Bostjan Marusic

Share it! - content transfer in home-to-home networks

This paper presents a possible solution for the introduction of a complementary distribution chain into the broadcast environment. In the described scenario, personal video recorders with local storage are networked into an ad-hoc home-to-home network based on an emerging peer-to-peer protocol that enables broadcast as well as home-produced content sharing. The paper presents the current system architecture as conceived within a consortium working on the Share it! project.

Peer to peer search engine and collaboration platform based on JXTA protocol

In this paper we are going to present the architecture of peer-to-peer collaborative framework. The peer-to-peer technologies used in this research are based on Java implementation of JXTA protocol. The communication services that are implemented on presented peer-to-peer network do not depend on centralized servers and are therefore immune to server infrastructure faults. Moreover an advantage of the presented approach is the ability to seamlessly establish communication through firewalls and proxy servers (e.g. NAT server).

A three-dimensional extension of the SUSAN filter for wavelet video coding artifact removal

This paper proposes two extensions of the smallest univalue segment assimilating nucleus (SUSAN) filter to three dimensions. The obtained filters, i.e. 2D+T and 3D SUSAN provide a viable solution to video post-processing with the goal of wavelet coding artifact removal. Both filter extensions incorporate motion estimation in order to apply the temporal filtering stage along the motion trajectories in order to take advantage of inter-frame correlation. Empirical results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

TIRAMISU: A novel approach to content representation and key management for seamless super-distribution of protected media

Abstract Media delivery over heterogeneous networks requires both flexible representation and robust protection of content. This paper provides details on the framework for audiovisual content creation, delivery, consumption and protection as conceived within the IST project The Innovative Rights and Access Management Interplatform SolUtion. The proposed framework is based on the emerging MPEG-21 standard for multimedia content delivery and consumption and at the same time it complements it in several aspects, most notably by fully specifying a digital rights management (DRM) scheme. Central to the described framework is a novel key management system, relying on smartcards, which addresses many issues that previously blocked wider adoption of DRM: obtrusiveness of the DRM technology perceived by the end-user, flexibility in licence formulation and adequate level of trust as requested by content owners.

A matching pursuit enhanced three-dimensional wavelet transform coder

This paper presents a video coding approach that is based on a motion compensated three-dimensional wavelet transform, bitplane context based entropy coding with prescanning and matching pursuit approximation of temporal high frequency subbands. This approach to video coding is novel despite of the fact it is a mixture of existing techniques. Experimental results reveal its high competitiveness when compared to the existing MPEG-2 video compression standard.

Spatio-temporal post-filtering of 3-D coded video sequences

Lossy video coding using wavelet transforms at low bit-rates results in coding artifacts mainly observed as ringing effects. The performance of a coding system can be additionally enhanced if a spatio-temporal post-processing algorithm is applied at the end of the coding chain. The description of an adaptive spatio-temporal algorithm is the objective of this paper. The algorithm takes into account the motion information to avoid temporal blurring of moving edges and spatial edge information to avoid spatial blurring while implementing temporal and spatial filtering in order to alleviate the presence of the artifacts. Motion information is used in order to tune the algorithm adaptively so that motion compensated temporal filtering is applied only in non-motion areas and motion areas with low prediction error. The proposed algorithm uses adaptive spatial filtering that is based on edge detection and ringing area estimation for pixel classification in edge and non-edge corrupted pixels. Spatial filtering leaves edges unaffected to preserve image details. Experimented results show significant increase in perceptual quality of wide sequences.

Video Post-Processing with Adaptive 3-D Filters for Wavelet Ringing Artifact Removal

This paper reports on the suitability of the SUSAN filter for the removal of artifacts that result from quantization errors in wavelet video coding. In this paper two extensions of the original filter are described. The first uses a combination of 2-D spatial filtering followed by 1-D temporal filtering along motion trajectories, while the second extension is a pure 3-D motion compensated SUSAN filter. The SUSAN approach effectively reduces coding artifacts, while preserving the original signal structure, by relying on a simple pixel-difference-based classification procedure. Results reported in the paper clearly indicate that both extensions efficiently reduce ringing that is the prevalent artifact perceived in wavelet-based coded video. Experimental results indicate an increase in perceptual as well as objective (PSNR) decoded video quality, which is competitive with state-of-the-art post-processing algorithms, especially when low computational demands of the proposed approach are taken into account.

Two-way video transmission trial over SHDSL

This paper discusses two-way video transmission over SHDSL. We have tested the performance of the SHDSL modems by establishing real-time video sessions at data rates up to 6408 kbps. The range of applications that could benefit from the deployment of SHDSL technology is very broad including video on demand applications, video conferencing, remote video education applications, etc. SHDSL modems can achieve symmetrical data transfers at bit rates as high as 4608 kbps using copper-wire infrastructure.

The MUFFINS online store - buy it in the MPEG-21 way

Multimedia technology is being developed in light-speed velocity. The number of different players in the multimedia value and delivery chain is constantly increasing. New multimedia services and applications are emerging daily and furthermore, they are evolving constantly. However, the speed of the development, mass of information, numerous information providers and consumers, pose a great threat to the development of multimedia technology. This can be abridged by an adherence to the open standards, such as MPEG-21 multimedia framework. MPEG-21 is trying to set up an abstract model, which could unambiguously describe the multimedia content, allow seamless access and delivery of the content including the intellectual property management and protection mechanisms. Even more, the abstract model being developed is designed to allow future technologies to be implemented within. MPEG-21 promises to solve several issues within the domain of multimedia content distribution. Nevertheless this remains to be proven through implementation and wide acceptance. Consequently, the MUFFINS (multimedia framework for interoperability in secure environments) project has started to closely follow and monitor the development of the MPEG-21 standard, also implemented in an MPEG-21 real-life scenario. The goal of this study is to prove the MPEG-21 concept and to show its impact on the multimedia technology development as well as to monitor and contribute to the development of MPEG-21 standard. In this article, the basic concepts of the MPEG-21 standard and the MUFFINS project are presented.

Wavelet Centric Video Coding and Coding Artifact Concealment

This chapter introduces an approach to video coding, which is inspired by the multidimensional extensibility of the wavelet transform. A full video coding system including a post-processing stage for decoded video enhancement is presented and discussed. The video coding approach builds upon a three-dimensional motion compensated wavelet transform and context based coding of bitplanes. As such it is a digression from standard hybrid coding. Video post-processing follows a similar three-dimensional philosophy and is based on a three-dimensional extension of the SUSAN (Smallest Univalue Segment Assimilating Nucleus) image-filtering algorithm. Empirical evaluations reveal that the proposed video coding/enhancement approach provides a viable alternative to hybrid video coding. Although most of the underlying concepts are at least reviewed through the chapter, the knowledge of basic wavelet theory and basics of (arithmetic) entropy coding is a prerequisite.