Real-time data delivery for multimedia networks

A coherent computer-based multimedia presentation requires the use of real-time scheduling theory applied to system resources including storage devices, the bus, and network. In this paper we present a scheduling technique which is essentially static in nature during periods of network quiescence, but becomes dynamic in response to detection of network load changes or user interaction. This mechanism, called the limited a priori (LAP) scheduler, is an extension of earlier work on scheduling which assumed guaranteed system loading characteristics. The LAP scheduler determines network load changes and estimates packet delay using a dynamic filtering algorithm. We show the bounds of accuracy for this technique and describe its suitability with respect to multimedia traffic across an FDDI network.