The Ruby project will demonstrate concurrent multimedia stream processing based on the Amber MBone demonstrator. The project will deliver a demonstrator to show the principles involved in concurrent multimedia stream processing and programming.
The main benefits are an understanding of distributed concurrent multimedia stream processing and programming issues. These issues include:
The approach will be to build a prototype/demonstrator. For example, a useful MBone tool such as a video encoding converter (gateway), frame rate adapter or reflector may be examined.
Application level QoS will be investigated. Application level QoS for multimedia will be mapped onto low level MBone QoS, possibly incorporating network resource reservation (for example, based on the RSVP model). ATM QoS will also be investigated in the DCAN (dead hyperlink - http://www.ansa.co.uk/DCAN/index.html) context, to help tie the demonstrator into the DCAN connection management architecture.
The Jetstream API support for concurrency and the Jet and Amber support for generating and constructing adapters will be evolved to provide support for interfacing to synchronous programming environments (such as that which the Esterel language provides). This together with the resource and QoS managed distributed environment, will provide a basis for constructing real-time reactive objects.
Investigation of real time communications protocols and multi-cast protocols will also be carried out.
The technology rolled out in Amethyst and Jetstream projects forms the basis for the demonstrator. The resource pools and QoS controlled adapters of the Amber project will be used to to demonstrate concurrent multimedia stream processing based on the initial MBone demonstrator.
Scheduled to start in August 1996. Completion is expected in January 1997.
For further details please contact Dave Otway (djo@ansa.co.uk) or Andre Kramer (ak@ansa.co.uk)