The MICE project has the slightly unusual requirements needing to
support:
- Multicast based applications running on workstations where possible.
- Hardware codecs and the need to multiplex their
output.
- Sites connecting into conferences from ISDN.
- Interconnecting all the above.
These requirements have dictated that we build a number
of Conference Management and Multiplexing Centres to provide the necessary
format conversion and multiplexing to interwork between the multicast
workstation based domain and unicast (whether IP or ISDN) hardware based
domain.
Traditionally such a multiplexing centre would employ a centralised conference
control system (such a the CAR system or a number of others mentioned above and later), but
for MICE, that is not possible as we wish the users of our CMMC to
participate in large multicast based conferences. We also do not wish to
change the multicast media applications when they switch from a entirely
multicast based conference to one using a CMMC for some participants.
We believe that these requirements are more general than just for the MICE
project. It is inevitable that translators, multiplexors, format converters
and so forth will form some part of future conferences, and that large
conferences will be primarily multicast based. Thus although CCCP has
originated from the needs of the MICE project, it has done so from a process
of generalisation that we should make it widely applicable.