Data Broadcast Systems Research Articles

Response time in data broadcast systems: mean, variance and tradeoff

Data broadcast has been suggested as a promising method of information dissemination [2,33]. In such an environment, the information server cannot afford to serve the requests from a large population of users individually. Instead, the server uses a broadcast channel to deliver information to all users. A single transmission of a data item satisfies all pending requests for that item. The response time of a request depends on the broadcast time of the desired data item, which is scheduled by the server according to the overall demands for various data items. Therefore, the response time may vary in a large range. We argue that, in addition to mean response time, the variance of response time should also be taken into account by the broadcast scheduler. In this paper, we address the issue of variance optimization in regard to response time. Building on our previous research on mean response time optimization, we propose an algorithm which can minimize the variance of response time. Furthermore, we evaluate an algorithm that facilitates a tradeoff between the mean and variance of response time. Numerical examples that illustrate the performance of our algorithms are also presented.

Internet over direct broadcast satellites

High-powered direct broadcast television satellites can be used to broadcast high volumes of data directly to home terminals. Using the telephone network or a similar low-speed network, an asymmetrical system can be implemented which offers interactive Internet services. Two such interactive data broadcast systems are described which have been implemented as demonstration platforms for interactive multimedia services; one is based on digital subcarrier techniques for analog television channels, the other on the MPEG-2 and DVB standards. The architecture of the hardware and software is presented, particularly the solutions available for carrying Internet datagrams over MPEG-2 transport systems. A multicast transport protocol with selectable reliability is described which is the basis of a generic distribution application. It exploits the potential benefits of direct broadcast satellites for delivering data to large groups of local caches.

An analysis of queuing strategies for SCA data broadcast systems

Subcarrier audio channels (SCAs) are used to support a wide-area data communication system. Text or data messages can be transmitted nationally using satellite delivery, and locally using FM broadcasting stations' subcarriers. The time delay that messages experience in the national buffer at the satellite head-end or the local buffer is examined. The delay for various throughput data rates is evaluated to identify an optimum range for this capacity. A realistic set of messages statistics is developed to model SCA traffic. Three different queueing strategies are used to examine the delay that messages obeying these statistics would experience: first-come-first-served, fixed-priority, and delay-dependent priority. It is shown that, as the throughput is increased, the effect of priority on the system is less discernible. As the output capacity is decreased, the effect of a priority structure can be seen to enhance traffic flow. Total message time delay is examined using a delay-dependent priority scheme. Results indicate that the choice of an appropriate queuing strategy will enhance the flow of priority message traffic.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>