GCO3826 Advanced multimedia and network technology - Semester 2 , 2007

Unit leader :

Guojun Lu

Lecturer(s) :

Gippsland

  • Guojun Lu

Introduction

Unit synopsis

This unit will explore all aspects of this rapid progress including modern video features in the range of multimedia applications, such as digital television, recent multimedia file formats and contemporary compression technologies, including MPEG-4 and the most exciting developments, namely JPEG2000 for still images and the advanced video coding standard. It will also cover aspects of multimedia communication networks including broadband ATM together with wireless and mobile networks.  After successfull completion of this unit, you will be able to integrate multimedia technology into both the design and simulation of real world multimedia applications and systems.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of this unit, the student:-

  • Will fully appreciate the multimedia data representations and common compression techniques
  • Understand the concepts behind the new suite of multimedia compression algorithms, especially MPEG-4, JPEG2000 and H.264.
  • Will be able to explain how quality of service of multimedia computing and communications can be guaranteed.
  • Will be able to describe common networks and their suitability for supporting multimedia communications.
  • Describe the key technological elements driving the development of broadband networks and mobile multimedia systems.
  • Understand the common issues and techniques of multimedia information indexing and retrieval.
Practical Skills

The student will

  • Be able to solve real world problems in the area of advanced multimedia and network applications.
  • Be able to design and analyse ATM/wireless/mobile networks.
  • Have a practical understanding of current advanced technological trends within modern digital video and TV.
  • Have a thorough appreciation of prcatical concepts behind the new still image and video compression techniques (JPEG2000 and H.264) and the pivotal role of the principles of wavelets.

Workload

Unit relationships

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed

GCO3812 or equivalent.

Relationships

GCO3826 is an elective unit in the Bechalor of ITS and Bachelor of IT. It is a prerequisite for Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed GCO3812, or equivalent.

Continuous improvement

Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education' and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning. To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Two of the formal ways that you are invited to provide feedback are through Unit Evaluations and through Monquest Teaching Evaluations.

One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. It is Monash policy for every unit offered to be evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to "have their say". The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Student Evaluations

The Faculty of IT administers the Unit Evaluation surveys online through the my.monash portal, although for some smaller classes there may be alternative evaluations conducted in class.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.monash.edu.au/unit-evaluation-reports/

Over the past few years the Faculty of Information Technology has made a number of improvements to its courses as a result of unit evaluation feedback. Some of these include systematic analysis and planning of unit improvements, and consistent assignment return guidelines.

Monquest Teaching Evaluation surveys may be used by some of your academic staff this semester. They are administered by the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and may be completed in class with a facilitator or on-line through the my.monash portal. The data provided to lecturers is completely anonymous. Monquest surveys provide academic staff with evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching and identify areas for improvement. Individual Monquest reports are confidential, however, you can see the summary results of Monquest evaluations for 2006 at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/monquest/profiles/index.html

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Professor Guojun Lu
Professor
Phone +61 3 990 26857

Lecturer(s) :

Professor Guojun Lu
Professor
Phone +61 3 990 26857

Teaching and learning method

There will be two hours lectures and two hours tutorial per week for on campus students.

For both on campus and ooff campus students, weekly study guides and lecture notes are provided at the iunit MUSO site. Students are required to follow the study guides to read the specified readings and carry out specified exercises. They are encouraged to discuss the unit related questions through the MUSO discussion groups. Assessment details and additional readings will also be posted at the MUSO site.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic Key dates
1 Introduction and overview  
2 ADC and lossless compression, audio compression  
3 Fourier transform, DCT, JPEG and MPEG -1  
4 JPEG2000 compression, MPEG-4, MPEG-7, HDTV  
5 End to end support for multimedia communications  
6 LAN and ATM 1 2007/08/27
7 LAN and ATM 2  
8 Internet QoS support 1  
9 Internet QoS support 2  
10 Mobile and wireless communications, issues related multimedia communications  
Mid semester break
11 MM Information retrieval 1  
12 MM Information retrieval 2  
13 Revision and Exam Preparation 2007/10/15

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Required reading will be provided online.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to n hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups. You will need to allocate up to 2 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups"

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

All the teaching materials including lectures, tutorials and supplementary materials will be prepared on an on-going basis and posted on the GCO3826 unit MUSO pages.

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through the MUSO (Monash University Studies Online) site. You can access this site by going to:

  1. a) http://muso.monash.edu.au or
  2. b) via the portal (http://my.monash.edu.au).

Click on the My Units tab, then the Monash University Studies Online hyperlink

In order for your MUSO unit(s) to function correctly, certain programs may need to be installed such as Java version 1.4.2. This can easily be done by going to http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html to update the relevant software.

You can contact the MUSO helpdesk by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903-1268 or 9903-2764

Operational hours (Monday - Thursday) - local time

Australia: 8 am to 10 pm (8pm Non Teaching period)

Malaysia: 6 am to 8 pm (6 pm Non Teaching period)

South Africa: 11pm to 1pm (11 am Non Teaching period)

Operational hours (Friday) - local time

Australia: 8 am to 8 pm

Malaysia: 6 am to 6 pm

South Africa: 11pm to 11 am

Operational hours (Saturday-Sunday) - local time (Teaching and Exam Period Only)

Australia: 1 pm to 5 pm

Malaysia: 11 am to 3 pm

South Africa: 4 am to 8 am

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Assessment

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task
    Title :
    Assignment 1
    Description :
    Short answer questions
    Weighting :
    20%
    Criteria for assessment :
    Students are asked to provide answers to a number of questions related to the learning objectives of the first half of the unit.
    Due date :
    27/08/2007
  • Assignment Task
    Title :
    Assignment 2
    Description :
    Short answer questions
    Weighting :
    20%
    Criteria for assessment :
    Due date :
    15/10/2007

Examinations

  • Examination
    Weighting :
    60%
    Length :
    2 hours
    Type ( open/closed book ) :
    closed book

Assignment submission

Assignments will be submitted by electronic submission through the MUSO system.

Assignment coversheets

From the MUSO site.

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Late assignment

Penalties are incurred from the due date at the rate of a 10% reduction in grade for each day the assignment is late. Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at: http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/academicpolicies/policy/assessment.html

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Special consideration in the awarding of grades is also possible in some circumstances. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.