Review of the Illinois Institute of Technology Real Time Communications Conference, held from 30 Sept to the 2 October

1. IIT RTC Conference Summary
Illinois Institute of Technology
Real Time Communication Conference
The missing link between
telecoms research and the
industry

2. Highlights
• Henning Schulzrinne CTO of the FCC
• WebRTC developer, for a WebRTC developer by Peter Thatcher of Google
• Ben Klang from MojoLingo’s great taxonomy for RTC services
• Todd Carothers from CounterPath on Real-Time Communications (RTC)
Clients—Present and Future Roadmap
• Scott Scheuber from US Cellular on The Things of Business
• Alan Johnston from Avaya on WebRTC Security and Privacy
• Ed Elkin from ALU presentation the network benefits of VoLTE
• Quan Choi from US Cellular on VoLTE benefits
• Robin Raymond from HookFlash
o Future of the Cloud with P2P (Peer-to-Peer) RTC (Real-Time Communication)
o Delivering Real-Time Communications with Mobile
o ORTC API Update

3. Henning Schulzrinne CTO of the FCC
I’m waiting on his slides. But the most insight came in the discussion after
his presentation on the “3GPP 'self-inflicted problem' of too much signaling”
and on software having to be responsible for its impact of others (e.g. poorly
written software hijacked in denial of service attacks) which he thinks will
change with a few class action law suits.
His presentation focused on IoT, he was frank that beyond M2M the cases
are weak at the moment. He used the towel dispenser example which is
weak. He also raise the social angle that with IoT many jobs lost are at the
low end of the income range, which he questioned as a society can we afford.
He was also unsure if IoT interop standards can be achieved to deliver on
the big IoT vision, quoting X.10 as an example. My view is just like in the
lack of interop beyond basic video across home entertainment equipment.
The value of keeping customers in silos (no matter how small) far out
weighs the benefit of interop. Apple being the archetype.
Overall an inspiring multi-domain discussion with a good dose of social
awareness thrown in J

4. This presentation has a nice review of how developers see WebRTC, and that
we’re not simple enough yet for most developers.

6. WebRTC simplified a load of libraries

7. This is a great description of WebRTC, a connection is made, then anything and
everything can be shared between the peers.

8. We’re at the early stages in exploring WebRTC, we’re moving from the early
explorers into the wild west phase.

9. Yes! WebRTC should not be constrained by legacy mind sets.

10. A much more natural exchange which will take WebRTC into the broader
developer market.

11. WebRTC is NOT easy even between Chrome browsers. Between different
browsers it’s tough. There are downloads to simplify, but wasn’t WebRTC
meant to avoid downloads?

12. This is a great list.

13. SDP choice was expediency to get the standard agreed – typical standards horse
trading of use what’s available and familiar. ORTC (which I’ll review in Robin
Raymond’s presentation makes developers’ lives easier).

14. There’s still a ways to go to make this easy enough for most developers to use in
the browser.

15. Ben’s created a great taxonomy for RTC services.

25. There’s still lots of
opportunities in
communication application
development J

26. CounterPath have a nice model that is endorsed in telcos by the likes of Rogers
One Number (who use their client) and Orange Libon (which shows telcos can
adopt a hybrid OSP/RCS model). OSP is Online Service Provider, its what they
call themselves, its more polite than using OTT, which is a bit like using the
term Redskins.

28. In the age of cloud computing working across devices/networks/locations is
essential. Remember a Mobile-First strategy does not mean mobile only.

29. Many of CounterPath’s customers are enterprises.

30. Plus the client needs to integrate into an existing environment with potentially
multiple backend platforms.

33. US Cellular game a number of presentation at the event, which was great to see such
active and insightful telco contributions to the event.

35. US Cellular delivers M2M Solutions today.

36. The focus today is on business efficiencies (which Henning backed up in his
presentation). In the discussion the challenges in moving to IoT are significant and
history shows IoT has a significant hill to climb where customer demand for interop is a
critical requirement, which Apple sort of proves is weak.

37. Security and Privacy will become critical barriers to WebRTC being used in
many mainstream applications.

39. People expect privacy and security from the browser, so this is not optional.

41. Bottom line is there is still significant work to be done here.

42. My View on where
we are with WebRTC
Early Explorers Wild West Civil War Progressive Era Modern
Era
My view on where we are with WebRTC. We’re entering the wild west after the
early explorers have mapped some of the landscape, with the privacy and security
issues better managed, we’ll see the big guys war it out, and with the market
deciding we’ll enter a progressive era where the dominant innovations from the
war are consolidated into standards. All ending in the modern era where WebRTC
is ubiquitous and no longer really mentioned, its just there.

43. ALU gave a nice presentation on the network benefits of VoLTE

44. No one can argue with the analysis. The problem is this is not what the customer
sees as their overall experience.

47. Customer Benefits
Better voice experience
• HD Voice
• Quicker call setup time
• Simultaneous voice and LTE
Enriched Services using existing
phone number
• Video calling and enhanced messaging
• Ease of use, communicate via phone
number
• Reliable and supported by the carrier
No change to billing
• Voice and SMS charged in the same way
• Other services, such as video and
enhanced messaging charged as data
This is a good slide as customers have HD voice today with quick set up time through a
number of applications. They’ve had enriched comms services for years and no change
to billing. VoLTE is more important to telcos than to customers, which means it must
work like CS voice – else customers will migrate even faster to OSPs

48. WebRTC, Mobility, Cloud, and More...
IIT REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS
Conference & Expo Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2014 Chicago
Future of the Cloud with P2P
(Peer-to-Peer) RTC (Real-Time
Communication)
Presented by Robin Raymond [http://about.me/robinraymond]
Chief Architect
Hookflash.com / OpenPeer.org
Robin gave several nice presentations, I review a couple here, first on Cloud and
2014-09-30 9:30am WEST: Alumni Lounge
RTC

49. PSTN into the Cloud
PSTN is becoming increasingly virtualized into
the cloud...
PSTN into the Cloud

50. Phone Numbers will become Cloud Identities
The cloud will be a place to create, call and
dispose of phone numbers at will.
This will ironically push usage away from PSTN.
PSTN into the Cloud

51. PSTN Telemarketers and Fraud
The introduction of VoIP has made mass dialing every PSTN
number cheap.
This has been made worse by:
● Cloud robo dialers (calls 1000s of people at once)
● Cloud "natural language" artificial intelligence dialers
● Fraudsters using workers from anywhere on the planet
with the cheapest labour costs to place VoIP calls
● Caller-ID spoofing
I gave up on a fixed landline years ago, so I’m fortunate not to face this.
PSTN into the Cloud

52. PSTN Signal to Noise Ratio
These "solutions" have failed:
- Do not call lists
- Call blocking
- Government Complaint Agencies
While phone is ubiquitous but people aren't
going to keep paying for PSTN service
once RTC alternatives become realistic.
This depends on country, the move away from PSTN
is common in all countries even Myanmar!
PSTN into the Cloud

53. Cloud Social Identities and RTC
The cloud will become the place to find and make
P2P RTC calls via various online identities.
PSTN into the Cloud
Peer-to-Peer RTC
Also identity is masked within the context of the application being
used, you know its Robin you’re calling, because you’re
responding to his message

54. Cloud becomes the Directory
Many social identity services already offer
contacts via a RESTful APIs. Apple contacts
already integrates Facebook.
Social directories will
become ubiquitous.
PSTN into the Cloud

55. Corporate Cloud Directories
Corporations will offer their
own RESTful directories just
like social networks for
employees, suppliers, as well
as customers.
PSTN into the Cloud

56. RTC Applications will tie Cloud Directories Together
PSTN into the Cloud
Peer-to-Peer RTC
Applications are the glue
that bring disparate
directories services
together.

57. With WebRTC Websites are Applications
PSTN into the Cloud
=

58. What RTC Interactions can be Serviced better
by the Cloud?
● Connecting with specialized skills or expert consultations
● Geographically dispersed employees, customers, or supply
chains
● Human social interaction
● Customer inquiries / outreach
● Medical supportive care
● Distanced education / training
● Collaborative work environments
● Gaming and entertainment
● Connectivity with travelling and mobile workforce
● Vertical niches (e.g. financial, insurance, manufacturing,
energy)
Future P2P RTC Cloud Use Cases

59. Telecommunication vs Specialization
Expect RTC usage in cloud services for every industry to
be greater than traditional telecommunications:
>
Embed communications everywhere! Make it the essential spice of every business
ecosystem.
Future P2P RTC Cloud Use Cases

60. Distributed and Mobile Workforce
Specialized labour skills, outsourcing, and increased
mobility are all contributing towards a global
distributed workforce.
Mobile usage has now outpaced
desktop usage.
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

61. Onsite RTC moving into the Cloud
The need to support offsite / mobile
workers in combination with the
cost savings from "on demand"
transactional services will drastically
move companies from onsite RTC
infrastructure to shared cloud
infrastructure.
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

62. Only the Cloud can Service the World
The world of RTC is global, distributed, and mobile.
The distribution and mobility of customers, suppliers,
and employees demand a new type of RTC
infrastructure than the era of old.
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

63. RTC Cloud Infrastructure Simplified
IaaS
(Infrastructure
as a Service)
PaaS
(Platform as a
Service)
(Social Login, Identity,
Directory Services)
RTC Cloud Infrastructure
(RTC Cloud Communication
Services)
(Auxiliary related services, e.g.
payment, SMS, billing, SFU)
SaaS
(Software as a
Service)

64. RTC Cloud Infrastructure Reality
IaaS
(Infrastructure
as a Service)
PaaS
(Platform as a
Service)
SaaS
(Software as a
Service)
Cloud offerings rarely fit neatly into a single box
and the layering and relationships are complex.
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

65. RTC Cloud Infrastructure Costing
Peer-to-Peer RTC uses a customers
existing internet service provider bandwidth making the
cloud hosting per minute costs virtually nothing.
IaaS / PaaS cloud RTC services are moving towards
fractional transactional cost models
and away from billed minutes.
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

66. RTC Cloud Scalability
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Infrastructure
RTC Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Infrastructure
Cloud
Infrastructure
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
Cloud
Software
- Each service is specialized
- Rigorous specialization testing
- Rich developer API toolsets
- Faster time to market
- Resilience across infrastructures
- Scaling at each point
- Cost sharing / efficiency
- RTC data is not in the cloud
- Innovation at each point
Future RTC in the
cloud looks bright!
← RTC P2P TRAFFIC DATA →

67. RTC Cloud Federation
Consumer demand will ensure that one cloud service offering
will interoperate with another to create a global RTC network.
Fast adoption of problem solving innovative web technologies
is likely to win versus much slower standardization processes.
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service
RTC Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service
Cloud
Service

68. Cloud RTC Trends
● Global RTC needs are pushing cloud solutions
● On-demand transactional shared cloud services
● Mobile and distributed workforces and customer interaction
● Cloud identity and social sign-on
● Efficiencies, reduce costs, expanded service capabilities,
increased scalability will be born out of the cloud
● Innovation and adoption of new technologies will drive
federation faster than standardization
RTC Cloud Infrastructure

69. Information Security /
Privacy
Consumers are becoming
increasingly worried about
information passing through
or being stored in the cloud.
Information Security / Privacy

70. Government Surveillance and the Cloud
The Snowden revelations
has shown that
information in the cloud
creates an attractive
information source for
government surveillance.
Information Security / Privacy

71. Hackers Love Cloud Data
The recent celebrity
photo hacking of Apple's
service "The Flappening"
shows no cloud service is
immune.
Information Security / Privacy

72. RTC Emergency Services and the Cloud
What happens to 911 emergency service as consumers move
away from PSTN into cloud only communication models using
WebRTC service offerings?
RTC Emegency Services and the Cloud

73. 911 per Subscriber Fees
Imagine if every WebRTC website was required by law to offer
911 emergency services using today's 911 subscriber fee
models.
There would be no WebRTC.
Per subscriber fees for 911 would be prohibitively expensive
for most sites and consumers will be repeatedly billed.
RTC Emegency Services and the Cloud

74. 911 in the Future Cloud
911 service will need to be unbundled from the strict ties to the PSTN.
Possible models:
● Direct consumer 911 SaaS (Software as a Service) offerings
● Bundled 911 SaaS offerings with consumer/business Internet packages
● Transactional based 911 PaaS (Platform as a Service) providers to integrate
911 services (with associated APIs)
Bottom line: 911 subscriber models need to change to become part of WebRTC.
The good news is that it is changing.
RTC Emegency Services and the Cloud

75. Future of the Cloud with P2P RTC Wrap Up
● PSTN will be virtualized into the cloud
● RTC will accelerate PSTN's demise
● Social and corporate identities will replace phone numbers
● Websites are RTC applications
● IMS / 3GPP are going to be out innovated by cloud services
● WebRTC will disrupt every industry, some more than others
● Specialized RTC + RTC data will outstrip traditional communications
● Expect efficiencies, innovation, scalability, to come from cloud RTC
● Cloud will become increasingly for "meta" data, or pre-secured data
● Emergency services needs to move from PSTN subscriber models
Wrap up
This is an insightful vision of the future.

76. WebRTC, Mobility, Cloud, and More...
IIT REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS
Conference & Expo Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2014 Chicago
Delivering Real-Time
Communications with Mobile
Presented by Robin Raymond [http://about.me/robinraymond]
Chief Architect
Hookflash.com / OpenPeer.org
2014-10-01 9:00am WEST: Alumni Lounge

77. Why should I care about mobility?
Digital time spent on mobile apps exceeds the desktop:
Source: http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Major-Mobile-Milestones-in-May-Apps-Now-Drive-Half-of-All-Time-Spent-on-Digital
Mobile matters

78. Why should I care about mobility?
Mobile is where RTC is used most:
Source: http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Major-Mobile-Milestones-in-May-Apps-Now-Drive-Half-of-All-Time-Spent-on-Digital
Mobile matters

79. What's different about mobile RTC?
A mobile device is always with us…
but what makes mobile RTC so different than desktop RTC?
Mobility differences

80. What's different about mobile RTC?
Slower
CPUs
Limited
Battery Life
Mobility differences
Mobile + Wireless
Connectivity
Limited
Storage /
Memory
Small differences. Huge impact.
Screen
Sizes /
Rotation

81. Mobile Wrap Up
● Specialized signalling helps save battery via push
● Messaging is difficult without store and forward or synchronization
● Heavily encoding / decoding optimization is needed
● Hardware encoders / decoders aren't ubiquitous across devices
● WWAN often requires TURN or IPv6 to work
● Scalable Video Codecs with base layer protection help with burst loss
● Continuous signalling updates of render capability saves CPU and
bandwidth
● Record on a server or passively encode with remaining CPU or via
onboard hardware encoders
● Choose image letterbox/pillarbox or clipping, and not stretching
Mobile RTC is different, and as we saw in the CounterPath presentation the client
is a critical element in solving these issues and delivering a consistent UX.
Wrap up

82. ORTC API Update
IIT RTC Conference Chicago 9/2014
It will be in WebRTC 1.1 – it’s the standards guys they love to squabble.

83. What is ORTC?
A W3C Community Group to design an-object
based API for RTC (ORTC == Object RTC)
The hope is to merge the work of the CG into
the WebRTC WG as WebRTC 1.1.

84. Why is there an object model in WebRTC 1.0?
● Need a way to tweak params on individual tracks sent over the wire
○ Bitrate
○ Direction (sendonly/recvonly etc.)
● Existing control surfaces insufficient:
○ createOffer params - not per-track
○ AddStream params - not modifiable post-add
○ MST constraints - affects raw media, not encoding

85. WebRTC 1.0 to ORTC 1.1
JavaScript Application (Sender) JavaScript Application (Receiver)
PeerConnection
RTPSender
PeerConnection
TTraracckk RTPSender DTLS
Transport
ICE
Transport Internet
ICE
Transport
DTLS
Transport
RTP
RecReTivPe r
Receiver
TTraracckk
JavaScript Application (Sender) JavaScript Application (Receiver)
TTraracckk RTPSender
RTPSender DTLS
Transport
ICE
Transport Internet
DTLS
Transport
RTP
RecReTivPe r
Receiver
TTraracckk
SDP SDP
Objects Objects
ICE
Transport
Can't control
directly
Control directly

86. ORTC Benefits
● Direct control of existing objects
● Signalling flexibility
● No SDP necessary
● Simulcast, Scalable Video Coding (SVC)
● Media forking (e.g. full mesh conferencing)
● Backwards compatible with WebRTC 1.0 API
● Continuing direction WebRTC 1.0 is headed
● Mobile and web friendly
This broadens the addressable market of developers,
and has broad industry backing, plus you can use it today (with a download).

87. ORTC Myths
● It's a revolution (it's an evolution)
● Competes with 1.0 (it's intended to fold into WG as 1.1)
● Disrupts 1.0 (it's a CG to avoid disrupting the WG)
● "Owned" by Microsoft (it's a community effort)
● Only for non-SIP/SDP signalling (it helps SDP
aficionados as well)
● It’s only about simulcast/SVC (has many other benefits)