, Consolidated Goldwin Prepares Rollout of Next-Generation Internet Network Technology - SDSN

Other Links"

Original Corporate marketing material for ECIP

Livecam Server Uses ECIP between servers

Video Technology Magazine