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Abstract:
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The technological advances in digital communications made it feasible to build a new type of broadband networks to homes called "interactive multimedia networks". The interactive multimedia networks merge the features of conventional networks and provide the feasibility to transfer megabits of data over it. These networks bring a completely new spectrum of multimedia services, which comprises of offered by conventional networks as well as a new set of services based on the capabilities of the interactive multimedia network. The data transfer rates offered by conventional network is quite low compared to the interactive multimedia network, whose capabilities can be efficiently utilized for high speed data transfers. The interactive multimedia network model is client-server based, in which the server sources the content and delivers it to the client through the network. The client device, for example a set-top-box, a multimedia terminal terminal connected to a TV or PC with multimedia capabilities, enables the users with access to the services provided by network and servers connected to the network.The term "download" denotes a mean for transferring data from an entity to another using a network as a medium. The end-to-end download system involves mainly three components: client, network and server. This work describes the interactive multimedia networks in general including the requirements put on download system by various components of the system and also presents the details of an end-to-end download system implementation in a trial network. The system implementation is based on a protocol standard Digital Storage Media Command and Control, DSM-CC, which is a part of the MPEG-2 standard set. DSM-CC standard (ISO/IEC 13818-6) (MPEG-2) and had been accepted as International Standard (IS) by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in July 1996. DSM-CC provides for accessing a multimedia network and services. /Kir10 |