| The demand for mobile access to data no matter where the data is stored and where the user happens to be, in addition to the explosive growth of the Internet and the rising popularity of mobile devices, are among the factors that have created a dynamic business environment, where companies are competing to provide customers access to information resources and services any time, any where.
Advances in wireless networking, specifically the development of the IEEE 802.11 protocol family and the rapid deployment and growth of GSM (and GPRS), have enabled a broad spectrum of novel and out breaking solutions for new applications and services. Voice services are no longer sufficient to satisfy customers’ business and personal requirements. More and more people and companies are demanding for mobile access to multimedia services.
Mobile multimedia seems to be the next mass market in mobile communications following the success of GSM and SMS. It enables the industry to create products and services to better meet the consumer needs. However, an innovation in itself does not guarantee a success; it is necessary to be able to predict the new technology adaptation behaviour and to try to fulfil customer needs rather than to wait for a demand pattern to surface.
It is beyond all expectations that mobile multimedia will create significant added values for customers by providing mobile access to Internet-based, multimedia services, video conferencing, and streaming. Mobile multimedia is one of the mainstream systems for the next generation mobile communications, featuring large voice capacity, multimedia applications, and high-speed mobile data services. As for the technology, the trend in the radio frequency area is to shift from narrowband to wideband with a family of standards tailored to a variety of application needs. Many enabling technologies including WCDMA, software-defined radio, intelligent antennas, and digital processing devices are greatly improving the spectral efficiency of third generation systems. In the mobile network area, the trend is to move from traditional circuit-switched systems to packet-switched programmable networks that integrate both voice and packet services, and eventually evolve towards an all-IP network.
This handbook provides:
- An insight into the field of mobile multimedia and associated technologies;
- The background for understanding those emerging applications and services;
- Major advantages and disadvantages of individual technologies and the problems that must be overcome;
- An outlook in the future of mobile multimedia.
The handbook is intended for people interested in mobile multimedia at all levels. The primary audience of this book includes students, developers, engineers, innovators, research strategists, and IT-managers who are looking for the big picture of how to integrate and deliver mobile multimedia products and services.
While the handbook can be used as a textbook, system developers and technology innovators can also use it, which gives the book a competitive advantage over existing publications. |
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