Abstract:

The traditional way to acquire RTC ability is to install a software client or a browser plug-in. This may take an user some tedious steps and prevent the popularization of RTC applications. WebRTC is an arising new technology affiliated to the HTML5 standard which intends to provide pervasive access to RTC ability from an arbitrary browser. It works by integrating a fully functional audio/video RTC architecture into browsers. With this new technology, web application developers can implement powerful browser-based audio/video RTC applications by simply invoking a few JavaScript API. Currently, WebRTC is still at its early stage of development. This paper will give a preliminary exploration to WebRTC by addressing its background, current status, technical architecture, and the probable influence to the telecoms. It can give the reader a portrait of the development roadmap of WebRTC.

Key words: WebRTC, HTML5, real time communication, multimedia communication