An ATM-based multimedia communication system and its application in distance learning

A prototype of an ATM-based real-time multimedia communication system is developed over Fore Runner ASX-200 ATM switches and the Sun Spare/Solaris platform with ATM adapters and Video Plus. The system includes video/audio collection, compression, playback and transmission over ATM VBR SVC (variable bit-rate switched virtual connection). Client-server mode is adopted in the system to manage the two styles of connection: multicasting and point-to-point connection between two users. A method is also proposed to support the request to join a multicasting group initiated by a client over UNI 3.0/3.1 signaling. To facilitate VBR video over ATM, a leaky-bucket rate control method is developed and employed for reliable and efficient video communication. A multimedia distance learning system built over our framework is also introduced in the paper.