Multimedia performance evaluation of ethernet and token ring media access protocols: a network comparison

This paper and accompanying project examines which type of time-division multiplexing media access protocol, the Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) of Ethernet or the token passing of token ring, is best able to fulfill the stringent isochronous performance demands required of today's resource-hungry multimedia networks, specifically the requirements of high throughput, low latency and jitter, and minimal error rates. Using performance bounds accepted by other researchers as sufficient to ensure quality isochronous transmission, that of (1) the throughput rate being equal to or less than the playback rate; (2) the latency in transmitting each packet ranging from 20 to 400 milliseconds and the variance or jitter being less than 80 milliseconds; and (3) the rate of lost packets ranging from 0.01--1.001, this paper approaches a solution first from the theoretical and then integrates into the final conclusion an analytical, C++ software evaluation test component that models network performance under optimum conditions. The immediate benefit of the entire study is the identification of one media access protocol, Ethernet or Token Ring, over its counterpart as being superior for isochronous applications as defined by the above performance requirements, and the long-term consequence of this identification will be facilitating for future network designers, including those of digital libraries, the selection of the best network architecture for their multimedia environments

An architecture for an ATM network continuous media server exploiting temporal locality of access

With the continuing drop in the price of memory, Video-on-Demand (VoD) solutions that have so far focused on maximising the throughput of disk units with a minimal use of physical memory may now employ significant amounts of cache memory. The subject of this thesis is the study of a technique to best utilise a memory buffer within such a VoD solution. In particular, knowledge of the streams active on the server is used to allocate cache memory. Stream optimised caching exploits reuse of data among streams that are temporally close to each other within the same clip; the data fetched on behalf of the leading stream may be cached and reused by the following streams. Therefore, only the leading stream requires access to the physical disk and the potential level of service provision allowed by the server may be increased. The use of stream optimised caching may consequently be limited to environments where reuse of data is significant. As such, the technique examined within this thesis focuses on a classroom environment where user progress is generally linear and all users progress at approximately the same rate for such an environment, reuse of data is guaranteed. The analysis of stream optimised caching begins with a detailed theoretical discussion of the technique and suggests possible implementations. Later chapters describe both the design and construction of a prototype server that employs the caching technique, and experiments that use of the prototype to assess the effectiveness of the technique for the chosen environment using `emulated' users. The conclusions of these experiments indicate that stream optimised caching may be applicable to larger scale VoD systems than small scale teaching environments. Future development of stream optimised caching is considered

The Need For Hands-On IT Classes

This paper describes why SIU needs a class that incorporates hands on in an advance telecommunications course. It gives a brief history of the Internet along with the need for IT skilled workers their education and the future expectations of the Internet. The paper also gives an example of what the class structure would be. This class has some differences between the two networking courses already in existences regards to their outcomes. ELM 415 would be very Hands-on type of course where students spend a great deal of time in lab installing and configuring software and hardware. The assessment would be primarily performance based, where they have to demonstrate working systems. The course would be a last in a series of courses that have been designed so that students who wish to put in a little more time on their own can be prepared to take the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification test. The prerequisite courses to ELM 415 are similar in that they are very lab intensive with a focus on installation, configuration, and troubleshooting. With a large growth and need in the IT field, SIU needs to take advantage of this and advance students in their personal growth and education. SIU also can take advantage of the opportunity of economic growth, of which comes student enrollment and recognition in the field