A novel decoder-downloadable system for content-oriented coding

AbstracG In this paper, a new system architecture called decoderdownloadable system is described. The purpose of this system is to provide a uniform platform for the multimedia world bared on image compressions using characteridics oftbe contenb. This s y s tem enables dynamic decoder downloading by negotiationbetween sewers and clients for seamless and minimum delay playback This negotiation scheme is implemented by Java and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker). Thus, serwrs and clients in this system are independent from OSes and hardware speeifieations. This system is suitable for TV broadcasting as well as Internet streaming. We improve a decoder architecture in order to make the system more flexible. A decoder has Some functions such as bitrtream parsing,image compression algorithm (DCT, Wavelet, Motion estimation and so on). However, conventional decoders are monolithic software. Thus, it is impossible to share parts ofdecoders. The proposed method enables a module-based decoder and sharing some modules among some decoders. Consequently, the Rerible decoder can make downloading time shorter by avoidance to download redundant parts ofdecoders. It also achieves scalability enabling this system to be used in some multimedia applications, such as a multimedia eontent search system as well as a multimedia player.