Alicia Dease
Written Summary of Chapter Seven "Multimedia Networking" from the text
"Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach"
The internet is becoming a place which increasingly meets the all the electronic needs of its users. With the advent of multimedia content and the ability of people, even in remote areas, to have access to broadband capabilities, any function of a telephone, television, or other single-use multimedia device is becoming intertwined with a computer's new multimedia ability. Chapter seven in the text defines and discusses the technologies that are, and are becoming, available to the public. This summary will include what these multimedia services are, a simple synopsis of how they work, and, finally, the future of the many applications that providers continue to implement.
The text broke the advances into three simple groupings -- streaming stored audio and video, one-to-many real-time audio and video, and real-time interactive audio and video (Krouse and Ross 598) -- which encompass all phases of the technology currently in use. Streaming stored audio and video can be further broken down into three component parts: stored media, which is prerecorded and stored on a dedicated server; streaming, audio or video that continues to load as the customer is watching it; continuous playout, which requires that the media be received instantly by the consumer or "users experience frustrating buffering delays"...
Streaming live audio and video is an application that can be used like the more traditional television video signal. This drawback is that it cannot be fast forwarded, like stored media, but it can usually be paused and reversed. There is also generally a delay between when the user logs on to the feed and when they actually begin receiving the streamed content (601). The third category, real-time interactive audio and video, is "often referred to as internet telephony" (601), and it is becoming a much more critical aspect of broadband internet use. So far, this form of media has not been able to catch up to the use of a telephone for voice or picture quality because of "packet jitter" (602), but suppliers are looking into ways to make this technology more user friendly with better quality.
This media can be complicated, which is illustrated by the sometimes questionable quality, but researchers are beginning to make inroads into a product that can mimic the real time aspects of traditional television and telephone technology. As any media type improves, so does the quality of reception within the type. Voice recording began on a tin tube with notches, holes or groves cut into it. Now, people can enjoy a voice experience that resembles a live performance. Streaming stored audio video can be used either with a regular server or "special streaming servers" (608). One of the ways that this multimedia function has recently been enhanced is via…
