PROTOCOL TO SUPPORT REAL-TIME VIDEO TELECONFERENCING ON INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK

THE PROPOSED PROTOCOL FOR SUPPORT OF REAL-TIME VIDEO TELECONFERENCING ON THE INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK (ISDN) WILL PROVIDE THE MEANS FOR FLEXIBLE AND EFFICIENT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TWO OR MORE PARTIES. THANKS TO ISDN AND THE NEW HIGHLY-EFFICIENT AND ECONOMIC STILL-FRAME AND FULL-MOTION VIDEO COMPRESSION STANDARDS, PERSONAL VIDEO TELECONFERENCING IS NOW QUITE FEASIBLE AT A REASONABLE COST. THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROTOCOL IS THEREFORE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR PERSONAL VIDEO TELECONFERENCING OVER BASIC ACCESS ISDN AND CORPORATE VIDEO TELECONFERENCING (LARGER AND HIGHER RESOLUTION IMAGES) OVER PRIMARY ACCESS ISDN. THIS ALLOWS ONE PROTOCOL TO SUPPORT VIDEO TELECONFERENCING IN A VARIETY OF ISDN CONFIGURATIONS. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE I PROPOSAL ARE TO DETERMINE THE FEATURES AND SERVICES REQUIRED BY VIDEO TELECONFERENCING, TO FORMALLY DEFINE AND VERIFY THE PROTOCOL SPECIFICATIONS, TO SIMULATE A VIDEO TELECONFERENCING SYSTEM, AND TO TEST THE RESULTING PROTOCOL ON THE SIMULATED SYSTEM. THE FORMAL APPROACH TO PROTOCOL DEFINITION AND VERIFICATION CAN HELP GUARANTEE THE PROTOCOL DESIGN WILL BE FREE OF BUGS. THIS MEANS VIDEO TELECONFERENCING SYSTEMS WHICH PROPERLY IMPLEMENT THE PROTOCOL ARE GUARANTEED TO INTEROPERATE CORRECTLY, EVEN IF THEY ARE IMPLEMENTED BY DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS.