An architecture for operating system support of distributed multimedia systems

Distributed multimedia applications introduce new design challenges at all systems levels from network protocols and operating systems to application support platforms. The paper describes an object-oriented architecture integrating network services with the operating system to support distributed multimedia systems. The architecture, called Dynamic Object Architecture (DOA), is based on Open Distributed Processing (ODP), the international standard on distributed system and client-server architecture. DOA utilizes object-oriented technology to address the requirements of distributed multimedia systems such as continuous media, natural synchronization, dynamic Quality of Service (QoS) and group communication. The architecture also provides a path using mature industry standards to develop new applications while retaining compatibility of old applications.