Selecting Videoconferencing Equipment for HEP Applications Geoff. Fayers G.J.Fayers@ic.ac.uk

Selecting Videoconferencing

Equipmentfor

HEP Applications

Geoff. Fayers

G.J.Fayers@ic.ac.uk

Current NarrowbandVC “Standards”

Standard H.321H.310

H.320 H.323 H.324 Hybrid

XmissionTechn.

ATM ISDN Packet POTS WANIP

A/VprocessingImplement-

ations

H/ware H/ware&

Mixed

H/ware&

S/ware

H/ware S/ware

Standards & VRVS

VRVS uses Hybrid (MBONE) “standards”– Experimental - not IETF or ITU– Need > 1GMip for 30fps– Limited use of MMX– Insufficient parallelisation– Common s/ware components are vic, rat, wbd,

(sdr)

Beginning to support H.323– For quality, need hardware DSPs

Recommendation 1

Limit investment in A/V Capture cards for ‘old’ VRVS and MBONE

Decide how scalable you want H.323Decide whether ISDN importantDecide whether investment incremental or

strategic

The ITU Standards: H.320

H.320 - < 2MBits/sec, ISDNEach ISDN channel is 64KBits/sec

– ISDN-2 = 128 KBits/sec– ISDN-6 = 384 Kbits/sec– Can also use ISDN-4 @ 256 KBits/sec– Minimum is one channel @64KBits/sec– (a good test of standards’ compliance)

For channels beyond 2, need BONDING– Mode 1 prevails for this application

The ITU Standards: H.323

Packet-basedUp to 2 Mbits/sec, adaptiveTransmission technology undefinedFR sometimes usedConsider only IP networks here

Other StandardsMbone IETF tools: sdr, vic, rat, wbd,…..H.310 & H.321 for B-ISDN (ATM)H.324 for low bit rate videotelephones……….othersT.120 - T.140 - data sharing

– ……MS NetMeeting commonest implementation– Others platform-specific

SIP (RFC2543, Mar. ‘99)

T.120

The “missing component” of VC systems

Includes whiteboarding, ftp and application

sharing

DataBeam’s FarSite most successful interim

product ….. But now swallowed up (Lotus)

Intel’s ProShare Premier a strong alternative

PictureTel had LiveShare Plus.…but no more

More T.120 Also-rans are MediaRing (Mediacom),

TALKShow (FutureLabs)Most DTVC suppliers have moved to MS

NetMeetingNetMeeting dominates at present:

– DC-Share (DataConnection)– Netopia Virtual Office (Farallon Comms.)– Timbuktu Pro (Farallon Comms.)

PictureTel (Q4/97), VCON, VTEL, Sony, Zydacron, Vis à Vis, GPT and MMT all offer NetMeeting BUT……….

What about MS NetMeeting?Implements modified T.120 stack for data

sharingDesigned to prevent interoperability with

strict T.120 implementationsSecurity risk

More about MS NetMeeting…..

Also implements H.323…….Example of a software-based codecIntel ProShare is anotherSuggestion: Do NOT use for a/v Users will ignore one-to-one restrictionsProblems in UK VIP and Megaconf.Probably banned next this yearDevelopment??

MBONE Answers to T.120wb

– Shared whiteboard, text and postscript drawings

nt– Shared text editing tool for ASCII

qb– 20% increase in remote audience participation

More tools under development….

SIP vs H.323SIP is IP exclusivelySIP less complex - cheaper to

implementSIP easier debug - text

messages/commandsSIP Client/Server arch. - security,

mg’mntSIP easier Firewall handlingSIP more scalable

Future of H.323Originally intended for LANHas come a long way for Internet useDespite slow take-up…..H.323 will persist for ~5 years or moreWill bridge with ISDN, ATM and PSTNWill integrate e/mail, voice mail, fax, call

centres, VCGSM integration underway….Too much investment to abandonStill developing…...

More on Future of H.323

2 Revisions of standardMore may be expected…..Several AnnexesAnnexe D important for HEP…..Limited implementations

H.320, H.323 and T.12*Implementations

H.320 in hardware, firmware and software -– Desktop hosts include Win98, Win2000, WinNT– No linux hosts

H.323 in hardware, firmware and software -– Desktop hosts include Win98, Win2000, WinNT– No linux yet– Some Mac - fast changing

T.12* in software– MS NetMeeting prevails, but others exist for

UNIX and esp. for WinXX

Transmission PSTN ISDN ATM

H.324 H.320 H.310 H.323

<64 KB/sec <2 MB/sec ~2 MB/sec 10 Base X nv,ivs,vic vat, rat

Intermedia Sync.? Yes H.221 Yes H.223 No (bad) Yes (good)

Congestion Handling?

No No ECD (yes) No Not yet (vic) No (ivs,nv)

Compression H.263 H.261 H.261 H.261/3Intra-261

(vic)Haar (ivs)

Comp. Implementation

Hardware h/w or s/w h/wh/ware or

s/ware

Audio G.729 CELP G.711G.722, G.728

etcG.7xx

Audio Fill? Yes Not needed Not needed CELPNo - vat

(bad)Yes - rat (good)

Examples Vivo,Granny

Intel Proshare

VCON Armada

First Virtual@ <25MB/sec

PictureTel LiveLAN

Notes nv -------------> H.261 difficult (4:2:2) ivs --------------> nv difficult (4:1:1) (Y:U:V)

Classes of VC Technology (up to ~2 MB/sec)

Implementation/Rate

VRVS

Circuit Switched Packet Switched

s/ware (vic, nv, ivs)

vat, rat, ivs

MBONE Tools

IP & ATM as carrier

Range of VC Systems

0 2 4 6 10 12 14 168

ISD

N-6

ISD

N-2

H

.323

?

Lin

e S

peed

/ Qua

lity

AT

MP

OT

S

Capture Cards/Videophones

PC DTVC

H/wired DTVC

RollaboutRoom - based

Room - basedPC DTVC

£ K

Conclusion for Desktops….

For data sharing, use NetMeeting ===> Win98, WinNT, maybe Win2000But there are problems even then…….

H.323 and Firewalls

Must have Rev. 2 complianceS’ton have tested twoAxent’s Raptor looks goodCheckPoint’s Firewall-1 appears to be OK nowEdu prices comparable, tho’ Raptor not in

CHESTCisco PIX may now be alright…..No linux recommendationsProblems with NetMeeting V2.*

Conclusions for FirewallsIf you are behind one on campus, check its

H.323 rev. 2 capability

H.323 Protocol

Stack

H.323Endpoints

H.323Gatekeeper

H.323VIU

H.323Gateway

H.323MCU

MCU Facilities

At UCL (Pete Clarke)At Edinburgh

– G.J.Fayers@ic.ac.uk or– R.Hughes-Jones@man.ac.uk

Both ExperimentalNo Direct Booking!

Entry Level Recommendations 2

Use a PC with Win98 or WinNTZydacron Z353 at £995.0 + VATAugment with Polyspan SoundPoint PC at

about £80 + VATGet additional headset from supplier of Z353Make supplier responsible for integrating the

extrasUse NetMeeting V3.1Recognise the limitations

A Cheaper Entry Level OptionFor laptops, Win98 Polyspan

ViaVideo at about £400 + VATbut….

–Changing IP address….–Multiple IP addresses…..–Win2000 + X-Active + NetMeeting + ViaVideo

–Camera

Polyspan ViaVideo

An Alternative - VCON ViGO

Z353 vs ViaVideoZ353

Single PCI half-length board

ISDN-2 and IPS-Video aux inputHeadset, camera micsAux. Line outWin98, WinNT,

Win2000Suitable for rollabout PC£995 + VAT

ViaVideoExternal USB

connection IP onlyNo auxiliary inputsBuilt-in mic onlyUses audio out in PCNo WinNT support

Portable to e.g. ‘plane£~400 + VAT

A Scalable AlternativeZydacron Z360 costs ~ £1,500Single full length PCI boardFor ISDN, also need ZC206 @ £1,750Buy together for £2,995 + VATCapable of TV output, SVideo aux. Input

– So two cameras or document camera

Auxiliary mic. Input tooAux. Line output tooBuilt-in echo cancellation

Echo Cancellation - A Superb Multiway

Solution?

Queries?

Next edition of “Recommendations” late Spring– Will include mid-range and some high-end

recommendations

Information on cameras, doc. Cameras, other add-ons

Queries to G.J.Fayers@ic.ac.uk