Primary Use Cases for MCUs

2016-04-14

This section discusses the primary applications for standard H.323/SIP Multipoint Control Units (MCUs).

1. Traditional Enterprise Video Conferencing: MCUs are the cornerstone of on-premise enterprise video conferencing systems, connecting hardware endpoints from various vendors (e.g., Polycom, Cisco, Huawei, Aver). These deployments demand exceptional audio/video quality, robust performance, and seamless interoperability. Key requirements often include support for high resolutions (like 1080p 60fps), multi-participant layouts (continuous presence, e.g., up to 25 panes), stable frame rates, intelligent audio mixing, and low latency communication.
2. Video Conferencing Cloud Gateway: Many large-scale public cloud video services utilize Selective Forwarding Units (SFUs) for scalability, which may not directly support legacy H.323/SIP endpoints. An MCU can serve as a crucial gateway, enabling traditional conference room systems to connect to these cloud platforms. MCUs also facilitate integration with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and can provide value-added services like RTMP streaming for broadcasting meetings, leveraging standard H.323/SIP protocols for interoperability.
3. Industry-Specific Solutions: MCUs can be tailored for specialized vertical markets. For instance, integrating IP surveillance cameras using RTSP allows security feeds to be viewed within a video conference. Advanced call control features can power applications such as virtual video receptionists or remote expert assistance. Developing these niche solutions often involves collaboration to understand specific industry needs and may require providing Server-side and Client-side SDKs to enable third-party customization and integration.

MCU Support WebRTC

2016-04-10

We are happy to announce MCU's new WebRTC feature. Web browsers can join MCU conferences with video and audio, and also receive conference H.239 video.

Update: 2016-07-06 Chrome can send desktop share to conference

The Functionality Groups In Video Communication

2016-04-01

Source: Overview: Real Time Protocols for Browser-based Applications (draft-ietf-rtcweb-overview-15)

The functionality groups needed in video communication can be specified, more or less from the bottom up, as:

• Data transport: TCP, UDP and the means to securely set up connections between entities, as well as the functions for deciding when to send data: Congestion management, bandwidth estimation and so on.
• Data framing: RTP and other data formats that serve as containers, and their functions for data confidentiality and integrity.
• Data formats: Codec specifications, format specifications and functionality specifications for the data passed between systems. Audio and video codecs, as well as formats for data and document sharing, belong in this category. In order to make use of data formats, a way to describe them, a session description, is needed.
• Connection management: Setting up connections, agreeing on data formats, changing data formats during the duration of a call; SIP and Jingle/XMPP belong in this category.
• Presentation and control: What needs to happen in order to ensure that interactions behave in a non-surprising manner. This can include floor control, screen layout, voice activated image switching and other such functions – where part of the system require the cooperation between parties. XCON and Cisco/Tandberg's TIP were some attempts at specifying this kind of functionality; many applications have been built without standardized interfaces to these functions.
• Local system support functions: These are things that need not be specified uniformly, because each participant may choose to do these in a way of the participant's choosing, without affecting the bits on the wire in a way that others have to be cognizant of. Examples in this category include echo cancellation (some forms of it), local authentication and authorization mechanisms, OS access control and the ability to do local recording of conversations.