Multimedia Networks: Fundamentals and Future Directions

Multimedia has become an integral part of computing and communications environment, and networks are carrying ever-increasing volume of multimedia information. The main characteristics of multimedia information are high-volume and bursty traffic, with low tolerance to delay and delay variance. The legacy networks (designed in 70s and 80s) are not able to meet these requirements. Enhancements to the older networking technologies have been developed to convert these into multimedia networks. Enhancements to LANs include Switched Ethernet, Isochronous Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, 100VGAnyLAN, FDDI-II, and Synchronous FDDI. WAN options for multimedia networking include digital leased lines and ISDN. The Internet has revolutionized business and personal communications, but falls short of being a genuine multimedia network. To make the Internet capable of carrying multimedia traffic, new protocols such as MBone, ST-II, RTP, and RSVP have been developed. Internet2 is a new initiative that is aimed at overcoming the problems of throughput, delay and jitter encountered on the original Internet. One technology that was developed with multimedia networking as one of its main applications, is the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology. Upcoming Gigabit Ethernet technology will provide a path for upgrading current Ethernet networks into multimedia networks

Caracterización y optimización térmica de sistemas en chip mediante emulación con FPGAs

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Informática, Departamento de Arquitectura de Computadores y Automática, leída el 15/06/2012Tablets and smartphones are some of the many intelligent devices that dominate the consumer electronics market. These systems are complex to design as they must execute multiple applications (e.g.: real-time video processing, 3D games, or wireless communications), while meeting additional design constraints, such as low energy consumption, reduced implementation size and, of course, a short time-to-market. Internally, they rely on Multi-processor Systems on Chip (MPSoCs) as their main processing cores, to meet the tight design constraints: performance, size, power consumption, etc. In a bad design, the high logic density may generate hotspots that compromise the chip reliability. This thesis introduces a FPGA-based emulation framework for easy exploration of SoC design alternatives. It provides fast and accurate estimations of performance, power, temperature, and reliability in one unified flow, to help designers tune their system architecture before going to silicon.El estado del arte, en lo que a diseño de chips para empotrados se refiere, se encuentra dominado por los multi-procesadores en chip, o MPSoCs. Son complejos de diseñar y presentan problemas de disipación de potencia, de temperatura, y de fiabilidad. En este contexto, esta tesis propone una nueva plataforma de emulación para facilitar la exploración del enorme espacio de diseño. La plataforma utiliza una FPGA de propósito general para acelerar la emulación, lo cual le da una ventaja competitiva frente a los simuladores arquitectónicos software, que son mucho más lentos. Los datos obtenidos de la ejecución en la FPGA son enviados a un PC que contiene bibliotecas (modelos) SW para calcular el comportamiento (e.g.: la temperatura, el rendimiento, etc...) que tendría el chip final. La parte experimental está enfocada a dos puntos: por un lado, a verificar que el sistema funciona correctamente y, por otro, a demostrar la utilidad del entorno para realizar exploraciones que muestren los efectos a largo plazo que suceden dentro del chip, como puede ser la evolución de la temperatura, que es un fenómeno lento que normalmente requiere de costosas simulaciones software.Depto. de Arquitectura de Computadores y AutomáticaFac. de InformáticaTRUEunpu

An Improved Active Network Concept and Architecture for Distributed and Dynamic Streaming Multimedia Environments with Heterogeneous Bandwidths

A problem in todays Internet infrastructure may occur when a streaming multimedia application is to take place. The information content of video and audio signals that contain moving or changing scenes may simply be too great for Internet clients with low bandwidth capacity if no adaptation is performed. In order to satisfactorily reach clients with various bandwidth capacities some works such as receiver-driven multicast and resilient overlay networks (RON) have been developed. However these efforts mainly call for modification on router level management or place additional layer to the Internet structure, which is not recommended in the nearest future due to the highly acceptance level and widely utilization of the current Internet structure, and the lengthy and tiring standardization process for a new structure or modification to be accepted. We have developed an improved active network approach for distributed and dynamic streaming multimedia environment with heterogeneous bandwidth, such as the case of the Internet. Friendly active network system (FANS) is a sample of our approach. Adopting application level active network (ALAN) mechanism, FANS participants and available media are referred through its universal resource locator (url). The system intercepts traffic flowing from source to destination and performs media post-processing at an intermediate peer. The process is performed at the application level instead of at the router level, which was the original approach of active networks. FANS requires no changes in router level management and puts no additional requirement to the current Internet architecture and, hence, instantly applicable. In comparison with ALAN, FANS possesses two significant differences. From the system overview, ALAN requires three minimum elements: clients, servers, and dynamic proxy servers. FANS, on the other hand, unifies the functionalities of those three elements. Each of peers in FANS is a client, an intermediate peer, and a media server as well. Secondly, FANS members tracking system dynamically detects the existence of a newly joined computers or mobile device, given its url is available and announced. In ALAN, the servers and the middle nodes are priori known and, hence, static. The application level approach and better performance characteristics distinguished also our work with another similar work in this field, which uses router level approach. The approach offers, in general, the following improvements: FANS promotes QoS fairness, in which clients with lower bandwidth are accommodated and receive better quality of service FANS introduces a new algorithm to determine whether or not the involvement of intermediate peer(s) to perform media post-processing enhancement services is necessary. This mechanism is important and advantageous due to the fact that intermediate post-processing increases the delay and, therefore, should only be employed selectively. FANS considers the size of media data and the capacity of clients bandwidth as network parameters that determine the level of quality of service offered. By employing the above techniques, our experiments with the Internet emulator show that our approach improves the reliability of streaming media applications in such environment

Sistemas de videoconferencia sobre redes RDSI, ATM, Ethernet/IP, Frame Relay y redes celulares móviles

Enmarcada entre los servicios de las comunicaciones multimedia, la videoconferencia es un servicio digital de telecomunicaciones multimedia para el intercambio de información audiovisual entre dos o más sitios geográficamente distantes, mediante la transmisión y recepción bidireccional simultánea de audio, video datos de los participantes. Los desarrollos que ha sufrido la videoconferencia han permitido un uso muy sencillo y una fiabilidad en las comunicaciones sobre cualquier infraestructura de red. Tal es así, que estas comunicaciones pueden desarrollarse tanto sobre RDSI como sobre redes ATM, Ethernet, Frame Relay e incluso redes móviles. Sin embargo, para poder implementar un sistema de videoconferencia en una determinada red con los requisitos mínimos que esta exige, es necesario un estudio anticipado de todos los parámetros y recomendaciones a tener en cuenta para su correcto funcionamiento.Incluye bibliografí

Evolução da telefonia na web

Mestrado em Sistemas de InformaçãoCom a ameaça imposta às operadoras por aplicações OTT como WhatsApp ou Skype, diversas iniciativas coordenadas pela GSMA foram criadas para tentar responder a este fenómeno. Paralelamente, com a evolução de tecnologias como HTML5 e WebRTC, novos serviços como o Twilio têm surgido, oferecendo APIs para o desenvolvimento de novas aplicações Web. No entanto, a integração destas tecnologias em tradicionais redes de telecomunicações não faz parte das actuais especificações. Sendo assim, o objectivo desta dissertação consiste na especificação e implementação de um protótipo baseado nestas tecnologias emergentes, integrado com uma rede IMS. Primeiramente, foi feito um estudo do estado de arte, definindo requisitos e casos de uso a serem explorados. De seguida, o desenho da solução foi feito e implementado, tendo sido criado uma plataforma que alia WebRTC e a OneAPI da GSMA (que define funcionalidades básicas para operadores), oferecendo interoperabilidade entre ambos os mundos. A solução é composta por um servidor aplicacional que expõe a API e gateway WebRTC, tendo sido testada e considerada adaptada às necessidades estabelecidas.With the threat to operators by OTT applications such as Skype or WhatsApp, several initiatives coordinated by GSMA were created in an effort to respond to this phenomenon. In parallel, with the evolution of technologies such as HTML5 and WebRTC, new services such as Twilio are now available, offering APIs for web application development. However, the integration of these technologies and traditional telecommunication networks is not a part of the current standards. As such, the objective of this dissertation is the specification and implementation of a prototype based on these emerging technologies, integrated in an IMS network. First, a state-of-the-art analysis was made, defining requirements and use-cases to be explored. Secondly, the design and implementation of the solution was done, creating a platform that unites WebRTC and GSMA’s OneAPI (which exposes basic operator features), offering interoperability between both worlds. The solution is composed by an application server that exposes the API and a WebRTC gateway, having been successfully tested and adapted to the established needs

Digital Roots

Several of the most known and discussed concepts of the digital age predated the digitalization itself and have been previously used in the “analogue times”. Other concepts were coined for the digital society but have transformed and are continuously transforming over time. This edited book selects some of these concepts and starts a time travel through their history, heritage, reinvention, and reinvestment in media and communication studies

Aeropuerto. Control y monitorización del sistema energético de campo de vuelo

El objetivo del TFC ha sido colaborar con AENA y AGE-CONTROL en la implantación de un interface de monitorización y control de las instalaciones electromecánicas y de energía del Aeropuerto de Barcelona, englobando todo el conjunto aeroportuario de Campo de Vuelo y Terminales de pasajeros. El trabajo se basa en la guía corporativa de AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), denominada: Estándares de Desarrollo de Proyectos con Software Wonderware-Industrial Application Server. El paquete principal para la confección de las estructuras utiliza la tecnología ArchestrA, con la “Deployment guide” Wonderware FactorySuite A2. Gracias a la conectividad de IAS (Industrial Application Server) utilizando los SCADAS existentes se ha configurado una plataforma de control capaz de soportar un número “ilimitado” de clientes, necesarios para la explotación de las instalaciones del aeropuerto. Además, la conectividad de IAS permite integrar el sistema de Gestión de Instalaciones dentro del Bus de Mensajería de los Sistemas de Información de la red de AENA con el software de gestión TIBCO. En los capítulos del TFC se transmite la necesidad de utilizar la herramienta seleccionada para su integración en la red de AENA. Las características de integración de IAS mejoran el coste total de implantación (TCO). En este TFC se ilustran los objetos más significativos dentro de cada instalación. Se determina los pasos seguidos y documentados en las reuniones con la empresa AGE-CONTROL para la creación de los objetos. Se presenta una posible solución para su publicación dentro de la plantilla de objetos de la red corporativa de AENA. Se describen las funcionalidades y estructuras de estos objetos dentro de las áreas. Como colofón, se presenta el desarrollo de la instalación de control de la plataforma SCI (Sistema de Control de Instalaciones). La interface de control y monitorización que se está desarrollando tiene una importancia vital para afrontar las averías energéticas con agilidad. El control de los parámetros y la calidad de la energía nos permiten solventar problemas puntuales en el presente, ahorrando energía para el futuro

Digital Roots

Several of the most known and discussed concepts of the digital age predated the digitalization itself and have been previously used in the “analogue times”. Other concepts were coined for the digital society but have transformed and are continuously transforming over time. This edited book selects some of these concepts and starts a time travel through their history, heritage, reinvention, and reinvestment in media and communication studies