Calculating number of streams in Elecard Boro

Elecard Boro price is calculated based on the number of connections at all monitoring points. When selecting a Boro subscription plan, the service type should be considered.

The calculation policy varies for different services, as described below:

• IPTV and SRT services: each program in each transport stream generates one data stream transferred to the server.
• OTT services in the “All Renditions” analysis mode:
  • HLS: one Variant Stream generates one data stream.
  • DASH: one Video Representation generates one data stream.
• OTT services in the “Player” analysis mode: one OTT service generates one data stream (In the “Player” analysis mode, the system analyzes a stream with the highest bitrate supported by the network at the moment, like in HLS media player).

1. IPTV and SRT services

“Each program in each transport stream generates one data stream transferred to the server.”

The image above shows PSI tables of SPTS and MPTS streams. An SPTS stream comprises one program; therefore, you need one license to monitor such a stream.

On the contrary, an MPTS stream consists of two television programs and one radio program. Despite the radio program has no video content, you still need three licenses to monitor such an MPTS stream.

2. HLS services

Probes can analyze HLS services in two modes, and each mode requires a different number of licenses. In the “Player” analysis mode, the system analyzes a stream with the highest bitrate supported by the network at the moment, like in a media player. Since only one Variant Stream is analyzed at a given moment of time, only one license is required.

On the other hand, analyzing streams in the “All Renditions” mode will require as many licenses as there are Variant Streams (#EXT-X-STREAM-INF tags) declared in the master playlist. The probe will create subtasks for analyzing each Variant Stream. In the example above, the master playlist contains three Variant Streams, and their analysis in the “All Renditions” mode will require three licenses.

3. DASH services

Probes can analyze DASH services in two modes, and each mode requires a different number of licenses. In the “Player” analysis mode, the system analyzes a stream with the highest bitrate supported by the network at the moment, like in a media player. Since only one Video Representation is analyzed at a given moment of time, only one license is required.

On the other hand, analyzing streams in the “All Renditions” mode will require as many licenses as there are Video Representations (the number of AdaptationSet with contentType=”video”) declared in the manifest. The probe will create subtasks for analyzing each Video Representation. In the example above, the manifest contains three Video Representations, and their analysis in the “All Renditions” mode will require three licenses.