Data Management for Multiuser Access to Digital Video Libraries

To support heterogeneous application types a video digital library will contain a large number of video objects with various lengths and display requirements. Multiuser access to the same video objects is required in order to increase the availability of video information and to make full use of the limited computing and storage resources. The access frequency and delay sensitivity of video objects require special methods to guarantee smooth playback of video objects and to minimize average waiting time. We propose an integrated approach to buffer and disk management for dynamic loading and simultaneous delivery of multiple video objects to multiple users. The allocation of buffer and disk resources in this study is based on quality of service variables such as average waiting time, display continuity, and viewer enrollment. © 1999 Academic Press.