A component model for transmission and processing of synchronized multimedia data flows

Our research deals with distributed multimedia applications built on software components. Currently, multimedia data are omnipresent on the Internet. However, this network is not designed to support and transmit multimedia data. In this perspective, it is necessary to introduce quality of service management in this kind of applications. In this paper, we are particularly interested in the interflow synchronization (e.g. audio and image flows of a video). We develop a component model in order to tackle the synchronization between multimedia flows from the source (e.g. media capture) to the destination (e.g. media player). This model is named OSAGAIA and is made of two entities. The first one is called elementary processor. It is used as the runtime environment (component container) for multimedia components. The second one is called conduit. It is used to transport synchronous multimedia flows between elementary processors. So, distributed applications are composed of multimedia components (within containers) connected by multimedia flows (within conduits). We are working on a distributed prototype which validates the synchronization algorithms that we use. It is implemented with Java language using JMF (Java media framework) API and TCP/IP as network protocol.