A synchronization infrastructure for multicast multimedia at the presentation layer

In order to have computers successfully become consumer electronics, an infrastructure of multicast multimedia networking presentation architecture that allows low-end computer, e.g., a Set-Top-Box or a diskless networking PC, having isochronous multimedia p-resentations is urgently required. The paper describes a feasible multicast multimedia presentation network architecture and the corresponding presentation control mechanisms. The network architecture is based on a lower layer multicast communication network, e.g. MBONE, and provides the corresponding management of multicast multimedia presentations, which include multimedia resource management, admission management, multicast communication management, and multimedia presentation management. Based on the proposed network architecture, we present the corresponding media transmission methods, presentation control schemes, and synchronization control schemes for multicast multimedia presentations in detail.