Gruppo RETI di TELECOMUNICAZIONI

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VIII Workshop PisaTel 2005
An Integrated Platformfor Multimedia
Applications
Giodi Giorgi

• Gruppo RETI di TELECOMUNICAZIONI
• Dipartimento di Ingegneria dellInformazione -
  Università di Pisa
• Pisa, 6 Dicembre 2005

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Technologies components

• System and Services
• Distance Learning
• Voice over IP
• Video steaming Video on Demand
• TV broadcasting
• Network infrastructure
• Streaming platform
• Multi-Access Inter-Domain architecture for
  dynamic setup of QoS-IP services
• that does not interfere with the background
  signaling
• End-to-end dynamic and tailored Quality of
  Service
• IWU (Inter Working Unit)

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Distributed trial
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Distance Learning Requirements

• Students
• To follow on-line lesson using commonly available
  software tools (RealOne Player, NetMeeting, web
  browser) with different quality level, depending
  on his/her type of access to network
• Teacher
• Oriented to content providing, should produce
  enhanced contents entailing video and audio,
  external data and auxiliary teaching tools
• Software and equipment
• a video camera
• a video capture card (Osprey 230)
• a video encoder (Helix DNA producer)
• a video broadcasting server (Helix DNA server)
• a software to create on-demand multimedia
  presentations and to synchronize audio and video
  with PowerPoint slides and other media learning
  objects.
• WEB interface and Content Management server
• client-side software (RealOne video Client, WEB
  browser, VoIP terminal)

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Distance learning portal

• WEB interface login
• Language selection
• Available features differentiated for users
  and groups

• User functionalities set by administrator
• Available tools file storage, calendar/diary,
  address book, instant messaging, on-line users ...

• Each user can belong to one or more groups
  (associated to each course)
• Group functionalities set by admin
• Available tools file storage, forum, instant
  messaging, lessons, projects

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Distance learning student side

• Unicast and multicast live streaming
• MPEG-4 real-time multi-rate encoding
• Encoding rate from 128 Kb/s to 1.5 Mb/s, with
  resolutions up to 640x480_at_25fps
• Frame-accurate synchronization of audio/video
  streams with dynamic remote learning objects
• Transparent storage of real-time encoded lessons
• Teacher interaction by means of instant messaging
  tools

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Distance learning teacher side

• Slideshows loaded into the WEB server
• The teacher can see the preview of his slide at
  any time
• During the lesson, the slide inclusion into the
  live stream is provided by means of simple click

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Distance learning

• WEB interfaces login (stud/teach)

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Distance learning

• WEB interfaces login (stud/teach)
• teachers access WEB page with slideshow

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Distance learning

• WEB interfaces login (stud/teach)
• teachers access WEB page with slideshow
• students start RealOne to see video/slides,
  browser to view additional data and send messages

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Distance learning content production
Simple application which converts slides into
HTML pages and transfers them to WEB server
Before the lesson
.ppt
.html
PPT Exporter
Slideshow
WEB Server
URL
Teacher GUI
a/v
Encoder
Player
Server
During the lesson
sources
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Distance learning content production
Before the lesson
.ppt
.html
PPT Exporter
Slideshow
WEB Server
WEB interface which displays slides and includes
their URL in the stream after a teacher click
URL
Teacher GUI
a/v
Encoder
Player
Server
During the lesson
sources
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Distance learning content recorder
GUI allows to configure easily the main producer
options which are relevant for lesson production
purposes
Configuration GUI
a/v
Encoder
Server
During the lesson
sources
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The whiteboard application

• The teacher can use any free-hand drawing tool
  (e.g. Windows Journal for Tablet PC)
• The application window is
  periodically captured
  and sent
  to an encoding application
• A video stream containing the
  text and
  pictures is created and
  sent to the video
  server, which
  broadcasts it on the network
• This additional stream is
  synchronized
  with the
  others using SMIL
  (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
  )

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First case study
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Voice over IP

• Software VoIP terminal

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Voice over IP

• Software VoIP terminal
• Gatekeeper registration

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Voice over IP

• Software VoIP terminal
• Gatekeeper registration
• H.323 call (gatekeeper-routed)

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Video on Demand

• WEB interfaces to select the content
  from the archive of pre-loaded films
• Helix MPEG-4 video server, open source
  project from Real

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Video on Demand

• WEB interfaces to select the content
  from the archive of pre-loaded films
• Helix MPEG-4 video server, open source
  project from Real
• Video streaming
• RealOne video Client

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TV broadcasting

• WEB interfaces to select the channel
• MPEG4IP MPEG-4, MP3/AAC broadcaster and file
  recorder open source project
• Darwin Streaming Server open source project from
  Apple

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TV broadcasting

• WEB interfaces to select the channel
• MPEG4IP MPEG-4, MP3/AAC broadcaster and file
  recorder open source project
• Darwin Streaming Server open source project from
  Apple
• TV channel reception
• RealOne player with EnVivio plugin installed

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Technologies components

• System and Services
• Distance Learning
• Voice over IP
• Video steaming Video on Demand
• TV broadcasting
• Network infrastructure
• Streaming platform
• Multi-Access Inter-Domain architecture for
  dynamic setup of QoS-IP services
• that does not interfere with the background
  signaling
• End-to-end dynamic and tailored Quality of
  Service
• IWU (Inter Working Unit)

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Streaming platform
Remote Terminals (ADSL, Ethernet, Wireless)
HTTP Server
QoS-IP Geographical Network layer
HTTP/RTSP
Encoding/Streaming Server

• Generalized and automatic
• IP Control Plane architecture
• (i.e. the Multi-Access Inter-Domain MAID)
  for the dynamic and tailored configuration of
  QoS-IP services, carrying the multimedia streams
  across a MPLS/DiffServ IP backbone.

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The MAID scenario

• Different protocols/technologies are used in the
  access network (e.g. H.323, SIP, MPEG-4, etc.)
• and the required QoS is often not explicitly
  declared in the access signaling flow (e.g.
  H.323)

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The MAID scenario

• Two basic elements in our MAID architecture
• The MAID Bandwidth Broker (BB)
• manages network resources
• admission control and policies
• configures core routers
• inter-domain communications
• The Multiple-Access
  Border Router
  (MA-BR)
• must understand as much as possible QoS semantics
• translates the access QoS into interior QoS
  syntax (complexity on the BR)
• appropriate Inter Working Units (IWUs) are used
  to map protocol specific messages into
  generalized client messages.
• triggers the setup of QoS-IP services upon
  receiving QoS requests from the access
  networks

Bandwidth Broker MAID-BB
COPS-MAID
Multi-Access Border Router MA-BR
IP DiffServ/MPLS network
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e-class scenario
DiffServ/MPLS network