Platforms for handling and development of audiovisual data

Estágio realizado na MOG Solutions e orientado por Vítor TeixeiraTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informátca e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

MPEG-SCORM : ontologia de metadados interoperáveis para integração de padrões multimídia e e-learning

Orientador: Yuzo IanoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: A convergência entre as mídias digitais propõe uma integração entre as TIC, focadas no domínio do multimídia (sob a responsabilidade do Moving Picture Experts Group, constituindo o subcomitê ISO / IEC JTC1 SC29), e as TICE, (TIC para a Educação, geridas pelo ISO / IEC JTC1 SC36), destacando-se os padrões MPEG, empregados na forma de conteúdo e metadados para o multimídia, e as TICE, aplicadas à Educação a Distância, ou e-Learning (o aprendizado eletrônico). Neste sentido, coloca-se a problemática de desenvolver uma correspondência interoperável de bases normativas, atingindo assim uma proposta inovadora na convergência entre as mídias digitais e as aplicações para e-Learning, essencialmente multimídia. Para este fim, propõe-se criar e aplicar uma ontologia de metadados interoperáveis para web, TV digital e extensões para dispositivos móveis, baseada na integração entre os padrões de metadados MPEG-21 e SCORM, empregando a linguagem XPathAbstract: The convergence of digital media offers an integration of the ICT, focused on telecommunications and multimedia domain (under responsibility of the Moving Picture Experts Group, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC29), with the ICTE (the ICT for Education, managed by the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36), highlighting the MPEG formats, featured as content and as description metadata potentially applied to the Multimedia or Digital TV and as a technology applied to e-Learning. Regarding this, it is presented the problem of developing an interoperable matching for normative bases, achieving an innovative proposal in the convergence between digital Telecommunications and applications for e-Learning, both essentially multimedia. To achieve this purpose, it is proposed to creating a ontology for interoperability between educational applications in Digital TV environments and vice-versa, simultaneously facilitating the creation of learning metadata based objects for Digital TV programs as well as providing multimedia video content as learning objects for Distance Education. This ontology is designed as interoperable metadata for the Web, Digital TV and e-Learning, built on the integration between MPEG-21 and SCORM metadata standards, employing the XPath languageDoutoradoTelecomunicações e TelemáticaDoutor em Engenharia ElétricaCAPE

Overview of Digital Library Components and Developments

Digital libraries are being built upon a firm foundation of prior work as the high-end information systems of the future. A component architecture approach is becoming popular, with well established support for key components like the repository, especially through the Open Archives Initiative. We consider digital objects, metadata, harvesting, indexing, searching, browsing, rights management, linking, and powerful interfaces. Flexible interaction will be possible through a variety of architectures, using buses, agents, and other technologies. The field as a whole is undergoing rapid growth, supported by advances in storage, processing, networking, algorithms, and interaction. There are many initiatives and developments, including those supporting education, and these will certainly be of benefit in Latin America

Policies for Web Services

Web services are predominantly used to implement service-oriented architectures (SOA). However, there are several areas such as temporal dimensions, real-time, streaming, or efficient and flexible file transfers where web service functionality should be extended. These extensions can, for example, be achieved by using policies. Since there are often alternative solutions to provide functionality (e.g., different protocols can be used to achieve the transfer of data), the WS-Policy standard is especially useful to extend web services with policies. It allows to create policies to generally state the properties under which a service is provided and to explicitly express alternative properties. To extend the functionality of web services, two policies are introduced in this thesis: the Temporal Policy and the Communication Policy. The temporal policy is the foundation for adding temporal dimensions to a WS-Policy. The temporal policy itself is not a WS-Policy but an independent policy language that describes temporal dimensions of and dependencies between temporal policies and WS-Policies. Switching of protocol dependencies, pricing of services, quality of service, and security are example areas for using a temporal policy. To describe protocol dependencies of a service for streaming, real-time and file transfers, a communication policy can be utilized. The communication policy is a concrete WS-Policy. With the communication policy, a service can expose the protocols it depends on for a communication after its invocation. Thus, a web service client knows the protocols required to support a communication with the service. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate beforehand whether an invocation of a service is reasonable. On top of the newly introduced policies, novel mechanisms and tools are provided to alleviate service use and enable flexible and efficient data handling. Furthermore, the involvement of the end user in the development process can be achieved more easily. The Flex-SwA architecture, the first component in this thesis based on the newly introduced policies, implements the actual file transfers and streaming protocols that are described as dependencies in a communication policy. Several communication patterns support the flexible handling of the communication. A reference concept enables seamless message forwarding with reduced data movement. Based on the Flex-SwA implementation and the communication policy, it is possible to improve usability - especially in the area of service-oriented Grids - by integrating data transfers into an automatically generated web and Grid service client. The Web and Grid Service Browser is introduced in this thesis as such a generic client. It provides a familiar environment for using services by offering the client generation as part of the browser. Data transfers are directly integrated into service invocation without having to perform data transmissions explicitly. For multimedia MIME types, special plugins allow the consumption of multimedia data. To enable an end user to build applications that also leverage high performance computing resources, the Service-enabled Mashup Editor is presented that lets the user combine popular web applications with web and Grid services. Again, the communication policy provides descriptive means for file transfers and Flex-SwAs reference concept is used for data exchange. To show the applicability of these novel concepts, several use cases from the area of multimedia processing have been selected. Based on the temporal policy, the communication policy, Flex-SwA, the Web and Grid Service Browser, and the Service-enabled Mashup Editor, the development of a scalable service-oriented multimedia architecture is presented. The multimedia SOA offers, among others, a face detection workflow, a video-on-demand service, and an audio resynthesis service. More precisely, a video-on-demand service describes its dependency on a multicast protocol by using a communication policy. A temporal policy is then used to perform the description of a protocol switch from one multicast protocol to another one by changing the communication policy at the end of its validity period. The Service-enabled Mashup Editor is used as a client for the new multicast protocol after the multicast protocol has been switched. To stream single frames from a frame decoder service to a face detection service (which are both part of the face detection workflow) and to transfer audio files with the different Flex-SwA communication patterns to an audio resynthesis service, Flex-SwA is used. The invocation of the face detection workflow and the audio resynthesis service is realized with the Web and Grid Service Browser

Application of service composition mechanisms to Future Networks architectures and Smart Grids

Aquesta tesi gira entorn de la hipòtesi de la metodologia i mecanismes de composició de serveis i com es poden aplicar a diferents camps d'aplicació per a orquestrar de manera eficient comunicacions i processos flexibles i sensibles al context. Més concretament, se centra en dos camps d'aplicació: la distribució eficient i sensible al context de contingut multimèdia i els serveis d'una xarxa elèctrica intel·ligent. En aquest últim camp es centra en la gestió de la infraestructura, cap a la definició d'una Software Defined Utility (SDU), que proposa una nova manera de gestionar la Smart Grid amb un enfocament basat en programari, que permeti un funcionament molt més flexible de la infraestructura de xarxa elèctrica. Per tant, revisa el context, els requisits i els reptes, així com els enfocaments de la composició de serveis per a aquests camps. Fa especial èmfasi en la combinació de la composició de serveis amb arquitectures Future Network (FN), presentant una proposta de FN orientada a serveis per crear comunicacions adaptades i sota demanda. També es presenten metodologies i mecanismes de composició de serveis per operar sobre aquesta arquitectura, i posteriorment, es proposa el seu ús (en conjunció o no amb l'arquitectura FN) en els dos camps d'estudi. Finalment, es presenta la investigació i desenvolupament realitzat en l'àmbit de les xarxes intel·ligents, proposant diverses parts de la infraestructura SDU amb exemples d'aplicació de composició de serveis per dissenyar seguretat dinàmica i flexible o l'orquestració i gestió de serveis i recursos dins la infraestructura de l'empresa elèctrica.Esta tesis gira en torno a la hipótesis de la metodología y mecanismos de composición de servicios y cómo se pueden aplicar a diferentes campos de aplicación para orquestar de manera eficiente comunicaciones y procesos flexibles y sensibles al contexto. Más concretamente, se centra en dos campos de aplicación: la distribución eficiente y sensible al contexto de contenido multimedia y los servicios de una red eléctrica inteligente. En este último campo se centra en la gestión de la infraestructura, hacia la definición de una Software Defined Utility (SDU), que propone una nueva forma de gestionar la Smart Grid con un enfoque basado en software, que permita un funcionamiento mucho más flexible de la infraestructura de red eléctrica. Por lo tanto, revisa el contexto, los requisitos y los retos, así como los enfoques de la composición de servicios para estos campos. Hace especial hincapié en la combinación de la composición de servicios con arquitecturas Future Network (FN), presentando una propuesta de FN orientada a servicios para crear comunicaciones adaptadas y bajo demanda. También se presentan metodologías y mecanismos de composición de servicios para operar sobre esta arquitectura, y posteriormente, se propone su uso (en conjunción o no con la arquitectura FN) en los dos campos de estudio. Por último, se presenta la investigación y desarrollo realizado en el ámbito de las redes inteligentes, proponiendo varias partes de la infraestructura SDU con ejemplos de aplicación de composición de servicios para diseñar seguridad dinámica y flexible o la orquestación y gestión de servicios y recursos dentro de la infraestructura de la empresa eléctrica.This thesis revolves around the hypothesis the service composition methodology and mechanisms and how they can be applied to different fields of application in order to efficiently orchestrate flexible and context-aware communications and processes. More concretely, it focuses on two fields of application that are the context-aware media distribution and smart grid services and infrastructure management, towards a definition of a Software-Defined Utility (SDU), which proposes a new way of managing the Smart Grid following a software-based approach that enable a much more flexible operation of the power infrastructure. Hence, it reviews the context, requirements and challenges of these fields, as well as the service composition approaches. It makes special emphasis on the combination of service composition with Future Network (FN) architectures, presenting a service-oriented FN proposal for creating context-aware on-demand communication services. Service composition methodology and mechanisms are also presented in order to operate over this architecture, and afterwards, proposed for their usage (in conjunction or not with the FN architecture) in the deployment of context-aware media distribution and Smart Grids. Finally, the research and development done in the field of Smart Grids is depicted, proposing several parts of the SDU infrastructure, with examples of service composition application for designing dynamic and flexible security for smart metering or the orchestration and management of services and data resources within the utility infrastructure

Rescuing the legacy project: a case study in digital preservation and technical obsolescence

The ability to maintain continuous access to digital documents and artifacts is one of the most significant problems facing the archival, manuscript repository, and record management communities in the twenty-first century. This problem with access is particularly troublesome in the case of complex digital installments, which resist simple migration and emulation strategies. The Legacy Project, which was produced by the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, was created in the early 2000s as a means of telling the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in metropolitan Atlanta. Legacy was an interactive multimedia kiosk that enabled museum visitors to read accounts, watch digital video, and examine photographs about these survivors. However, several years after Legacy was completed, it became inoperable, due to technological obsolescence. By using Legacy as a case study, I examine how institutions can preserve access to complex digital artifacts and how they can rescue digital information that is in danger of being lost.M.S.Committee Chair: Knoespel, Kenneth; Committee Member: Burnett, Rebecca; Committee Member: Fox Harrell; Committee Member: TyAnna Herringto

Architectural support for ubiquitous access to multimedia content

Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Telecomunicações). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Mobile e-commerce: study and model generation, implementation issues and analysis

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High-Level Synthesis Based VLSI Architectures for Video Coding

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is state-of-the-art video coding standard. Emerging applications like free-viewpoint video, 360degree video, augmented reality, 3D movies etc. require standardized extensions of HEVC. The standardized extensions of HEVC include HEVC Scalable Video Coding (SHVC), HEVC Multiview Video Coding (MV-HEVC), MV-HEVC+ Depth (3D-HEVC) and HEVC Screen Content Coding. 3D-HEVC is used for applications like view synthesis generation, free-viewpoint video. Coding and transmission of depth maps in 3D-HEVC is used for the virtual view synthesis by the algorithms like Depth Image Based Rendering (DIBR). As first step, we performed the profiling of the 3D-HEVC standard. Computational intensive parts of the standard are identified for the efficient hardware implementation. One of the computational intensive part of the 3D-HEVC, HEVC and H.264/AVC is the Interpolation Filtering used for Fractional Motion Estimation (FME). The hardware implementation of the interpolation filtering is carried out using High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools. Xilinx Vivado Design Suite is used for the HLS implementation of the interpolation filters of HEVC and H.264/AVC. The complexity of the digital systems is greatly increased. High-Level Synthesis is the methodology which offers great benefits such as late architectural or functional changes without time consuming in rewriting of RTL-code, algorithms can be tested and evaluated early in the design cycle and development of accurate models against which the final hardware can be verified