Access Grid and the Mbone media tools Sumover Workshop November 28, 2005 Thomas D. Uram
AG2 VenueClient –Integrated data sharing –Integrated text messaging –Integrated event messaging –Shared Applications Encrypted audio/video Extensible media framework Certificate Management –CA certificate import Authorization Integrated Multicast Bridging Complete documentation
Access Grid Status Downloads –6000+ (outside Argonne) Certificates –8000+ certificate requests –53 countries Venue Servers –10+ external to Argonne –Run by large organizations, small collaborations Platforms –Windows, OSX, Linux (Gentoo, Slackware, FedoraCore, FreeBSD, RedHat, SuSE) Large deployer of Globus software
Third-party development AGSchedule, NCSA –Click to join meeting Video Presence, ANU rcbridge, ANU AGDeviceControl, ANU MPEG4 support, NCHC (Taiwan) SharedDesktop, WestGrid SharedVizServer, WestGrid Venue Customizer, WestGrid/SFU Positional audio,BostonU AGJuggler, Purdue Univ. AGConnector, KISTI/GIST HD/DV support, KISTI/GIST OSX vic port, UQueensland MLB (whiteboard) integration, UQ Screen streaming; meeting recorder, Manchester University (UK)
Current use of media tools RAT/VIC wrapped in Python service modules (AudioService, VideoService) Services start and stop RAT/VIC as needed Services write startup scripts and pass command-line options in accordance with user-specified configuration in AG software
Vic Modifications Vic –autoplace automatically position video windows in a region on screen –OSX support (per Doug Kosovic) support for multiple cameras separate branch in AG CVS
Rat Modifications Per-source volume controls IP helper code: strategically select network interface for multicast communication among rat components Shipped Rat includes ALSA support (via patch from Steve Smith)
Future work Very little to no resources for media tools work –Willing to track VIC/RAT developments and contribute where possible Merge AG modifications to media tools into UCL repository where appropriate
Recommendations Introduce/expand message interfaces for configuring tools programmatically (e.g., change multicast group) Provide headless support –RAT media engine –VIC transmit (have currently via OpenMash) Integrate VIC WDM device support Update list of supported hardware Integrate new codecs –MPEG4, h264 –Speex Create bug/feature repository (Bugzilla, Trac) Improve Robustness –Regular RAT crashes on Windows –Non-descriptive error messages in both VIC and RAT Maintain Open Licensing –Prefer BSD style