1. General
Category
SDG 4: Quality Education
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
SDG 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
Category
Internet
2. Project Details
Company or Institution
CDNBye
Project
CDNBye
General description of the AI solution
Cisco estimates that by 2023 there will be 5.3 billion total Internet users; video will account for almost 80% of ALL internet traffic by 2022 [1]. People have benefited from videos in numerous ways, for business, learning, and leisure. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the importance of the internet, as a window to education, access to information, health, culture, and countless other aspects of daily life. Although the demand is constantly rising, storage and bandwidth requirements are exceeding the currently available technology.
The popularity of HTML5 brings a revolutionary solution – WebRTC technology which allows browsers to implement P2P capability without installing any plug-ins. We (CDNBye) introduce this technology into the field of streaming media and develop a website P2P streaming media plug-in. As an important supplement to CDN, CDNBye adopts "P2P + CDN" transmission technology, and uses advanced AI scheduling algorithms for optimizing the BitTorrent sharing protocol. This maximizes the P2P rate and solves the problem of insufficient server bandwidth. It improves the user's viewing experience and saves bandwidth costs for video websites, thus creating value.
By improving video quality and reducing internet costs, we benefit everyone who uses video services, which results in improved education and economic growth and fosters industry and innovation potential.
Although our solution is currently focused on video and audio, we are developing various file exchange protocols based on the same technology. This will further bolster internet flow and enable a more democratic internet ecosystem.
The core team consists of
• Ting Xie, Chief engineer
• Prof. Ben Niu, AI expert and chief supervisor
• Mijat Kustudić, Team leader
Our solution is already implemented, highly competitive, and well-positioned on the market, and is award-winning.
[1] Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018–2023) White Paper
Website
Organisation
Shenzhen University
3. Aspects
Excellence and Scientific Quality: Please detail the improvements made by the nominee or the nominees’ team or yourself if your applying for the award, and why they have been a success.
CDNBye is based on a new generation of P2P technology, which fully integrates unused network bandwidth with streaming services to provide users (audio, video websites, and apps) with a better experience and a more cost-effective streaming content delivery solution compatible with iOS, Android, and other modern browsers. It brings forward a new network architecture and allows for a completely different network setup with greater flexibility, speed, and stability.
The AI implemented is the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm which is used for intelligent scheduling. Artificial “ants” locate optimal solutions by moving through parameter space mimicking their food search. Based on the team’s academic research, highly competitive and efficient scheduling algorithms are implemented within the core elements. The level of scientific quotations speaks to the high level of innovation.
Our approach synergizes several technologies: it implements the BitTorrent algorithm via WebRTC so that browsers establish a P2P connection. The network structure is decentralized instead of the traditional top-down one, leaving behind the conventional model of clients having to fetch data from the server thus significantly reducing the load on the server bandwidth needs. The ACO is used continuously for connecting and recalibrating the data flow between users.
Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), developed by Google, has become part of the HTML5 standard and is supported by all major browsers. This technology is continuously maintained and upgraded by Google, so the stability of the protocol is guaranteed.
The team has developed and copyrighted software (licensed to Shenzhen University) and has won the silver medal at the Internet+ competition among 1.47 million competitors. The project has been promoted on GitHub, TLC, and at numerous online and offline conferences and lectures. CDNBye is already being implemented widely with 10 million+ end users and 600+ websites.
Scaling of impact to SDGs: Please detail how many citizens/communities and/or researchers/businesses this has had or can have a positive impact on, including particular groups where applicable and to what extent.
We find our impact and reach to be significant; our solution has 10 million+ end users and 600+ websites with a major partner being CVTV. Our customers have 500,000 viewers during peak time and up to now, CDNBye has saved them more than 2000 TB monthly. During the epidemic, Elephant News (大象新闻) provided free non-stop online videos for Henan elementary and middle school students. The reach of our project is global since it can be used by anyone who has internet and a browser. CDNBye is implemented in 50+ countries, the majority being from China, Brazil, the US, UK, Malaysia, France while final users are worldwide.
CDNBye has a primary focus on SDGs: 4, 8, 9, 17 and directly targets numerous others by knowledge sharing. CDNBye can offer measurable progress in the form of reports based on the traffic saved and customers reached. Everyone in the general public and relevant sectors/domains, be it for business, learning or leisure can benefit from our solution. CDNBye fits perfectly with the global expansion of the internet, growth of new industries, information and communication technologies by allowing an increased speed and quality of internet and education and is inclusive for everyone. Although our solution is currently focused on video and audio, we plan to develop various file exchange protocols based on the same technology. This will further bolster internet flow and enable a more democratic internet ecosystem.
We believe that our solution does contribute to the development of an AI-oriented SDG ecosystem according to facts stated in: Scaling of AI solution. This is further proliferated by regularly communicating with 5000+ followers that CDNBye has on technical forums.
Scaling of AI solution: Please detail what proof of concept or implementations can you show now in terms of its efficacy and how the solution can be scaled to provide a global impact ad how realistic that scaling is.
We find our solution to be well implemented, with huge scaling potential. For concrete numbers please refer to Scaling of impact to SDGs section.
Scaling up can be achieved by:
1. Increasing the outreach to video streaming websites
2. Partnering with stakeholders that can implement our technology
3. Implementing other file-sharing technologies thus expanding the market
Because our solution is well developed and established new websites should simply integrate the code provided. Due to our mainly academic focus, our primary and secondary points of scaling can be achieved with additional manpower for establishing new contacts and relationships. Our tertiary goal will be achieved thanks to the team’s RnD focus. The internet background of the solution directly targets SDGs number 4, 8, 9, and 17 and indirectly solves numerous others by knowledge sharing.
We see our impact on customer and end-user company emergence and growth in two ways:
1. Passive: by having improved video and audio quality our solution facilitates easier access to knowledge, learning, and leisure. P2P allows for reduced bandwidth costs for streaming websites which lowers their financial burden and allows new ones to enter the market.
2. Active: we are fully committed to knowledge sharing (5000+ followers on tech forums). CDNBye has disclosed the source code of related technical codes on open-source websites such as GitHub. We regularly publish our AI academic research at conferences and meetings.
Based on academia we have established connections between Chinese and Serbian universities and business incubators. We have started mutual exchanges and knowledge sharing to incorporate additional EU and US partners and research centers in the spreading of our research and the CDNBye project. Apart from academia, we are looking forward to onboarding additional different-sized companies thus creating an overarching network between various relevant stakeholders.
Ethical aspect: Please detail the way the solution addresses any of the main ethical aspects, including trustworthiness, bias, gender issues, etc.
The ant colony optimization algorithm is used as a scheduling algorithm for the WebRTC (developed by Google), which is a part of the HTML5 standard and is supported by all major browsers. This means that our system works with and between browsers following all existing browser standards, not intruding into any additional ethical or privacy segment. Our solution is lawful, complying with all applicable laws and regulations, and follows all ethical values and principles since WebRTC is already implemented within browsers. The system is robust, decentralized, and is updated as well as improved with the latest team research.
Our solution is universal, does not discriminate, and can be used by anyone who has a browser. It fits perfectly with the global expansion of the internet, growth of new industries, information and communication technologies by allowing an increased speed and quality of internet and education.
According to [1] improved internet access and connectivity can do more than urban migration to provide better jobs and higher standards of living for the roughly 3.4 billion people living in rural areas. Our solution has already been implemented during the epidemic. Namely, Elephant News (大象新闻) provided free non-stop online videos for Henan elementary and middle school students. CDNBye disclosed the source code of related technical codes on open-source, GitHub, allowing for equal opportunities and knowledge spreading. Our academic publications, presentations at conferences, and meetings will help others educate themselves and solve similar problems thus creating new opportunities and jobs in the booming tech industry.