An experimental study for transmitting MPEG-2 streams over ATM networks

This paper presents a comparative study of different techniques aiming at t ransmitting MPEG-2 streams over ATM networks, with emphasis on the presenta tion of practical results achieved on an experimental platform available at LSI, a laboratory of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This study has t he purpose to determine some tuning parameters for optimizing the implement ation of distributed multimedia applications on different network technolog ies. The focus of this experimental study has been on non-native ATM techni ques like "Classical IP over ATM" and "LAN Emulation", as well as native AT M techniques based on direct access service primitives to AAL5. The influen ce of different parameters, like packet length, buffer size, CPU speed, on the resulting throughput has been studied. Furthermore, a testing tool is b eing developed for assessing the transmission of MPEG-2 streams based on th e practical experience achieved so far. These results will permit the evalu ation of different network technologies and also help in the development of distributed multimedia applications like video-on-demand, videoconferencin g and telemedicine.