2002 No.192 Special Edition on Multimedia Messaging
About the special issue on multimedia messaging [164KB] 
Harushige Sugimoto
Multimedia messaging : trends and future developments [144KB]
Masashi Tsuboi
"Multimedia messaging" means messaging services which can be used regardless of "time", "space", or "media". With conversion to broadband networks, messaging services which combine data, voice and images are becoming available in both business and domestic settings.
Multimedia streaming by broadband connection - future prospects and development strategy at Oki Electric [224KB]
Atsushi Nagasaka
This essay looks at the various issues associated with video delivery systems and discusses development strategies for video delivery technology and platforms aimed at future expansion of video services over broadband access networks.
Technology trends in multimedia messaging [408KB]
Yasubumi Chimura
With the spread of PCs and mobile phones, communication and information sharing tools are evolving and multiplying at a dramatic rate. Without realizing it, consumers are becoming accustomed to a world of communications tools which combine video images and audio. This article describes the key elements of the multimedia messaging technology that supports these tools, and the related technological trends, as well as discussing possible future directions as network configurations change and evolve.
CTI & IP systems for multimedia messaging [344KB]
Hiroshi Tomizawa
The "CTstage 4i" system has been developed as a response to the rapid progress of IT infrastructure towards broadband IP and the "ubiquitous" communications age, and represents an advance from Computer Telephony Integration servers which integrate information and communications, to a CTI&IP communications system which has greatly enhanced affinity with broadband Internet. Here, we introduce three solutions built on the basis of "CTstage 4i".
Integrated system for multimedia messaging [396KB]
Atsuhiko Sato
This essay describes an integrated system for multimedia messaging, explaining the "objective" of introducing such a system (namely, to resolve the problems of current systems,) and the results of system introduction, from the viewpoint of the services that can be offered.
Residential gateways [308KB]
Kenichi Yasuda
"Residential gateways" - service nodes providing multimedia messaging services to domestic or SOHO users - are forecast to attract great demand in the future, and are being approached by many different industry sectors, including communications, domestic appliances, gaming, and broadcasting. In this article, we study the definition of the residential gateway as a service node for a domestic and SOHO network, and look at the product strategy and outlook of the SOHO residential gateway based on a communications approach, which is the application targeted by Oki.
Multimedia messaging for peer to peer communications - C-NetLiaison - [284KB]
Osamu Nakazawa, Haruo Fukuda, Kumiko Wada, Kazuhiro Kawabe
This essay presents our P2P content sharing and distribution platform, "C-NetLiaison", which provides an extremely useful, reliable and stable solution for clients looking to build content business over broadband network environments.
Core technology for multimedia messaging [792KB]
Tsuyoshi Ando
After looking at the core technology which supports multimedia messaging systems, in terms of both fundamental technologies and application technologies, we study the types of service that can be achieved in a CTstage system using these technologies.
OKI MediaServer : application examples
- e-Learning solutions based on an OKI MediaServer core [564KB]
Yuji Honda
As e-Learning is re-evaluated as a key tool for in-house training, Oki has proposed a new synchronous remote learning solution "@Training". One of its key features is very low delay time, which means that question and answer sessions feel completely natural. The system is also very powerful when it comes to transmitting company information in-house.
On-demand media shower system [172KB]
Kiyohito Tokuda
Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of services offered by Intelligent Transport System (ITS) networks, with a view towards the creation of on-demand media shower systems which match the needs of mobile users, and we also discuss the requirement for DSRC type systems which provide broad coverage and ad-hoc capabilities, simultaneously, at low cost.
Multimedia streaming technology in broadband networks -
1 - Scalable distributed parallel servers [428KB]
Yoshihiro Shintani, Atsushi Nagasaka
This article describes the features of our video server, the OKI MediaServer, and its principal functions. This product has been developed to resolve the problems of video delivery in current broadband networks, and here, we give an overview of its scalable parallel video server functions and distributed functions, which allow expansion from small-scale set-ups to very large configurations.
Multimedia streaming technology in broadband networks -
2 - Visual communications system [436KB]
Hajime Hatanaka, Junichi Yoshiki
One of the visual communications functions of the OKI MediaServer is a multipoint PC conferencing server system using IP protocol. This server system integrates remote communications by video, application sharing, conference video recording and referencing functions, etc., and provides excellent cost performance.
Multimedia streaming technology in broadband networks - 3 - Digital rights management system [196KB]
Hideki Yamamoto
This essay discusses copyright protection technology for protecting unauthorized use of content delivery services, taking a look at copyright management systems, the licence management technology required when selling rights via content distribution, and the encrypting communications technology used to prevent theft of contents.
Multimedia streaming technology in broadband networks - 4 - Development of high-quality picture encoding technology MPEG4-ASP [88KB]
Zhixoing Wu
In recent years, the expansion of broadband networks, such as xDSL, FTTH, high-speed wireless LAN, and so on, has progressed with astonishing speed, and the numbers of broadband network subscribers have increased at a similarly dramatic rate. The existence of "killer applications" and "killer contents" are crucial in this broadband age, and the expectations placed on multimedia applications, and in particular, high-quality moving pictures, are extremely high. In order to respond to these expectations, we embarked at an early stage on the development of a video streaming server for broadband networks, the OKI MediaServer, and on a MPEG4 codec for supporting the operation of the server. In the early part of this year (2002), we released the OKI MediaServer V5 incorporating a MPEG4-ASP codec. This article starts with an overview of MPEG, the international standard for encoding of moving pictures, and goes on to give a technological summary of Oki's high-quality picture codec MPEG4-ASP and its features.
Optical media converter [328KB]
Shinichi Inaba, Hisato Okajima, Eiji Kondo
With the dramatic expansion of the Internet, Fibre To The x (FTTx) services are becoming necessary for large-capacity, long-haul transmission connections to subscriber homes. This article reviews the technology behind our group of optical media converter products for application in FTTx services.
Waveguide-type optical wavelength filters [236KB]
Hideaki Okayama
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communications have a major role to play in increasing communications capacity, and optical wavelength filter technology is very important in the WDM field. This essay introduces a tunable optical wavelength filter and demultiplexer element based on a new design structure using optical waveguides developed by Oki Electric.