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

A prototype of ATM-based real-time multimedia communication system is developed over Fore Runner ASX-200 ATM Switches and Sun Sparc/Solaris platform with ATM adapters and Video Plus. The system includes Video/Audio collection, compression, playback and transmission over ATM VER 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 of joining multicasting group initiated by client over UN13.0/3.1 signaling. To facilitate the VER Video over ATM, Leaky-Bucket rate control method is developed and employed for reliable and efficient video communication. And a simple interactive Multimedia Distance Learning System built over our framework is also introduced in the paper.