Synchronization architecture and protocols for a multimedia news service application

We present a complete software control architecture for synchronizing multiple data streams generated from distributed media-storing database servers without the use of a global clock. Traffic prediction and scheduling is performed by the independent sources for the remote presentation. Certain compensation mechanisms at the receiver are also necessary because of the random network delays. A stream synchronization protocol (SSP) allows for synchronization recovery to preserve a high quality multimedia display at the receiver. SSP uses synchronization quality of service parameters to guarantee the simultaneous delivery of the different types of data streams. The various components of the architecture interact to provide real-time multimedia functions such as those found on VCRs