Multimedia over IP and Wireless Networks: Compression, Networking, and Systems

Schaar and Chou have assembled an up to date collection of papers on current issues in doing multimedia over the Internet and also over a cellphone network. The papers or chapters vary considerably in their subjects. Some, like Chapter 7, takes us back to the basics of Shannon's theorems for the capacities of channels, and for codings that are used in these channels. That particular chapter is a good and concise foray into its subject. While it may not actually give the state of the art, it prepares the reader for the following chapters that are more on the cutting edge of research. Overall, there is roughly equal coverage of both the Internet and wireless nets. One aspect prominent in both is the Quality of Service. For real time streaming multimedia, this is the critical issue. And it is heavily discussed. With perhaps a slightly greater emphasis in a wireless net.