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Videoconferencing at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven . Prof. Dr. Ir. Wim Van Petegem Erik Luyten. erik.luyten@avnet.kuleuven.be. K.U.Leuven. Founded in 1425 16.297 staff members 31.447 students in K.U.Leuven 70.000 students in the Association K.U.Leuven (+ 12 technical colleges)
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Videoconferencing at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Prof. Dr. Ir. Wim Van Petegem Erik Luyten erik.luyten@avnet.kuleuven.be
K.U.Leuven • Founded in 1425 • 16.297 staff members • 31.447 students in K.U.Leuven • 70.000 students in the Association K.U.Leuven (+ 12 technical colleges) • Member of the LERU and Coïmbra group • More than 3.000 SCIE publications • 427 phd’s (117 international doctoral students) • 60 spin-off’s
GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION 225 km
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL • Campus Gasthuisberg • Campus Sint-Pieter and Sint-Rafaël • Campus Pellenberg and Lubbeek • VZN K.U.LeuvenFlemish Hospital Network K.U.Leuven17 Flemish hospitals
AVNet To provide integrated, multidisciplinary support and expertise, taking into account media science, organisational, didactical and technological aspects, for the benefit of education, including networked e-learning and distance education, both at K.U.Leuven and within its Association, in an international context. • www.avnet.kuleuven.be/en/
Videoconferencing at K.U.Leuven • 1994 First videoconferencing facilities at K.U.Leuven AVDienst (now AVNet). • AVNet is a centralised K.U.Leuven service specialising in MultiMedia implementation and not in IT technology. • While good IT implementation is essential the real challenge lies in the media support. • Putting the presenter, camera’s, microphones and screens in the right spot is the path to a successful videoconference experience. • Our first envolvements resulted in two projects supported by the European Commission. (Savie and Bic)http://www.avnet.kuleuven.be/savie/ linkhttp://bic.avnet.kuleuven.be link
PENTALFA the challenge • 1996: The Dean of the faculty of medicine ordered a feasibility study in an effort to replace a centralised continuous education programme with a distributed videoconferencing solution. • 1998: Pharmaceutical firms sponsored the installation of one central and four remote videoconferencing facilities. • In addition to the installation of a multipoint videoconferencing bridge AVNet designed propriety solutions for distributing full quality computer presentations and for fast camera control. • The Pentalfa steering committee is responsible for the scientific support. • Administrative and technical support is secured using 1.5 FTE dedicated to the project. • Special attention is given to the training of the lecturers, moderators and technicians.
PENTALFA video rtsp://escher.avnet.kuleuven.be/Pentalfa_eng.mp4
PENTALFA results • Originally designed for a 3 year period (in 1998). • Since 1998 almost 240 successful sessions (Thursday evenings152-190 participants). • Four technical fall-outs (one remote site unable to connect due to ISDN provider difficulties and firewall issues). • 2005-2006 the original ISDN-only equipment is replaced with new ISDN and IP capable units. • In addition to the original 5 systems around 10 new systems were permanently installed in hospitals around Flanders. • Investigation the possibilities to replace the propriety solution for high resolution presentations with the h.239 standard.
New technologies, new challenges • Move from ISDN to IP • H.239 implementation • Fixed installations • Training and support • Recording capabilities • Streaming capabilities • Three layers of support
Three layers of support • DIYWe will help the customer to setup there own private (desktop) infrastructure for videoconferencing and/or webconferencing. • Using our facilitiesThe customer books our facilities and can operate the units himself. We provide a short introduction to the systems. • Complete serviceWe organise the complete event and take care of technical, administrative, educational and media aspects.
Equipment • Fixed installations in key lecture theaters (now 4 upgrading to 9) (f.i. Polycom VSX8000) • Mobile unit to deploy in university buildings (cooperation with network and telephony departments) • Around 13 installations in Flemish hospitals • Tandberg MPS200 multipoint control unit • Tandberg Gatekeeper • Tandberg Management System • Codian IPVCR 2220 conference recorder
Network setup • Close cooperation with K.U.Leuven network services • One VLAN network for all videoconferencing equipment spread around the university. • VLAN in DMZ
Other projects • VenusGlobal Issues for the European CitizenProf. Derrick de Kerckhove - Culture and Technology • e-LeruTop Science program on the e-Leru virtual campusProf. Marc Waelkens - Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project • SputnicTo raise awareness about the beneficial impact of and spread know-how in educational technologies that enhance international collaboration.
Moving from CIF format videoconferencing resolution… to High-Definition videoconferencing… The next step ? At a reasonable cost ?