Organization of day-to-day activities in WP2/16 Questions

[OKUBO Sakae]

Source:  Rapporteurs for Question D, F, G, 1, 2, 3, 4
Title :  Organization of day-to-day activities in WP2/16 Questions
Purpose: Information and request for inputs
Date  :  10 January 2001

This document describes how to organize day-to-day activities of Rapporteur
groups for the new study period 2001-2004 based on the e-mail discussion
among relevant Rapporteurs. It also requests inputs from members for
establishing each Question's workplan consisting of work items, their
priorities and target timeframe.

1. Relevant Questions and Rapporteurs

D/16 T Taylor <taylor at nortel.com>
Interoperability of Multimedia Systems and Services

F/16 M Buckley <mikebuckley at 44comms.com>
Quality of Service and End-to-end Performance in Multimedia Systems

G/16 M Euchner <Martin.Euchner at icn.siemens.de>
Security of Multimedia Systems and Services

1/16 P Luthi <Patrick_Luthi at pictel.com>
Multimedia systems, terminals and data conferencing

2/16 P Jones <paulej at packetizer.com>
Multimedia over packet networks using H.323 systems

3/16 G Freundlich <ggf at avaya.com>
Infrastructure and interoperability for Multimedia over packet networks

4/16 S Okubo <okubo at giti.waseda.ac.jp>
Video and data conferencing using Internet-supported services

5/16 to be appointed
Mobility for Multimedia Systems and Services

For your information, the description of relevant Questions is attached.
See http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/com16/questions.html for the whole SG16
Questions.

2. Rapporteur group

We start with two groups:

- Q1 group:  Question 1
- AVD group: Questions D, F, G, 2, 3, 4, 5 (see Item 6 for "AVD")

3. Rapporteur meeting

We start with a joint WP2/16 Rapporteur meeting among all the above
Questions under WP2/16. We may use any other arrangement when such
necessity is recognized.

The meeting will be a combination of serial and parallel sessions.
Rapporteurs will produce a timetable indicating when a particular topic is
going to be discussed during the meeting.

4. Mailing list

- Q1 group: Q1 e-mail reflector <tsg16q1 at itu.int> provided by ITU
- AVD group: <ITU-SG16 at MAILBAG.INTEL.COM> kindly administered by Greg
Meyer, Intel <itu-sg16-request at mailbag.intel.com>

Use of "inband singnalling" is encouraged for posting on particular topics,
like [MMQoS], [MMSecurity], [MMMobility].

5. FTP site

- Q1 group:  http://standard.pictel.com/ftp/lbc-site/
- AVD group: http://standard.pictel.com/ftp/avc-site/

Both are kindly administered by Patrick Luthi, PictureTel
<Patrick_Luthi at pictel.com>.

The directory names "lbc-site" and "avc-site" are unchanged because of
their well-known nature. Each meeting will have its directory according to
the current convention: YYMM_Xyz... where YY is the last two digits of the
year, MM is the month of the meeting, and Xyz... is derived from the
meeting town, full characters for lbc-site, first three characters for
avc-site.

We may use other directories when such necessity is recognized.

6. Document prefix and numbering

- Q1 group:  q1x where x represents the meeting number
- AVD group: The new prefix is "AVD" standing for Audio, Video and Data.
The number starts with AVD-2032 following the last number APC-2031 of the
previous study period.

7. Meeting organizer

- Q1 group: P Luthi

Note that Q1 group meetings will be co-located with AVD meetings.

- AVD group

A Rapporteur in turn undertakes to organize a Rapporteur meeting. His/her
tasks are:

   * negotiate with the meeting host
   * issue meeting notice
   * get approval of the SG16 management for holding the Rapporteur
     meeting
   * produce meeting report integrating parts from Questions (issuing a
     report of each Question separately plus a short general report by
     the meeting organizer may be the choice?)
   * send the meeting report to the SG16 management.

S Okubo is in charge of the March 2001 meeting. G Freundlich next.

8. Document manager

- Q1 group: P Luthi

- AVD group

Three Rapporteurs (P Jones, G Freundlich, S. Okubo) in turn undertake to
manage the input/output documents to/from the meeting. Their tasks are:

   * register input contributions by assigning AVD or TD numbers
   * scan viruses of the incoming documents at the ftp site, then move
     them to the meeting directory after zipping.
   * produce a list of contributions before the meeting
   * assign TD numbers during the meeting
   * organize to dispatch outgoing liaison statements to their
     destinations

P Jones is in charge of the March 2001 meeting. S Okubo next.

9. Advance planning

Mr. Freundlich advises the following:

We each need to think about where our respective questions should go over
the next couple years, the relationships with other questions, etc. The
text for the new questions is a good starting point, but at some point it
might help to share our thoughts with others involved in the
standardization efforts in SG16 (preferably soon so that others can plan
their work).

Rapporteurs solicit proposals from the SG16 experts to set up the work
direction and goals in form of contributions to the March 2001 meeting or
posting at the reflectors or both.

                     --------------------
Attachment

----------------------< Question D/16 >----------------------

Question D/16 - Interoperability of Multimedia Systems and Services

Background and justification

As work on interoperability in the GII demonstrated, the topic of
interoperability has several aspects. Three of these may logically be
addressed within the context of Mediacom 2004 activity:

-       interoperability of services, to the extent that they contain
equivalent functional elements. For example, the service of "multimedia
call transfer" should be fully interoperable with "call transfer" in the
legacy telephone network in the degenerate case of an audio-only call;
-       interoperability of multimedia systems with each other and with the
legacy telecommunications network, to the extent to which they provide
equivalent services;
-       measures to enhance interoperability of different implementations
of the same multimedia system or service.
Other bodies besides ITU-T are developing standards relating to multimedia
systems and services. To the extent that the market demands it, methods of
interoperation between ITU-T-developed and other standards must be
themselves standardized. It is desirable that this work be assigned to a
common Question.

Study items

This Question shall have the following responsibilities:

-       coordinating with the Question on Multimedia Applications and
Services to ensure that the definition of multimedia services and of the
services to be provided by new multimedia systems preserves as much
consistency as possible with corresponding elements of the services
provided by existing multimedia systems and the legacy telephone network;
-       standardizing the means for interworking between different
multimedia systems and between such systems and the legacy telephone
network, through additions to Recommendation H.246 and other
Recommendations as necessary. Question D/16 has primary and residual
responsibility for Recommendation H.246, but may delegate the development
of sections of Recommendations dealing with their respective systems to
individual questions;
-       influencing the development of signalling protocols to further the
objective of multimedia service interworking across different systems and
networks;
-       coordinating with the Question on Multimedia Architecture to ensure
that the architectural framework minimizes the effort required to achieve
system interoperability;
-       investigating methods and developing tools for improving the
prospects of interoperability between different implementations of the same
multimedia system or service, by means such as the generation of
conformance statements or the creation of reference code in the period
between determination and decision.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Completion of work on interworking between H.323 and H.320, taking
into account the possibility of MCU decomposition: late 2001. This task has
a dependency on the architectural work item in Question B/16 on review of
the H.245 architecture.
-       Completion of proposals for improving the interoperability of
different implementations of systems and services developed under Mediacom
2004: late 2001.
-       Implementation of these proposals: 2002.

  Relationships

-       Work on multimedia systems and services in other Questions of this
Study Group, Study Groups 8 and 9, and ITU-R.
-       Study Groups 2 and 11, for service definitions.
-       Study Group 11, for signalling.
-       Related groups in the IETF (particularly including the IPTEL, SIP,
SIGTRAN and MEGACO Working Groups).
-       IMTC, for interoperability testing.
-       ISO SC 29 MPEG.
-       ETSI TIPHON.

----------------------< Question F/16 >----------------------

Question F/16 - Quality of Service (QoS) and End-to-End Performance in
Multimedia Systems

Background and justification

ITU-T Study Group 16 has focused on the H.300-series standardization of
tele-time audiovisual conversational services and systems, such as
videoconferencing and video telephony, over various types of networks. In
past work, either a high level of QoS was assumed to be provided by the
network (H.320/ISDN) or the network was assumed to have no ability to
provide QoS (H.323 V1/LANs). Looking forward, MM will be most frequently
operated over packet networks that support various types of QoS features,
including but not limited to ATM QoS services and IP QoS services. The
general topic of how MM systems and coders interact with and request QoS
from the network and how this relates to end-to-end performance requires
further study.

Study Items

-       QoS needs of MM systems and coders.
-       Preferred signalling methods for QoS in MM systems.
-       Study of methods to provide better QoS in lossy networks, including
routed packet networks and mobile networks.
-       Common API or interfaces to different QoS signalling methods.
-       End-to-end latency and QoS.
-       Other aspects of end-to-end performance as perceived by the user.
-       Alignment with goals related to Mediacom 2004, IP, GII.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Enhanced QoS signalling in H.323/H.225.0 V4.
-       QoS signalling in possible future terminals (2002+).
-       Input to terms of reference for audio and video coders that
maximize QoS in lossy networks (2000).
-       Input to ATM Forum, IETF, IMT-2000, and SG 11 on MM QoS needs (2000).

Relationships

-       All project Questions in SG 16.
-       IETF for Internet QoS RFCs.
-       ATM Forum and SG 11 for ATM QoS.
-       SG 16 on Mediacom 2004 project.
-       SG 13 on IP and GII projects.
-       SG 12 on performance.
-       ETSI TIPHON.

----------------------< Question G/16 >----------------------

Question G/16 - Security of Multimedia Systems and Services

Background and justification

Users, operators, and vendors have always had expectations for the security
of telecommunications services and systems. Users have requirements for
confidentiality and integrity of their communications and may require
authentication of other parties in a session and non-repudiation of
transactions undertaken with those other parties. Operators require
authentication of users and authorization of their activities in order to
carry out proper billing and control of usage of resources. All parties
have a stake in correct and reliable operation, even in the face of
malicious attacks on system or network integrity. At the same time,
security is subject to regulation in the various legal jurisdictions, both
to ensure that minimum standards are met and to support enforcement of
criminal and other laws.

Two factors make security an even more complex issue within the context of
Mediacom 2004 than it is elsewhere: the specific nature of multimedia
communications (diverse media, multiple streams within one communication),
and the use of multimedia communications in the course of e-commerce. While
e-commerce puts even greater emphasis on the objectives of confidentiality,
integrity, and non-repudiation of communications, it also raises new issues
of protection of intellectual property distributed over the
telecommunications network.

Traditionally, vendors (and the standards from which they work) provide
mechanisms for the provision of security. Operators and users are
responsible for the development and enforcement of policies which make use
of these mechanisms to achieve their respective security objectives. The
IETF has a well-developed process for ensuring that the foundations of this
division of effort are properly laid: every project within the IETF must
consider and explicitly document the security requirements associated with
the end-product, ensure that the necessary mechanisms are put into place,
and provide advice on the use of those mechanisms and other policy issues
associated with the use of the end-product. ITU-T can learn from this
process, in order better to serve the needs of the world community. This
Question provides a focal point for the introduction of improvements in
work on security as reflected in the content of Recommendations produced
under Mediacom 2004.

At the same time, security is a specialized topic involving a considerable
body of specialized knowledge. Even more knowledge is required to ensure
security in multimedia communications. This Question serves as a central
point from which this special expertise may be applied as needed to
individual projects.

Study items

This Question shall have the following responsibilities:

-       assisting in the threat analysis of existing and proposed
multimedia systems and services;
-       maintaining Recommendation H.235 as a security framework providing
the mechanisms needed to protect multimedia systems and services from
identified threats;
-       maintaining Recommendations H.233, H.234 and T.135;
-       encouraging the development of documentation within Recommendations
on multimedia systems and services, providing guidance on potential threats
to security, the mechanisms provided to counter those threats, and the
policies which system operators should put in place to use those mechanisms
for their intended purpose;
-       contributing to the work of the Question on Multimedia Architecture
to ensure that the architectural framework includes due consideration of
functions associated with security;
-       providing advice on the application of the security framework in
specific cases of system design.

Specific work items

To be completed.

Relationships

-       The team of experts working on this Question will cooperate with
and advise the other Questions of this Study Group and multimedia-related
Questions of other study groups. They will coordinate with experts working
in the area of security in other study groups, and the experts of the
Security Area of the IETF.
-       ETSI TC SEC.

----------------------< Question 1/16 >----------------------

Question 1/16 - Multimedia Systems, Terminals and Data Conferencing
(Continuation of parts of Questions 3, 11 and 12/16)

Background and justification

Since the first set of Recommendations for audiovisual communication
systems for N-ISDN environments (H.320) were established in 1990,
additional audiovisual communications systems have been developed including
the H.324-series of Recommendations for audiovisual communications over the
fixed and mobile (wireless) telephone networks and the H.310-series of
Recommendations for point-to-point and multipoint on B-ISDN networks. For
data sharing in point-to-point and multipoint environments, the
T.120-series of recommendations have been developed. Following this,
several enhancements with respect to multipoint communication, use of new
audio and video coding, security features and use of data conferencing and
control continue to be developed in the form of new Recommendations or
revision of existing Recommendations. To respond to the market needs, these
enhancements (with particular attention to the support of advanced coding
technologies, interworking with other terminals accommodated in different
networks and enhancements to cover other services) may want to be included
in existing audiovisual communications systems Recommendations to assure
these existing systems remain competitive in the market place.

Study items

-       Improvements in quality aspects; audio quality, picture quality,
delay, hypothetical reference connection and performance objectives, taking
account of the studies in relevant SGs. (NOTE - Scope of this question does
not include studies of performance measurement.)
-       Enhancement by use of optional advanced audio and visual coding
(e.g. H.26L).
-       Continued enhancements relative to error protection for use in
error-prone environments such as mobile networks.
-       Specifications necessary for accommodating new services other than
conversational services, such as retrieval, messaging, distribution
services applicable to the supported Recommendations.
-       Establishment of Recommendations to support channel aggregation in
mobile terminals (H.mml).
-       Enhancement of existing H-series Recommendations.
-       Possibility of new multimedia terminal system for all networks.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Responsibility of this Question includes: definition of corrigenda
or revisions and creation or revision of Implementor Guides for
Recommendations H.221, H.222.0, H.222.1, H.223, H.224, H.226, H.230, H.231,
H.242, H.243, H.244, H.247, H.281, H.283, H.310, H.320, H.321, H.322,
H.324, H.331, T.120 through T.128, T.134, T.135, T.140 and related annexes
and appendices. This work will be ongoing throughout the study period.

Relationships

-       Other Questions of SG 16.
-       ITU-T SG 2 for service aspects and human factors.
-       ITU-T SG 8 for Telematic aspects.
-       ITU-T SG 12 for Quality aspects.
-       ITU-R SG 8 for IMT-2000 aspects.
-       ISO/IEC SG 29/WG 11 for MPEG aspects.
-       IMTC.

----------------------< Question 2/16 >----------------------

Question 2/16 - Multimedia over Packet Networks using H.323 Systems
(Continuation of Q.13/16)

Background and justification

ITU-T Study Group 16 has created in H.323 a widely-used system of protocols
for MM conferencing and video/Internet telephony over packet networks,
including the Internet and LANs. This work is ongoing, and currently
focuses on mobility, interactions with SIS/IN, and stimulus-based call
signalling in H.323 combined with network control of terminating call
services.

Study Items

This question will cover ongoing work in:

1)      H.323;
2)      H.225.0;
3)      H.450.x;
4)      H.332.

Other items to be covered include:

-       Alignment with goals related to Mediacom 2004, IP, GII.
-       Operation of H.323 systems over all kind of physical layers (cable,
xDSL, mobile, etc.).
-       Negotiation for optimal transport mechanisms, such as H.223 or
H.323 Annex C.
-       Operation in the same fashion in both public and private networks.
-       Support of Accessibility.
-       System robustness.
-       Possibility of new multimedia terminal system for all networks.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

To be completed.

Relationships

-       All framework questions in SG 16 on high rate systems.
-       IETF for Internet matters.
-       ATM Forum and SG 11 for ATM QoS.
-       SG 16 on Mediacom 2004 Project.
-       SG 13 on IP and GII Projects.
-       IMTC for interoperability.
-       TIPHON on requirements and architecture.
-       TIA.
-       Audio/Video questions B, C, and D.
-       SG 15 for xDSL.

----------------------< Question 3/16 >----------------------

Question 3/16 - Infrastructure and Interoperability for Multimedia over
Packet Network Systems
(Continuation of parts of Q.14/16)

Background and justification

ITU-T Study Group 16 has created in H.323 a widely-used system of protocols
for MM conferencing and video telephony over packet networks, including the
Internet and LANs. This work is ongoing, and currently focuses on mobility,
interactions with SS7/IN/H.450, and stimulus-based call signalling in H.323
combined with network control of terminating call services. These systems
require a supporting infrastructure of MCUs, Gatekeepers, Gateways, MIBs
(management information bases), and management tools and methods. Possible
future terminals will also make use of this infrastructure, or an extension
of it.

In addition, H.248 decomposes an H.246 gateway into a Media Gateway
Controller and a Media Gateway to facilitate interfacing system to SS7/IN
networks, and also for other purposes. The ongoing development of H.248
will be a major work area in ITU-T in the future study period. This work is
being done in cooperation with the IETF.

Study Items

This question considers protocol infrastructure for H.323 and for possible
future terminals, including:

1)      MCUs;
2)      GKs;
3)      GWs, including H.248;
4)      annexes of H.246 that related to SS7/IN interoperability;
5)      annexes of H.246 that relate to H.323 to PSTN interoperability;
6)      H.323 to H.323 gateways;
7)      MIBs, including H.341;
8)      management tools and methods related to H.341;
9)      H.245.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Updates to H.245.
-       H.248 V2 and related annexes.
-       Annexes to H.246.

Relationships

-       All framework questions in SG 16 on high rate systems.
-       Question 2/16 on H.323.
-       IETF for Internet matters including MEGACO and IPTEL working groups.
-       ATM Forum and SG 11 for ATM QoS.
-       SG 16 on Mediacom 2004 Project.
-       SG 13 on IP and GII Projects.

----------------------< Question 4/16 >----------------------

Question 4/16 - Video and data conferencing using Internet supported services

Background and justification

ITU-T Study Group 16 has focused on the H.300- and T.120-series
standardization of real-time audiovisual conversational services and
systems, such as videoconferencing, videophone and data conferencing, over
various types of network. As a platform of those systems, the personal
computer (PC) is used more and more to implement not only control functions
but also audiovisual coding and presentation. PC is also capable to access
rich Internet supported services such as hypertext multimedia data
retrieval, e-mail, multimedia file transfer which are becoming widely
accepted to make business activities more efficient. The network
infrastructure to support the video and data conferencing service is
converging to the IP-based one which has been developed to provide Internet
services. This Question addresses how to enhance video and data
conferencing systems by use of Internet supported services in business
situations like conferencing, distance learning and telemedicine.

Study Items

-       Architecture to integrate video and data conferencing functions
with Internet supported service functions.
-       Protocols to implement the above integration.
-       Mechanism of synchronization between audiovisual and other service
presentations.
-       Multipoint aspects of the integrated systems.
-       Verification tests for interoperability.
-       Alignment with goals related to Mediacom 2004, IP, GII Projects.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Definition of the service and requirements capture: 2001.
-       Protocol specifications: 2002.
-       Interoperability tests: 2003.

Relationships

-       Questions 1/16 and 2/16 for H.300-series systems.
-       IETF for Internet supported services.
-       SG 16 on Mediacom 2004 Project.
-       SG 13 on IP and GII Projects.

----------------------< Question 5/16 >----------------------

Question 5/16 - Mobility for Multimedia Systems and Services

Background and justification

ITU-T Study Group 16 has created in H.320, H.321, H.322, H.310, H.324 and
H.323 a widely-used set of system specifications. Each is specialized to a
particular network transport, such as N-ISDN, ATM, packet networks,
ISO-ethernet, the GSTN, etc. Increasingly, MM is being used in mobile
networks. Substantial work has been done to create a mobile version of
H.324, and mobile annexes to H.323 are being developed.

Study Items

The goal of this question is to:

1)      further develop mobility for H.323 and H.324 as needed;
2)      ensure that a possible future terminal in its initial version
supports mobility;
3)      consider protocol support for MM mobility for both user, terminal
and service mobility;
4)      coordinate with IMT-2000 to avoid duplication of effort;
5)      standardize interfaces between an MM terminal, keyboard and display
when all are connected by some kind of wireless network, and related
protocol support.

It should be noted that it is not a goal of this work to create an
alternative wireless system to IMT-2000, nor to duplicate IETF IP mobility
work.

Specific task objectives with expected time-frame of completion

-       Input to H.323 mobile Annexes.
-       Input to H.FutureTerminal mobile text or annexes.
-       Input to H.324 mobile work.
-       A recommendation for MM interworking between a terminal, keyboard
and display.

Relationships

-       All framework questions in SG 16 on high rate systems.
-       Question 2/16 on H.323.
-       Question 1/16 on H.324 mobility.
-       IMT-2000 and other wireless groups and consortiums.
-       IETF for IP mobility.
-       SG 16 on Mediacom 2004 Project.
-       3GPP and related consortia.

                     --------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For help on this mail list, send "HELP ITU-SG16" in a message to
listserv at mailbag.intel.com