Production-Quality Video Over Broadband Networks: A System Description and Two Interactive Applications

The Washington University MultiMedia eXplorer (MMX) is a complete, host-independent multimedia system capable of transmitting and receiving JPEG-compressed video, CD-quality audio, and high-resolution radiographic images over the Washington University broadband ATM network. If the host is equipped with an ATM interface card, normal network traffic can be supported via an ATM extension port on the MMX. The major components of the MMX are an ATMizer and three multimedia channels. The ATMizer implements the host interface, the interface to the ATM network, and the interface to the three multimedia channels. This paper describes the architecture of the MMX, the software used with the system, and two applications which have been developed to demonstrate the capability of broadband ATM networks for multimedia applications.