A network management and control scenario for multimedia applications

Emergence of multimedia applications requires that appropriate management and control activities be provided and organized in a somewhat integrated framework. Such issues as coordination of operations on the shared information, provision of the user requirements in terms of quality of service and efficient handling of the available network resources result in more critical problems when they regard multimedia objects. Mainly this is due to the time-constrained requirements that arise from the need of synchronization among multiple streams of information which are different in their nature and granularity. This paper discusses the impact of the above issues on network management and control and proposes an architectural model for the management and control of broadband applications that require handling of multimedia information.