QoX: What is it really?

ETSI TC on Human Factors

This article provides a very good article around QoX where X stands for anything, specifically it encompasses Quality of Service (QoS), Class of Service (CoS), Grade of Service (GoS), Quality of Resilience (QoR), and - last but not least - Quality of Experience (QoE).

At the beginning the article provides an overview about different QoS definitions and application/traffic/service classes as defined by various standard-developing organizations (SDOs) such as ITU-T, IETF, 3GPP, and IEEE. Also an attempt to perform the mapping between service classes defined within various approaches is given. Additionally, no so well-known terms such as Grade of Service (GoS) and Quality of Resilience are described.

The article provides a good definition of Quality of Experience (QoE), its various dimensions, and how it relates to the other QoX terms and to a general model which defines three levels of QoS: intrinsic (network performance; ITU-T E.800), perceived (QoS; ITU-T G.1000), and assessed (QoE; ITU-T P.10). It is concluded that QoE is somewhere on the border between perceived and assessed which I tend to agree. Interestingly, the article points out the various dimensions of QoE including environmental, psychological, and sociological factors such as user expectation, experience with similar services, opinions of others (i.e., social networks), pricing policies, location-based factors, etc. Also, QoE measures and metrics, classification of QoE evaluation methods, and the relationship between QoE and intrinsic quality parameters are highlighted.

Finally, the article is concluded with open issues clusters into scientific, technical, economical, and legal challenges.

In particular, I like:

• the introduction into the terminology and how QoX is realized in various SDOs (ITU-T, IETF, 3GPP, IEEE);
• the definition of QoE and its variants; and
• the challenges at the end.

However, I'm missing vital, novel, future applications in/around QoX, otherwise one might think that the aim of this research is providing a solution/fix to current issues only (btw. that's fine, don't get me wrong ;-)

Citation:
Stankiewicz, R.; Cholda, P.; Jajszczyk, A.; , "QoX: What is it really?," Communications Magazine, IEEE , vol.49, no.4, pp.148-158, April 2011
doi: 10.1109/MCOM.2011.5741159

MPEG issues Call for Proposals on 3D Video Coding Technology

The aim of this Call for Proposals (CfP) is to provide efficient compression and high quality view reconstruction of an arbitrary number of dense views. This CfP has been issued by ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 (MPEG) and the evaluation of submissions will be carried out at the 98th MPEG meeting after formal subjective evaluation.

The CfP is publicly available on the MPEG Web site and also here.

The CfP provides all necessary information regarding purpose and procedure, timeline, test material, coding classes, anchors, test conditions and parameters, submission requirements, subjective viewing requirements, test sites and delivery of test material, testing fee, source code and IPR, and contact information.

In the meantime, all details can be discussed within the so-called Ad-hoc Group (AhG) on 3D Video Coding (3DVC) which is available at mpeg-ftv@lists.rwth-aachen.de (to subscribe or unsubscribe, go to http://mailman.rwth-aachen.de/mailman/listinfo/mpeg-ftv).

The Future Media Internet and other related topics

Recently, the IEEE Communication Magazine had a special issue on Future Media Internet which I'd like to review very briefly. First, let's start with titles of the papers from this issue:

1. CURLING: Content-Ubiquitous Resolution and Delivery Infrastructure for Next-Generation Services
2. A Survey on Content-Oriented Networking for Efficient Content Delivery
3. Peer-to-Peer Streaming of Scalable Video in Future Internet Applications
4. Improving End-to-End QoE via Close Cooperation between Applications and ISPs
5. System Architecture for Enriched Semantic Personalized Media Search and Retrieval in the Future Media Internet
6. Automatic Creation of 3D Environments from a Single Sketch Using Content-Centric Networks

From this issue it seems that the Future Media Internet (FMI) is built around the concept of Content-Centric Networking (CCN) or Content-Oriented Networking (CON) - cf. articles #1 and #2 - whereby the latter is referred to as a umbrella term including CCN and others like Data-Oriented Network Architecture (DONA) and Publish-Subscribe Internetworking Routing Paradigm (PSIRP). Probably in this context also the Content-Aware Networking (CAN) approach developed within the ALICANTE project is worth to be mentioned.

Furthermore, it seems that Peer-to-Peer (P2P), Scalable Video Coding (SVC), and Quality of Experience (QoE) - cf. articles #3 and #4 - are very much important for the FMI. While I believe that SVC has some advantages in the context of P2P, I have some doubts about a close co-operation between applications and ISPs unless the applications are offered by the same ISPs. Interestingly, the P2P-Next project and the QUALINET COST action are both working on these topics.

Finally, article #5 proposes a system architecture for enriched semantic personalized search and retrieval and article #3 seems to be an application paper describing the automatic creation of 3D environments from a single sketch in the context of FMI.

In its most recent issue, the IEEE Communication Magazine again had some interesting papers related to the FMI. The special issue on Recent Advances in IETF Standards had three articles worth mentioning in the context of FMI:

1. The Coming Age of MPLS provides a tutorial on MPLS-TP and its usage.
2. Stream Control Transmission Protocol: Past, Current, and Future Standardization Activities describes SCTP and already defined extensions as well as future work in the area of security and concurrent multi-path transport.
3. Internet Geolocation and Location-based Services describing the IETF GEOPRIV architecture.

Next to that, two papers accepted from the open call are very relevant to FMI, namely QoX: What is it really? and Mobile Video Delivery with HTTP. Again, the QoE is a topic but the first time HTTP streaming is mentioned in this context. It's already heavily deployed, we all use it but in most cases the quality is unsatisfactory (even if one pays for such a service).

Thus, I would like to see more papers regarding QoE for HTTP streaming in the context of the Future Media Internet!

ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (ACM - TOMCCAP)

Call for Proposals - Special Issue 

Deadline for Proposal Submission: May, 31th 2011 

Notification: June, 10th 2011 

http://tomccap.acm.org/

ACM - TOMCCAP is one of the world's leading journals on multimedia. As in previous years we are planning to publish a special issue in 2012. Proposals are accepted until May, 31th 2011. Each special issue is the responsibility of guest editors. If you wish to guest edit a special issue you should prepare a proposal as outlined below, then send this via e-mail to EiC Ralf Steinmetz (steinmetz.eic@kom.tu-darmstadt.de)

Proposals should:

• Cover a current or emerging topic in the area of multimedia computing, communications and applications; 
• Set out the importance of the special issue's topic in that area; 
• Give a strategy for the recruitment of high quality papers; 
• Indicate a draft time-scale in which the special issue could be produced (paper writing, reviewing, and submission of final copies to TOMCCAP), assuming the proposal is accepted. 

Unlike the years before, the special issue will be published as online-only issue in the ACM Digital Library. This gives the guest editors higher flexibility in the review process and the number of papers to be accepted, while yet ensuring a timely publication. A notification of acceptance for the proposals will be given until June, 10th 2011. Once a proposal is accepted we will contact you to discuss the further process.

For questions please contact:

• Ralf Steinmetz - Editor in Chief (steinmetz.eic@kom.tu-darmstadt.de) 
• Lasse Lehmann - Information Director (lasse.lehmann@kom.tu-darmstadt.de)

MPEG Internet Video Coding

At its 96th meeting, MPEG issued two document in the area of Internet video coding which are publicly available:

• Draft Call for Proposals (CfP) for Internet Video Coding Technologies
• Requirements for Internet Video Coding Technologies

Draft Call for Proposals (CfP) for Internet Video Coding Technologies

The draft CfP comprises requirements for a proposal (i.e., on the actual submission), information on the evaluation, source code & IPR details, and the timeline. In particular, the aim of this work item is to address the diversified needs of the Internet:

To satisfy the requirements of this application domain MPEG will evaluate the submissions and will develop a specification (the Standard) that MPEG expects shall include a profile qualified as a “Option-1 licensing” and may include other profiles.

The timeline for the Call for Proposal is as follows:

• Draft Call-for-Proposals ready: 2011/03
• Final Call-for-Proposals issued: 2011/07
• Proposals received and evaluation starts: 2011/10

Option-1 Codec specification development plan:

• Committee Draft: 2012/07
• Draft International Standard: 2013/01
• Final Draft International Standard: 2013/07

Requirements for Internet Video Coding Technologies

Requirements fall into the following major categories:

• IPR requirements
• Technical requirements
• Implementation complexity requirements

Interestingly, the standard shall provide better compression performance than MPEG-2 and possibly comparable to AVC baseline profile. The resolution shall be from QVGA to HD and various color spaces, color sampling, and bit-depth coding shall be supported. Other technical requirements include (the usual ones) high perceptual quality, random access, support for trick modes, network friendliness, error resilience, video buffer management, bitstream scalability, transcoding, and overlay channel. Finally, the implementation complexity shall allow for real-time encoding and decoding on both stationary and mobile devices.

Audio for High Efficiency Video Coding

--Document available here.

At the 92nd meeting, April 2010, MPEG evaluated the Call for Proposals for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and launched this new work item. It is envisioned that HEVC will specify video coding for devices whose capabilities are beyond those of current HD displays. These might be Ultra-HD (UHD) devices, such as 4K x 2K displays. In such UHD displays, a much closer viewing distance is feasible and perhaps desirable. At such viewing distances there is both visual and audio envelopment. This could have significant impact on audio presentation such that much more accurate sound localization in terms of direction and distance is desirable. If there is only one viewer, it might be that aspects of the audio presentation might be individualized in some meaningful way.

This document describes application scenarios (i.e., home cinema, personal 3D video TV, multi-channel audio programs, real-time communication, mobile streaming, streaming/storage/download, 3D video or telepresence), possible requirements (i.e., on high quality, localization and envelopment, compression, flexible loudspeaker placement, downmix and rendering, complexity, interactivity), possible relevant technologies (ranging from MPEG-D Unified Speech and Audio Coding to MPEG-4 AAC-ELD and MPEG Surround among others), and, finally, some open issues (i.e., what subjective evaluation method is appropriate for this work?).

MPEG issues call for proposals for visual search

Highlights of the 96th Meeting

MPEG finalizes CfP to standardize mobile visual search technologies

In its latest step toward creating a standard for efficient and interoperable designs of visual search applications, MPEG has issued a Call for Proposals at its 96th meeting. Like a barcode reader, but using regular images instead of barcodes, visual search enables the retrieval of related information from databases for tourists, simplified shopping, mobile augmented reality, and other applications by sending standardized descriptors.

Specifically, the call seeks technologies that deliver robust matching of images of objects, such as landmarks, artworks, and text-based documents, that may be partially occluded or captured from various vantage points, and with different camera parameters, or lighting conditions. The underlying component technologies that are expected to be addressed by the standard include the format of the visual descriptors, and parts of the descriptor extraction process needed to ensure interoperability. Other component technologies, such as indexing and matching algorithms, may also be incorporated into the new standard.

The text of the Call for Proposals is available here. Responses are due shortly before and will be evaluated at the 98th MPEG meeting in Geneva.

MPEG plans April 18 CfP for 3D video coding

A Call for Proposals on 3D Video Coding Technology is planned to be issued by MPEG. This call invites technology submissions providing efficient compression of 3D video and high quality view reconstruction that goes beyond the capabilities of existing standards. MPEG has already delivered 3D compression formats to the market, including MVC and frame-compatible stereoscopic formats, which are being deployed by industry for packaged media and broadcast services. However, the market needs are expected to evolve and new types of 3D displays and services will be offered. With this call, MPEG embarks on a new phase of 3D standardization that anticipates these future needs. The next-generation of 3D standards will define the 3D data format and associated compression technology to facilitate the generation of multiview output to enable both advanced stereoscopic display processing and improved support for auto-stereoscopic displays. Further details are outlined in MPEG's Vision on 3D Video, which is available online at http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/visions/3dv/index.htm.

The text of the Call for Proposals will be available here. Responses to this call are due in September 2011 and will be evaluated at the 98th MPEG meeting in Geneva.

MPEG continues with CfP for Type-1 Video Coding Standard

As announced in January, MPEG will develop a new video compression standard in line with the expected usage models of the Internet. The new standard is intended to achieve substantially better compression performance than that offered by MPEG-2 and possibly comparable to that offered by the AVC Baseline Profile. MPEG issued a Draft Call for Proposals (CfP) for Internet Video Coding Technologies that is expected to lead to a standard falling under ISO/IEC “Type-1 licensing”, i.e. intended to be “royalty free”. Proposals are due in October 2011 and will be evaluated at the 98th MPEG meeting in Geneva. It is expected that this standard will become the default video codec for internet applications.

The text of the Call for Proposals is available here. Responses to this call are due in October 2011 and will be evaluated at the 98th MPEG meeting in Geneva.

MPEG augments its reconfigurable framework with graphics

At its 96th meeting, MPEG has decided to extend the set of tools available in ISO/IEC 23001-4 and ISO/IEC 23002-4 used to describe a RVC (Reconfigurable Video Coding) framework, to now include graphics specific elements. Therefore, what was previously envisioned as RVC is now RMC (Reconfigurable Multimedia Coding), the latter containing both the already standardized VTL (Video Tool Library) and the library currently being developed for graphics, GTL (Graphics Tool Library). The purpose of GTL is to specify the Functional Units for the compression of static and animated 3D graphic objects and to allow their configuration to build reconfigurable decoders.

Digging Deeper – How to Contact MPEG

Communicating the large and sometimes complex array of technology that the MPEG Committee has developed is not a simple task. Experts, past and present, have contributed a series of tutorials and vision documents that explain each of these standards individually. The repository is growing with each meeting, so if something you are interested is not there yet, it may appear there shortly – but you should also not hesitate to request it. You can start your MPEG adventure at: http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/technologies.htm.

Further Information

Future MPEG meetings are planned as follows:

No. 97, Torino, IT, 18-22 July, 2011
No. 98, Geneva, CH 28 November – 2 December, 2011
No. 99, San Jose, USA 6-10 February, 2012
For further information about MPEG, please contact:

Dr. Leonardo Chiariglione (Convener of MPEG, Italy)
Via Borgionera, 103
10040 Villar Dora (TO), Italy
Tel: +39 011 935 04 61
leonardo@chiariglione.org
This press release and other MPEG-related information can be found on the MPEG homepage:

http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/

The text and details related current Calls are in the Hot News section, http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/hot_news.htm. These documents include information on how to respond to Calls.

The MPEG homepage also has links to other MPEG pages which are maintained by the MPEG subgroups. It also contains links to public documents that are freely available for download by those who are not MPEG members. Journalists that wish to receive MPEG Press Releases by email should contact Dr. Arianne T. Hinds at arianne.hinds@infoprint.com.