I2 Spring 04 Video and Voice Developments on JANET Roger Bolam Content Delivery Manager Advanced Technologies Group UKERNA

I2 Spring 04 UKERNA Operate and manage JANET on behalf of the JISC Provide network connectivity and application services to UK HE, FE, Schools, and research organisations

I2 Spring 04 Introduction Videoconferencing Services and Developments Content Delivery VoIP

I2 Spring 04 Current VC Services JANET Videoconferencing Services (JVCS) around for 6+ years 2 Mbit/s videoconferencing for upto 76 sites, ISDN 6 for 96 sites 400+ registered CODECs videoconferencing hours per month H.323 IP dial out and H.320 ISDN dial in MCUs and GDS gatekeepers located in the core of JANET – 10 Gbit

I2 Spring 04 VC Services cont….. Predominately studio based, and fully QA checked Service free at point of use (exc ISDN call charges) 2 full time operators facilitate service Now supporting Access GRID sessions

I2 Spring 04 VC Services cont….. JVCS Services reserved using new JVCS booking system (non-automated)

I2 Spring 04 Conferencing on Demand (CoD)

I2 Spring 04 Conferencing on Demand On-line dedicated MCU scheduling resource Based on Polycom Webcommander technology – with in house developed interface Available to all primary connected JANET sites Open to all H.323 compliant CODECs

I2 Spring 04 Why CoD? Growth of non-studio based videoconferencing Requirement for less formal video collaboration Simple, instant, flexible videoconferencing

I2 Spring 04 CoD Service Overview Support for 48 fully transcoded IP videoconferences (768kbit/s max) Scheduling instantly or up to 48 hours in advance MCU initiates conference (dial out) First come first served basis Support for all H.323 CODECs

I2 Spring 04 CoD Features and Functionality Registration via on line form User Group created per registered E.164 CODEC Global directory with favourites list User can only alter configuration on CODECs they own.

I2 Spring 04 CoD Timescales Currently testing software and hardware Pilot initiated Q2 /early Q Service launch early Q4 2004

I2 Spring 04 Automated Quality Assurance Testing

I2 Spring 04 Introduction On-line AV analysis tool for IP CODECs Automated Bookable through the Conferencing on Demand Service No restriction on usage Does not replace the current operator led QA testing

I2 Spring 04 Aims Evaluation of audio and video quality Basic network parameter check Improve videoconferencing quality Reduce time and effort on Operator led QA testing

I2 Spring 04 Technology Video Distribution Amplifier AMX Controller Audio OutVideo OutVideo In Audio InVideo InSerial Port Tandberg 6000 NetworkMonitor Audio Amplifier Hamlet PLM-1 Overlay Unit Audio InVideo In Video Out Audio Amplifier Audio Out DVD Player Video Out

I2 Spring 04 Higher Quality Videoconferencing

I2 Spring 04 HQVC Overview Quality provided by H.323 and H.320 is improving Requirement for higher quality audio and video within JANET community UKERNA undertaking a feasibility of using HQVC on JANET

I2 Spring 04 Technology Star Valley SVS 2011 CODEC MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 Up to 15Mbit/s bandwidth requirements Point to Point only

I2 Spring 04 Usage Scenarios Medical applications Music Arts Sciences Essentially anything requiring high resolution video and high clarity audio

I2 Spring 04 UKERNA HQVC Trial CODECs located at four JANET connected sites Assessing impact on networks Investigating issues associated with high bandwidth requirements Assessing feasibility of integration into existing videoconferencing installations

I2 Spring 04 UKERNA HQVC Trial cont… Investigating marketplace for MCU developments Considering possible service models Monitoring marketplace for H.320 / H.323 gateway developments

I2 Spring 04 JANET Content Delivery Infrastructure (CDI) Trial Roger Bolam Content Delivery Manager Advanced Technologies Group UKERNA

I2 Spring 04 CDI Activities so far… JANET CDI Trial Phase 1 (Jan – June 04) JANET CDI Trial Phase 2 (August 03 – Jan 04) CDI Architecture Group – imminent

I2 Spring 04 JANET CDI Trial Six HE and FE project members CDI Technology based on Kasennna Mediabase and Real Networks Helix delivery software Investigating how to deliver content (moving pictures and sound) efficiently and effectively on JANET Testing direct delivery and cache architecture Trials completed January 2004

I2 Spring 04 Streaming Server in C- PoP Streaming Caches at Institutions Streaming Clients JANET CDI Trial Cache Model

I2 Spring 04 Streaming Server in C- PoP Streaming Caches at Institutions Streaming Clients JANET CDI Trial Direct Delivery Model

I2 Spring 04 JANET CDI Trial – Content CDI Trial used EMOL content MPEG4 content, ranging from 200 MByte – 2 GByte files Delivered at 700 kbit/s and 1.5 Mbit/s

I2 Spring 04 JANET CDI Trial – Monitoring Relatively simple to gather subjective feedback (statistics) Decisions based on performance so require objective statistics Deployed a monitoring infrastructure based on Ciscos Service Assurance Agent (SAA) Now looking at server performance

I2 Spring 04 Findings so far… Caching or local serving is recommended for sites with sub 34 Mbit/s connections Caching or local serving is vital for sites with less than 2 Mbit/s connections Different delivery platforms, players and implementations of standards behave in completely different ways

I2 Spring 04 Challenges and next steps Uni-vendor solution is not appropriate Singular Content Portal for content access, and AAA Suitability and usability of CDI components Marketplace not yet mature for content streaming

I2 Spring 04 Challenges and next steps cont… Interoperation between content format, delivery software and hardware and player is a serious issue Metadata standardisation Retro-fitting of digitised content is time- consuming Software costs are an issue

I2 Spring 04 VoIP Undertaking internal trials of Cisco CM, and other products Currently ascertaining position of UKERNA and VoIP Lots of regulations and barriers in the UK for telcos - OFFCOM Potentially a VoIP overlay service.

I2 Spring 04 VoIP UK call charges are very small Any capital outlay for sites may not offer ROI Numerous VoIP protocols, and proprietary standards.

I2 Spring 04 Further Information video Roger Bolam