Application-layer conference trees for multimedia multipoint conferences using megaco/H.248

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new approach to establishing application layer conference trees for multimedia multipoint conferences on the Internet using the Megaco/H.248 protocol, a Voice over IP (VoIP) media gateway control protocol. In existing VoIP protocols (and also legacy telephone networks), a multipoint conference takes place through an MCU, and forms a star topology centered at the MCU. This paper suggests to establishing shared, cost effective conference trees for VoIP conferences. Each tree is rooted at the conference initiator, who initiates the conference, and spans over all the conference members. Tree branches grow or are trimmed dynamically and adaptively, in a way to avoid the growth of a skewed tree. We develop a simplified analytical model and conduct simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The results show that our approach enjoys the advantage of lower join latency and better bandwidth efficiency compared to the traditional MCU approach, and is cost effective compared to a near optimal Steiner tree. © 2005 IEEE.