Implementation of video conferencing over IPv6 on the Linux platform

Video conferencing allows people to simulate face-to-face conversations by integrating duplex transmission real-time audio and video with a computer system. IPv6 (also known as IPng-ng for new/next generation), provides 128-bit addressing (that is billions upon billions of addresses), compatibility with IPv4 addresses, security and authentication, quality of service (reserving bandwidth), plug-and-play for network device configuration, hierarchically structured routing and an ability to integrate seamlessly with the current IP during the transition stages. Using IPv6 protocol, improvement in frame and transmission rate and bandwidth usage are expected. A video conferencing system using the Linux platform running in the IPv6 and IPv4 environments has been implemented. Two computers with the Linux operating system (IPv6 enabled) are used to run video conferencing. The implementation of video conferencing is carried out with aid of vic tools (see http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/software/). In conclusion, the quality of service, especially in frame rate and transmission rate, is more guaranteed if video conferencing is run in the IPv6 environment.