mStar

1

• mStar
• Status and Future Plans
• Peter Parnes
• LTU-CDT/Marratech
• Roxy Workshop 980921-23

2
Overview

• Background
• History
• Current Status
• Future Plans
• Summary

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Background and History - jMUE

• Development started with the Java Multi User
  Environment - jMUE in early 95 as a test of Oak
  and Java.
• Alpha-Java
• Supported shared whiteboard, text-talk,
  membership and user status information
• Applet and Web based
• Development dropped when Beta-Java was released
  in August 95

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mStar--

• Development restarted with a new architecture in
  late 95
• mWB
• mWeb
• mMOD
• mChat
• Later mDesk
• In mid 97 the name mStar was coined.

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mStar until Summer 98

• The CDT mStar system
• mStar relies on Vat/Vic for audio and video
  distribution and Netscape for slides.
• Supports
• VCR, Web-presentations, Whiteboard, prototype
  Java audio application, chat, vote, wave
  un/reliable transportation of data
• 115K lines of Java code
• Built around a very nice agent architecture

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mStar.

• Complicated user interface
• a techie system
• Only Solaris support (some Wintel support added
  during the spring of 98)
• No good installation procedure
• Hard to administrate and upgrade

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mStar

• Over the years a product demand have appeared
• Thus the creation of the company Marratech AB
  which now holds the exploitation rights of the
  system.
• mStar is currently being modified into a more
  product like system.
• All need for external programs removed.

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Marratech

• Spin-off from LTU's Centre for Distance-spanning
  Technology (CDT)
• Financed by venture capital from Slottsbacken.
• Main office in Luleå and sales office in
  Stockholm.
• Mission Commercialise and distribute
  conferencing software utilising IP Multicast
• First market segment IT-Mature Scandinavian
  Companies.

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Marratech mStar

• Divided into a number of products
• mStar Player
• Target media-broadcasts
• mPlayer, mTransmitter and mSessionEditor
• mStar Pro
• Target symmetric communication
• mVideo, mSessionEditor

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Marratech mStar...

• mStar Multimedia Server
• Target recording and playback of sessions
• mRecorder and mServer
• mStar Multicast Tunnel
• mStar Manager
• Target control and management of mStar
  applications
• mManager

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Marratech mStar Status

• mStar Player 1.1 released
• mStar Pro beta4 released
• mStar Multimedia Server and mManager under
  development
• Primary target platform is currently Wintel
• Does not rely on external products and the UI is
  much better (but still needs a lot of work)

13
Work under the Surface

• Incorporation of heterogeneous networks
• mTunnel
• mVideo uses low bandwidth JPEG still images to
  create a live electronic corridor
• Experimenting with different video/audio codecs
• Switch from Java Media Framework to own code

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Summary

• Work started in early 95 - jMUE
• mStar developed extensively within CDT
• Created very advanced mStar prototype
• Marratech created in mid 98
• Developing mStar products

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Questions?

• peppar_at_cdt.luth.se
• http//www.cdt.luth.se/peppar/
• http//www.cdt.luth.se/mStar/
• http//www.marratech.com/