Media over QUIC (MoQ): Refactoring the Internet's real-time media stack
2 days ago
- #low-latency
- #streaming
- #QUIC
- Cloudflare launches the first Media over QUIC (MoQ) relay network, running on every Cloudflare server in 330+ cities.
- MoQ is an open protocol developed at the IETF, combining low-latency interactivity (WebRTC), scalability (HLS/DASH), and simplicity (RTMP) on a modern transport layer (QUIC).
- Historical context: RTMP solved latency but not scale; HLS/DASH solved scale but increased latency; WebRTC enabled sub-500ms latency but struggled with broadcast scale.
- MoQ aims to resolve the trilemma of latency, scale, and complexity by unifying streaming protocols into a single architecture.
- MoQ organizes data into Tracks, Groups, and Objects, enabling efficient, scalable media distribution without parsing or transcoding.
- MoQ's network components include Publishers, Subscribers, and Relays, with Relays forwarding immutable Objects to scale efficiently.
- MoQ builds on QUIC for transport efficiency, eliminating head-of-line blocking and enabling fast connection establishment and migration.
- MoQ introduces prioritization and congestion control via Subgroups, allowing intelligent quality degradation under network stress.
- Cloudflare's MoQ relay network uses Durable Objects for state management, ensuring global scalability and low-latency routing.
- MoQ is in tech preview, free for testing, with future pricing transparently aligned with existing media delivery costs.
- Community and interoperability are key: Cloudflare invites developers to experiment and collaborate on MoQ's evolution.