Miran Mosmondor

Application-Level QoS Negotiation and Signaling for Advanced Multimedia Services in the IMS

The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) has been recognized as a reference next-generation network architecture for offering multimedia services over an Internet Protocol (IP)-based infrastructure. One of the key benefits of the IMS is efficient and flexible introduction of new services and access to third-party application providers, thanks to standard interfaces and standardized service capabilities. To support novel media-rich applications across a wide range of user devices and access networks, IMS must support negotiable quality of service (QoS) for IP multimedia sessions. In this article, we describe the application-level QoS signaling as specified by the 3GPP and propose some enhancements based on advanced QoS parameter matching and optimization functionality to be included along the signaling path. We outline various signaling flow scenarios and discuss them in the context of a case study involving an IMS-supported 3D virtual environment, featuring a treasure-hunt-like game.

LiveMail: personalized avatars for mobile entertainment

LiveMail is a prototype system that allows mobile subscribers to communicate using personalized 3D face models created from images taken by their phone cameras. The user takes a snapshot of someones face - a friend, famous person, themselves, even a pet - using the mobile phones camera. After a quick manipulation on the phone, a 3D model of that face is created and can be animated simply by typing in some text. Speech and appropriate animation of the face are created automatically by speech synthesis. Animations can be sent to others as real 3D animated messages or as short videos in MMS. They can be used as fun messages, greeting cards etc. The system is based on a client/server communication model. The clients are mobile devices or web clients so messages can be created, sent and received on the mobile phone or on a web page. The client has a user interface that allows the user to input a facial image and place a simple mask on it to mark the main features. The client then sends this data to a server that builds a personalized face model. The client also provides an interface that lets the user request the creation of animated messages using speech synthesis. It is planned to have several versions of the client: Symbian, midlet-based, web-based, wap-based, etc. The server is responsible for sending messages adjusted to the capabilities of the receiving platform. The server, Symbian client, midlet-based client and the web client have been implemented as prototypes. We present the system architecture and the experience gained building LiveMail.

Bringing location based services to IP multimedia subsystem

As a result of the evolution of computer and networking technologies, the third generation partnership project (3GPP) has proposed the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) as a key element in the UMTS architecture supporting multimedia services in the packet switched domain. Extending the IMS with support for location based services (LBS) enables enhanced services and offer new revenues to the system. Connecting the IMS core network with a real positioning system providing support for LBS is an open issue. This paper addresses this issue and presents the design and implementation of an IMS location server (ILS) connecting the IMS with a positioning system. From the IMS perspective, ILS serves as a service enabler for LBS in the mentioned subsystem. In order to demonstrate proof-of-concept in enhancing IMS-based services, a location-aware push-to-talk (LaPoC) prototype service has been developed. The service has been integrated with the Ericsson mobile positioning system (MPS). This paper also gives the results of performance measurements including traffic load analysis and session establishment time

Service composition in IMS: A location based service example

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a standardized architectural framework for the provision of multimedia services over a packet based next generation network (NGN). We present an overview of IMS, with emphasis on use of IMS application servers and enablers for service delivery, and show how an innovative prototype service can be designed and developed based on principles of service composition and reuse of common service enablers and content resources. The prototype service, dubbed LocalNote, may be described as a location triggered messaging service enhanced with presence. It allows the originating user to create a location-based ldquosticky noterdquo in form of a SMS message, to be delivered to the recipient user(s) upon entering a designated geographical area. The service is based on a new application server in IMS and it also makes use of the presence, location, and location context enablers, as well as a map content server.

3D visualization of data on mobile devices

This paper discusses the current status and recent advancements of 3D graphics on mobile platforms and describes an application that is used for 3D visualization of data on such platforms. The implementation of a 3D visualization renderer on the Symbian platform for mobile devices is written as a C++ application and based on the diesel engine as a rendering engine. 3D visualization of data is generated in the form of a VRML (virtual reality modelling language) file so this application can also be considered as a VRML browser. This means that actually any kind of 3D content written in VRML file format can be rendered on such a device. The implementation was tested on the Sony Ericsson P800 mobile device. The results of a project, whose main objective is to provide a user interface on a mobile platform displaying the visualization of the hierarchical grid monitoring data, are also presented in this article.

3D Visualization on mobile devices

This paper discusses current status and recent advancements of 3D graphics on mobile platforms and describes open issues concerning its usage in different applications. We have treated two particular application fields. Firstly, we deal with problems of visualization of complex data structures on mobile devices. The implementation of a 3D visualization renderer on the Symbian platform for mobile devices is written as a C++ application and based on the DieselEngine® as a rendering engine. 3D visualization of data is generated in the form of a Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) file meaning that actually any kind of 3D content written in VRML file format can be rendered on such a device. It was the result of a project the objective of which was to provide a user interface on a mobile platform displaying visualization of hierarchical Grid monitoring data. Secondly, we describe the system that brings face animation to embedded platforms. Face animation is considered to be one of the toughest tasks in computer animation today and its delivery to mobile platforms brings possibilities for development of new innovative and attractive services for the mobile market.

AAL ontology: From design to validation

The biggest challenges in the area of AAL service development is heterogeneity. Possible solution to accommodate dynamic behavior of AAL system needs and diversity of system requirements is to use higher level of system abstraction by using ontology. We describe a development methodology, structure, format selection and evaluation of a proposed AAL ontology building on top of well established ontologies. We give further details on the AAL cloud system utilizing this ontology as an underlying ontology-based data model. In the case study we discuss how the AAL ontology enables service creation and orchestration and discuss needed and planned future work.

Design of a QoS Signaling API for Advanced Multimedia Applications in NGN

As a standardized NGN architecture, the 3rd generation partnership project IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) defines standard service capabilities and interfaces, as well as a common IP-based infrastructure, which enable operators to introduce new services in an efficient and flexible way. In order to exploit the capabilities offered by an IMS operator, multimedia application developers face a business challenge to create applications which can run on a variety of user devices, and possibly adapt to various network conditions and user preferences. Our goal was to identify common generic functionality related to session-level QoS signaling for advanced multimedia applications and to design a high-level application programming interface (API), which invokes this functionality. The paper describes the dynamic service adaptation model on which the proposed API is based, the API specification, and its implementation in Java. A prototype multimedia application featuring a 3D networked game provides an example of using the API

Development of low cost energy efficient home sensing internet gateway: A pilot study

A cross-domain initiative Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is utilizing ICT technologies and increasing autonomy of the elderly by building Enhanced Living Environments (ELEs). Affordable in-house devices that can be combined with highly available, infinitely scalable cloud services can deliver novel applications and user experience. Cost reduction and efficiency of the smart-home has become one of the imperatives of the countries around the world. Low cost (of-the-shelf) devices facilitate proliferation of smart services and make them more accessible to a broader audience. In this paper we present the proof-of-concept pilot solution developed to investigate the possibility to replace the expensive home-gateway server with much cheaper and energy efficient home sensing internet gateway based on the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B device.

Interactive visualization of grid monitoring data on multiple client platforms

Most current Grid monitoring systems provide a visual user interface. With recent advances in multimedia capabilities in user terminals, there is a strong trend towards interactive, multi-modal and multi-platform visualization. In this paper we describe a multi-platform visualization architecture and a Web based service built upon it, which provides a view of the monitored Grid hierarchy, and the values of selected monitoring parameters for different Grid sites. We demonstrate the application on four platforms: a desktop Personal Computer (PC), a handheld PC, a Java-enabled new-generation mobile phone, and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) enabled mobile phone.