High-Bandwidth Multipoint HD Video Conferencing

Without an MCUMarv Schwartzmss@case.edu

www.caseconnectionzone.orgA Research Project of Case Western Reserve University

Problems with Current Systems

MCU

Clients

Limited access, number of sessions, number of clientsDedicated client software and MCU limit quality and bandwidth usedMCU functions are compute intensive, decoding, reformatting and encoding videoExpensive, Risky—not scalable to the larger community, especially for underservedExpensive to administer, maintain and upgrade

Our Solution

Clients

Master Client

Distribute MCU functions to clientsControl protocol (SIP or like SIP)Master specifies video stream size, codec, etc. sent by each clientMaster provides presentation frameClients encode and format video and send to every other clientClients decode streams and present multiple video frames

Status

Clients

Master Client

Point-to-point alpha softwareUses gig bandwidthGreat videoGreat audio

Next Steps:Port from Max to C++MultipointSDN Routing

Unicast Routing

Clients

Leader

Divides available bandwidth by number of clients reducing quality

SDN Routing

Clients

Leader

High QualityLow LatencyLayer 2No MulticastReplication in SDN routers to maximize bandwidth

Security

Clients

Leader

Medical and other confidential informationShould be end-to-end but not be a client responsibilityOpen Source Cryptography—simple, trusted, vetted, no backdoorsGENI Slices?

Importance, Impact, and Novelty

Clients

Master Client

Adaptive—determines available bandwidth and client capability—3D, 4K, holographicControl protocol accommodates current and future codecs over a range of bandwidthFree (so seniors and other individuals with resource constraints can be included) Any group of two or more clients can have a multipoint video conferenceLow latency—goal is the same dynamic as an in-person meeting

Feasibility, Scale, and Scale Up

Clients

Master Client

Ad hoc groups of clients can create their own conferencesConference access can be advertised on community websitesLeverages open source and standards (SIP, HTML5, codecs)GENI nodes or NetServ routers could offload client encoding, and decoding--enables older endpoints (important for underserved communities)--future possibility: client can specify the presentation frame