Authentication and Key Distribution
Messages used by the protocols in the Internet multimedia conferencing archi-
tecture can be signed and encrypted using S/MIME [23]. See also Chapter 9,
“SIP Security.”
The distribution and management of public and private cryptographic keys
for real time communications will be treated in more detail in Chapter 9, “SIP
Security.” A good overview on this topic can be found in several RFCs, such as
in [24].Summary
The architecture and protocols of the Internet multimedia conferencing archi-
tecture have been discussed in this chapter. Internet multimedia leverages the
entire suite of protocols that include network protocols and application-level
protocols for real-time Internet multimedia communications.
Internet multimedia makes use of various network and transport layer pro-
tocols, such as IP multicast and protocols for quality of service such as Differ-
entiated Services. RSVP may be used for QoS in private IP networks of limited
size, while MPLS is a controversial protocol when it comes to interdomain
communications.
The family of Internet application layer protocols: RTP/RTCP, SAP, SDP, SIP,
and others were developed for multimedia in this architecture.References
[1] “Internetworking Multimedia” by Jon Crowcroft, Mark Handley, Ian
Wakeman. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers; ISBN: 1558605843, New York,
1999.
[2] “A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication” by V. Cerf and R.
Kahn. IEEE Transactions for Communications, Vol. Com-22, May 1974. This
paper is available online at several Web sites, see for example http://www.cse
.ucsc.edu/research/ccrg/CMPE252/Papers/1974.pdf.
[3] “IPv4 Address Behavior Today” by B. Carpenter et al. RFC 2101. IETF, Feb
1997.
[4] “IP Multicast Applications: Challenges and Solutions” by B. Quinn and
K. Almeroth. RFC 3170. IETF, September 2002.
[5] “The Internet Multimedia Conferencing Architecture” by M. Handley et al.
Internet-Draft, February 1996.
[6] “MBone: Multicasting Tomorrow’s Internet” by K. Savetz et al. IDG, 1998.
The text of this book is available online at http://www.savetz.com/mbone.94 Chapter 5