Global Platform for Rich Media Conferencing and CollaborationGlobal Platform for Rich Media

Conferencing and Collaboration

Joao FernandesCalifornia Institute of Technology

June 22nd, 2004 Videoconferencing Day, EPFL

What is VRVS ?What is VRVS ?

The Virtual Rooms Videoconferencing System has been developed by Caltech since 1995 to provide a world wide videoconference service for education and research communities.

VRVS is a realtime distributed system which provides a scalable communication infrastructure for large collaboration dispersed all over the world.

Different technologies and protocols are supported (and mixed) allowing users to connect their preferred videoconference.

Supports Mbone, H.323, SIP, QuickTime, Access Grid, JMF and MPEG2.

The system is composed of 1 main server and several reflectors (network servers) spread around the world.

VRVS Web Service DesignVRVS Web Service Design

Unified Web User Interface to schedule and join/leave a meeting independently of the application.

Multi-platform: Windows, Linux, MacOS and Unix Easy to use: Everybody (from 4 to 77 years old) knows

how to click on a web page today. Not true for running a VCR

Virtual Room Concept, Scheduling: Create a virtual space were people can exchange real-time information

Join or Leave a Collaborative session anytime: Do not need to know in advance how many participants and booked ports capacity. Just announce the meeting and people will join from anywhere.

Full Documentation and Tutorial Self service: You don’t need a technician or expert to

organize and join a conference

VRVS Reflector ImplementationVRVS Reflector Implementation Avoids Duplication of Streams on a given Link Can be set to Unicast or Multicast mode or both Connection peer-to-peer with neighbors network servers. Connectionless (more reliable to network breaks) Enables Optimized Routing Enables Bandwidth Control Provides low latency communication Can be used for real-time interactivity or broadcast Provides an elegant solution to cross firewall/NAT Remote Management Features. Compliant with IETF RTPv2 Protocol, ready for new applications.

Mbone Mbone ToolsTools

(vic, vat/rat,..)(vic, vat/rat,..)

VRVS Model ImplementationVRVS Model Implementation

donedone Partially donePartially done Work in progressWork in progress Continuously in development

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SQ

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VRVS Reflectors (Unicast/Multicast)VRVS Reflectors (Unicast/Multicast)

Real Time Protocol (RTP/RTCP)Real Time Protocol (RTP/RTCP)

SIPSIP

Network Layer (TCP/IP)Network Layer (TCP/IP)

H.323H.323 QuickTimeQuickTimePlayerPlayer

MPEGMPEGMinervaMinerva

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VRVS Web User InterfaceVRVS Web User Interface

VRVS Deployment VRVS Deployment and Usageand Usage

VRVS Reflectors DeploymentVRVS Reflectors Deployment

VRVS Reflectors DeploymentVRVS Reflectors Deployment

USA 27

Brazil 6

Spain 5

Switzerland 5

UK 3

France 3

Slovakia 3

Canada 2

Taiwan 2

Greece 2

Portugal 2

Israel 2

Japan 2

Pakistan 2

Venezuela 2

Italy 2

Germany 1

Chile 1

Poland 1

Hungary 1

China 1

Ireland 1

Russia 1

Czech Republic 1

Belgium 1

Romania 1

Australia 1

Finland 1

79 reflectors Deployment World wide in 28 Different Countries

VRVS registered users and current VRVS registered users and current usageusage

USA 2408

Spain 1392

Italy 706

France 638

Switzerland 612

Brazil 510

Germany 425

UK 349

Slovakia 314

Canada 198

Scheduled Multipoint Videoconferences Sessions

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2001

2002

2003

And much more: Japan, Australia, Greece, Taiwan, Argentina, Russia China,…

Scheduled Multipoint Videoconferences hours Sessions

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2001

2002

2003

10000 Users Milestone10000 Users Milestone reached!

from 104 Countries104 Countries

and more than and more than 33000 machines33000 machines

VRVS registered users and current VRVS registered users and current usageusage

We have, in average We have, in average ONEONE new registered user new registered user per hour!per hour!

Machines and OSMachines and OS

VRVS supports different

Operating Systems

according to the need

and the demand of the

final users:

1st : Windows

2nd: Linux

3rd: Macintosh

4th: Other UNIX

Machines used in VRVSWindows

Linux

Macintosh

Others

Connections from MachinesWindows

Linux

Macintosh

Others

Call Details Record (CDR)Call Details Record (CDR)

Number of Number of VRVS MeetingsVRVS Meetings

Number of Number of ParticipantsParticipants

Total number of Total number of Minutes of video/audio Minutes of video/audio connection connection

NOV 2003NOV 2003 692 2951 144 Days, 17h, 14mn(3473 hours, 14mn)

DEC 2003DEC 2003 656 2734 129 Days, 18h, 57mn(3114 hours, 57mn)

JAN 2004JAN 2004 687 2980 189 Days, 4h, 23mn(4540 hours, 23mn)

Some Examples Some Examples

VRVS on Mac OS XVRVS on Mac OS X

VRVS on WindowsVRVS on Windows

Example 1: Example 1: 20 participants20 participantsBRAZIL (3 sites) + SWITZERLAND (CERN) + USA (Caltech)BRAZIL (3 sites) + SWITZERLAND (CERN) + USA (Caltech)

Example 2: Example 2: 17 participants17 participantsJAPAN + UK + SWITZERLAND + BRAZIL + USA (SLAC + FERMILAB)JAPAN + UK + SWITZERLAND + BRAZIL + USA (SLAC + FERMILAB)

Some FeaturesSome Features

Network and SecurityNetwork and Security

Possibility of tunneling (TCP or UDP) between reflector servers. All communications use only ONE port !

Peer-to-peer design with high scalability and flexibility Solution for Firewall and NAT Performing of some packet recovery VRVS Proxy Java agent for users behind NAT

environment Fixed incompatibility between several H.323 end points Remotely mute/unmute video or/and audio Optimized network bandwidth utilization Real-time packet loss monitoring Support up to 16,000 Virtual Rooms (parallel meetings)

Administration InterfaceAdministration Interface

o Pure Java J2EE + XMLo HTTPS/SSL secure web interfaceo Monitoring reflectors and users in ongoing conferenceo Full control on database

Monalisa: Real-Time MonitoringMonalisa: Real-Time Monitoring

VRVS Virtual SetupVRVS Virtual Setup

1 dual processor PC

With special 4 output graphic card

6400 x 4800 pixels

Most powerful VRVS End Node

VRVS usage at CERNVRVS usage at CERN

Currently there are a total of 11 videoconferecing Rooms at CERN in production (1 more coming soon)

7 of this Rooms have VRVS as the Core Videoconferencing platform.

4 of this rooms are H.323 equipped. These equipments are fully supported by VRVS.

We have currently 4 reflectors installed at CERN, 2 of them for internal usage

In 2003, we had 4812 hours of VRVS videoconferencing at CERN for collaboration activity

What is next ?What is next ?

VRVS Main Technical Trend EvolutionVRVS Main Technical Trend Evolution

V3.(0,1):

VRVS core infrastructure is statically and manually configured and operated

V3.(2,x):

VRVS core infrastructure is automatically configured and monitored. The core software is self dependent and can take self decisions to improve performance/quality without manual intervention

V4.0 and beyond:

• This is a Globally Distributed Self Managed End2End Real-time Infrastructure. It provides the best quality/performance possible• Extends the core intelligence to the edge.• Has a full End2End control and monitoring• The self managed infrastructure has a full knowledge of all the critical/sensitive parameters (all network layers, hardware and software at the end nodes, resources allocated and

available,..) in order to take adequate decisions (alarms, automatic rerouting of traffic, disconnection, remove/add services,..)• Administrator is fully aware with operational status via constant feedback (via UI, email, phone,..) from the self managed core software

3.0

3.x

4.0

End usersEnd applications

Reflectors

Extend intelligence to the edge

On-going and Future On-going and Future developments developments

Adaptation to emerging standards: IPv6, SIP

Improve Security (Firewall, NAT, Authentication, Encryption)

Develop advanced network monitoring agents (based on Java and web services) to run on each network servers. Possibility to automatic rerouting between VRVS network

servers to find a better network path..

Wireless/Mobile Client Integration: User Interface dedicated for small screens Integration of low end client. VVP, JMF, MPEG4

VRVS TeamVRVS Team

Philippe Galvez Pasadena (USA)

Kun Wei Pasadena (USA)

Dave Adamczyk Pasadena (USA)

Dennis Lattka Pasadena (USA)

Gregory Denis Geneva (Switzerland)

Juraj Sucik Geneva (Switzerland)

Joao Fernandes Geneva (Switzerland)

Pavel Farkas Kosice (Slovakia)

Michal Pauliny Kosice (Slovakia)

Mikulas Kankula Kosice (Slovakia)