Desktop multimedia communications-breaking the chains

It is noted that desktop multimedia is achievable today only if it is confined to a single personal computer using direct connections to laser disks, CD-ROMS, and other multimedia data sources. It is suggested that, in order to make multimedia data and services available to individuals connected via local and wide-area networks, special operating system hardware and software are needed. Special network management and services will be required to support bandwidth allocation, time (latency and synchronization) control, and data format conversion. The large bandwidths and real-time characteristics of multimedia affect network requirements. In addition, support in operating system software, dedicated hardware, application interfaces, and new internal buses are required to extend media off of the desktop and into the network