Synchronization of temporal constructs in distributed multimedia systems with controlled accuracy

With the inception of technology in communication networks such as ATM, it will be possible to run multimedia applications on future integrated networks. Synchronization of the related media data is one of the key characteristics of a multimedia system. In this paper we present a scheme for synchronization of multimedia data across a network where the accuracy of detecting asynchronization and predicting the future asynchrony is variable and can be tailored to the intended application. The multimedia data when sent across the network may also be stored at an intermediate node and later retrieved for display. We extend the scheme and present a mechanism wherein synchronization of all the possible temporal constructs is supported and not restricted to the “in-parallel” construct which is only one of the thirteen possible temporal relations