A scalable virtual programmable real-time testbed for rapid multimedia service creation and evaluation

In this paper we describe a new flexible and universally applicable testbed for Internet-based multimedia applications. Our approach combines the technology of Programmable Networks with emulated network environments and delivers a Virtual Programmable Testbed (VPT). In this work we show that a VPT is well suited for rapid creation and evaluation of distributed multimedia applications. There are three advantages of our approach compared to previously proposed testbed solutions: First, the software for processing IP datagrams, so called atomic modules, only depends on the programmable platform deployed, making it reusable. Second, loading several atomic modules concurrently allows the easy setup of customized test environments, e.g., channel models. Third, the application being developed can be tested under various network conditions (failures, congestion, etc.) at an early stage. Based on our VPT, distributed multimedia services can be created and evaluated both fast and economically in emulated environments without expensive and complex hardware setup.