2001

Videoconference

q IP Addresses:

Location	IP	Phone
UERJ (Brazil)	152.92.103.34	011 (55) 21 2587-7454
DØgHouse	131.225.224.154	1 (630) 840-4639
NinethCircle	131.225.224.118	1 (630) 840-2692
Back Hole (WH2NW)	131.225.92.1	1 (630) 840-8188
Snakepit (WH2NE)		1 (630) 840-5463
West Wing (WH10NW)	131.225.92.2	1 (630) 840-5648
DØntsp01 (PC Sergio)	131.225.224.42	1 (630) 840-2454
DØntrio01 (PC Lafex)	131.225.225.73	1 (630) 840-8344
Sheila Cisko (FCC)	131.225.81.175	1 (630) 840-4516

Location	IP / Alias	Gatekeeper	Reserve
Backhole (WH2)	200373	198.128.3.86	X-3211
DØgHouse	200362	198.128.3.86	X-5768
Farside	200494	198.128.3.86	X-5768
FCC 2A ⁽¹⁾		131.225.81.25	X-2429
FCC 1 ⁽²⁾	200381	198.128.3.86	X-2429
Hornet’s Nest (WH8) ⁽³⁾	200376	198.128.3.86	X-3200
Hurricane Deck	200361	198.128.3.86	X-5768
Racetrack (WH7)	200374	198.128.3.86	X-3211
Salle des Heroes	201442	198.128.3.86	X-5768
Westwing (WH10)⁽⁴⁾	200375	198.128.3.86	X-3201

(1) http://cdinternal.fnal.gov/general/fcc2awest.htm

(2) http://cdinternal.fnal.gov/general/fcc1west.htm

(3) http://www-ppd.fnal.gov/DivOffice/PPD_Calendar/WH8NX_Hornets'_Nest/WH8NX_Hornets'_Nest.htm

(4) http://www-ppd.fnal.gov/eppoffice/calendar/index.htm

Virtual Rooms Videoconferencing System

(VRVS)

q General Instructions:

· Getting Started

1. Make your Registration in VRVS by clicking on the icon called “Register Me” that is on the left of the VRVS page http://www.vrvs.org/. VRVS detects automatically your IP address. Fill out your personal information

2. Download the software for you platform by clicking on the icon called “Download” and choosing your operating system. For more information on the setup see http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/setup-doc.html

3. The installation of VRVS is very easy. Just follow the simple instructions for your OS:

ü Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP: http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/Setup/Windows/win-guide.html

ü Linux: http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/Setup/Linux/linux-guide.html

ü Solaris: http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/Setup/Solaris/solaris-guide.html

· Booking your videoconference

1. Go to VRVS page (http://www.vrvs.org/) and click “Schedule” on the left side of the page.

2. Select a Virtual Room (Sun, Mars, Neptune, …)

3. Clicking “Help” you have the instruction on the Schedule Manager

· Joining an ongoing meeting

1. Go to VRVS page (http://www.vrvs.org/) and click “JOIN” on the left side of the page.

2. Choose “World Wide” Videoconferences

3. Choose the specific Virtual Room that have been previously reserved for the meeting

Now you can choose between Mbone protocol (included in VRVS package) and H.323 Client (NetMeeting):

MBone

1. Select both “Video” and “Audio” from the menu in the lower left corner.

2. Now you should have 3 windows open:

ü VIC: that controls the incoming video streams

ü RAT: that controls the audio (Listen and Talk)

ü CHAT: where you can exchange message with the other participants

3. In the video window VIC choose “Menu” and select “Transmit”. By clicking in a particular image a new video window pops up. Set the desired “Size”.

4. In the RAT widow you should select “Talk” to be heard by the others

5. Make sure to set your computer:

ü Double click the volume icon and click Option/Properties.

ü Select “Playback” and show all the volume controls

ü Let all of them mute but “Volume”, “Wave” and “Mic”

ü Select now “Recording” in Option/Properties and show all the volume controls

ü Select only “Mic”

H.323 Client

1. If you are running Windows you can use NetMeeting (H.323 Client) to connect to VRVS. For NetMeeting settings see instructions below.

2. Click “SET”, fill the form and save it

ü Hostname/IP = address of your H.323 client

ü Gatekeeper = nogatekeeper

ü Max bandwidth = 256 Kbps

ü Frames/Seconds = 12 (PAL) / 15 (NTSC)

3. Click “JOIN” and the Client is called

4. You are going to receive a call. Accept it. If you are alone in the conference you receive your video back

Observations:

ü H.323 devices allow you can see just 1 video at a time, by default, the current speaker.

ü It is possible to use MBone and H.323 clients at the same time, i.e. ome people can connect to the Virtual Room using H.323 devices but others can use MBone clients

ü For interactive presentations the best solution is H.323 with 25 frames per second at 384 kbps and very small jitter in the data stream. However we need less than 0.5% packet loss.

ü Connecting a PolyCom at 384 Kbps and 12/15 fps should be good enough. For a conference among sites with high Internet connection, no packets loss and everybody using PolyCom, you can connect them at 768 Kbps and 25/30 fps. It will always depend on the quality and bandwidth traffic that you want to generate.

ü If we use Mbone protocols instead, we need to go to higher bandwidths and there may be CPU and I/O limits in the PC.

ü For more information about connecting H.323 devices to VRVS, see: http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/h323-guide.html

· Sharing Documents with VRVS

To share documentation see: http://www.vrvs.org/Doc/sharing-guide.html

q Using PolyCom ViewStation with VRVS:

1. Go to http://www.vrvs.org

2. Enter the booked room and click on H.323 “SET” button

3. Type the IP address or the hostname of your Polycom ViewStation (NOT the hostname/IP of the PC). For instance, the DøgHouse IP is 131.225.224.154.

4. If you are using a gatekeeper, type the name there and your alias, otherwise let “nogatekeeper”.

5. Select different bandwidth (up to 768 Kbps), frame rate (up to 25/30 fps). 128 Kbps and 6/7 fps is fine.

6. Not mandatory: select the view modes (Voice-Activated, Browse-Video, Selected-Participant and Multi-Video) through the webpage.

7. Follow all the steps 1 to 5 of the Mbone instructions above.

The procedures 2 to 6 should be done by at least one of the participants.

q Using PolyCom at Wilson Hall with VRVS:

Starting Monday October 21^st, 2002, there will be new steps to follow when using VRVS with a FNAL videoconference room Polycom ViewStation.

1. Go to http://www.vrvs.org.

2. Enter the booked room and click on H.323 “SET” button.

3. In the “Hostname/IP or Alias” enter the alias of the Polycom system. For West Wing (FNAL-10, WH10NW) is: 200375.

4. In the “Gatekeeper (if alias)” enter, for West Wing, 198.128.3.86.

5. Select bandwidth 384 and frame rate 12/15.

6. Press “SAVE” and close the window.

7. Then press H.323 “JOIN” button to connect VRVS to the PolyCom.

8. To change cameras, press “NEAR” button on remote control. Three icons will appear, using arrow left and right arrow keys highlight desired camera: main, document or ceiling mounted camera.

9. To end videoconference press green “CALL/HANG-UP” button twice.

Observations:

ü PolyCom (DCS/ISDN) and VRVS: To mix ISDN and IP MCUs (or reflectors, like VRVS) is not something trivial. You could try to connect the ViewStation to ISDN and connect a laptop or PC to VRVS. Then you would need a bridge between both systems. You should send the output of the ISDN ViewStation to VRVS (using VIC/RAT or NetMeeting). What is not clear is how to send the VRVS video/audio from the PC to the ViewStation. Maybe with a Scan Converter you could convert the whole screen of the PC (VGA) to NTSC and the output of the Scan Converter connected to the second input of the ViewStation. In this way your ViewStation will receive the video. For the audio will be easier, since you just need to connect the output of the audio card directly to the audio input of the ViewStation. Another opition would be to install a PC in the conference room running VRVS (Mbone). Audio and Video from the PolyCom is send to the input of the video capture board Hauppage, Pinnacle) of the PC.

ü Ad-Hoc MCU (multipoint control unit - http://www-staff.es.net/%7Emikep/adhoc/index.html) and VRVS: Connect to the MCU through a VRVS Virtual Room. When you are in the Virtual Room, you set the right parameters in the H.323 SET panel, and then click on H.323 JOIN button. That should call your ViewStation and connect it to the MCU. Supposing that you have pre-booked a conference where you will use your ViewStation (in the MCU) you will have to go with a PC to the Virtual Room and type the gatekeeper name and the conference number. Then, after the JOIN, you will have joined both systems together.

q How to use the PolyCom equipment at DØ

1. Power cycle the system (button on left-back)

2. Highlight the screen in the middle

3. Choose IP (not ISDN) in the small green houses below (if not available just go to the next step)

4. Choose speed of 256

5. Dial the IP address (NB: The dot “.” is the right-arrow key)

6. Enter (green button on the top)

q NetMeeting Settings:

· All participants must have the same version of NetMeeting

· Choose Tools/Options/Video = Large

· To change connection speed: Tools/Options/Bandwidth Settings…

· Remember to mute the mike if you are not speaking (switchback)