Multimedia Systems Engineering

• understand the constraints on multimedia systems and the range of technologies available to multimedia systems designers and integrators.
  
• have an insight into how the quality ofmultimedia systems is perceived and how this relates to the design of multimedia input, output and editing systems. 
  
• understand the particular issues of operating stored and interactive multimedia systems within a distributed/networked environment.
  

• The course begins by looking at the range of multimedia input, output and storage devices available. The capabilities of these devices are then considered in the light of available audio, video and data coding technologies and of human perception and perceived media quality.
• Coding and compression systems are then considered, ranging from simple run-length techniques to systems such as the MPEG standards and techniques such as wavelet coding.
• The course then moves on to consider the issues of handling multimedia within computer based systems, from basic scheduling issues to media synchronisation and the problems of real-time storage and playback.
• Distributed multimedia systems are then examined with particular emphasis on the problems of providing network support for multimedia applications and services. These issues are put in context by looking at the range of multimedia applications with emphasis on multimedia conferencing and Video on Demand services.

The course is loosely based on:

• Francois Fluckiger,"Understanding Networked Multimedia: Applications and Technology", Prentice-Hall, 1995, ISBN 0-13-190992-4
  A good general overview of multimedia systems with at least some coverage of most topics in this course.
  

A number of other texts relate to the course and may be a useful source of reference material for individual topics covered:

• Ralf Steinmetz and Klara Nahrstedt,"Multimedia: Computing, Communications and Applications", Prentice-Hall, 1995, ISBN 0-13-324435-0
  A fairly technical book complementing Fluckiger. Note: This is a relatively expensive textbook and a new edition is in preparation.
  
• AndrewS. Tanenbaum,"Computer Networks, 4th edition", Prentice-Hall, 2002, ISBN 0-13-066102-3
  An excellent, general introduction to computer networks.
  
• Fred Halsall,"Data Communications, Computer Networks and Open Systems, 4th edition", Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 0-201-42293-X
  A fairly comprehensive reference text on data communications, however, there is little coverage of Internet protocols.
  
• George Colouris, Jean Dollimore, and Tim Kindberg "Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, 2nd edition",Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN 0-201-62433-8
  A good, general introduction to distributed systems. The book contains information ondata communications and ATM, and also on support systems such as DNS.

A local copy of all the IETF standards documents related to networking,including RFCs Internet Drafts and Internet Standards can be found at: http://www.cs-ipv6.lancs.ac.uk/ipv6/documents/.