Dear WP2/16 experts, I would like to ask you the following for the preparation of the SG16 meeting that will be held in Geneva during 26 June - 6 July 2007: 1/ Contributions Since this is a formal study group meeting, all the contributions must be submitted to TSB according to TSB Collective Letter 7/16 <http://www.itu.int/md/T05-SG16-COL/en>. The submission should not be later than 15 June 2007 after going through your national procedures. It is appreciated if you could advise relevant Rapporteur(s) of your submission intention to help their planning. I would encourage you to send the submitted contributions to me <e-mail: okubo@aoni.waseda.jp> as well so that they are posted at the avc-site <http://ftp3.itu.ch/av-arch/avc-site/2005-2008/0706_Gen/> to facilitate advance review by the experts. Editors and Rapporteurs are also encouraged to send their TDs to me after having submitted them to TSB. 2/ Support for the new Question on Advanced Multimedia System Our Shenzhen meeting last March produced a draft text as attached after my signature. The next SG16 meeting will review this and if agreed this Question will start. To make this happen, ITU-T Resolution 1 (October 2004) requires the following: "7.2.2 New or revised Questions may be approved by a study group if consensus at the study group meeting is achieved. In addition, some Member States and Sector Members (normally at least four) have to commit themselves to support the work, e.g. by contributions, provision of rapporteurs or editors and/or hosting of meetings. The names of the supporting Sector Member organizations should be recorded in the meeting report." Your indication of "commitment" is requested at the meeting. 3/ Interim Rapporteur meeting(s) Between the two SG16 meetings in June-July 2006 and April 2008, we plan one or two Rapporteur meetings. Hosts of the meeting are solicited and advice of any possibility is welcome to ease the future planning at the upcoming SG16 meeting. -- Best regards, OKUBO Sakae e-mail: okubo@aoni.waseda.jp Visiting Professor Global Information and Telecommunication Institute (GITI) Waseda University ****************************************************************** Waseda University, YRP Ichibankan 312 Tel: +81 46 847 5406 3-4 Hikarinooka, Yokosuka-shi, Kanagawa-ken Fax: +81 46 847 5413 239-0847 Japan H.323 videoconferencing: arranged by advice ****************************************************************** Annex 4 to the report of Shenzhen meeting AVD-3098 (TD 428/WP2) Proposed New Question X/16 ミ Advanced Multimedia System for Next Generation and Other Packet-Switched Networks <Background and Justification> As the lead Study Group on multimedia terminals, systems, and applications, SG16 strives to make advances in multimedia communication systems that take advantage of emerging technologies, as well as advances in and deeper understanding of existing technologies, in an effort to enable new and better forms of communication capabilities (ubiquitous services and applications e.g. any devices, any time and anywhere) for end users. The ITU-T has a long history of delivering successful multimedia systems that have enriched everyone’s lives. One of the most widely deployed and successful videoconferencing systems produced by the ITU is H.320. It is recognized by ITU-T SG16 as a first generation system and took advantage of the then newly-developed ISDN. In the mid-1990s, the ITU began work on H.323, which essentially leveraged the knowledge gained through the development of H.320 and applied that knowledge to packet-switched networks, including LANs, WANs, and the Internet. H.323 quickly became the dominant protocol for LAN-based videoconferencing, as well as a protocol used for transporting voice calls around the world. H.323 was developed in parallel with the IETF’s Session Initiation Protocol, and was effective in facilitating a migration from circuit-switched networks to packet-switched networks. Sharing similar capabilities and similar design philosophies and being produced in the same time period, H.323 and SIP are classified as second generation systems. Now, more than 11 years since the introduction of second generation systems, ITU-T SG16 is again looking toward the future of multimedia systems as the ITU-T also undertakes a study to introduce the Next Generation Network (NGN). The NGN holds the promise of revolutionizing communication as we know it and multimedia will be an important part of any new network technology. By building on the knowledge gained through the development of voice and video technologies that were the core part of H.320 and H.323, as well as the data conferencing technologies introduced in the T.120 series standards, ITU-T SG16 aims to introduce a third-generation system that truly enables users to utilize multiple modes of communication. <Study Items> The work on the third generation multimedia system will entail the creation of multiple new ITU-T Recommendations that will specify system architecture, system components, and one or more protocols at the service and application layer. The primary objective is to deliver a new multimedia system that is optimized for the NGN, but it must also operate on non-NGN packet-switched networks. The Experts will examine technologies such as various IP technologies, wireless technologies, and distributed computing capabilities in order to realize a system that will enable users to communicate using, as examples, voice and audio, video, electronic whiteboard, application sharing, real-time text, and file transfer across one or more communicating devices (e.g. smart phones, TV set-top boxes, game consoles, handheld game/entertainment machines, digital cameras, Internet “appliances”). Unlike previous generation systems, this new system will enable independent application developers to create system components that are able to seamlessly interface with the H.325 system in order to deliver any one or more of the aforementioned modes of communication. There is a strong desire to move away from the “monolithic applications” that were distinctive of second generation systems, to a system that enables components to “plug in” to the system, either locally or remotely, either using fixed wires or various wireless technologies, to deliver a whole new user experience. To meet that objective, SG16 will study the various interfaces between these components and the technologies that might be used to tie them together. The study includes among others: ・ Downloadable codecs ・ System decomposition ・ Discovery of services ・ Support for transcoding functionality (e.g. text to speech) ・ Dynamic device discovery ・ Application plug in ・ Consideration of different business models ・ Integrated QoS, security and mobility functionality <Specific Tasks and Deadlines> ・ Identification of Requirements (until Q1/2008) ・ Basic Architecture (until Q1/2009) ・ Complete System Specification (depends on progress) <Relationships> Virtually all other questions within SG 16, especially WP 2/16 and audio/video coding questions ・ ITU-T SG 11, SG 13, others TBD ・ IETF ・ ETSI TISPAN ・ 3GPP ・ Others TBD _____