Efficient Retrieval of Composite Multimedia Objects in the JINSIL Distributed System

In a distributed environment, presentation of structured, composite multimedia information poses new challenges in dealing with variable bandwidth (BW) requirement and synchronization of media data objects. The detailed knowledge of BW requirement obtainedby analyzing the document structure can be used to create a prefetch schedule that results in efficient utilization of system resources. A distributed environment consists of various system components that are either dedicated to a client or shared across multiple clients. Shared system components could benefit from Fine Granularity Advanced Reservation (FGAR) of resources based on true BW requirement. Prefetching by utilizing advance knowledge of BW requirement can further improve resource utilization. In this paper, we describe the JINSIL retrieval system that takes into account the available bandwidth and buffer resources and the nature of sharing in each componenton the delivery path. It reshapes BW requirement, creates prefetch s..