Networked multimedia applications are rapidly being deployed in campus LAN and WAN environments. From the corporate perspective, network multimedia applications, such as network TV or videoconferencing, hold tremendous promise as the next generation of productivity tools. The use of digital audio and video across corporate network infrastructures has tremendous potential for internal and external applications. The World Wide Web is a good example of network multimedia and its manifold capabilities.
More than 85 percent of personal computers sold are multimedia capable. This hardware revolution has initiated a software revolution that has brought a wide range of audio- and video-based applications to the desktop. It is not uncommon for computers to run video editing or image processing applications (such as Adobe Premiere and Photoshop) in addition to basic "productivity" applications (word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications).
The proliferation of multimedia-enabled desktop machines has spawned a new class of multimedia applications that operate in network environments. These network multimedia applications leverage the existing network infrastructure to deliver video and audio applications to end users, such as videoconferencing and video server applications. With these application types, video and audio streams are transferred over the network between peers or between clients and servers.
To successfully deliver multimedia over a network, it is important to understand both multimedia and networking. Three components must be considered when deploying network multimedia applications in campus LAN and WAN environments:
- Bandwidth-How much bandwidth do the network multimedia applications demand and how much bandwidth can the network infrastructure provide?
- Quality of service-What level of service does the network multimedia application require and how can this be satisfied through the network?
- Multicasting-Does the network multimedia application utilize bandwidth-saving multicasting techniques and how can multicasting be supported across the network?
This article addresses the underpinnings of effectively deploying network multimedia applications. Specifically, this article addresses the following consideration:
- Multimedia Basics, including analog video, digital video, video compression, and digital audio standards
- Using Networked Multimedia Applications, including bandwidth and quality of service requirements
- Understanding Multicasting, including Internet Group Management Protocol, Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol, Multicast Open Shortest Path First, Protocol Independent Multicast, and Simple Multicast Routing Protocol
- Network Designs for Multimedia Applications, including traditional LAN designs, WAN designs, and high-speed LAN designs
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