An adaptive multiplexer for multi-modal data communication

Recent trends in multimedia applications strive to incorporate multi-modal media, such as audio, video, graphics, and particularly haptics to enhance the user´s quality of experience. However each media type has a particular Quality of Service (QoS) requirement. The efficient use of network resources and the optimal distribution of these resources to all media streams remain an important challenge. This paper presents an adaptive and intelligent multiplexer for multiple input media streams based on the application requirements and the network conditions in a limited-resources network. The multiplexer adapts its multiplexing scheme and guarantees the allocation of minimum resources that are sufficient to make haptics interactions stable. The simulation results show that the proposed multiplexer provides the application immunity to dynamic changes in the network resources, and optimizes the communication of multimedia data based on their corresponding priorities.