Adaptive Multi-Media Streaming for Android (AMMSTAR)

Use of"Smartphones"and cellular networks is becoming an increasing priority for military applications. By placing the source of information directly with the solider on the ground via a Smartphone, the vision of"every soldier a sensor"becomes attainable. mZeal proposes to facilitate this vision with the Adaptive Multi-Media Streaming for Android (AMMSTAR) system. AMMSTAR will capture photographic and video imagery on an Android Smartphone and transfer it directly to the receiver in real-time in a network adaptive manner. Based on mZeal"s highly successful Bandwidth Mediation System (BMS), AMMSTAR will monitor the cellular or WiFi link over which it is communicating, and dynamically adapt its multi-media output to adjust to the demanding bandwidth constraints posed by tactical network. It will do so by utilizing a variety of bandwidth-conserving adaptations, including frame-rate change, quality variation, gray-scale, video-only and audio-only adaptations. AMMSTAR also provides infrastructure support in the form of the Multi-Media Distribution Server (MMDS). Intended to be placed on a vehicle, the MMDS will have the capability to capture and adaptively relay media from the SmartPhone to the larger network, where it can be viewed in real-time. It will also have the ability to store images and video for later retrieval.