Telepresence Perspectives and Interoperability

Transcription

1 Telepresence Perspectives and Interoperability Bob Dixon, OARnet and Ohio State University and a distinguished cast of thousands Internet2 Conference April 28, 2009 Arlington, VA

2 The Distinguished Cast of Thousands Steve Gage, Teliris Charles Ganzhorn, Cisco Paul Jones, Chair of the H.323 Standards Committee Stefan Karapetkov, Polycom Mike LaHaye, Internet2 David Morrison, LifeSize Gabe Moulton, The Ohio State University John Stewart, Iformata Nicholas Thompson, The Ohio State University Scott Wilcoxen, Tandberg HP and Telanetix invited, did not respond. 2

3 Agenda: Telepresence Interoperability Introductions/Perspectives Bob Dixon 10 min. Interoperability Demo John Stewart 5 min. Relevant Standards Paul Jones 5 min The Role of Internet2 Mike LaHaye 5 min. Cisco Charles Ganzhorn 11 min. LifeSize David Morrison 11 min. Polycom Stefan Karapetkov 11 min. Tandberg Scott Wilcoxen 11 min. Teliris Steven Gage 11 min. Questions/Discussion 10 min. 3

4 Disclaimers and other Weasel Words My opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Internet2 or anyone else. I will speak mostly in generalities; there are exceptions to anything. The vendors will have an opportunity to update or disagree with anything I say. 4

5 Levels of Videoconferencing Web Conferencing PC and small camera Collaboration tools such as Skype, Elluminate... Fair quality Standard H.323 Video Conferencing Most common type today Good quality High-Definition H.323 Video Conferencing Like HDTV Excellent quality Telepresence HD, plus appearance of being in the same room *Note there are a few other systems that do not fit into these categories

6 Telepresence Systems Generalities Most telepresence systems are expensive. Typically $250K and up. Some are proprietary or do not use the standard H.323 protocol, and hence are incompatible with all others. HP, Cisco. Some require special or vendor-managed networks. Some are H.323 standards-based and can become fully interoperable. Polycom Tandberg LifeSize 6

7 Typical Telepresence Systems For reasons of brevity, I will illustrate only one typical model of telepresence equipment from each vendor. They all have other models also. Photos are from the company web sites. 7

8 Tandberg Telepresence 8

9 Tandberg Telepresence Server 9

10 Cisco Telepresence 10

11 Polycom Telepresence 11

12 LifeSize Telepresence 12

13 Teliris Telepresence 13

14 Teliris Touch Table 14

15 Teliris Easel 15

16 Who Uses Telepresence? Typically corporate execs, for whom cost is less important. Rarely used in education. A recent poll shows <10 in USA. Reasons for little education use: High cost, including purchase, installation and operation. Typically not suitable for more than a few people at once. May be incompatible with existing video conf equipment. Will not dedicate a room to something that is rarely used. High bandwidth and network quality required. Requires multiple rooms. Standard high-definition video conferencing can do most things that telepresence does, at much less cost and complexity. 16

17 Telepresence Interoperability Only one telepresence vendor (Teliris) claims interoperability with any other telepresence vendor. Some telepresence vendors are natively H.323 compatible (e.g. - LifeSize, Polycom, Tandberg), making full telepresence interoperability possible in the future. Full VC interoperability exists now. A few non-h.323 vendors have limited interoperability gateways to non-telepresence standard VCsystems (e.g. - Cisco, HP). Telepresence systems typically use special, dedicated MCUs. Telepresence systems typically do not use gatekeepers; hence they can call only via IP address. No Global Dialing System. Telepresence systems typically use proprietary control systems, to simplify operation (e.g. - Crestron, AMX). 17

18 Conceptual Telepresence System HD VC Endpoint HD VC Endpoint Proprietary Control System HD VC Endpoint HD VC Endpoint Proprietary Control System HD VC Endpoint HD VC Endpoint Location A Location B 18

19 Interoperable Telepresence System Codec MCU Codec Bypassed or Modified Proprietary Control System Codec Codec Bypassed or Modified Proprietary Control System Codec Location A Gatekeeper Codec Location B 19

20 Telepresence Interoperability! 20