Multimedia Computing and Networking - Fall 2024

Location:
  • Class: Fourth Avenue Building, Room 10 (Tue/Thu 10:00am - 11:50am)
  • Slack channel: #cs490_590_mmnetworking on pdx-cs.slack.com
Instructor: Wu-chi Feng
Resources
Course Description
CS 490/590 is an introductory course in multimedia computing and networking and is intended for senior undergraduate or graduate level students. The objective of this course is to introduce many of the fundamental concepts involved with handling multimedia data and applications. Topics that will be covered in this course include: multimedia data types, systems support for multimedia applications, and multimedia applications. We will discuss the value and limitations of current multimedia compression technologies including GIF, JPEG, and MPEG. In addition, we will examine streaming technologies including video conferencing, Skype, and stored video streaming systems.

Why study multimedia computing and networking? Multimedia data is ubiquitous today, from zoom video calls, YouTube streaming, over the top TV (e.g., Hulu), to social media multimedia sharing. It is therefore extremely useful to know how such data is created and represented as well as what mechanisms can be used to deliver such data across networks.

Some statistics:

  • Some estimates have video data comprising over 80% of traffic on the Internet.
  • 720,000 hours of video are loaded to youTube every day (This is 82 years worth of video!) - from earthweb.com/blog/how-many-videos-are-uploaded-to-youtube-a-day/
  • 95 million photos and videos are shared each day on Instagram - https://localiq.com/blog/what-happens-in-an-internet-minute/

Tentative Schedule

Week Tuesday Thursday
Week 1 - 9/30/24 Introduction - What is multimedia Compression - Overview, performance, basics (Huffman, Arithmetic)
Week 2 - 10/7/24 Compression – RLE, Lempel Ziv Welsh Multimedia Representations – images, video, and sound
Week 3 - 10/14/24 Image Compression – PPM, PNG, GIF Image Compression – JPEG
Week 4 - 10/21/24 Quiz #1 Video Compression Fundamentals – block-based motion compensation
Week 5 - 10/28/24 Video Compression – H.261, H.263, MPEG-1 Video Compression – MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, future video (HEVC, H.265)
Week 6 - 11/4/24 Audio Compression – u-law, MPEG Resource Management – window of insufficient resources, managing resources Multimedia Operating Systems / Networking overview
Week 7 - 11/11/24 Quiz #2 Networking – overview, background, TCP/IP, UDP, RTP, IP addressing, routing, flow-based routing
Week 8 - 11/18/24 Best-Effort Streaming – Fundamentals of adaptive streaming Best Effort Streaming
Week 9 - 11/25/24 Umbrella Protocols – H.323, SIP, ICE, TURN, Streaming Misc Thanksgiving (No Class)
Week 10 - 12/2/24 Stored Video Streaming – Video-on-demand theory Stored Video Streaming – Implementations and DASH
Finals week Tuesday, Dec. 10, 10:15am - 12:05pm    

Assignments

Course objectives

  • Explain how lossless data compression technologies including Huffman, Run-Length Encoding, Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) work.
  • Explain the capture and representation of audio signals.
  • Explain the capture and representation of image and video data.
  • Explain the techniques used to compress image and video data, including GIF, JPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.261, and H.263.
  • Explain the umbrella audio and video conferencing protocols SIP and H.323.
  • Explain distribution mechanisms for multimedia data including HTTP.
  • Explain buffering techniques that can be employed to minimize the effects of variable-bit-rate compressed video on reservation-based networks.
  • Explain the techniques that can be used to adapt a video stream to the underlying network resources for best-effort networks.
  • Explain the real-time systems techniques that can allow an operating system to support digital audio and video.
 

Policies

Grading
Participation / pop quizzes 5%
Homework / Labs 25%
Quiz 1 20%
Quiz 2 20%
Final 30%
Academic misconduct
  • All assignments due dates are in Canvas (typically midnight) - 20% per day reduction after deadline passes.
  • Regrade requests must be made in writing within one week of grading/return
  • All work must be your own. Infractions of this will result in the initiation of disciplinary action at the university level.