An experimental ATM-based video-on-demand system on a Macintosh platform

Video-on-demand (VOD) systems can support multiple concurrent video accesses with guaranteed user-controlled quality of service (QoS). The growth of VOD systems is driven by the increasing need for distributed multimedia applications such as company training, distance learning, telemedicine, and home entertainment. We propose and demonstrate an ATM-based (asynchronous transfer mode) VOD system (including VOD servers, clients and connection networks) based on a Macintosh platform. ATM is a promising network standard which may satisfy various requirements of VOD systems. In this VOD system, time-based data are encoded and decoded using the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) standard. Issues related to VOD system design, including the multimedia programming environment, the required system modification to support remote MPEG playback, ATM networking, process scheduling, and buffer management for both VOD servers and clients, are discussed and analyzed based on the Macintosh platform. A prototype VOD system is used to explore the design issues proposed. The Macintosh platform provided an efficient and jitter-free VOD system supporting MPEG movie playback through ATM networks.