GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

Course Number:    CS673

Course Title:          Multimedia Computing

Pre-requisite          CS 571

Instructor:              Arun Sood

Office Phone:        993-1554

Office Hours:         Tuesday           3:30 to 4:20 PM
                                   

E-mail:     asood@gmu.edu.  Messages must include CS673 as the first 5 characters of  the Subject line. Generally e-mail is good for clarifying or confirming information.  I  prefer short and precise messages, and you can expect similar responses.  If you find that the reply is too terse, and requires clarification - do not hesitate to see the instructor.  If you require more details, a face to face meeting is strongly recommended.  E-mail is not a substitute for face to face meetings.

Course Content: The convergence of computing, communications and display technologies has lead to growing interest in the processing of multiple data types.  In this course the focus will be on multimedia applications and the technological issues involved.  The course will cover a mix of the following topics:

     Applications: Pointers to Requirements
Introduction to sampling and compression
Compression techniques (JPEG, MPEG)
Authoring Systems
Distributed MM servers
Network Architectures
Synchronization
Storage
Hypermedia

Reference Sources

Text:  Halsall, Multimedia Communications, Applications, Networks, Protocols and Standards.

Handbook of Multimedia Computing, Edited by B. Fuhrt, CRC Press, 1999.
Raghavan and Tripathi, Networked Multimedia Systems - Concepts, Architecture and Design, Prentice Hall.
Steinmetz and Nahrstedt, Multimedia: Computeing Communicating and Applications, Prentice Hall.
Fuhrt, Somliar and Zhang, Video and image Processing in Multimedia Systems, Kluwer.
Buford, JFK, Multimedia Systems, Addison Wesley, 1994.
Hodges, M.E. and R. M. Sasnett, Multimedia Computing - Case Studies from MIT Project Athena, Addison Wesley, 1993.
IEEE Multimedia.
IEEE Transactions on Multimedia.

Lecture Strategy.            The set of topics covered will include theoretical underpinnings of some of the technological issues involved in Multimedia Computing.  Key motivating applications will be discussed.  Through a combination of class seminars, projects and paper reviews, the students will be exposed to the key issues in Multimedia Computing. 

The “text” is only a starting point.  Additional reference list will be provided in class.  The course will require the students to become familiar with at least one multimedia authoring tool. Students will have the option to undertake a simulation to model Quality of Service, Quality of Presentation, Performance, Throughput issues.

Grade      The grade will be computed based on projects, class participation, mid-term and final exams.
Tentative Mix: Project 1: 10; Project 2: 15; Project 3: 15; Project 4: 20.  Mid-semester exam: 20; Final: 20. Class Participation: 10.                                 

Honor Code         Honor Code procedures will be strictly adhered. Students are required to be familiar with the honor code. You must not utilize unauthorized material or consultation in responding to your tests. Violations of the honor code will be reported. Unless otherwise stated, homework assignments must be based on the student’s own effort.

Please be sure that you are aware of all provisions of the GMU Honor Code {http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/acadpol.html#honor}.