[AG-TECH] echo-cancellation on the cheap?

Osland, CD (Chris) C.D.Osland at rl.ac.uk
Fri Feb 1 11:23:05 CST 2002


Have just looked around and found that the Gentner 724 has been
replaced by the 1524, and that costs roughly half what the 800
costs - I've seen $2,183 against $4,150.  The Gentner web pages
don't help on prices, but try http://www.ritzav.com/gsa/gentnerAC.htm
for an example of costs.

Cheers

Chris

____________________________________________________________________
Chris Osland                         Office tel: +44 (0) 1235 446565
Digital Media and Access Grid      Medialab tel: +44 (0) 1235 446459
BIT Department             Access Grid room tel: +44 (0) 1235 445666
e-mail:   C.D.Osland at rl.ac.uk               Fax: +44 (0) 1235 445597

CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Bldg. R18)
Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxon OX11 0QX, UK

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-----Original Message-----
From: richardc at cs.utah.edu [mailto:richardc at cs.utah.edu]
Sent: 01 February 2002 16:33
To: Bob Riddle
Cc: ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov
Subject: Re: [AG-TECH] echo-cancellation on the cheap?


Hi all,

It seems to me that this thread goes more along the lines of an entirely 
different specification. I know there's a lot of work out there on 
mini-AG nodes, or low cost AG's. Why don't we call these something other 
than Access Grid nodes, and write a different spec? I'd be happy to 
co-organize a BOF or a panel at the Access Grid Retreat in March on 
whipping together the different spec's.

I'm just completing work on a reduced-AG node that should come in around 
30K. It will be slightly portable. (If you consider 100-150 Lbs racks 
(with gear) with wheels portable. ;-)

It might also be useful for a company like Gentner to know they need to 
make a product in the sub $1000 for this type of application. They must 
know that companies like Microsoft and others are looking for software 
solutions for this problem. Competition is key to driving prices down. 
(Take the recent shakedown in voice recognition for example.)

I have a few questions about the Polycom setup. Have you tested running 
the Polycom's in conjunction with Gentner's? Do they play well together?

Cheers,
Richard C.
SCI Institute
University of Utah
http://www.sci.utah.edu/


On Friday, February 1, 2002, at 08:34 AM, Bob Riddle wrote:

> I'm not so sure that such a "small version" is too far out of that 
> $10K-20K range given the faster hardware & the work done by Insors & 
> being done by Microsoft to reduce the number of machines required to 
> support the AG software.
>
> One could speculate that you might be able to run all necessary 
> processes on one computer (say a fast SMP) using table top 
> echo-cancellation mics (no Gentner need) and inexpensive projectors 
> (don't need 2000 lumens for  a conference room) .... I think you're 
> close to that dollar amount.
> I've wondered if you could point multiple vrm/arm-eventlistener's to 
> the same DRM on the AG display machine.  We actually use some cheap 
> baluns to sometimes move our video signals through cat5 cable - I could 
> image having 4 different offices each having a "camera" and a RAT 
> participating in the conference .... I realize this abuses the notion 
> of sharing "meeting rooms" but I think it might help drive devlopment 
> toward more affodable nodes.  I also would like to have every meeting 
> room so equipped.
>
> Have you tried using the VRVS AG support for receiving an AG seminar of 
> interest?
>
> David E. Bernholdt wrote:
>
>> While Gurcharan raises a valid issue, from my point of view it is a
>> matter of "ease" of deployment.
>> We have a single AG node at ORNL right now, and for a combination of
>> practical and political reasons, its located 10 min walk from my
>> office (even though I built it), and at least that far from the
>> majority of prospective users.  That means usage of the AG node
>> requires conscious intent.
>>
>> I'd like to be able to have an AG in every conference room in our
>> Division, and looking further forward, I'd even like to have "personal
>> AG" capabilities in each office -- maybe not the full AG, but enough
>> to have reasonable meetings with 1-2 people at each of a couple sites,
>> or to receive an AG-cast seminar.  I think this level of accessibility
>> to the facilities would do a lot to promote the Access Grid.
>>
>> So if each node costs $70k, it is a lot harder to get people to spring
>> for lots of them.  I don't know exactly where the thresholds are (and
>> they'll vary by institution), but I would guess that if you could do a
>> small conference room AG node for say $10-20k, people would happily do
>> it.  And say at $5k, a personal AG node in every office is not
>> unreasonable.
>>
>> Cost is not the only thing inhibiting wider deployment, but it is a
>> significant one for most organizations.
>> --
>> David E. Bernholdt                   |   Email: bernholdtde at ornl.gov 
>> Oak Ridge National Laboratory        |   Phone: +1 (865) 574 3147    
>> http://www.csm.ornl.gov/~bernhold/   |   Fax:   +1 (865) 574 0680
>
>



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