Re: "Global Lecture Hall" videoconference for TeleTeaching'93 on 8/21st (fwd)

[jeffay () cs unc edu <jeffay () cs unc edu>]

> [I thought this sounded sort of interesting, particularly the part about the
>  full-color, full-motion video via the Internet! - mb]
...
> Second 60 minutes:
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>       Demonstration of videoconference via Internet by:
>
>               Professor Kevin Jeffay
>               Computer Science Department
>               University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
>
>       Professor Jeffay will demonstrate full-color, full-motion videoconfer-
>       ence through Internet data communication network, without use of
>       satellite nor dish antenna.  The video appeared on his computer screen
>       will be broadcast via satellite to the aforementioned areas.

Truth in advertising compels me to respond!  (I also thought this sounded
rather interesting!)  The "full-color, full-motion" part is true (most of the
time) but the "through Internet data communication network" is over-selling
my work.  My group has indeed experimented on the internet with an audio/video
transport protocol we've developed, however, our work really addresses campus-
area networks.

Research in multimedia networking at UNC has primarily involved OS & transport
services for high-bandwidth, live, digital audio and video.  The
particular piece of the digital A/V puzzle that we are working on is how
conferencing solutions can be obtained using readily available commodity
audio and video technology for workstations, and todays' networks based on 
asynchronous communications.

To date, we have demonstrated empirically that it is possible to support most
user requirements for (point-to-point) conferences across small (e.g., campus
area) packet-switched networks without using special network services, even in
the presence of congestion.  Part of the goal here was to establish a baseline
for measuring the benefits and costs of more specialized solutions.  

Our arguably parochial network environment was chosen because we expect that
networks consisting of a heterogeneous mix of conventional LANs, bridges,
routers, and ATM switches will be widely used during the evolution of networks
towards ATM.  Our work attempts to provide a solution that is particularly
applicable if conventional LANs are widely used in the "last mile" to the
desktop.  

As far as the aforementioned demo goes, it's not clear what we'll actually
demonstrate (I was only asked to do this yesterday!) but it most certainly will
not use any significant portion of the internet.

Sorry for all the commotion...