Video calling & locating application (for android smartphones)

Abstract

VOCAL is an Android mobile application which can be used to make video calls as well as to locate other users through Google Maps. It will allow users to stay in touch with one another throughvideocalls. Users will addothers in their buddy lists so that they mayreconnect with them at any later time. Besides video calling,users can also locate each other through Google Maps. This project focuses on developing a Java application which is to be installed on Android smartphones. Once the user starts the application he has an option ofregistering or loggin-in.After a user is logged-in, he can view other users in around him in a selected radius. Such users’location-coordinated are obtained from a central database which are then displayed as blips on Google Maps.Then the user can pick anyone from map or a buddy already in buddy list to initiate a video call with him. There are two main modules of VOCAL: Video Call, and Location Tracking. To implement Video Call, we have used Dubango Framework. For resolving IP address NATing issue,we have used STUN Protocol.A SIP Server and SIP have also been used.SIP is an application-layer control (signalling) protocol which is meant to create, modify and terminate sessions between participants. Such sessions may include Internet telephone calls and multimedia conferences. SIP invitations, which are used for establishing sessions, carry session descriptions which allow participants to agree on a set of compatible media types. SIP usesProxy Servers to help route requests to the user's current location, authenticate and authorize users for services and implement call-routing policies. SIP also provides a registration function which allows users to upload their current locations for use by Proxy Servers. SIP runs at top of several different Transport Layer Protocols. Location Trackingin our application is implemented using Google Maps, which are embedded in our application through Google Maps APIs. Blips are shown on the freshly captured GPS coordinates of users within a set radius, and also on the location of buddies (whose coordinates are got from a DB Server).