Performance analysis of video conferencing on homogenous and heterogenous networks

One of the most important aspects of the “Digital Battlefield” paradigm is seamless access to and processing of multimedia data using COTS software, hardware, and existing networks. Thus, the interoperability and performance among heterogeneous platforms and digital networks currently employed by both commercial and military users becomes one of the key issues in achieving multimedia collaboration. To address these problems, a Video Conferencing Laboratory has been established at Electrospace. The laboratory is equipped with Sun and HP workstations, and Pentium PC´s networked with Ethernet, FDDI and ATM. These networks are connected to each other and to the company-wide Ethernet through a Cisco router. The performance of multimedia collaboration combining video conference, shared white board and shared applications across homogenous and heterogeneous networks has been evaluated. The initial evaluation used Sun workstations running the Solaris 2.x operating system and Sun ShowMe software with SunVideo cards, on three different dedicated networks: Ethernet, FDDI and ATM. The analysis of aggregate network load, practical data transfer rate, CPU load, video frame rate, resolution, and sound quality depending on the number of participants (up to 6) has been performed on this configuration. As additional hardware and software are obtained the scope of the testing is being expanded to include additional platforms (e.g. HP, PC). Practical recommendations on performance improvement and future plans are also discussed