This lecture is based on Chapter 1 of the Wu text. Unlike most Chapter 1's in texts, this one actually has a good deal of useful information in it.

The following "Queries" are questions to guide your study. You should write out answers to these questions, because about 3 times in the semester (if I find the time) I will take up your answers. Much more often than that, I'll call on you in the class and if you haven't got an answer, then you lose a class participation point. More importantly, the Queries are the best way to study for the midterm and final exams.

Please note: Many of the answers to these queries will NOT be found in the text. That's why you pay me to lecture. If you cannot make it to class, it is essential that your study-buddy be there. Somebody had better read the queries before class, and be ready to capture the ideas as they go by in the class discussion. I CANNOT MAKE UP WORK FOR YOU.

However, if specific questions arise, my office hours are always available. That's different from "what did we do in the last class?"

Query 1.1: Describe two reasons why data compression is essential for multimedia.

Query 1.2: Describe the following two transmittion properties: bandwidth and jitter. Describe at least one application in which bandwidth is the primary concern, and another in which jitter is the primary concern.

Query 1.3: Go on the Web and see if you can find the details of the Multimedia PC Level 3 Specification, mentioned on Page 10. Evaluate your own PC to see in what ways it meets or fails to meet MPC3.

Query 1.4: Would you recommend JPEG or GIF for transmitting the sunday cartoons from the newspaper? Why?

Query 1.5: How is MPEG-4 fundamentally different from its predecessors MPEG-1 and MPEG-2? What is the key element being added to make MPEG-7?

Query 1.6: I have a company with offices in Baltimore and Orlando. I want to connect their LANs together so that we can share files between computers. the Internet is both unreliable and insecure. What other options do I have, and whom would I buy these services from?

Query 1.7: Define asynchronous, synchronous and isochronous information.

Query 1.8: What is the "final mile problem?" Who do you think is gonna win the shoot-out between telcos with DSL and cable operators with HFC?

Forward to next lecture
Back to the Index
Back to the Syllabus