Global Platform for Rich Media Conferencing and Collaboration Philippe Galvez California Institute of Technology Feb 19th, 2004LISHEP 2004, Rio de Janeiro

What is VRVS ? u The Virtual Rooms Videoconferencing System has been developed by Caltech since 1995 to provide a world wide videoconference service for education and research communities. u VRVS is a realtime distributed system which provides a scalable communication infrastructure for large collaboration dispersed all over the world. u Different technologies and protocols are supported (and mixed) allowing users to connect their preferred videoconference. u Supports Mbone, H.323, SIP, QuickTime, Access Grid, JMF and MPEG2. u The system is composed of 1 main server and several reflectors (network servers) spread around the world.

VRVS Web Service Design u Unified Web User Interface to schedule and join/leave a meeting independently of the application. u Multi-platform: Windows, Linux, MacOS and Unix u 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 u Virtual Room Concept, Scheduling: Create a virtual space were people can exchange real-time information u 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. u Full Documentation and Tutorial u Self service: You don’t need a technician or expert to organize and join a conference

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

Mbone Tools (vic, vat/rat,..) VRVS Model Implementation done Partially done Work in progress Continuously in development QoS VRVS Reflectors (Unicast/Multicast) Real Time Protocol (RTP/RTCP) SIP Network Layer (TCP/IP) H.323QuickTimePlayerMPEGMinerva CollaborativeApplications VRVS Web User Interface

VRVS Deployment and Usage

VRVS Reflectors Deployment

USA27 Brazil6 Spain5 Switzerland5 UK3 France3 Slovakia3 Canada2 Taiwan2 Greece2 Portugal2 Israel2 Japan2 Pakistan2 Venezuela2 Italy1 Germany1 Chile1 Poland1 Hungary1 China1 Ireland1 Russia1 Czech Republic1 Belgium1 Romania1 Australia1 Finland1 79 reflectors Deployment World wide in 27 Different Countries

VRVS registered users and current usage as of Feb 17 th, 2004 USA2006 Spain1210 Italy 565 Switzerland 511 France 496 Brazil 442 Germany 417 UK 349 Slovakia 214 Japan 161 And much more: Canada, Australia, Chile, Taiwan, Argentina, China,…

8400 different Users 8400 different Users registered 103 Countries from 103 Countries and more than machines VRVS registered users and current usage as of Feb 17 th, 2004 We have in average ONE new registered user per hour!

Machines and OS VRVS support different Operating Systems according to the need and the demand of the final users: 1 st : Windows 2 nd : Linux 3 rd : Macintosh 4 th : Other UNIX

Call Details Record (CDR) Number of VRVS Meetings Number of Participants Total number of Minutes of video/audio connection NOV Days, 17h, 14mn (3473 hours, 14mn) DEC Days, 18h, 57mn (3114 hours, 57mn) JAN Days, 4h, 23mn (4540 hours, 23mn)

Some Examples

VRVS on Mac OS X

VRVS on Windows

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

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

Some Features

Network and Security u u Possibility of tunneling (TCP or UDP) between reflector servers. All communications use only ONE port ! u u Peer-to-peer design with high scalability and flexibility u u Solution for Firewall and NAT u u Performing of some packet recovery u u VRVS Proxy Java agent for users behind NAT environment u u Fixed incompatibility between several H.323 end points u u Remotely mute/unmute video or/and audio u u Optimized network bandwidth utilization u u Real-time packet loss monitoring u u Support up to 16,000 Virtual Rooms (parallel meetings)

Administration Interface o o Pure Java J2EE + XML o o HTTPS/SSL secure web interface o o Monitoring reflectors and users in ongoing conference o o Full control on database

Monalisa: Real-Time Monitoring

VRVS Virtual Setup 1 dual processor PC With special 4 output graphic card 6400 x 4800 pixels Most powerful VRVS End Node

What is next ?

VRVS 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, , phone,..) from the self managed core software x 4.0 End users End applications Reflectors Extend intelligence to the edge

On-going and Future developments Globally Distributed Self Managed End2End Real-time Infrastructure

Advanced VRVS Reflectors functionalities Advanced VRVS Reflectors functionalities   Dynamic registration to high level directory services   Automatic re-activation of components and services   Automatic and secure code update   Continuous monitoring of network quality (packet loss, jitter, latency) between its peers and its possible peers   Automatic rerouting to obtain the best performance/quality   Automatic Alarm notifications when monitored parameters (system or network) go beyond a preset threshold   Dynamically provides services (video, audio, data,..) that matches the current resources/capabilities to the end users/applications   Provides access to real-time and historical data

Advanced End users/applications functionalities (1/2)   Dynamic registration to high level directory services   Automatic detection of the system parameters (CPU, Memory,..), hardware components (Audio card, video card, …), services capabilities (video, audio, …), network environment and capabilities (wireless environment, DSL, available bandwidth, …)   Automatic re-activation of components and services   Automatic code update   Continuous monitoring of network quality (packet loss, jitter, latency) to the attached reflector and possible others reflectors   Automatic rerouting to obtain the best performance/quality (The communication between an end node will be rerouted transparently and automatically to another reflector for performance optimization)

Advanced End users/applications functionalities (2/2)   Automatic Alarm notifications when monitored parameters (system or network) go beyond a preset threshold As example: if Desktop CPU is too high, the system will automatically try to perform the following: reduce services (video/audio/data/..) running in the machine and inform user of the change or if there is no improvement, inform the user of the problem and where it comes from (if possible) and then propose a solution (ultimately reset the system) Keep informed the general system administrator   Dynamically gets services (video, audio, data,..) that matches the current resources/capabilities to end users/applications   Provides access to real-time and historical data

On-going and Future developments   Adaptation to emerging standards: IPv6, SIP   Improve Security (Firewall, NAT, Authentication, Encryption)   Develop a pure peer-to-peer VRVS reflectors network to be able to handle thousands of parallel sessions. u u Integration of new hardware/software for high-end interactivity.   Develop a multipoint videoconferencing system based on MPEG4 compression standard   Develop a system using HDTV standard if affordable hardware devices available.   Wireless/Mobile Client Integration:   User Interface dedicated for small screens   Integration of low end client. VVP, JMF, MPEG4

VRVS, Caltech Team Philippe Galvez Pasadena (USA) Kun Wei Pasadena (USA) Dave Adamczyk Pasadena (USA) Dennis Lattka Pasadena (USA) Gregory Denis Geneva (Switzerland) David Collados Geneva (Switzerland) Joao Fernandes Geneva (Switzerland)

Additional Slides

Virtual Access Grid  User can connect to either unicast or multicast videoconferencing with full supported features  User can create his/her own virtual AG node and virtual venues and integrated into VRVS  Different Video modes possible:  Voice switched: default mode for H.323 clients. one video stream at a time  Timer switched: browse through all the video based on preset timer. One video stream at a time.  Selected Streams: Click among the video participants to view selected video streams (one or several streams available).  All Streams

VAG with Mbone Clients

Conclusion: We believe that VRVS offers the following unique differentiators: Usability – VRVS’ web-based user interface is easy to use and allows almost any desktop of videoconference suite to connect to a VRVS virtual room conference by a few clicks. Its default client apps enable multi-standards audio, video and data collaboration. Scalability – VRVS scales up with the needs for quality and volume more elegantly, and beyond anything possible now. è More simultaneous participants in a same virtual room è More simultaneous virtual room conferences è Wider range of video and data sharing quality

Flexibility – VRVS allows inter-operation of collaborative communications between end points of various audio, video and data sharing capabilities as well as different types of connectivity. Efficiency – VRVS server software makes efficient use of bandwidth by routing required information only to necessary nodes. Ubiquity – VRVS’ ease-of-use and scalability unlocks the value of network-based collaboration tools and allows anyone, anywhere, anytime, to improve their collaborative experience. Robustness – VRVS is field tested on a large scale for a long period of time. It has demonstrated exceptional reliability and a simplified deployment and use, beyond anything available today (except maybe POTS and !)

Web based interface u VRVS provides a natural and intuitive interface to organize and manage your meetings. u Several interfaces let you see in 1 shot all current conferences, let you book a new one in 3 clicks. u Several academic communities are handled by VRVS. Each one has its specific Virtual Rooms. u VRVS manages multi international time zones in a transparent way. u Its use do not require technical knowledge nor technician action.

Connection Interface u Connect / Disconnect the selected videoconference client u Provide different video modes u Allow CHAT and Private messages u Can share your computer desktop u Remote control of video cameras. u u co-browsing of web sites u u real time list of connected participants u u share computer desktop with other participants