Low-bandwidth Internet streaming of multimedia lectures

Traditional modes of communications are inadequate for distance learning in the information age. With advances in computer technology, the Internet offers great opportunities for educational exchange of ideas across vast distances. This paper proposes an end-to-end solution for streaming ´live´ and recorded multimedia lectures over the Internet. The technical issues involved are first discussed and the importance of application-layer QoS control in ensuring an acceptable quality of multimedia lecture play-out emphasised. A hybrid architecture that uses an exchange server to handle communications and represents an optimal balance between several conflicting requirements is then proposed. In this architecture video/audio data are transferred directly between the streaming servers and clients. Objective and subjective tests have validated the effectiveness of the design