Computer Science (COMP) 435
Multimedia Technologies (Revision 1)
Delivery Mode: Individualized study online.
Credits: 3
Area of Study: Science
Prerequisite: COMP 308 or equivalent (or professor approval).
Note: Students who are concerned about not meeting the prerequisite for this course are encouraged to contact the course coordinator before registering. Students in this course are required to contact their tutor using email or the course (Moodle) forums. Please see the Tutor and Coordinator Support page for more information.
Centre: School of Computing and Information Systems
SCIS Orientation
COMP 435 is not available for challenge.
Overview
Multimedia Technologies is an indispensable part of modern computing environments. This course will explain the technologies underlying digital images, videos and audio contents, including various compression techniques and standards, and the issues to deliver multimedia content over the Internet.
The course is designed for:
- Program students who want to broadening their knowledge by including multimedia studies.
- Visiting program students looking for a foundation from which to pursue advanced topics in multimedia studies.
- Professional developers who want a technical foundation for developing applications with distributed multimedia components.
- Networks professionals who needs to manage multimedia delivery service.
Learning Objectives
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- discuss the technical details of common multimedia data formats, protocols, and compression techniques of digital images, video and audio content.
- describe and understand the technical details of JPEG and MPEG families of standards.
- discuss the significance of “Quality of Service” in multimedia networking.
- describe the principles and technical details of several wired and wireless networking protocols.
- develop simple but demonstrative multimedia applications using JAI and JMF.
- understand and describe technical aspects of popular multimedia web applications including VoD and VoIP.
Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing this course, students will be able to develop a thorough understanding of the major aspects of technical details of multimedia data representation, and multimedia content delivery platforms. The techniques and understandings will support proper evaluation, development, and enhancement of distributed multimedia applications.
Outline
COMP 435 consists of the following nine units:
Unit 1: Software Installation and Preparation
Unit 2: Introduction to Multimedia Studies
Unit 3: Data Representation
Unit 4: Basic Compression Techniques
Unit 5: Video and Audio Data Compression Techniques
Unit 6: Multimedia Networks and QoS Support
Unit 7: Multimedia Wireless Networks, Heterogeneous Networks, and advanced QoS Support
Unit 8: Multimedia Applications
Unit 9: Topics in Multimedia Technologies
Evaluation
To receive credit for COMP 435, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent), including an average grade of at least 50 percent on the assignments, and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Assign 1 | Assign 2 | Assign 3 | Assign 4 | Assign 5 | Final Exam |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 30% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbook
Ze-Nian Li & Mark S. Drew. (2004). Fundamentals of Multimedia.. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
The rest of the learning materials for Computer Science 435 are:
Distributed in Electronic Format
- Computer Science 435 Study Guide
Available from the Course Website
- A collection of journal articles and conference papers delivered through the library service of Athabasca University
- A course evaluation form
- Links to a variety of resources on the World Wide Web.
Additional supporting materials of interest to students may occasionally be made available electronically.
Special Instructional Features
COMP 435 is offered through Moodle, a Learning Management System that can be accessed through the Web. COMP 435 can be completed at the student's workplace or home. COMP 435 is an elective in all undergraduate programs Offered by the School of Computing and Information Systems.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
Opened in Revision 1, October 7, 2009.
Last updated by SAS 11/16/2011 09:38:04
