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System Times New Roman Times New Roman System gD|D| Times New Roman Times New Roman gD|D| :PRINTLAYOUT System System TECHniques Summer 1992 Author Author reader enterbook reader Author enterbook sizetopage gD|D| gD|D| enterbook enterbook sizetopage Times New Roman System Author 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen buttonUp buttonUp Editorial buttonUp buttonUp Challenges of Video Networking buttonUp buttonUp Cost-Effective Multimedia buttonUp buttonUp DVI Multimedia Networking buttonUp buttonUp Intel's FAXBACK buttonUp buttonUp IntelACCESS buttonUp buttonUp Technical Solutions Specialists buttonUp buttonUp Developer News T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S : buttonUp buttonUp IBM Marketing Centers buttonUp buttonUp Colophon Guest Editorial Brian O'Donnell Strategic Applications Marketing ManagerQ Until recently, multimedia and networking have been viewed as opposite thrusts in the computing industry. Multimedia grew out of a CD-ROM view of the world, while networking focused on supporting text and 2D graphics. It has become increasingly clear, however, that applications which seamlessly integrate both technologies represent the high ground for innovative, value-added business computing and communication solutions in the 1990s. Intel is committed to providing the silicon building blocks needed to achieve this convergence. We are also working closely with our customers and others in the industry to insure that enabling technologies are available for developers to design and deliver compelling new applications. The winds of change are blowing. During the past few months, the networking trade press has begun reporting on multimedia developments. Novell is working with Kodak to make NetWare* a more hospitable platform for image data. Lotus has unveiled plans to multimedia-enable its products. Microsoft Windows* 3.1 features improved multimedia and network support. IBM highlighted a DVI* multimedia network in its booth at the recent NetWorld* show. Just as multimedia and networking technology have been on divergent paths, there have been opposing thrusts within business as well. On one hand, there is the need to have people and systems that are widely distributed to compete in the global marketplace. But there is also a need for people and systems to be located in the same place in order to facilitate rapid decision making. Personal computers on multimedia-enabled networks can provide "virtual co-location" of a distributed workforce. So what does all this mean? Traditional multimedia applications benefit greatly from being implemented in network environments. In addition, there is an emerging class of workgroup oriented applications that require multimedia- enabled networks. Applications such as audio/video Email, desktop video conferencing, shared compound documents and interactive multimedia presentations will enable people to work together more effectively and efficiently; we call this "Just-in-Time Business". This issue of "TECHniques" discusses some of the challenges to making this happen and offers some possible solutions. In The Challenges of Networking Video Applications, Jim Long of Starlight Networks provides an overview of the bottlenecks that can occur in a digital network, and introduces two key concepts: high performance star topology networks and servers optimized for digital video data. Tom Medrick's article: Cost-Effective Multimedia Networking, describes Synernetic's implementation of the first concept. Dan Heist's DVI Multimedia Networking describes ProtoComm's Netware Loadable Modules, designed to video-enable Novell Netware file servers. It also highlights some of the creative products offered by industry innovators to help achieve the vision. These products (and others in development) will provide a solid foundation for exciting networked multimedia applications that will be limited only by the imagination! dia applications that will be limited only by the imagination! buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Technical Solutions Specialists ActionMedia* products are now available through a new program which will support DVI multimedia application developers via eight new DVI* Technology Solutions Specialists (TSS). The Technology Solutions Specialists provide support, training and consultation on all aspects of application development with ActionMedia II hardware and software. The following companies in the U.S. and Canada have been designated Technology Solutions Specialists: Avtex Research Corporation 2105 S. Bascom Avenue Campbell, CA 95008 Contact: Laura Phillips Ph: 408-371-2800 Fax: 408-371-5760 Bermac Communications 4545 Fuller Drive Irving, TX 75038 Contact: Phil Chadwick Ph: 214-255-9007 Fax: 214-541-0103 Betac Corporation 7323 Highway 90 West, # 510 San Antonio, TX 78227 Contact: Rick Palm Ph: 512-675-3550 Fax: 512-675-1990 Datalus, Inc. 4767 Okemos Rd. Okemos, MI 48864 Contact: Dr. Michael Ezzo Ph: 517-347-1333 Fax: 517-347-2466 Digital Renaissance 366 Adelaide St. W., Suite 505 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Contact: Perry Keller Ph: 416-593-5070 Fax: 416-593-1571 Integrated Training Systems, Inc. 10840 Thornmint Rd., Suite 113 San Diego, CA 92127 Contact: Dr. Michael See Ph: 619-592-9950 Fax: 619-592-0802 NB Engineering, Inc. 2110 Priest Drive, Suite 1 Crofton, MD 21114 Contact: Ralph LaBarge Ph: 301-721-5725 Fax: 301-721-5726 Southwest Research Institute 6220 Culebra Rd. San Antonio, TX 78228 Contact: Dr. Katherine Golas Ph: 512-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 NB Engineering, Inc. 2110 Priest Drive, Suite 1 Crofton, MD 21114 Contact: Ralph LaBarge Ph: 301-721-5725 Fax: 301-721-5726 Southwest Research Institute 6220 Culebra Rd. San Antonio, TX 78228 Contact: Dr. Katherine Golas Ph: 512-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 Digital Renaissance 366 Adelaide St. W., Suite 505 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Contact: Perry Keller Ph: 416-593-5070 Fax: 416-593-1571 Integrated Training Systems, Inc. 10840 Thornmint Rd., Suite 113 San Diego, CA 92127 Contact: Dr. Michael See Ph: 619-592-9950 Fax: 619-592-0802 NB Engineering, Inc. 2110 Priest Drive, Suite 1 Crofton, MD 21114 Contact: Ralph LaBarge Ph: 301-721-5725 Fax: 301-721-5726 Southwest Research Institute 6220 Culebra Rd. San Antonio, TX 78228 Contact: Dr. Katherine Golas Ph: 512-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Cost-Effective Multimedia Networking by Tom Medrick Synernetics, Inc. Transferring full motion video over a network, even after the video files have been compressed using DVI* technology, presents a major technical challenge. Experience has shown that sending compressed video to a PC consumes approximately 1/5 the usable capacity of an Ethernet* network. Connecting more than five multimedia PCs and a server to the same Ethernet saturates the network and prevents programs from operating properly. A new product from Synernetics called the LANplex* 5012 Switching Hub connects PCs together in a way that allows large numbers of them to run network-intensive multimedia applications while connected to low-cost, industry standard Ethernet networks. It does this by connecting the servers to a high- speed fiber optic network called the Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) which is ten times faster than Ethernet, and by boosting the performance of Ethernet- connected PCs using a technique called segmentation. The illustration shows PC clients connected to Ethernet networks in groups of four. These mini-networks (referred to as network segments) are connected together and to the servers using FDDI. This arrangement delivers optimum network price/performance by combining the power of FDDI with the cost- effectiveness of Ethernet. Each Ethernet Express Module in the LANplex 5012 cross-connects eight Ethernet segments and one FDDI network. The Ethernet segments all run in parallel, allowing up to 80Mbps of throughput for each module. Synernetics' LANplex 5000 family of intelligent hubs can accept up to 10 Ethernet Express Modules and one dual-attach FDDI board, supporting the transparent, parallel connection of 80 Ethernet segments to an FDDI network. Interconnecting Hubs with FDDI Distributes Campus-Wide Performance Interconnecting LANplex 5000s with FDDI allows administrators to funnel the high local bandwidth provided by Ethernet Express to high-speed servers and to other high-performance workgroups throughout a large site. Having the ability to allocate high bandwidth anywhere within a campus setting provides a great deal of flexibility in supporting organizational changes, locating servers and their associated workgroups, and supporting growth. For more information about LANplex please contact Tom Medrick at (508) 670- 9009. bout LANplex please contact Tom Medrick at (508) 670- 9009. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen important for typical software applications, but are not as important for audio/visual media. For example, the human eye can overlook one incorrect pixel in a television image, but an incorrect number in your bank balance would not be tolerated! Audio/visual information, which is based on time, is not useful if it slows down and speeds up according to network traffic flow. Video is neither slow nor fast, it either works or it does not work. Therefore, managing data-flow is the key to all multimedia computing, especially on networks. Digital bottlenecks for video Audio/visual data on a network hits a series of bottlenecks. This is not surprising since personal computers and networks were not designed to handle this kind of rich data type. Along the digital path which connects the disk drive on a server to a client computer, these bottlenecks limit the video stream speed or interrupt the video. The bottlenecks occur in disk drives, system buses, processors, networks, and the various interfaces and buffers that are between the parts of the system. The problem areas are highlighted in Figure 1. Let's look at the typical setting for networked digital video--a training room with 30 DVI multimedia stations and an audio/visual server. Mission-critical training requires that users instantly view video when it is requested. The high-resolution video in this example requires about 1.5Mbps per video stream, therefore, each desktop must continuously handle 1.5Mbps, while the video server must handle an aggregate of 30 streams - 45 Mps - simultaneously. A system like this will run into many problems if it uses ordinary client/server hardware and software. As Figure 1 shows, the storage subsystem will have to handle 30 simultaneous users, even if they were to request the same 60-second video clip 2 seconds apart. The server will have to handle the same 45Mbps throughout internally. The network will have to handle 45Mbps from the server and 1.5Mbps per desktop, and finally, the client network interface will have to receive the video and still allow concurrent access to other network applications (e.g., Email, text, database, etc.). A normal networked server system could not accomplish this. Fortunately cost-effective solutions are available. Star networks easily satisfy video requirements While some amount of digital video can be handled by almost any network, for any significant application care must be taken to structure the network appropriately. Today, computers are increasingly turning to star-topology networks based on inexpensive twisted-pair phone wire and a line for each client computer (figure 2). These networks are popular because they use inexpensive telephone-style wire and are installed the same way as a typical phone system. Moves, adds, and changes are simplified because, as with a telephone network, each client has its own cable, unlike the "snaked" cable of a bus network, which has to be rerouted for new clients, moves, and changes. For these reasons, networking experts see star networks or "structured wiring" as the dominant method of networking in the 1990s and beyond. These networks also offer the best topology for serving the bandwidth needs of video. To create a star topology, "hubs" have become increasingly common hardware features on LANs. One of the most popular hub devices is the 10baseT type of hub for Ethernet* networks. Such networks already represent about 70 percent of new Ethernet installations. Another popular network, IBM's Token-Ring*, has used a star topology since its introduction. Although today's 10baseT Ethernet and Token-Ring networks data into existing applications, the video should look like ordinary data to any application. To an SQL database application, it should look like SQL, to a spreadsheet, it should look like another part of the file structure. Ideally, this should be accomplished with only one copy of the data, and yet support a range of computer platforms and operating systems. Finally, a video networking solution should be able to handle any type of video application, including desktop teleconferencing. This means that servers should be able to manage data streams just as a telephone switch handles audio traffic. I have briefly described how a server optimized for video can efficiently solve video network bottlenecks. To create such a server, you could either enhance an existing server or add an "application specific" server to the network. Enhancing an existing server will likely result in many compromises and have an impact on its ability to handle non-video data. Multimedia solutions in today's environment The solution for networked multimedia does not have to be an expensive fiber optic network or a parallel video network. Today's star networks can do the job at reasonable costs, without special client networking hardware. A 10baseT hub that is turbocharged to handle video allows us at Starlight Networks to serve the video clients within our current network environment, and a specialized server can handle the processing and storage management needs of audio/visual media and provide superior video support without compromising current network applications. For more information about Starlight Networks please contact Jim Long at (415) 967-0574. ht Networks please contact Jim Long at (415) 967-0574. showbottlehot bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks showbottlehot2 bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks showstarhot Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar The Challenges of Networking Video Applications by Jim Long Starlight Networks hidebottle bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks Lose Figure 1 showstar Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar Figure 2 buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article bottlenecks showbottle bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks Figure 1 hidestar Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar Lose Figure 2 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen IBM Multimedia Marketing Centers: For IBM Multimedia sales and information call 1-800-426-9402 weekdays, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm E.T. Atlanta: (404) 877-6001 Boston: (617) 638-1389 Chicago: (312) 245-2201 Cincinnati: (513) 762-2063 Dallas: (214) 653-8600 Bethesda: (301) 564-7302 edia products are now available through a new program which will support DVI multimedia application developers via eight new DVI Technology Solutions Specialists (TSS). The Technology Solution Specialists provide support, training and consultation on all aspects of application development with ActionMedia II hardware and software. The following companies in the U.S. and Canada have been designated Technology Solution Specialists: Avtex Research Corporation 2105 S. Bascom Avenue Campbell, CA 95008 Contact: Laura Phillips Ph: 408-371-2800 Fax: 408-371-5760 Bermac Communications 4545 Fuller Drive Irving, TX 75038 Contact: Phil Chadwick Ph: 214-255-9007 Fax: 214-541-0103 Betac Corporation 7323 Highway 90 West, # 510 San Antonio, TX 78227 Contact: Rick Palm Ph: 512-675-3550 Fax: 512-675-1990 Datalus, Inc. 4767 Okemos Rd. Okemos, MI 48864 Contact: Dr. Michael Ezzo Ph: 517-347-1333 Fax: 517-347-2466 Digital Renaissance 366 Adelaide St. W., Suite 505 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Contact: Perry Keller Ph: 416-593-5070 Fax: 416-593-1571 Integrated Training Systems, Inc. 10840 Thornmint Rd., Suite 113 San Diego, CA 92127 Contact: Dr. Michael See Ph: 619-592-9950 Fax: 619-592-0802 NB Engineering, Inc. 2110 Priest Drive, Suite 1 Crofton, MD 21114 Contact: Ralph LaBarge Ph: 301-721-5725 Fax: 301-721-5726 Southwest Research Institute 6220 Culebra Rd. San Antonio, TX 78228 Contact: Dr. Katherine Golas Ph: 512-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 2-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 Digital Renaissance 366 Adelaide St. W., Suite 505 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Contact: Perry Keller Ph: 416-593-5070 Fax: 416-593-1571 Integrated Training Systems, Inc. 10840 Thornmint Rd., Suite 113 San Diego, CA 92127 Contact: Dr. Michael See Ph: 619-592-9950 Fax: 619-592-0802 NB Engineering, Inc. 2110 Priest Drive, Suite 1 Crofton, MD 21114 Contact: Ralph LaBarge Ph: 301-721-5725 Fax: 301-721-5726 Southwest Research Institute 6220 Culebra Rd. San Antonio, TX 78228 Contact: Dr. Katherine Golas Ph: 512-522-2094 Fax: 512-522-2572 buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Copyright 1992 Intel Corporation. TECHniques is published by the Multimedia & Supercomputing Components Group of Intel Corp. All submissions and correspondence should be sent to: Editor: TECHniques Intel Corporation 313 Enterprise Drive Plainsboro, NJ 08536 Ethernet, DVI, ActionMedia, and i750 are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. Intel386 and i386 are trademarks of Intel Corp. MEDIAscript is a trademark of Network Technology. Token-Ring is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. LANplex is a trademark of Synernetics, Inc. VideoComm is a trademark of ProtoComm Corp. NewWorld is a trademark of Digital Video Arts. Presentation Manager is a trademark of IBM Corp. Stock Video is a trademark of Jasmine Multimedia Publishing, Inc. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Corp. Authology is a registered trademark of CEIT Systems, Inc. OS/2 is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. Toolbook is a trademark of Asymetrix Corp. Netware is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Harvard Graphics is a registered trademark of Software Publishing Corp. Lumena is a registered trademark of Time Arts, Inc. Superbase is a trademark of Software Publishing Corp. Lotus Notes is a trademark of Lotus Development Corp. QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Corp. EyeQ is a trademark of New Video Corp. Splice is a trademark of Digital Media International D/Vision is a trademark of TouchVision Systems, Inc. Faxback is a registered trademark of Faxback Corporation buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen high-speed servers and to other high-performance workgroups throughout a large site. Having the ability to allocate high bandwidth anywhere within a campus setting provides a great deal of flexibility in supporting organizational changes, locating servers and their associated workgroups, and supporting growth. For more information about LANplex please contact Tom Medrick at (508) 670- 9009. about LANplex please contact Tom Medrick at (508) 670- 9009. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Multimedia Networking by Dan Heist ProtoComm Corporationnn Today, many personal computers in the United States are connected to local area networks. These networks provide users with shared access to files and information. As personal computers are configured with DVI* hardware, there will be a need to network DVI video files. Video files are bulky (approximately nine megabytes per minute) and in some instances must be periodically updated. Distributing video files to the local storage of stand-alone computers may be impractical or costly. It is more convenient for video files to reside on a file server and have DVI applications access these files in real-time. Using standard networking software it is possible to store video files on a file server and then redirect video file access requests to it. Suppose, for example, you have developed or purchased a training application that includes two hours of short video clips. Your personal computer is connected to a standard network. You could copy the video clips to the network drive (normally the F: drive) of your file server and then redirect the application to access these files from the server. The results obtained will depend on the type of network hardware and software you are using. If you have fairly high-performance network components, your application will probably be able to access the video clips on the server without degrading the quality of the audio and video. However, for many local area networks, you will notice that playing video clips from the file server introduces unacceptable delays in the video and audio. Furthermore, if you try to access the same files from other workstations at the same time, the quality of the audio and video deteriorates as the number of workstations increases. If your network and server are being used by "non-video" applications, the audio and video quality will deteriorate further. Fortunately, software is now available which overcomes many of the problems associated with networking video files. ProtoComm Corporation, working in cooperation with Novell, Inc. has developed a set of NetWare* Loadable Modules (NLMs) which facilitate networking DVI multimedia applications on standard networks such as Ethernet*, Token Ring* or fiber optic networks using standard file servers. These NLMs are extensions to Novell's NetWare 3.11 operating system and can be loaded into your file server memory along with NetWare. The NLMs provide: * A specialized server/mass storage interface for accessing video files in real-time. * A client/server network protocol designed specifically for accessing video files in real-time. * Prioritization of video data access over non-video data. * Control functions for regulating the data rate of individual video streams on the network. ProtoComm's NLMs, which go by the product name VideoComm*, allow DVI applications to access and share video files at the same time over a network without degrading audio and video quality. VideoComm also prioritizes video file access over data file (non-video) access so that data applications will not disrupt the quality of audio and video playback. VideoComm will be available in three versions for five, ten and 64 simultaneous, full-motion file playbacks over a network. The five playback version is shipping ProtoComm's software will provide support for a variety of DVI software platforms including DOS-AVSS (shipping), DOS NewWorld* from Digital Video Arts (currently in beta), DVI Multimedia Audio/Video Kernel Software Development Kit for Windows* (currently in beta), Fluent Machine's Fluency*, New Video's EyeQ products (DVI multimedia for the Macintosh*) and OS/2*. For more information on VideoComm, contact Dan Heist at (215) 245-2040. n Heist at (215) 245-2040. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen FAXBACK For Those Who Can't Wait Intel Corporation has recently introduced FAXBACK*, a new service which provides instant information at your fingertips. FAXBACK allows the caller to promptly receive information on a particular topic via fax, hence the name - FAXBACK! FAXBACK has information on various Intel products and the latest addition is the DVI* multimedia information packet. The packet includes: * Information about DVI multimedia products * Information about DVI technology training and seminars * Information on where to purchase ActionMedia* II boards as well as other Intel products * and much more. Additional information will be included in the FAXBACK catalogs as it becomes available. To receive the DVI multimedia information packet or other Intel product information, call FAXBACK at 1-800-628-2283 and request catalog #5. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen IntelACCESS Intel Corporation now has a free service called ACCESS, which is available to companies and individuals developing software for Intel products, including the Intel386* and Intel486* microprocessors and the i750* VideoProcessor. The primary purpose of ACCESS is to provide technical information to software developers. This information includes benchmarks, programming techniques, optimization techniques and tradeshow opportunities. Additional information on microprocessor errata and future product information will be available to developers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Intel Corporation. The first program offered through ACCESS is a forum on the CompuServe* Information Service (GO IntelACCESS). On this forum developers will be able to download technical information as well as ask questions about Intel microprocessors. ACCESS members are also able to receive free copies of many Intel technical documents and receive discounts on others. Future technical and marketing services are planned for ACCESS in late 1992. To register for ACCESS please contact Roe Fowler (CompuServe 76711,374), or Clif Purkiser (CompuServe 76711,373). You can also call the Intel literature hot- line at 1-800-548-4725, and ask for an ACCESS folder (Order #241316-001). This folder contains all the necessary information to sign-up for this service. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Developer News Digital Media International has released SPLICE*, an audio/video editor for DVI* multimedia. The SPLICE editor allows developers to easily view, manipulate, and merge DVI multimedia AVSS files. The SPLICE video viewer allows for precise control of edit points, featuring slow-motion and reverse play, all with synchronous audio. Also, SPLICE features digital mixing of audio streams, allowing multiple audio streams to be merged, overlapped, faded-in and faded-out. SPLICE offers editing for both PLV and RTV files, and is compatible with MEDIAscript* and other authoring languages. The SPLICE editor runs under the Presentation Manager* interface of OS/2* versions 1.3 and higher. Plans for DOS and Windows* versions are scheduled for release in the Summer of 1992. Jasmine Multimedia Publishing, Inc. introduces Stock Video* and Music on compact disks for DVI multimedia. These CD-ROMs hold over seven hours of fully orchestrated music and 1,000 digitally mastered clips of RTV (Real-Time Video). All of the clips can be used royalty-free. The video files are compatible with all DVI applications, including those applications created under Windows, DOS, and OS/2. To receive more information on Jasmine Stock Video, please call toll-free 1-800- 798-7535. TouchVision Systems, Inc., announced it is demonstrating Version 2 of its D/Vision* video editing software with compressed digital video at full-screen 3/4" U-Matic resolution. D/Vision Version 2 uses the new "B" series of Intel's DVI multimedia compression technology. This means applications can now use the DVI digital video to directly create a finished master tape on their PC with only a camcorder. D/Vision provides video editing, digital audio editing/mixing, special effects generation and graphical overlay all in one package. For more information on D/Vision, please contact Terry Potter at TouchVision Systems, Inc., 312-989-2160. Toshiba Corporation and FAST Electronics have jointly developed a multimedia laptop PC. Based on a Toshiba T6400 computer, the systems contains a 3.5 inch CD-ROM drive, color LCD screen and a specially-developed DVI delivery board. For further information call FAST Electronics at (508) 655-3278. buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen copyright 1992 Intel Corporation Ethernet, DVI, ActionMedia, and i750 are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. Intel386 and i386 are trademarks of Intel Corp. MEDIAscript is a trademark of Network Technology. Token-Ring is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. LANplex is a trademark of Synernetics, Inc. VideoComm is a trademark of ProtoComm Corp. NewWorld is a trademark of Digital Video Arts. Presentation Manager is a trademark of IBM Corp. Stock Video is a trademark of Jasmine Multimedia Publishing, Inc. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Corp. Authology is a registered trademark of CEIT Systems, Inc. OS/2 is a trademark of IBM Corp. Toolbook is a trademark of Asymetrix Corp. Netware is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Harvard Graphics is a registered trademark of Software Publishing Corp. Lumena is a registered trademark of Time Arts, Inc. Superbase is a trademark of Software Publishing Corp. Lotus Notes is a trademark of Lotus Development Corp. QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Corp. EyeQ is a trademark of New Video Corp. TECHniques is published by the Multimedia & Supercomputing Components Group of Intel Corp. All submissions and correspondence should be sent to: Editor: TECHniques Intel Corporation 313 Enterprise Drive Plainsboro, NJ 08536 buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen Instructions for running TECHniques: Electronic Edition TECHniques: Electronic Edition is an Asymetrix(R) ToolbooK(R) application. If you have Toolbook installed on your PC, then just copy TECH.TBK onto your Toolbook directory and open it. If you do not have Toolbook, then you can use the runtime module (TBKRUN.zip). Make a directory named TOOLBOOK, and copy, then unzip all of the files, including TECH.TBK to it. FILE0013CHK FILE0014CHK |||88xp )|*8+ As the demand for digital audio/visual systems grows over the next few years, business, government, and other institutions will increasingly require network systems that allow many people to view - often simultaneously - A/V information from a server or a live feed while retaining their current network functions. Applications that work on the network today should remain largely unchanged when video is added. To the user, video must be added invisibly to the network. To avoid the need for duplication of large video files, one copy of a digital video file should serve as many applications, systems and kinds of machines as possible. The network and servers will need to handle different compression and file formats - e.g., JPEG, MPEG, Px64 and other standards as they develop. To promote the widespread installation and use of digital audio/visual applications, the client network connection should be standard and low-cost. This means the use of existing network connections in the client rather than special or additional network connections to provide video services. By centralizing video service resources at the video server, the total cost for institutions that have many video applications users is reduced. The problems and challenges of adding video to networks Managing and transmitting digital audio/visual data such as video or animation poses two major challenges; dealing with large file size and handling the time- dependent demands of audio/visual data types. This is particularly difficult when sharing the information on networks and servers. The large file sizes associated with digital audio/visual information pose an obvious need for large disk drives or multiple disk systems and high data transmissions speeds. Even compressed video provided by Intel's DVI* multimedia requires a continuous 1-2Mbps transmission speed and 0.5 to 1GB of storage for one hour of playback. A less obvious problem results from audio/visual information itself, which is fundamentally different from the kind of data that typically travels across a LAN (i.e., word processing, database, or spreadsheet data). Digital audio/visual information takes the form of a stream of data that must arrive on time. Typical LANs work with "bursty" requests for data. File systems and most server communication buses are designed to handle this type of bursty traffic. They are, however, inefficient when handling the simultaneous, continuous, large block data transfers that are needed for streaming audio/visual data. It is also extremely difficult to manage random, bursty data and streaming data applications with the same microprocessor. Streaming audio/visual data also conflicts with the way that LANs and multitasking operating systems allocate resources via democratic schemes, in which applications take turns. When the network, bus, or other resource is busy, everything slows down. No data has priority over any other. To a typical network, bits are bits, regardless of the type of represented information. The inefficiency of democratic resource-sharing schemes is compounded by the overhead needed to allow applications to take turns and for detecting errors and correcting them. These functions are important for typical software applications, but are not as important for audio/visual media. For example, the human eye can overlook one incorrect pixel in a television image, but an incorrect number in your bank balance would not be tolerated! Audio/visual information, which is based on time, is not useful if it slows down and speeds up according to network traffic flow. Video is neither slow nor fast, it either works or it does not work. Therefore, managing data-flow is the key to all multimedia computing, especially on networks. Digital bottlenecks for video Audio/visual data on a network hits a series of bottlenecks. This is not surprising since personal computers and networks were not designed to handle this kind of rich data type. Along the digital path which connects the disk drive on a server to a client computer, these bottlenecks limit the video stream speed or interrupt the video. The bottlenecks occur in disk drives, system buses, processors, networks, and the various interfaces and buffers that are between the parts of the system. The problem areas are highlighted in Figure 1. Let's look at the typical setting for networked digital video--a training room with 30 DVI multimedia stations and an audio/visual server. Mission-critical training requires that users instantly view video when it is requested. The high-resolution video in this example requires about 1.5Mbps per video stream, therefore, each desktop must continuously handle 1.5Mbps, while the video server must handle an aggregate of 30 streams - 45 Mps - simultaneously. A system like this will run into many problems if it uses ordinary client/server hardware and software. As Figure 1 shows, the storage subsystem will have to handle 30 simultaneous users, even if they were to request the same 60-second video clip 2 seconds apart. The server will have to handle the same 45Mbps throughout internally. The network will have to handle 45Mbps from the server and 1.5Mbps per desktop, and finally, the client network interface will have to receive the video and still allow concurrent access to other network applications (e.g., Email, text, database, etc.). A normal networked server system could not accomplish this. Fortunately cost-effective solutions are available. Star networks easily satisfy video requirements While some amount of digital video can be handled by almost any network, for any significant application care must be taken to structure the network appropriately. Today, computers are increasingly turning to star-topology networks based on inexpensive twisted-pair phone wire and a line for each client computer (figure 2). These networks are popular because they use inexpensive telephone-style wire and are installed the same way as a typical phone system. Moves, adds, and changes are simplified because, as with a telephone network, each client has its own cable, unlike the "snaked" cable of a bus network, which has to be rerouted for new clients, moves, and changes. For these reasons, networking experts see star networks or "structured wiring" as the dominant method of networking in the 1990s and beyond. These networks also offer the best topology for serving the bandwidth needs of video. To create a star topology, "hubs" have become increasingly common hardware features on LANs. One of the most popular hub devices is the 10baseT type of hub for Ethernet* networks. Such networks already represent about 70 percent of new Ethernet installations. Another popular network, IBM's Token-Ring*, has used a star topology since its introduction. Although today's 10baseT Ethernet and Token-Ring networks data into existing applications, the video should look like ordinary data to any application. To an SQL database application, it should look like SQL, to a spreadsheet, it should look like another part of the file structure. Ideally, this should be accomplished with only one copy of the data, and yet support a range of computer platforms and operating systems. Finally, a video networking solution should be able to handle any type of video application, including desktop teleconferencing. This means that servers should be able to manage data streams just as a telephone switch handles audio traffic. I have briefly described how a server optimized for video can efficiently solve video network bottlenecks. To create such a server, you could either enhance an existing server or add an "application specific" server to the network. Enhancing an existing server will likely result in many compromises and have an impact on its ability to handle non-video data. Multimedia solutions in today's environment The solution for networked multimedia does not have to be an expensive fiber optic network or a parallel video network. Today's star networks can do the job at reasonable costs, without special client networking hardware. A 10baseT hub that is turbocharged to handle video allows us at Starlight Networks to serve the video clients within our current network environment, and a specialized server can handle the processing and storage management needs of audio/visual media and provide superior video support without compromising current network applications. For more information about Starlight Networks please contact Jim Long at (415) 967-0574. s please contact Jim Long at (415) 967-0574. showbottlehot bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks showbottlehot2 bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks showstarhot Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar The Challenges of Networking Video Applications by Jim Long Starlight Networks hidebottle bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks Lose Figure 1 showstar Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar Figure 2 buttonUp buttonUp Table of Contents buttonUp buttonUp Next Article bottlenecks showbottle bottlenecks Bshowbottle Bhidebottle buttonUp buttonUp hidebottle showbottle bottlenecks Figure 1 hidestar Bshowstar Bhidestar buttonUp buttonUp hidestar showstar Lose Figure 2 1440, 1440, 1440, 1440 360, 360 printerPageBitmap buttonUp buttonUp Print This Screen