Location-Independent Streaming of Extended Reality Applications
Extended Reality (XR) applications enable a unique 3D experience and valuable benefits with regard to industrial development and design processes. This is done through streaming, which ensures that the appropriate applications can process the necessary large data volumes. However, it requires a high-performance and stable data connection, something that in practice is not always provided. For this reason, Holo-Light has integrated Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom’s concept for a rate adjustment into 5G networks based on L4S in its ISAR remote rendering solution. As a result, users benefit from high-performance XR streaming without any lag – even when there is lower connectivity and network quality on-site.
With Extended Reality (XR), digital dimensions can be merged with the offline world in a way that feels quite realistic. That’s why corresponding Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) apps are nowadays indispensable for various industrial usage scenarios. Overlapping the real world with virtual objects results in a fantastic three-dimensional live experience. It enables users to benefit from effects that are uniquely immersive. In particular, it takes the efficiency of development and design processes to a new level. Workflows, such as those used in the creation of prototypes, can be optimized, errors can be detected early, and expensive trips can be avoided. This leads to considerable savings in terms of costs, time, and resources.
Stream XR Applications on Mobile Devices
In order to realistically display complex virtual objects, XR applications place high demands on system performance. Mobile devices such as VR glasses usually do not meet these requirements. This is why it is expedient to bring the XR applications to the mobile devices via streaming. This prevents the latter from having to provide the necessary performance themselves. Instead, the rendering process, along with the data on the external server in the cloud, is outsourced in edge infrastructures or in datacenters within the company. Only then are high-performance XR applications on mobile devices possible in the first place. At the same time, the outsourcing increases data security, as no sensitive information is located on the end device itself. To enable industrial users to benefit from these crucial advantages, Holo-Light provides ISAR, a professional XR streaming solution.
However, in order to stream AR and VR applications in real time, a stable and high-performance network connection is required. This is not always provided in industrial development and design environments, meaning that companies often do not have a comprehensive Wi-Fi infrastructure. The latter is usually not available at construction sites and other sites in the field, with the result being that experts such as architects and building engineers cannot access a stable internet connection on-site. In these cases, the required connectivity and bandwidth must be provided via a functioning streaming service. What is essential here for the real-time streaming of AR and VR applications is a low and stable latency; in other words, a low jitter.
Minimizing Latencies through Bit-Rate Adjustment
In order to implement time-sensitive applications with high data rates – such as XR streaming – on a large scale in 5G networks, the latencies must be kept low and stable in a way that is also efficient. In collaboration with the Swedish telecommunications specialists at Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom has a practical solution for this: the concept for a rate adjustment in 5G networks based on Low Latency Low Scalable Throughput (L4S). This involves an intelligent mechanism that is standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a working group for the technical development of the internet. It ensures that data packets are quickly and smoothly transported through the network. The technology enables a stable latency (low jitter) in wired networks – in other words, fixed networks – as well as in cellular networks.
Through the use of L4S QoS (quality of service) streams, one can ensure that latency-critical applications with high data rates via 5G work smoothly and without any delays. Throughout this process, it is important that the mechanism does not unilaterally prioritize certain data packets. This guarantees that other users in the network are not disadvantaged. L4S recognizes early on if a bottleneck arises during the transmission of the data packets. The system gives the sender a corresponding response. They then adjust the bit rate based on this. Congestions and latencies can thus be reduced to a minimum.
For more information: www.holo-light.com
