An Internet meeting tool designed for low bandwidth and unstable network conditionsbyFlora KundaeliTresor MvumbiZafika Manzi

Supervised by Hussein Suleman

OutlineProblem statementGeneral solution StrategyWork allocationAudio-video conferencingPresentation and chatFloor control and attendee listConclusion

Problem statementCurrent Internet meeting

solutions ◦unreliable with low bandwidth◦affects end user experience

Most developing countries ◦operate with low bandwidth ◦unstable network connections◦unable to use these solutions

General solutionDesign and implement a meeting solution◦works reliably with constraining

Internet conditions◦delivers acceptable user experience◦graceful degradation of audio-video

Strategyinitially assume poor Internet

conditionsprioritize audio over videolow video frame ratepre-load all the static dataWalkie-Talkie approachchat feature

Work allocation

Framework

Audio-Video

Chat & Presentati

on

Floor control & Attendee

list

Flora Kundaeli

Tresor MvumbiZafika Manzi

Design approach

Implementation

EvaluationDesign

X 3

AUDIO-VIDEO CONFERENCING

Tresor Mvumbi

Problemwith unstable connection and low

bandwidth◦audio: hardly audible (distortion,

echo, etc.)◦video: freezing and poor image

quality

Research questionsassumed constraining networking

conditions, is it possible to provide◦a usable audio conferencing tool?◦a usable video conferencing tool?

Sub-systemaffect higher priority to audio

stream (video bandwidth need = 10 x audio)

very low video frame rate audio bufferingaudio compression (e.g. MP3)video compression (e.g. MPEG)network/transport protocol: IP/UDP

Walkie-Talkie approach

Expected outcomeTotal Bandwidth

Audio Bandwidth

Video Bandwidth

Expected video frame rate

5 Kbps 5 Kbps - -10 Kbps 8 Kbps (~

gsm)2 Kbps 0.1 f/sec

32 Kbps 22 Kbps 10 Kbps 0.5 f/sec56 Kbps 32 Kbps 24 Kbps 2 f/sec128 Kbps 32 Kbps 96 Kbps 15 f/sec

EvaluationSimulation of a low bandwidth

and unstable networkQualitative test based on user

experiment◦audibility◦effectiveness of video

Quantitative test◦measurement of actual frame rate

PRESENTATION AND CHAT

Zafika Manzi

Problem audio and video can fail with low bandwidth

◦ a chat facility needs to be incorporated uploading of presentations during low bandwidth online meetings often results in the disruption of meeting procedure

Research questions is it possible to build an effective text chat tool that can work with minimal bandwidth?

is the pre-loading of static data effective with low bandwidth?

Sub-systemchat featureprovide basic text based

communication

presentation slide moduleslides converted into images slide images compressed pre-loaded onto all client systemsonly the ID of the current slide is sent

across the network

EvaluationTest to determine if the text chat is effective with minimal bandwidth conditionsusers will be requested to use and

evaluate the chat feature

Test to determine if the pre-loading of static data is effective with low bandwidth users will be requested to upload static content and assess the effectiveness of this process

Expected outcome users should be able to chat

◦ with minimal bandwidth ◦ when audio and video are unusable

pre-loading of static data should be effective with low bandwidth

FLOW CONTROL AND ATTENDEE LIST

Flora Kundaeli

ProblemWithout clear and efficient meeting

procedures, meetings are◦ Unproductive◦ Waste time

Unlike face-face meetings◦ Low video frame rates cannot reflect peripheral

cues

The above negatively affect the user’s experience

Research questionsIs it possible to construct a

system that manages meeting procedures (presence, hand-raising, etc.) efficiently despite varying Internet conditions?

Sub-systemattendee list

◦ access control and list of logged on membersfloor control

◦ coordinates current usage of shared resources◦ provides access to continuous multimedia data

streams◦ enables coherency and organized meeting

procedures framework

◦ binds the different components of the system◦ Aids collaboration between the different

components◦ Note: all components are stand alone

Evaluation test evaluating whether the system is able to

manage meeting procedures efficiently despite varying Internet conditions◦ users will be required to use the system and give

feedbacks in form of questionnaire◦ users will rank the effectiveness of the floor control

mechanism ◦ users will be requested to also comment on the

sense of presence during the meeting session

Expected outcomeuser should be able to actively participate in

clear and organized meetings despite fluctuations in bandwidth

the system should maintain a clear and stable meeting procedure

the efficiency of the system should improve the user experience

CONCLUSIONZafika Manzi

Final outcome of project An Internet meeting system that

◦ reliably works with limited Internet conditions

Server◦host meetings◦more than one simultaneous

meetings possibleClient

◦Provides a graphical user environment for participants

Impact of project greatly benefit organizations in developing countries

◦ developed countries can use it as well

experimental results helpful for future research on

◦ Internet based meeting with minimal bandwidth

Project timelineTask Duration

(days)Start Finish

Background chapter write up

14 15 June 29 June

First prototype design and implementation

29 17 June 27 July

Design chapter write up

6 22 August 28 August

Second prototype realization and evaluation

22 29 July 29 August

Final prototype development and performance test

24 29 August 29 September

Report Write-up finalization

28 4 October 11 November

THANK YOU !