DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NETWORK PROTOCOLS FOR DESKTOP MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

MULTIMEDIA CAN OFFER GREAT ENHANCEMENT TO HUMAN EXPRESSIVE POWER. WHEN USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH TELECONFERENCE TECHNOLOGY, MULTIMEDIA CAN HELP TO REMOVE MANY SHORTCOMINGS AND LIMITATIONS OF TODAY'S REMOTE TELECONFERENCES. TO ACHIEVE WIDESPREAD USE OF REMOTE MULTIMEDIA TELECONFERENCING, AN AFFORDABLE PRICE IS ESSENTIAL. THE AVAILABILTY OF LOW COST AUDIO/VIDEO EQUIPMENT FOR THE DESKTOP PERSONAL COMPUTERS HAVE MADE THE DESKTOP AN IDEAL PLATFORM FOR DEVELOPING MULTIMEDIA TELECONFERENCE APPLICATIONS. THE REMAINING PROBLEM IS THE NETWORK. MOST LOW-COST DESKTOP TELECONFERENCE PRODUCTS ARE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR BASIC RATE ISDN. HOWEVER, THE LACK OF UBIQUITOUS ISDN SERVICES AND THE BAND WIDTH LIMITATIONS ARE MAJOR OBSTACLES. DRIVEN BY THE WIDE DEPLOYMENT OF DATA NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE IN BUSINESSES, SCHOOLS, AND GOVERNMENT, THIS PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON BRINGING MULTIMEDIA TELECONFERNECE CAPABILITIES TO THE DESKTOP VIA DATA NETWORKS. RESEARCH IS TO BE DONE IN FOUR MAJOR AREAS: (1) NETWORK RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TO SUPPORT MULTIMEDIA TRAFFIC; (2) MULTIMEDIA TRANSPORT PROTOCOL INCLUDING MULTICAST SUPPORT; (3) MULTIMEDIA CONFERENCE CONTROL; AND (4) MULTIMEDIA INTERNETWORKING WITH EXISTING ROOM TELECONFERENCE EQUIPMENT. THE PRODUCTS DEVELOPED FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL ENABLE LOW-COST DESKTOP MULTIMEDIA TELECONFERENCE, WHICH WILL, IN TURN, BENEFIT THE NATION'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, THE GOVERNMENT, SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES, AND OUR PRECIOUS ENVIRONMENT SINCE TRAVEL WILL BE CUT DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY.