Distributed Multimedia

Application
CSC 548
 Content

• Basic definition of distributed multimedia and

distributed multimedia system
• Multimedia Elements - Text, Graphics, Images,
Video, Sound
• Requirements and Issues of DM
• Capabilities of DM
 Learning Outcome

• At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

• Define distributed multimedia and multimedia
systems
• Describe the basic idea of each of the multimedia
elements
• Describe the requirements and issues for
distributed multimedia
• Describe the capabilities of distributed multimedia.
Examples of DMMS

And more!
 Distributed Multimedia

• Distributed multimedia:
Multimedia is more than multiple media. Multimedia
adds interactivity to the combination of text,
graphics, images, audio and video. Adding networks
to multimedia produces distributed multimedia.
Distributed MM applications has
divided into two categories:
• People-to-people applications
• Involved at least 2 people
• To improve communications between
humans
• People-to-system applications
• Individual / group of people communicate
with a remote system to access, receive or
interact with MM information.
 People-to-System applications

• Interactive Applications – provide user navigation

- eg: word processor, spreadsheet
• Distribution Applications – telecommunication network
- eg: message, e-mail
 Computer Supported Cooperative
Work (CSCW)

• General Definition:

CSCW is a generic term, which combines the understanding of

the way people work in groups with the enabling technologies
of computer networking, and associated hardware, software,
services and techniques.
 Computer Supported Cooperative
Work (CSCW)
• CSCW is a design-oriented academic field bringing
together social psychologists, sociologists, and
computer scientists, among others.
• CSCW is an identifiable research field focused on
understanding characteristics of interdependent
group work with the objective of designing adequate
computer-based technology to support such
cooperative work.
 Time and Space Groupware

Same time/same place

• Face to face interaction
• Roomware
• Shared tables, wall displays
• Digital whiteboards
• Electronic meeting systems
• Single display groupware
 Time and Space Groupware

Same time/different place

• Remote interaction
• Electronic meeting systems
• Videoconferencing
• Real-time groupware
• Messaging (instant messaging, email, chat)
 Time and Space Groupware

Different time/same place

• Continuous task
• Team rooms,
• Large displays
• Post-it
 Time and Space Groupware

Different time/different place

• Communication + Coordination
• Electronic meeting systems
• Wiki
• Blogs
• Workflow
• Version control
 Requirements on Distributed MM

• The distributed MM system should be able to provide

support for continuous media types (such as audio, video
and animation).
• Distributed MM applications is the need for sophisticated
quality of service (QoS) management.
 Requirements on Distributed MM

• Distributed MM applications is the need for a rich set

of real-time synchronization mechanisms about
continuous media transmission.

• Distributed MM system able to support multiparty

communications.
 Issues for Distributed Multimedia

• Large quantities of audio, video and other time-based data

elements
• Storage
• Timely processing
• Transmission systems
• Availability of standards for multimedia networking
• Cost of transmitting MM information
 Distributed
Multimedia Systems
Definition:

Distributed multimedia systems consist of multimedia

databases, proxy and information servers, and clients, and are
intended to for the distribution of multimedia content over
the networks.
 Introduction

• Most multimedia is inherently time-based – the arrival time

and arrival order of data packets is important
• The Internet guarantees neither when transmitting data
• We don’t just want interactive multimedia over our
networks
• For interactive multimedia over networks, the performance
should be reliable and high-quality
 History

• 60s-70s: Distributed computing research with earliest

networks
• 80s: Compact disc, personal computer explosion
• 80s-90s: Distributed multimedia system research
(video conferencing, etc)
• 90s-current: Current prevalent paradigm (quality of
service management)
 Goal

• High quality, reliable, interactive multimedia

• The general Internet structure is not sufficient to
accomplish this
• A distributed multimedia system will add protocols and
architectures on top of the Internet (or LAN) to guarantee
quality levels, thereby satisfying our need
 Component Resources

• Bandwidth: data rate through a component

• Latency: time needed for a packet to travel end to
end
• Loss rate: acceptable drop-frame ratio
• Quality of service management: negotiation and
allocation of computing resources
 Requirement

• The requirements of multimedia applications significantly

differ from real-time applications:
• Multimedia applications are highly distributed and therefore
compute with other distributed applications for network bandwidth
and computing resources.
• The resource requirements of multimedia applications are dynamic.

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A distributed multimedia system
Video cam era
and mike

Local network Local network

Wide area gateway Video Digital

server TV/radio
server
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 Features and Structure

1: Sources provide flow spec to main QOS manager through

Source Source Source local QOS managers
2: Main QOS ready to reserve resources
3: Client send request to main QOS
QOS QOS QOS 4: Main QOS decides if client can be served based on available
resources
5: If so, main QOS tells local QOS to allocate resources (if not,
client is rejected)
Controller 6: Service begins
7: Main QOS and local QOS monitor resource usage / quality,
Main QOS adjust allocated resources if necessary
8: Return to step 4 if new client connects
9: Service ends, resources are freed
Client
 Distributed Multimedia System

• The above figure illustrates a typical distributed

multimedia system, capable of supporting a variety
of applications such as desktop conferencing, video-
on-demand services, accessing stored video
sequences using web-based multimedia and broadcast
digital TV/ radio.

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 Web-based multimedia

• These applications provide best effort access to

streams of audio and video data published via
the Web.
• Their performance is constrained with limited
bandwidth and variable latencies found in
current networks.
• These applications are most successful when
there is little need for the synchronization of
data streams.
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 Network phone and audio
conferencing
• These applications have relatively low bandwidth
requirements when efficient compression techniques
are used.
• However, its interactive nature demands low round-
trip delays which are not always achievable.

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 Video-on-demand services

• These supply video information in digital form,

retrieving data from large online storage systems and
delivering them to user’s display.
• These are successful only when dedicated network
bandwidth is available and where the video server
and the receiving stations are dedicated.

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 How

• A distributed multimedia system is a combination of source

hardware, QOS manager software, and a transmission line
• Can be bought as a complete, dedicated, proprietary package
– very expensive!
• Can be built using existing hardware and Internet /LAN
connection lines… all that is needed beyond that is QOS
management software – can be purchased or developed
 DMS capabilities

• Distributed multimedia will give you three

capabilities:
• Enable you to send and receive mail that includes audio
and video
• Enable you to communicate with other people by sending
and receiving video as well as audio
• Enable you to select from a world of entertainment,
educational, and business information that ranges from
stored movies and college courses to live sports and news
events.
 Applications

• Video conferencing
• Live news feeds
• Video-on-demand
• Remote-control of exploratory robots
• Remote musical collaborations
• Remote surgical operations
 Summary

• Source + flow spec + QOS manage + transmission

lines = distributed multimedia system
• Serving multimedia requires strict resource control to
maintain quality
• Resources consist of bandwidth, latency, and loss
rate, among others
 Review: Discussion

• Define multimedia systems. (2m)

• Give ONE(1) capabilities that distributed multimedia can
offer. (1m)
• In your opinion, how does the concept of distributed
multimedia affect your daily life as a student. (4m)
• Discuss FOUR (4) issues of distributed multimedia. (8m)