Lightweight Call Signaling and Peer-to-Peer Control of WebRTC Video Conferencing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a lightweight, serverless WebRTC video conferencing system that uses peer-to-peer signaling and control, reducing server dependency and cost, suitable for low-end devices and applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel architecture for multiparty WebRTC conferencing that eliminates the need for media servers and minimizes signaling infrastructure.

Findings

Successful implementation of a serverless WebRTC conference system

Use of push notifications and email for signaling reduces server reliance

Prototype supports full features including audio, video, text, and screen sharing

Abstract

We present the software architecture and implementation of our web-based multiparty video conference application. It does not use a media server. For call signaling, it either piggybacks on existing push notifications via a lightweight notification server, or utilizes email messages to further remove that server dependency. For conference control and data storage, it creates a peer-to-peer network of the clients participating in the call. Our prototype client web app can be installed as a browser extension, or a progressive web app on desktop and mobile. It uses WebRTC data channels and media streams for the control and media paths in implementing a full featured video conferencing with audio, video, text and screen sharing. The challenges faced and the techniques used in creating our lightweight or serverless system are useful to other low-end WebRTC applications that intend to save cost on server maintenance or paid subscriptions for multiparty video calls.