This document discusses multimedia databases. It defines multimedia data as digital images, audio, video, animation and graphics together with text data. It explains that the large volumes of multimedia data require specialized database systems for storage and retrieval. It then describes different types of multimedia database models including object-oriented databases, object-relational databases, and content management systems. It also outlines some applications of multimedia databases and discusses multimedia data retrieval and standards like MPEG.

1. MULTIMEDIA DATABASES
- Define data
- Define databases

2. • Multimedia data typically means digital
images, audio, video, animation and
graphics together with text data.
• The huge amount of data in different
multimedia related applications warranted
to have databases that provide
consistency, concurrency, integrity,
security and availability of data.
• Database provides functionalities for the
easy manipulation of query and retrieval of
highly relevant information from huge
collections of speed data.

3. Multimedia Database Models
• Object-Oriented Databases
– handle all kinds of multimedia data ia specialised classes
– quite low market share in database technology
• Object-Relational Databases
– hybrid combination of features of RDBMS and OODB
– fully SQL-compliant, with added support for complex data types via
object definition language (ODL)
• Document Management Systems / Content Management Systems
– Specialised systems for managing documents/content of many different
types
– Automate workflow, pages/reports generated automatically
– Very popular for Web sites where content changes rapidly e.g. Kenny’s
Bookshop (www.kennys.ie), Irish Times (ireland.com)
– Can buy off-the-shelf (e.g. TerminalFour, BroadVision), acquire via open
source, or build it yourself ! (e.g. Lotus Notes)

4. Applications of Multimedia Databases
• Generic Business & Office Information Systems: document imaging,
document editing tools, multimedia email, multimedia conferencing,
multimedia workflow management, teleworking
• Software development: multimedia object libraries; computer-aided
software engineering (CASE); multimedia communication histories;
multimedia system artefacts
• Education: multimedia encyclopediae; multimedia courseware &
training materials; education-on-demand (distance education, JIT
learning)
• Banking: tele-banking
• Retail: home shopping; customer guidance
• Tourism & Hospitality: trip visualisation & planning; sales & marketing
• Publishing: electronic publishing; document editing tools; multimedia
archives

5. Example: Museums/Libraries
• Below is an example of multimedia data
types that might be used in a museum or
library

6. Multimedia Data Retrieval
• Multimedia DBMS must support a standard data manipulation
language (DML) such as SQL, but will have extended query
features for processing rich media objects (such as audio, images,
and video)
• Complex media objects may be categorised using meta-data and
keywords
• Retrieval of complex media objects typically requires “fuzzy”-match
/ partial-match search mechanisms
• Query results may use a ranking mechanism so that the most
relevant matches are at fore of list

7. MPEG
• Moving Pictures Experts Group
– Started in 1988 as a working group within ISO/IEC
– Comprises a number of sub-groups e.g. Digital Storage Media (DSM),
Delivery, Video, Audio
• Generates generic standards for digital video and audio
compression
– MPEG-1: "Coding of Moving Pictures and Associated Audio for Digital
Storage Media at up to about 1.5 MBit/s"
– MPEG-2: "Generic Coding of Moving Pictures and Associated Audio"
– MPEG-3: no longer exists (was merged into MPEG-2)
– MPEG-4: “Coding of Audio-Visual Objects"
– MPEG-7: “Multimedia Content Description Interface”
– MPEG-21

8. MULTIMEDIA DATABASES
1. Multimedia Storage and Retrieval
– Massive Data Volumes
– Storage Technologies
– Multimedia Object Storage
– Multimedia Document Retrieval
2. Database Management Systems for Multimedia Systems
– RDBMS Extensions for Multimedia
– Object-Oriented Databases for Multimedia
3. Database Organization for Multimedia Applications
– Data Independence
– Common distributed database architecture
– Distributed database servers
– Multimedia object management
4. Transaction Management for Multimedia Systems

9. 1.1 Multimedia Storage and
Retrieval
• Multimedia storage is characterized by a
number of new considerations:
– Massive storage volumes
– Large object sizes
– Multiple related objects
– Temporal requirements for retrieval

10. Massive Data Volumes
• Paper records and films or tapes are
difficult to integrate, control, search and
access, and distribute.
• Locating paper documents, films, and
audio or video tapes requires searching
through massive storage files, complex
indexing systems understood only by a
few key staff personnel.

11. Storage Technologies
There are two major mass storage technologies
used for storage of multimedia documents.
- Optical Disk Storage Systems
- High Speed Magnetic Storage
• Managing a few optical disk platters in a jukebox
is much simpler than managing a much larger
magnetic disk form.
• Optical disk storage is an excellent vehicle for
offline archival of old and infrequently referenced
documents for significant periods of time.

12. Multimedia Object Storage
• Multimedia object storage in an optimal
medium serves its real purpose only if it can be
located rapidly and automatically.
• A key issue is random key access to various
components of a hypermedia document or
hypermedia database.
• Optical media provides very dense storage. For
instance, a 12 inch optical disk platter can
store 6.5Gbytes of information.

13. Continue…..
• A compressed 8bit sound clip requires
50kbytes/sec.
• Decompression efficiency.
• Retrieval speed is a direct result of
– The Storage latency
– Compression efficiency
– Transmission latency
• Imaging is essential for retrieval of
information

14. Multimedia Document Retrieval
• The simplest form of identifying a multimedia
document is by storage platter identification and
its relative position on the platter (file number).
• These objects can be grouped using a
database in folders or within complex objects
representing hypermedia documents.
• This is the method for identifying images in most
multimedia systems.
• An application for sound and full motion
video is the ability to clip parts of it and
combine them with another set.

15. 1.2 Database Management
Systems for Multimedia systems
• Most multimedia applications are based on
communication technologies such as Electronic Mail,
the database system must be fully distributed.
• A number of database storage choices are available.
• They are:
– Extending the existing RDBMS to support the various objects
for multimedia as binary object.
– Extending RDBMS beyond basic binary objects to the object
oriented components of inheritance and classes.
– Converting to a full fledged object oriented database that
supports the standard SQL languages.
– Converting the database and the application to an object-
oriented database and using object-oriented language, such as
C++.

16. RDBMS Extensions for Multimedia
• BLOB (Binary Large OBject) is a datatype for
binary free form text and images.
• BLOBs are used for objects such as images or
other binary data types.
• Relational database tables include location
information for the BLOBs which may actually be
stored outside the database on separete image
or video servers.
• An object oriented database supports both,
– Encapsulation
– Inheritance