Control and management architecture for multipoint videoconferencing over ATM networks

In this paper we describe a control and management architecture for an ATM-based multipoint videoconferencing (AMV) system. The service specification of the AMV system defines control functions that emulate human interactions, management functions that manage the videoconference and improve the service availability, and a Web-based interface for easy control and management of the videoconference. To realize the AMV system, the required functional blocks are partitioned and a control and management architecture that contains a centralized server and distributed device managers is designed. After prototyping and then validating the AMV system on both ATM LAN and ATM WAN, we have the following observations and experiences: (i) reliable multipoint communications are crucial in controlling and managing the multipoint videoconferencing; (ii) coordination of the multipoint videoconferencing system must be maintained precisely to avoid service disruption; (iii) the control and management architecture can well support our AMV system.