Definition of Multimedia

Multimedia is a representation of information in an attractive and interactive manner with the use of a
combination of text, audio, video, graphics and animation. In other words we can say that Multimedia is a
computerized method of presenting information combining textual data, audio, visuals (video), graphics and
animations. For examples: E-Mail, Yahoo Messenger, Video Conferencing, and Multimedia Message
Service (MMS).
Multimedia as name suggests is the combination of Multi and Media that is many types of media
(hardware/software) used for communication of information.
Components of Multimedia
Following are the common components of multimedia:
• Text- All multimedia productions contain some amount of text. The text can have various types
of fonts and sizes to suit the profession presentation of the multimedia software.
• Graphics- Graphics make the multimedia application attractive. In many cases people do not
like reading large amount of textual matter on the screen. Therefore, graphics are used more
often than text to explain a concept, present background information etc. There are two types
of Graphics:
o Bitmap images- Bitmap images are real
images that can be captured from devices such as
digital cameras or scanners. Generally bitmap
images are not editable. Bitmap images require a
large amount of memory. o Vector Graphics-
Vector graphics are drawn on the computer and
only require a small amount of memory. These
graphics are editable.
• Audio- A multimedia application may require the use of speech, music and sound effects.
These are called audio or sound element of multimedia.Speech is also a perfect way for
teaching. Audio are of analog and digital types. Analog audio or sound refers to the original
sound signal. Computer stores the sound in digital form. Therefore, the sound used in
multimedia application is digital audio.
• Video- The term video refers to the moving picture, accompanied by sound such as a picture
in television. Video element of multimedia application gives a lot of information in small
duration of time. Digital video is useful in multimedia application for showing real life objects.
Video have highest performance demand on the computer memory and on the bandwidth if
placed on the internet. Digital video files can be stored like any other files in the computer and
the quality of the video can still be maintained. The digital video files can be transferred within
a computer network. The digital video clips can be edited easily.
• Animation- Animation is a process of making a static image look like it is moving. An animation
is just a continuous series of still images that are displayed in a sequence. The animation can
be used effectively for attracting attention. Animation also makes a presentation light and
attractive. Animation is very popular in multimedia application Applications of Multimedia
Following are the common areas of applications of multimedia.
• Multimedia in Business- Multimedia can be used in many applications in a business. The
multimedia technology along with communication technology has opened the door for
information of global wok groups. Today the team members may be working anywhere and
can work for various companies. Thus the work place will become global. The multimedia
network should support the following facilities:
o Voice Mail o Electronic Mail o Multimedia
based FAX o Office Needs o Employee Training
o Sales and Other types of Group Presentation o
Records Management
• Multimedia in Marketing and Advertising- By using multimedia marketing of new products
can be greatly enhanced. Multimedia boost communication on an affordable cost opened the
way for the marketing and advertising personnel. Presentation that have flying banners, video
transitions, animations, and sound effects are some of the elements used in composing a
multimedia based advertisement to appeal to the consumer in a way never used before and
promote the sale of the products.
• Multimedia in Entertainment- By using multimedia marketing of new products can be greatly
enhanced. Multimedia boost communication on an affordable cost opened the way for the
marketing and advertising personnel. Presentation that have flying banners, video transitions,
animations, and sound effects are some of the elements used in composing a multimedia
 based advertisement to appeal to the consumer in a way never used before and promote the
sale of the products.
• Multimedia in Education- Many computer games with focus on education are now available.
Consider an example of an educational game which plays various rhymes for kids. The child
can paint the pictures, increase reduce size of various objects etc apart from just playing the
rhymes.Several other multimedia packages are available in the market which provide a lot of
detailed information and playing capabilities to kids.
• Multimedia in Bank- Bank is another public place where multimedia is finding more and more
application in recent times. People go to bank to open saving/current accounts, deposit funds,
withdraw money, know various financial schemes of the bank, obtain loans etc. Every bank
has a lot of information which it wants to impart to in customers. For this purpose, it can use
multimedia in many ways. Bank also displays information about its various schemes on a PC
monitor placed in the rest area for customers. Today on-line and internet banking have become
very popular. These use multimedia extensively. Multimedia is thus helping banks give service
to their customers and also in educating them about banks attractive finance schemes.
• Multimedia in Hospital- Multimedia best use in hospitals is for real time monitoring of
conditions of patients in critical illness or accident. The conditions are displayed continuously
on a computer screen and can alert the doctor/nurse on duty if any changes are observed on
the screen. Multimedia makes it possible to consult a surgeon or an expert who can watch an
ongoing surgery line on his PC monitor and give online advice at any crucial juncture. In
hospitals multimedia can also be used to diagnose an illness with CD-ROMs/ Cassettes/ DVDs
full of multimedia based information about various diseases and their treatment.Some
hospitals extensively use multimedia presentations in training their junior staff of doctors and
nurses. Multimedia displays are now extensively used during critical surgeries.
• Multimedia Pedagogues- Pedagogues are useful teaching aids only if they stimulate and
motivate the students. The audio-visual support to a pedagogue can actually help in doing so.
A multimedia tutor can provide multiple numbers of challenges to the student to stimulate his
interest in a topic. The instruction provided by pedagogue have moved beyond providing only
button level control to intelligent simulations, dynamic creation of links, composition and
collaboration and system testing of the user interactions.
• Communication Technology and Multimedia Services- The advancement of high
computing abilities, communication ways and relevant standards has started the beginning of
an era where you will be provided with multimedia facilities at home. These services may
include:
o Basic Television Services o Interactive
entertainment o Digital Audio o Video on
demand o Home shopping o Financial
Transactions
o Interactive multiplayer or single player games o
Digital multimedia libraries o E-
Newspapers, e-magazines

Multimedia Hardware
Most of the computers now-a-days come equipped with the hardware components required to develop/view
multimedia applications. Following are the various categories in which we can define the various types of
hardwares required for multimedia applications.
• ProcessorThe heart of any multimedia computer is its processor. Today Core 15 or higher processor
is recommended for a multimedia computer. o CPU is considered as the brain of the computer. o
CPU performs all types of data processing operations.
o It stores data, intermediate result and instructions (program). o It controls the operations
of all parts of computer.

• Memory and Storage Devices - You need memory for storing various files used during production,
original audio and video clips, edited pieces and final mined pieces. You also need memory for
backup of your project files.
o Primary Memory- Primary memory holds only those data and instructions on which
computer is currently working. It has limited capacity and data gets lost when power is switched
off. It is generally made up of semiconductor device. These memories are not as fast as registers.
 The data and instructions required to be processed earlier reside in main memory. It is divided into
two subcategories RAM and ROM.

o Flash Memory- Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory, which can
speed up CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and main memory. It is used to hold those
parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU. The parts of data and programs
are transferred from disk to cache memory by operating system, from where CPU can access
them. o Secondary Memory: This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-
volatile. It is slower than main memory. These are used for storing Data/Information permanently.
CPU directly does not access these memories; instead they are accessed via input-output routines.
Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to main memory and then CPU can access
it. For example, disk, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.

• Input Devices - Following are the various types of input devices which are used in multimedia
systems. o Keyboard- Most common and very popular input device is keyboard. The keyboard helps
in inputting the data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter,
although there are some additional keys provided for performing some additional
functions. Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now 104 keys or 108 keys
keyboard is also available for Windows and Internet. The keys are following:

Sr.
Keys Description
No.

Typing These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digits keys (0-9) which
1
Keys generally give same layout as that of typewriters.

It is used to enter numeric data or cursor movement. Generally, it

Numeric
2 consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out in the same
Keypad
configuration used by most adding machine and calculators.
The twelve functions keys are present on the keyboard. These are
Function
3 arranged in a row along the top of the keyboard. Each function key
Keys
has unique meaning and is used for some specific purpose.
These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes four
Control directional arrow key. Control keys also include Home, End, Insert,
4
keys Delete, Page Up, Page Down, Control(Ctrl), Alternate(Alt),
Escape(Esc).
Special
Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such as Enter,
5 Purpose
Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and Print Screen.
Keys
o
o Mouse - Mouse is most popular Pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device. It
is a small palm size box with a round ball at its base which senses the movement of mouse
and sends corresponding signals to CPU on pressing the buttons. Generally, it has two buttons
called left and right button and scroll bar is present at the mid. Mouse can be used to control
the position of cursor on screen, but it cannot be used to enter text into the computer.
o Joystick - Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move cursor position on a
monitor screen. It is a stick having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends. The lower
spherical ball moves in a socket. The joystick can be moved in all four directions. The function
of joystick is similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer Aided Designing (CAD)
and playing computer games.
o Light Pen - Light pen is a pointing device, which is similar to a pen. It is used to select a
displayed menu item or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an
optical system placed in a small tube. When light pen's tip is moved over the monitor screen
 and pen button is pressed, its photocell sensing element detects the screen location and sends
the corresponding signal to the CPU.
o Track Ball - Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer,
instead of a mouse. This is a ball, which is half inserted and by moving fingers on ball, pointer
can be moved.Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a
mouse. A track ball comes in various shapes like a ball, a button and a square.
o Scanner - Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It is
used when some information is available on a paper and it is to be transferred to the hard
disc of the computer for further manipulation. Scanner captures images from the source
which are then converted into the digital form that can be stored on the disc. These images
can be edited before they are printed.
o Digitizer - Digitizer is an input device, which converts analog information into a digital form.
Digitizer can convert a signal from the television camera into a series of numbers that could
be stored in a computer. They can be used by the computer to create a picture of whatever
the camera had been pointed at. Digitizer is also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet
because it converts graphics and pictorial data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as digitizer
is used for doing fine works of drawing and images manipulation applications.
o Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR) - MICR input device is generally used in banks because
of a large number of cheques to be processed everyday. The bank's code number and
cheque number are printed on the cheques with a special type of ink that contains particles
of magnetic material that are machine readable. This reading process is called Magnetic Ink
Character Recognition (MICR). The main advantage of MICR is that it is fast and less error
prone.
o Optical Character Reader (OCR) - OCR is an input device used to read a printed text. OCR
scans text optically character by character, converts them into a machine readable code and
stores the text on the system memory.
o Bar Code Readers - Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in
form of light and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering
the books, etc. It may be a hand-held scanner or may be embedded in a stationary
scanner.Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value,
which is then fed to the computer to which bar code reader is connected.
o Optical Mark Reader (OMR) - OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize
the type of mark made by pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to
be selected and marked. It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations
having multiple choice questions.
o Voice Systems - Following are the various types of input
devices which are used in multimedia systems.
 Microphone- Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in digital
form. The microphone is used for various applications like adding sound to a multimedia
presentation or for mixing music.
 Speaker- Speaker is an output device to produce sound which is stored in digital
form. The speaker is used for various applications like adding sound to a
multimedia presentation or for movies displays etc.
o Digital Camera - Digital camera is an input device to input images that is then stored in digital
form. The digital camera is used for various applications like adding images to a multimedia
presentation or for personal purposes.
o Digital Video Camera - Digital Video camera is an input device to input images/video that is then
stored in digital form. The digital video camera is used for various applications like adding videos
to a multimedia presentation or for personal purposes.

• Output Devices - Following are few of the important output devices, which are used in Computer
Systems: o Monitors - Monitor commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main output
device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels, that are arranged in a rectangular
form. The sharpness of the image depends upon the number of the pixels. There are two kinds of
viewing screen used for monitors:
 Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor- In the CRT, display is made up of small picture
elements called pixels for short. The smaller the pixels, the better the image clarity
or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form whole character, such
as the letter 'e' in the word help. A finite number of characters can be displayed on a
 screen at once. The screen can be divided into a series of character boxes - fixed
location on the screen where a standard character can be placed. Most screens are
capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically.

 Flat-Panel Display Monitor- The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices
that have reduced volume, weight and power requirement compared to the CRT. You
can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses for flat-panel
displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, graphics
display. The flatpanel displays are divided into two categories:
 Emissive Displays- The emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy
into light. Examples are plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
 Non-Emissive Displays- The Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert
sunlight or light from some other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD
(Liquid-Crystal Device)

• Printers - Printer is the most important output device, which is used to print information on paper.
o Dot Matrix Printer- In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer
because of their ease of printing features and economical price. Each character printed is in
form of pattern of Dot's and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9)
which comes out to form a character that is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.

o Daisy Wheel- Head is lying on a wheel and Pins corresponding to characters are like petals
of Daisy (flower name) that is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are generally
used for word-processing in offices which require a few letters to be send here and there with
very nice quality representation.

o Line Printers- Line printers are printers, which print one line at a time.

o Laser Printers- These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots
needed to form the characters to be printed on a page.

o Inkjet Printers- Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new
technology. They print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers
produce high quality output with presentable features. They make less noise because no
hammering is done and these have many styles of printing modes available. Colour printing is
also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce multiple copies of printing also.

• Screen Image Projector - Screen image projector or simply projector is an output device used to
project information from a computer on a large screen so that a group of people can see it
simultaneously. A presenter first makes a PowerPoint presentation on the computer. Now a screen
image projector is plugged to a computer system and presenter can make a presentation to a group
of people by projecting the information on a large screen. Projector makes the presentation more
understandable.

• Speakers and Sound Card - Computers need both a sound card and speakers to hear audio, such
as music, speech and sound effects. Most motherboards provide an on-board sound card. This
builtin-sound card is fine for the most purposes. The basic functions of a sound card are that it
converts digital sound signals to analog for speakers making it louder or softer.

Multimedia Software
Multimedia software tells the hardware what to do. For example, multimedia software tells the hardware to
display the color blue, play the sound of cymbals crashing etc. To produce these media elements( movies,
sound, text, animation, graphics etc.) there are various software available in the market such as Paint Brush,
Photo Finish, Animator, Photo Shop, 3D Studio, Corel Draw, Sound Blaster, IMAGINET, Apple Hyper Card,
Photo Magic, Picture Publisher.
Multimedia Software Categories
Following are the various categories of Multimedia software
• Device Driver Software- These softwares are used to install and configure the multimedia
peripherals.
 • Media Players- Media players are applications that can play one or more kind of multimedia file
format.
• Media Conversion Tools- These tools are used for encoding / decoding multimedia contexts and
for converting one file format to another.
• Multimedia Editing Tools- These tools are used for creating and editing digital multimedia data.
• Multimedia Authoring Tools- These tools are used for combing different kinds of media formats
and deliver them as multimedia contents.
Multimedia Application:
Multimedia applications are created with the help of following mentioned tools and packages.
The sound, text, graphics, animation and video are the integral part of multimedia software. To produce
and edit these media elements, there are various software tools available in the market. The categories of
basic software tools are:
• Text Editing Tools- These tools are used to create letters, resumes, invoices, purchase orders, user
manual for a project and other documents. MS-Word is a good example of text tool. It has following
features:
o Creating new file, opening existing file, saving file and printing it. o Insert symbol, formula
and equation in the file. o Correct spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. o Align
text within margins. o Insert page numbers on the top or bottom of the page.
o Mail-merge the document and making letters and envolpes.
o Making tables with variable number of columns and rows.
• Painting and Drawing Tools- These tools generally come with a graphical user interface with pull
down menus for quick selection. You can create almost all kinds of possible shapes and resize them
using these tools. Drawing file can be imported or exported in many image formats like .gif, .tif, .jpg,
.bmp, etc. Some examples of drawing software are Corel Draw, Freehand, Designer, Photoshop,
Fireworks, Point etc.These software have following features: o Tools to draw a straight line,
rectangular area, circle etc. o Different colour selection option. o Pencil tool to draw a shape freehand.
o Eraser tool to erase part of the image.
o Zooming for magnified pixel editing.
• Image Editing Tools- Image editing tools are used to edit or reshape the existing images and
pictures. These tools can be used to create an image from scratch as well as images from scanners,
digital cameras, clipart files or original artwork files created with painting and drawing tools. Examples
of Image editing or processing software are Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
• Sound Editing Tools- These tools are used to integrate sound into multimedia project very easily.
You can cut, copy, paste and edit segments of a sound file by using these tools. The presence of
sound greatly enhances the effect of a mostly graphic presentation, especially in a video. Examples
of sound editing software tools are: Cool Edit Pro, Sound Forge and Pro Tools. These software have
following features: o Record your own music, voice or any other audio.
o Record sound from CD, DVD, Radio or any other sound player. o You can edit, mix the
sound with any other audio.
o Apply special effects such as fade, equalizer, echo, reverse and more.
• Video Editing Tools- These tools are used to edit, cut, copy, and paste your video and audio files.
Video editing used to require expensive, specialized equipment and a great deal of knowledge. The
aritistic process of video editing consists of deciding what elements to retain, delete or combine from
various sources so that they come together in an organized, logical and visually planning manner.
Today computers are powerful enough to handle this job, disk space is cheap and storing and
distributing your finished work on DVD is very easy. Examples of video editing software are Adobe
Premiere and Adobe After Effects.
• Animation and Modeling Tools- An animation is to show the still images at a certain rate to give it
visual effect with the help of Animation and modeling tools. These tools have features like multiple
windows that allow you to view your model in each dimension, ability to drag and drop primitive
shapes into a scene, color and texture mapping, ability to add realistic effects such as transparency,
shadowing and fog etc. Examples of Animations and modeling tools are 3D studio max and Maya.
 DISTRIBUTED MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS
If the multimedia systems are supported by multiuser system, then we call those multimedia systems as distributed
multimedia systems. A multi user system designed to support multimedia applications for a large number of users
consists of a number of system components. A typical multimedia application environment consists of the
following components:
1. Application software.
2. Container object store.
3. Image and still video store.
4. Audio and video component store.
5. Object directory service agent.
6. Component service agent.
7. User interface and service agent.
8. Networks (LAN and WAN).
Application Software
The application software performs a number of tasks related to a specific business process. A business process
consists of a series of actions that may be performed by one or more users.
The basic tasks combined to form an application include the following:
(1) Object Selection - The user selects a database record or a hypermedia document from a file system, database
management system, or document server.
(2) Object Retrieval- The application retrieves the base object.
(3) Object Component Display - Some document components are displayed automatically when the user moves
the pointer to the field or button associated with the multimedia object.
(4) User Initiated Display - Some document components require user action before playback/display.
(5) Object Display Management and Editing: Component selection may invoke a component control sub
application which allows a user to control playback or edit the component object.
Document store
A document store is necessary for application that requires storage of large volume of documents. The following
describes some characteristics of document stores.
1. Primary Document Storage: A file systems or database that contains primary document objects
(container objects). Other attached or embedded documents and multimedia objects may be stored in the document
server along with the container object.
2. Linked Object Storage: Embedded components, such as text and formatting information, and linked
information, and linked components, such as pointers to image, audio, and video. Components contained in a
document, may be stored on separate servers.
3. Linked Object Management: Link information contains the name of the component, service class or
type, general attributes such as size, duration of play for isochronous objects and hardware, and software
requirements for rendering.
Image and still video store
An image and still video is a database system optimized for storage of images. Most systems employ optical disk
libraries. Optical disk libraries consist of multiple optical disk platters that are played back by automatically
loading the appropriate platter in the drive under device driver control.
The characteristics of image and still video stores are as follows:
(i) Compressed information (ii) Multi-image documents (iii)Related annotations (iv) Large volumes (v)Migration
between high-volume such as an optical disk library and high-speed media such as magnetic cache storages(vi)
Shared access: The server software managing the server has to be able to manage the different requirements.
Audio and video Full motion video store
Audio and Video objects are isochronous. The following lists some characteristics of audio and full-motion video
object stores:
(i) Large-capacity file system: A compressed video object can be as large as six to ten M bytes for one minute of
video playback. ii)Temporary or permanent Storage: Video objects may be stored temporarily on client
workstations, servers providing disk caches, and multiple audio or video object servers. iii) Migration to high
volume/lower-cost media. iv) Playback isochronocity: Playing back a video object requires consistent speed
without breaks. Multiple shared access objects being played back in a stream mode must be accessible by other
users.
Object Directory Service Agent
The directory service agent is a distributed service that provide directory of all multimedia objects on the server
tracked by that element of the directory service agent.
The following describes various services provided by a directory service Agent.
(1)Directory Service: It lists all multimedia objects by class and server location.
(2) Object Assignment: The directory service agent assigns unique identification to each multimedia object.
(3)Object Status Management: The directory service must track the current usage status of each object.
(4)Directory Service Domains: The directory service should be modular to allow setting up domains constructed
around groups of servers that form the core operating environment for a group of users.
(5) Directory Service Server Elements: Each multimedia object server must have directory service element that
reside on either server or some other resources.
(6)Network Access: The directory service agent must be accessible from any workstation on the network.
Component Service Agent
A service is provided to the multimedia used workstation by each multimedia component. This service consists
of retrieving objects, managing playback of objects, storing objects, and so on. The characteristics of services
provided by each multimedia component are object creating service, playback service, component object service
agent, service agents on servers and multifaceted services means (multifaceted services component objects may
exist in several forms, such as compressed or uncompressed).
User Interface Service Agent
It resides on each user workstation. It provides direct services to the application software for the management of
the multimedia object display windows, creation and storage of multimedia objects, and scaling and frame
shedding for rendering of multimedia objects.
The services provided by user interface service agents are windows management, object creation and capture,
object display and playback, services on workstations and using display software. The user interface service agent
is the client side of the service agents. The user interface agent manages all redirection since objects are located
by a look-up mechanism in the directory service agent
Multiserver Network Topologies
To distribute the full functionality of multimedia network wide there are vareity of network topologies available.
The primary topologies are Traditional LANs (Ethernet or Token Ring Extended LANs (Using network switching
hubs bridges and routers). High speed LANs (ATM and FDDI II), WANs (Including LANs, dial-up linksincluding
ISDN T1 and T3 lines-etc.).
Traditional LANS (Ethernet or Token Ring) Ethernet:
Ethernet: It is a Local Area Network hardware, communication, and cabling standard originally developed by
Xerox corporation that link up to 1024 nodes in a bus network. It is a high speed standard using a baseband
(singlechannel) communication technique. It provides for a raw data transfer rate of 10 Mbps, with actual
throughput in the range of 2-3 Mbps. It support a number of sessions in a mix of live video, audio, electronic mail
and so on.
Token Ring: It is a Local Area Network architecture that combines token passing with a hybrid star/ring topology.
It was developed by IBM. Token Ring Network uses a multistation Access unit at its hub.
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
It is a network architecture that divides messages into fixed size units (called cells) of small size and that
establishes a switched connection between the originating and receiving stations.
ATM appears to be a potential technology for multimedia systems for connecting object servers and user
workstations. ATM is actually a good candidate for two reasons: as a hub, it adapts very well to the wiring closest
paradigm; and it allows workstations to operate at speeds defined by the workstation.
FDDI II (Fiber Distributed Data Interface II)
It is a standard for creating high-speed computer networks that employ fiber-optic cable. FDDI II operates exactly
like token ring, . with one difference: FDDI employs two wires through all the hosts in a network.
FDDI II is a single media LAN and its full bandwidth supports all users.
FDDI II appears to be a very useful high-speed technology for connecting servers on an additional separate
network and providing the dedicated high bandwidth necessary for rapid transfer and replication of information
objects. Figure 5.13 shows a multiievel network based
WANS (Wide Area Network)
This includes LANs, dial up ISDN, T1 (1.544 Mbits/sec) and T3 (45.3 Mbits/sec) lines and regular telephone
dial-up lines. The two big issues here are:
:.WANs may have a mix of networking and communication protocols.
:. WAN has a variety of speeds at various parts of it where it communicates.
Protocol Layering: Layering helps to isolate the network from the application. Layering of protocols started with
the release of the ISO model.
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 MULTIMEDIA DATABASES

Multimedia database is the collection of interrelated multimedia data that includes text,
graphics (sketches, drawings), images, animations, video, audio etc and have vast amounts
of multisource multimedia data.
The framework that manages different types of multimedia data which can be stored,
delivered and utilized in different ways is known as multimedia database management
system.
There are three classes of the multimedia database which includes static media, dynamic
media and dimensional media.

• Static media (time-independent: image and graphic object).

• Dynamic media (time-dependent: audio, video and animation).
• Dimensional media (3D game and computer aided drafting programs).

Content of Multimedia Database management system :

1. Media data – The actual data representing an object.
2. Media format data – Information such as sampling rate, resolution, encoding scheme
etc. about the format of the media data after it goes through the acquisition, processing
and encoding phase.
3. Media keyword data – Keywords description relating to the generation of data. It is
also known as content descriptive data. Example: date, time and place of recording.
4. Media feature data – Content dependent data such as the distribution of colours, kinds
of texture and different shapes present in data.
The last three types are called metadata as they describe several different aspects of the media
data. The media keyword data and media feature data are used as indices for searching
purpose. The media format data is used to present the retrieved information.

Requirements of Multimedia databases

Like the traditional databases, Multimedia databases should address the following
requirements:

• Integration
o Data items do not need to be duplicated for different programs invocations
• Data independence
o Separate the database and the management from the application programs
• Concurrency control
o Allows concurrent transactions
• Persistence
 o Data objects can be saved and re-used by different transactions and program
invocations
• Privacy
o Access and authorization control
• Integrity control
o Ensures database consistency between transactions
• Recovery
o Failures of transactions should not affect the persistent data storage
• Query support
o Allows easy querying of multimedia data

Multimedia databases should have the ability to uniformly query data (media data, textual
data) represented in different formats and have the ability to simultaneously query different
media sources and conduct classical database operations across them. (Query support)

They should have the ability to retrieve media objects from a local storage device in a good
manner. (Storage support)

They should have the ability to take the response generated by a query and develop a
presentation of that response in terms of audio-visual media and have the ability to deliver
this presentation. (Presentation and delivery support)

Issues and challenges

• Multimedia data consists of a variety of media formats or file representations

including TIFF, BMP, PPT, IVUE, FPX, JPEG, MPEG, AVI, MID, WAV, DOC, GIF, E
PS, PNG, etc. Because of restrictions on the conversion from one format to the other, the
use of the data in a specific format has been limited as well.
• Usually, the data size of multimedia is large such as video; therefore, multimedia data
often require a large storage.
• Multimedia database consume a lot of processing time, as well as bandwidth.
• Some multimedia data types such as video, audio, and animation sequences have
temporal requirements that have implications on their storage, manipulation and
presentation, but images, video and graphics data have special constraints in terms of
their content.

Application areas

Examples of multimedia database application areas:

• Digital Libraries
• News-on-Demand
• Video-on-Demand
• Music database
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Telemedicine

Types of multimedia applications based on data management characteristic are :

1. Repository applications – A Large amount of multimedia data as well as meta-
data(Media format date, Media keyword data, Media feature data) that is stored for
retrieval purpose, e.g., Repository of satellite images, engineering drawings, radiology
scanned pictures.
2. Presentation applications – They involve delivery of multimedia data subject to
temporal constraint. Optimal viewing or listening requires DBMS to deliver data at
certain rate offering the quality of service above a certain threshold. Here data is
processed as it is delivered. Example: Annotating of video and audio data, real-time
editing analysis.
3. Collaborative work using multimedia information – It involves executing a complex
task by merging drawings, changing notifications. Example: Intelligent healthcare
network.
There are still many challenges to multimedia databases, some of which are :
1. Modelling – Working in this area can improve database versus information retrieval
techniques thus, documents constitute a specialized area and deserve special
consideration.
2. Design – The conceptual, logical and physical design of multimedia databases has not
yet been addressed fully as performance and tuning issues at each level are far more
complex as they consist of a variety of formats like JPEG, GIF, PNG, MPEG which is
not easy to convert from one form to another.
3. Storage – Storage of multimedia database on any standard disk presents the problem of
representation, compression, mapping to device hierarchies, archiving and buffering
during input-output operation. In DBMS, a”BLOB”(Binary Large Object) facility
allows untyped bitmaps to be stored and retrieved.
4. Performance – For an application involving video playback or audio-video
synchronization, physical limitations dominate. The use of parallel processing may
alleviate some problems but such techniques are not yet fully developed. Apart from
this multimedia database consume a lot of processing time as well as bandwidth.
5. Queries and retrieval –For multimedia data like images, video, audio accessing data
through query opens up many issues like efficient query formulation, query execution
and optimization which need to be worked upon.
Areas where multimedia database is applied are :
• Documents and record management : Industries and businesses that keep detailed
records and variety of documents. Example: Insurance claim record.
• Knowledge dissemination : Multimedia database is a very effective tool for knowledge
dissemination in terms of providing several resources. Example: Electronic books.
• Education and training : Computer-aided learning materials can be designed using
multimedia sources which are nowadays very popular sources of learning. Example:
Digital libraries.
• Marketing, advertising, retailing, entertainment and travel. Example: a virtual tour of
cities.
• Real-time control and monitoring : Coupled with active database technology,
multimedia presentation of information can be very effective means for monitoring and
controlling complex tasks Example: Manufacturing operation control.