QoS-based media retrieval for networked digital archives

When digital multimedia data are retrieved from distributed digital archives, Quality of Service (QoS) criteria can be used to enhance the userʹs usability. In this paper, assuming best-effort networks as the infrastructure, we describe a multimedia (MM) retrieval method based on the QoS concept for MM data archives in heterogeneous communication environments. We introduce a multi-level QoS model and use response time, which is calculated based on a system-level QoS criterion, as an application-level QoS criterion. The order of retrieving MM data is determined, based on both key-word matching using key words specified by the user and the application-level QoS criterion. A prototype system is developed for retrieving sightseeing-related MM data including video, images, voice, and text. The proposed method of data retrieval has a shorter response time than methods that do not take QoS criteria into account. Also, a search method based on key-word association is described that enables wide-area search and effective information finding.