webrtc-4-qos

WebRTC code used for Public Safety Communications Research

WebRTC is a technology, not a service. But WebRTC can form the basis of a service. WebRTC allows browsers to behave in ways that they were not able to before. WebRTC enables real-time communication between browsers for free and without any plugins or downloads! All you need to communicate for free is a computer, internet, and a compatible browser.

At PSCR we are using WebRTC in testing vendor equipment to ensure they uphold functionality specified in the standards. This is done using our in-lab 4G LTE network and generating traffic of specific QoS parameters with WebRTC.

Getting Started

I will describe the setup of my development environment on OSX:

1. Download the .zip or clone this repository onto your local machine.
2. Set up the Apache server on your Mac, here is what I used: Apache server setup for OSX
3. Go to where you downloaded or cloned the code. Open the Terminal and cd into the webrtc-4-qos directory, then select all the files and folders in this directory, copy them and then paste directly into the Sites folder you created when setting up the Apache server. If you cd into the Sites folder you should see index.html, serve_index.js, twoWayVideoWithChat.html, _assets folder, css folder etc.
4. Download Node.js.
5. Open the Terminal and cd into your Sites folder and type:
   • npm install socket.io
   • npm install node-static
   • npm install websocket
   • npm install express

Run The Code

Prerequisite: Before the code can be run, you must open index.html, serve_index.js, twoWayAudioWithChat.html, and twoWayVideoWithChat.html to change the host IP address to the IP of your local machine. At the top of the prior mentioned files there are comments that will tell you how many places in that file that you need to change IP addresses. The example code below is from index.html which tells you there are 5 places in that file where the IP address needs to be changed. And all spots will be denoted by this style of comment block:

<!-- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
PUT YOUR IP ADDRESS IN PLACE OF '10.10.10.10' -->
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="http://10.10.10.10:3000/QCI1" class="contentUpdate" style="color:#E60000">Voice Call (QCI 1)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="http://10.10.10.10:3000/QCI2" class="contentUpdate" style="color:#E60000">Video Call (QCI 2)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="#QCI3" class="contentUpdate" style="">Real-time Gaming (QCI 3)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="http://10.10.10.10:3000/QCI4" class="contentUpdate" style="color:#E60000">Buffered Video (QCI 4)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="#QCI5" class="contentUpdate" style="">IMS Signaling (QCI 5)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="http://10.10.10.10:3000/QCI6" class="contentUpdate" style="color:#E60000">TCP, Chat (QCI 6)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="#QCI7" class="contentUpdate" style="">Live Video Stream (QCI 7)</a></li>
<li data-filtertext=""><a href="http://10.10.10.10:3000/QCI6" class="contentUpdate" style="color:#E60000">TCP, Chat (QCI 8 + 9)</a></li>
<!-- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -->

Once the IP addresses have been changed...

Open the Terminal and cd into the Sites folder.

1. Start the Apache server by typing: sudo apachectl start
2. Open a new tab or window for the Terminal, cd into the Sites folder and type: node serve_index.js
3. Open your browser (preferably Chrome or Firefox) and type localhost in the url bar at the top.
4. Explore the webpage and click on the WebRTC Demos tab and pick a demo!
5. Learn and Enjoy!

We now have Apache serving the main index page and Node will be serving all the WebRTC pages and signaling.

• Don't forget to kill the servers when you are done. Type sudo apachectl stop to kill the Apache server, and type Ctrl-C to kill the node server.

What It Should Look Like

• After Apache is serving the main index page, if you type localhost in the url bar of Chrome or Firefox you should see the following page displayed:

• Navigate around the page to the WebRTC Demos tab:

• After typing node serve_index.js and the node server is listening on port 3000 (or whatever port you set it to), then the signaling is occuring for WebRTC to make the connections. So now you can click on one of the demo links which will take you to a different page where you can choose to share your webcam and/or microphone and then connect to a peer by sharing the exact url. Only difference is where the host can say localhost, when you share the url link, you must replace localhost with the hosts IP address. The screen shot below is taken from the peer's browser joining the host. Notice in the peer's url bar localhost is replaced by the hosts IP address.

Legal

THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, INSTITUTE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SCIENCES ("NTIA/ITS") DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND DATA ACCURACY. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS."
NTIA/ITS does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use of the software or the results thereof, including but not limited to the correctness, accuracy, reliability or usefulness of the software or the results.

You can use, copy, modify, and redistribute the NTIA/ITS developed software upon your acceptance of these terms and conditions and upon your express agreement to provide appropriate acknowledgments of NTIA's ownership of and development of the software by keeping this exact text present in any copied or derivative works.

The user of this Software ("Collaborator") agrees to hold the U.S. Government harmless and indemnifies the U.S. Government for all liabilities, demands, damages, expenses, and losses arising out of the use by the Collaborator, or any party acting on its behalf, of NTIA/ITS' Software, or out of any use, sale, or other disposition by the Collaborator, or others acting on its behalf, of products made by the use of NTIA/ITS' Software.