Cisco  TelePresence    in  the  R&E  Community  

Mike  LaHaye  –  Internet2  Brent  Sweeny  –  NLR  GRNOC  Dave  Jent  –  Indiana  University  

Internet2  SMM  2010  

Session  Overview  

•  Telepresence  Overview  •  NLR  /  Internet2  MOU  on  Cisco  TelePresence  •  Cisco  TelePresence  Deployment  Status  •  R&E  Cisco  TelePresence  Exchange  •  Campus  Deployment  RecommendaNons  •  InternaNonal  and  Commercial  Reachability  •  TelePresence  deployment  at  Indiana  University  and  Harvard  University  

What  is  Telepresence?  

•  High  quality  audio  and  video  •  Simplicity  of  use  

•  High  reliability  •  Environmental  excellence  

•  These  aTributes  combine  to  produce  an  immersive  communicaNon  experience  that  simulates  an  in-­‐person  interacNve  encounter.  

•  It’s  all  about  the  producNon  values!  

High  Quality  Audio  

•  Proper  microphone  and  speaker  placement  •  Wideband  audio  codecs  

•  Full  duplex  audio  •  Echo  avoidance  and  cancellaNon  •  SpaNal  audio  adds  significantly  to  the  immersive  experience  

High  Quality  Video  

•  Tight  synchronizaNon  to  audio  and  video  streams  •  1080p  video  resoluNon  on  all  displays  •  Remote  people  rendered  in  natural  size  and  aspect  raNo  

•  Fixed  camera  focal  length.  No  pan,  Nlt,  or  zoom  control  

•  Camera  posiNoning  maximizes  eye  contact  at  all  angles  

•  Proper  lighNng  contributes  to  video  quality  

Reliability  

•  Calls  start  on  Nme  •  Network  tuned  to  minimize  latency,  loss  and  jiTer  

•  Easy  to  use  and  understand  user  interface  •  TelePresence  is  oben  offered  as  a  fully  managed  service  

Environmental  Excellence  

•  All  equipment,  including  furniture  is  oben  part  of  a  system  

•  Room  remediaNon  can  exceed  the  equipment  costs  for  a  room  deployment.  RemediaNon  can  include:  –  Room  size  –  AcousNc  isolaNon  –  HVAC  to  accommodate  equipment,  people,  accessories  –  LighNng  –  Furniture  –  Paint  colors  

TradiNonal  Videoconferencing  

Lifesize  Telepresence  

Polycom  Telepresence  

Tandberg  Telepresence  

Cisco  Telepresence  

Single  Screen  Telepresence  

Cisco  TelePresence  

•  Main  values:  quality,  reliability,  simplicity  •  (Generally)  aimed  at  conference  room  /  board  room  meeNngs  and  not  classroom  spaces  

•  Not  H.323  based  and  requires  Cisco  Call  Manager  integraNon  for  signaling  

•  Supports  point-­‐to-­‐point  and  mulNpoint  calls  •  Capable  of  MS  Exchange  integraNon  for  directory,  scheduling,  and  ‘one-­‐buTon-­‐to-­‐push’  dialing  

Cisco  TelePresence  in  R&E  

•  TelePresence  nodes  donated  by  Cisco  to  several  campuses  and  connected  to  AT&T  

•  Cisco  TelePresence  Exchange  established  by  NLR  

•  Islands  of  TelePresence  deployed  on  campuses  and  regional  networks  

•  MulNple  requests  from  Internet2  members  for  support  of  the  service  

•  MOU  signed  with  NLR  in  January  2010  

Internet2  –  NLR  MOU  

•  Present  a  unified  service  offering  for  the  R&E  community  –  the  R&E  Cisco  TelePresence  Exchange  

•  Work  closely  with  Cisco  and  one  another  on  a  Cisco  TelePresence  strategy  

•  Leverage  the  strengths  and  accomplishments  of  each  organizaNon  to  make  Cisco  TelePresence  more  widely  available  to  the  R&E  Community  

•  Jointly  engage  commercial  TelePresence  service  providers,  including  AT&T  and  Cisco  

•  Focused  on  Cisco  TelePresence,  but  intended  to  be  interoperable  with  other  forms  of  videoconferencing  

Mutual  ContribuNons  

•  NLR  is  providing  operaNonal  infrastructure  as  described  and  community  engagement  

•  Internet2  is  providing  community  engagement  infrastructure  and  experience  with  mulN-­‐vendor  video  collaboraNon  

•  Common  engagement  with  vendors  

R&E  Cisco  TelePresence  Exchange  

•  NLR  operates  the  R&E  Cisco  TelePresence  Exchange.  R&E  sites  may  reach  each  other  through  this  Exchange.  

•  Consists  of  a  Session  Border  Controller  (SBC)  and  mulNpoint  switch  and  other  supporNng  equipment  

•  Sites  establish  SIP  adjacencies  to  the  SBC    •  Signal  and  media  flow  to/from  the  SBC  (determinisNc  path)  

•  ApplicaNon  peering  through  the  SBC  provides  reachability  between  Internet2  and  NLR  parNcipants  

Proof  of  concept  demonstraNon  

•  A  Harvard  and  Peking  University  conference  occurred  in  January  under  this  arrangement  – Peking  University  previously  connected  by  NLR  to  the  R&E  TelePresence  Exchange  

– Harvard  is  connected  to  Internet2  only  – Limited  peering  for  TelePresence  established  between  Internet2  and  NLR  

Who  does  it  apply  to?  Who  can  use  it?  

•  Internet2  and  NLR  will  each  set  their  own  terms  and  fees  for  accessing  the  service  –  Baseline  for  NLR  members  and  its  peers  –  Internet2  doing  analysis  to  ensure  long  term  viability  for  members  

•  Service  will  be  available  to  at  least  Internet2/NLR  members  •  Currently  connecNng  all  interested  members  and  peers  •  ConNnue  to  analyze  costs  and  demand  to  ensure  long  term  

viability  for  members  •  Some  features  may  require  addiNonal  fees  –  gateway  

connecNons  to  commercial  CTS  Exchanges  

26  insNtuNons  connected  many  with  mulNple  nodes  

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Penn

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Renaissance  Co

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 North  Carolina,  Chape

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URO

PA)  

Indiana  University

 NLR  NOC  

Indiana  University

 System  

Duke  

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hitewater  

California  State  University

 

CENIC  NOC  

U  Vienn

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rge  Tech  

U  of  P

eking  Scho

ol  or  Managem

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Fresno

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l  District  K

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Harvard  

U  M

ichigan  

Internet2  

Towson  University

 

U  of  Sou

th  Carolina  -­‐  Schoo

l  of  B

usiness  

Riverstone

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rgy  (Virg

inia  Tech)  

Cisco  (Center  for  Excellence)  

U  of  C

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rnia-­‐Berkley  -­‐  Haas  Scho

ol  of  

Busine

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Wake  Forest  University

 Med

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Rice  University

 

MIT  

NaN

onal  University

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Single  Screen   MulNple  Screen  

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TelePresence  Endpoints  connected  to  the  R&E  Exchange  

R&E  TelePresence  Exchange  

Peking  University    (4)  

University  of    Vienna  

R&E-­‐connected  TelePresence  Endpoint  

NaNonal  University  of    Singapore  

Commercial  providers  

69  Endpoints  90  Screens  or  codecs  

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25  

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35  

CTS  500   CTS  1000   CTS  1300   CTS  3000   CTS  3200   Other  

CTS  Models  Connected  

Types  of  TelePresence-­‐using  sites  

•  ‘Boardrooms’—intra-­‐  or  inter-­‐insNtuNonal  administrators  

•  Business  schools  •  Management  schools  •  Engineering  schools  •  Medical  schools  and  hospitals  •  K-­‐12,  K-­‐20  groups  •  Some  more-­‐general  sites,  such  as  libraries,  museums,  dorms,  ‘commons’  

•  Lecture  hall  (a  non-­‐tradiNonal  seqng  for  TelePresence)  

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Equipment  and  Technology  

•  Call  Manager  required  •  Separate  Call  Managed  recommended  •  CUBE  is  opNonal  •  SIP  Trunk  to  the  SBC  •  Local  dial  plan  •  MS  Exchange  and  CTSMAN  •  CTMS  •  CUVC  and  MXE  •  EncrypNon  •  Recording  

CTMS  

Sample  R&E  Telepresence  Network  Layout  

R&E  SBC  at  NLR  

E.164  number  

Cisco  Call  Manager  

216.24.184.130  SBE  

IP  address  

216.24.184.131  DBE  

SLA  monitor  

R&E  exchange  Signaling  path  

Media  path  

Telepresence  systems…  

Minimal  end-­‐site  configuraNon  CUCM  &  codec  

BRS        26  Feb  2010  

Signaling  path  

Regional network

Signaling  path  Media  path  

E.164  number  

Cisco  Call  Managers  (redundant)  

IP  address  Telepresence  systems…  

More  complex  end-­‐site  configuraNon  CUCMs  &  codec(s)  

Regional network

CUBE-­‐Ent  (security,    Signal  demarc)  

CTMS  (mulNpoint  Switch)  

CT-­‐MAN  (scheduling,  Management)  

CUVC  (interop)  

OpNonal  end-­‐site  components  

MXE  (interop)  

firewall   PSTN  interop  

How  do  I  get  started?  

•  OperaNon  of  Cisco  TelePresence  over  R&E  networks  is  a  Cisco  approved  pracNce  

•  Endpoints  are  purchased  through  a  Cisco  ATP  •  Cisco  TelePresence  CerNficaNon  

–  Room  CerNficaNon  –  Network  Path  Assessment  

•  Equipment  installaNon  by  ATP  •  Allocate  phone  numbers  for  endpoints  •  ConfiguraNon  of  Call  Manager  and  CUBE  •  Local  tesNng  with  mulNple  endpoints  •  SIP  trunk  to  the  R&E  Exchange  

Endpoint  Challenges  

•  Room  readiness/selecNon  •  Firewall/edge  traversal  

–  Ports,  protocols,  addresses  well-­‐documented  – Not  all  firewalls  behave  as  expected/desired  

•  Packet  loss  evident  on  turnup  – QoS  –  IP  SLA  (Cisco)  

•  Very  occasionally  some  loss  later  •  Generally,  aber  turnup,  performance  is  very  solid  and  producNon  values  excellent  

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Challenges  

•  How  to  find  other  users  •  How  to  reach  other  users,  anywhere—making  the  experience  more  nearly  seamless  

•  How  to  interconnect  ‘islands’  •  Dial  plans,  esp.  for  internaNonal  uses  •  H.323  interop  •  Inter-­‐exchange,  esp  commercial  exchanges  •  scaling  

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Directory  services:  “who  can  I  talk  to?”  

There  are  two  directory  services  available  to  us  today:  

•  The  North  Carolina  State  University  Cisco-­‐Telepresence  directory  

•  A  new  Telepresence  directory  from  Cisco  

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“how  do  I  get  to  them?”  There  are  two  parts  to  this  answer:  1.  ConnecNng  the  islands  of  telepresence  to  allow  everyone  to  be  

able  to  reach  everyone  else  2.  Arranging  dial  plans  to  ‘route’  the  calls  to  any  other  site  

–  There  is  no  dynamic  rouNng  protocol  like  BGP  for  reachability  announcements  

–  There  is  no  dynamic  rouNng  allowing  you  to  ‘packet-­‐switch’  traffic.  It  follows  predetermined  SIP  trunks.  

–  Dial  plan  must  also  discern  between:  •  Telepresence  desNnaNons  •  H.323  desNnaNons  •  PSTN  desNnaNons  This  is  possible,  just  sort  of  complicated  

We’re  working  on  soluNons  to  all  of  these  where  we  can.  

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Dial  Plan  

•  R&E  Dial  Plan  Status  •  Use  locally  assigned  phone  numbers  

•  RecommendaNons  on  phone  numbers  and  local  dial  plan  to  ensure  global  reachability  

InternaNonal  TelePresence  in  R&E  

•  There  is  only  one  Telepresence  ‘Exchange’  for  R&E  in  the  world  today  –  UniversiNes  outside  the  US  but  in  our  R&E  community  have  connected  to  the  US  R&E  exchange,  and  more  are  coming.  They  want  to  communicate  with  US  University  users,  their  peers.  

–  It’s  inefficient  and  subopNmal  (latency,  possible  data  loss,  responsiveness,  user  communiNes,  opNmal  use  of  inter-­‐regional  bandwidth,  even  culture  &  language)    for  an  exchange  in  the  middle  of  the  US  to  interconnect  TelePresence  users  in  Beijing  and  Singapore!  

– We  propose  a  federaNon  of  similar  R&E-­‐oriented  TelePresence  exchanges  to  enhance  global  reachability  

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Commercial  Carrier  Exchanges  

•  There  are  a  number  of  commercial  Cisco  TelePresence  providers  worldwide.  Some  of  these  are  ATT,  Verizon,  Tata,  Orange,  BT,  and  many  others.    

•  The  commercial  exchanges  are  ‘islands’  of  TelePresence,  though  there  are  efforts  to  interconnect  them.  

•  The  R&E  exchange  is  working  to  provide  commercial-­‐exchange  access  to  its  members.  

Interoperability  with  H.323  Telepresence  and  Videoconferencing  

•  Cisco  Unified  Video  Conferencing  (CUVC)  is  a  gateway  to  H.323.    – H.323  MCU  –  Single  screen  only    –  720p  only  –  does  fill  enNre  screen  

•  Cisco  Media  Exchange  Engine  (MXE)  – Not  an  MCU,  but  will  transcode  to  H.323  – MulNprotocol  transcoding  gateway    

Indiana  Use  Case  

•  Large  deployment  of  H.323  Video  Conferencing  

•  Complimentary  investment  in  Cisco  TelePresence  

Harvard  Use  Case  

•  Campus  deployment  to  minimize  travel  Nme  •  Regional  deployment  in  the  northeast  

•  Leverage  the  R&E  Exchange  for  US  collaboraNon  

•  InternaNonal  collaboraNon  with  China,  South  Africa,  etc.    

QuesNons?