| Project Number: 1007 ( RE)
Project Title: Multimedia European Research Conferencing Integration (MERCI) Deliverable Type: (PU/LI/RP)* RP |
|
Deliverable Number: D0 Contractual Date of Delivery: 29 February 1996 Actual Date of Delivery: 29 February 1996 Title of Deliverable: Initial MERCI software Deliverable Work-Package contributing to the Deliverable: 2, 3 Nature of the Deliverable: (PR/RE/SP/TO/OT)** TO Author(s): VAT : Van Jacobson, Steve McCanne (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) VIC : Steve McCanne, Van Jacobson (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) WB : Van Jacobson, Steve McCanne (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) NTE : Mark Handley (University College London) SD : Van Jacobson, Steve McCanne (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) |
| Abstract:
All the tools described in this document are freely available on World-Wide Web and ftp sites around the world. The tools have been selected to provide a baseline set for multimedia conferencing. The baseline we have chosen is that the tools should be RTP/2 compliant. The following tools are delivered: Audio: VAT 4.0 Video: VIC 2.7 Shared workspace: WB 1.59 and NTE 1.6
Conference control: SD 1.16
We have documented each of the tools under the headings Release Description, Systems Requirements List, Installation Guidelines, and the Web source for the software. Keyword list: multimedia conferencing, video, audio, shared workspace, RTP/2, MBONE, multicast |
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VAT is an audio conferencing tool which allows users to conduct host-to-host or multihost audio teleconferences over an Internet (multihost conferences require that the kernel support IP multicast ). On most architectures, no hardware other than a microphone is required - sound I/O is via the built-in audio hardware. On DEC systems, an AudioFile server must be running.
Version 4.0 is available for the following platforms:
SunOS 4.x (4.0b2)
SunOS 5.4 (4.0b2)
SunOS 5.5 (4.0b2)
SGI (4.0b1)
DEC OSF/1 (4.0b1)
HP (4.0b1)
FreeBSD (4.0b1)
NetBSD (4.0b1)
Linux (4.0a2)
Windows/95 (4.0b2)
Windows/NT (4.0b2)
gunzip the distribution file and refer to the MICE-NSC User documentation at:
http://www-mice-nsc.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice-nsc/tools/
ftp://cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice/videoconference/
VIC is based on version 2 of the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), which provides basic real-time media communication support. Although VIC can be run point-to-point using standard unicast IP addresses, it is primarily intended as a multiparty conferencing application.
Version 2.7 is available for the following platforms:
SunOS 4.x
SunOS 5.4
SunOS 5.5
SGI
DEC Ultrix
DEC OSF/1
HP
FreeBSD
NetBSD
Linux
NeXT
Windows/95
Windows/NT
gunzip the distribution file and refer to the MICE-National Support Centre User Documentation at
http://www-mice-nsc.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice-nsc/tools/
ftp://cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice/videoconference/
This is a beta-release of the LBL 'whiteboard' for
the platforms listed below. Since this is an early beta, we expect
it change frequently as users find bugs & we make our fumbling
attempts to fix them. Before using wb, read the file NOTES from
the distribution (note especially the .sd.tcl change needed if
you are running sd v1.14 or earlier) and print and read the postscript
file lblwb.ps.
The whiteboard tool is intended to work in conjunction with the other LBL conferencing tools. These tools will work for point-to-point communication but they will be most useful in an environment that supports IP multicast. The SGI and Solaris 2.x kernels come from the vendor with multicast support. Ultrix and SunOS 4.x do not. If your kernel doesn't support IP multicast, you can ftp the necessary support from host gregorio.stanford.edu, files vmtp-ip/ipmult-*.
Version 1.59 is available for the following platforms:
SunOS 4.x
SunOS 5.4
SunOS 5.5
SGI
DEC Ultrix
DEC OSF/1
HP
FreeBSD
NetBSD
Linux
gunzip the distribution file and refer to the MICE-National Support Centre User Documentation at
http://www-mice-nsc.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice-nsc/tools/
ftp://cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice/videoconference/
NTE is a shared text editor designed for use on the
Mbone. It is not a word processor (it is not clear that word processing
is a useful task to share) and it is not a whiteboard - if you
want a whiteboard, wb from LBL is a much better whiteboard.
Using NTE can be very interactive - unless you lock
a block of text, anyone else in your session can edit that text
or delete it. This is intentional. Many people can (if they wish)
edit the same document simultaneously. Many people can even edit
the same block of text simultaneously, but if more than one person
tries to edit the same line at one time, a conflict will occur,
which results in only one of the changes being preserved.
In general, it is up to you how you use NTE. You
must develop human protocols to be able to collaborate, even in
face-to-face meetings, and NTE is no exception. It will work well
if you cooperate, and not if you don't. It only provides minimal
protection against disruptive participants
NTE tries hard to ensure you don't get confused by unexpected events caused by other users - it always tells you who did what if it can. However, it can't do the impossible, and sometimes network conditions may mean that a change arrives somewhat delayed. If this happens, NTE will reach a consistent result, but this may not be what you expected. Thus we recommend using NTE as part of a multimedia conference in which it is a support tool, rather than as the only channel of communication.
The binary is still nt, rather than nte following the recent name change.
Version 1.5a14 is available for the following platforms:
SunOS 4.x
SunOS 5.4
SunOS 5.5
SGI
HP
gunzip the distribution file and refer to the MICE-National Support Centre User Documentation at
http://www-mice-nsc.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice-nsc/tools/
ftp://cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice/videoconference
Sd provides:
To use sd, just type "sd &" (i.e., run it in the background). You should see an X window with two panes & some buttons across the bottom. If you leave sd running, the top pane should slowly fill with session names (session announcements are made infrequently so announcements won't take up all the available network bandwidth). If you click on a session name, information about the session will appear in the bottom pane. If you double click on the name (or click on the "open" button), sd will start up the appropriate tools for the session (vat, NV, IVS and/or wb).
Version 1.16 is available for the following platforms:
SunOS 4.x
SGI
DEC Ultrix
DEC OSF/1
HP
FreeBSD
NetBSD
Linux
gunzip the distribution file and refer to the MICE-National Support Centre User Documentation at
http://www-mice-nsc.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mice-nsc/tools/