vc in hep (besides vrvs) rcwg, esnet, in2p3 mcu, csmm a glimpse to the h323 world

VC in HEP (besides VRVS)

RCWG, EsNet, IN2P3 MCU, CSMMA glimpse to the H323 world

April 28, 2004 RTAG12-Christian Helft, LAL 2

RCWG Remote Conferencing Working Group Sort of steering committee for the deployment of VC

in the US Many years of activity (early ’90s), since pre-H320

era (<94) Chair: Kipp Kippenhan (FNAL), now Ed May (ANL)

since 2000 Most active sites: FNAL, LBL, ANL, SLAC, and Europe

now (Hans Frese, Desy and Christian Isnard, CERN) One meeting per week (Monday, 18:00 EUR),

alternatively formal and informal.


EsNet Collaboration services Main service: MCU, that permits standard based

multipoint video- and audio-conferencing For long years, very stable operation, based on an 80

channel H320 MCU and home grown DCS (in 10 years, international ISDN communications dropped by a factor of about 20, landing now at a cost of twice that of a phone call)

Move to H323 long and painful (change of hardware AND control software), due to the large and diverse community involved (real challenge for the reservation system)

Operation of the mixed (H320+H323) MCU discontinued at the end of the year (H320 support only thru a gateway)


French MCU

Mixed H320 (12 channels)+H323 (12 ch.) MCU operated by the IN2P3 computing center in Lyon

Funded by IN2P3, INSERM and CNRS (3 communities to serve)

In operation for 2 years nowHome grown reservation system (VACS)First tests of using a gatekeeper two weeks

ago


CSMM

HepCCC has asked for years to have a working group on VC deployment, but nobody really seriously volunteered

Almost one year ago, HTASC asked me to chair such a working group: Computer Supported Meeting Management

First meeting in Feb 2004 at CERN, second one the next two days.


CSMM mandate25 June, 2003

HTASC Subgroup on Computer Supported Meeting Management (CSMM)

Mandate

The HTASC CSMM Subgroup should advise HTASC and HEPCCC on current and future needs for CSMM within the HEP community. “CSMM” in this context refers to all means used to enhance traditional meeting experience with digital technologies, notably scheduling, video conferencing video streaming and document sharing.

For this purpose, the current situation with respect to available technologies and trends in this area as well as usage profiles should be reviewed. As a first step the specific topic of videoconferencing should be addressed. The group should

Survey present practices within the HEP community

Review available technologies and their use and applicability within HEP,

Make recommendations concerning coordination between different laboratories and institutes,

The group should report back to HTASC and HEPCCC on the topic of videoconferencing within no more than one year and produce a written report.


CSMM WG membership

Sheila Cisko FNALChristian Isnard CERNGillian Bezard-Brown CERNDave Bailey UK, BristolJose Maria Fontanillo Spain, RedIRISHans Frese Germany, DESYAl Thomas FNALStefano Zani Italy, CNAFMick Draper CERN


CSMM: topics already (partially) discussed

GDS (numbering scheme), Gatekeeper neighboring (inc. DFN approach)

Existing practices at FNAL, DESY, CERNReservation systems (inc. CRBS presentation)


CSMM: on going activities

VRVS assessmenteConf assessmentGatekeeper deployment scenariosHEP E164 numbering scheme definitionReservation systems assessmentSurvey on current practices


CSMM: agenda for next meeting

VRVSAccess GridGatekeepers and firewall issuesReservation systemsReview of current practices, cont. (Germany, Italy)

Review of end user systems (PC and room based)

Report writing


CSMM: future activities

Setting up a personal system, a VC room, a VC capable auditorium

High speed systems Technology : SIP, H264, H350, H239 Industry offering trends within the next few years

(FT, Aethra, Tandberg, Polycom, Radvision, Vcon, …) The “chat” approach (Apple iChat A/V, MS

Messenger) Document sharing and presentation


The H323 world

H323 is the current industry offering for videoconferencing activity

Defines a standard for MCUs, gatekeepers and end-user systems

Quite efficient todayQuality increasingCosts decreasing


H323 deployment caveats

Is SIP going to replace H323 ? Low cost system (eg eConf+recent Webcam) almost

here, but not quite Firewall issues not yet so easy to solve (Cisco,

proxys), and impossible to solve for the end-user A global reservation system (an H323 independent

issue), or better a global integration system still to be found (defined?)


H323 and HEP

Many MCUs are already in use (ESNet, IN2P3, KEK, national academic networks, end-system embedded MCUs, …)

Several gatekeepers are operational All this systems are operated independently from

each other (except a few GK neighboring) As a first guess, it would be enough to add a “main”

system in Europe to cover present needs; then normal upgrades would easily meet the “new” needs that would arise from the availability of a comprehensive, integrated, stable, usable system for the community

vc in hep (besides vrvs) rcwg, esnet, in2p3 mcu, csmm a glimpse to the h323 world

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