What are the fundamental principles for storing and retrieving delay-sensitive multimedia data? This paper establishes some fundamental principles for the retrieval and storage of delay-sensitive multimedia data, including digital audio, animations, and video, from secondary storage. Meeting specific time constraints is essential for user acceptance and satisfaction. The presentation bases its findings on digital audio to provide reader intuition, but the results are applicable to all delay-sensitive data. The research presents a theoretical framework for real-time digital audio playback, describing requirements in terms of data consumption rates and retrieval rates from secondary storage. Bounds are derived for buffer space requirements for common retrieval scenarios. Storage placement strategies for multichannel synchronized data are then categorized and examined. The results presented in this paper are basic to any playback of delay-sensitive data and should assist multimedia system designers in estimating hardware requirements and in evaluating possible design choices. This insight is crucial for ensuring smooth playback and optimal performance of multimedia applications. Follow-on studies might examine multi-level cacheing approaches to improve performance.
This paper is well-suited for ACM Transactions on Information Systems because it addresses challenges related to the design and management of information systems, specifically focusing on multimedia data storage and retrieval. By establishing principles for delay-sensitive data, the paper helps advance the understanding and optimization of information systems for multimedia applications. Citations point to the appropriateness for this journal.