No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The widespread use of personal multimedia-rich devices and multi-party video conferencing have made face-to-face communication among multiple users a promising feature. This thesis presents a multi-party conferencing solution with network coding naturally embedded. Our fundamental goal is to study if network coding brings benefits to multi-party conferencing. In this thesis, we first review an existing network coded solution for multi-party conferencing. Then, this solution is evaluated in our framework of evaluating a new transmission protocol for multi-party conferencing. Also, an investigation is set up to dive into the bottlenecks of this network coded solution. Next, an improved solution targeting conferencing services is proposed by tackling the bottlenecks of the existing solution. Based on our experiment results, it is found that network coding does bring benefits in the context of multi-party conferencing.

The widespread use of personal multimedia-rich devices and multi-party video conferencing have made face-to-face communication among multiple users a promising feature. This thesis presents a multi-party conferencing solution with network coding naturally embedded. Our fundamental goal is to study if network coding brings benefits to multi-party conferencing. In this thesis, we first review an existing network coded solution for multi-party conferencing. Then, this solution is evaluated in our framework of evaluating a new transmission protocol for multi-party conferencing. Also, an investigation is set up to dive into the bottlenecks of this network coded solution. Next, an improved solution targeting conferencing services is proposed by tackling the bottlenecks of the existing solution. Based on our experiment results, it is found that network coding does bring benefits in the context of multi-party conferencing.

No description available.

No description available.

CU-SeeMe is a video conferencing software package that was designed and programmed at Cornell University. The program works with the TCP/IP network protocol and allows two or more parties to conduct a real-time video conference with full audio support. In this paper we evaluate CU-SeeMe through the process of Formative Evaluation. [3] [9] [16] [24] We first perform a Critical Review of the software using a subset of the Smith and Mosier Guidelines for HumanComputer Interaction. [23] Next, we empirically review the software interface through a series of benchmark tests [3] that are derived directly from a set of scenarios. The scenarios attempt to model real world situations that might be encountered by an individual in the target user class. Designing benchmark tasks becomes a natural and straightforward process when they are derived from the scenario set. Empirical measures are taken for each task, including completion times and error counts. These measures are accompanied by critical incident analysis [2] [7] [13] which serves to identify problems with the interface and the cognitive roots of those problems. The critical incidents reported by participants are accompanied by explanations of what caused the problem and why. This helps in the process of formulating solutions for observed usability problems. All the testing results are combined in the Appendix in an illustrated partial redesign of the CU-SeeMe interface. / Master of Science