Multimedia synchronization based on Aspect Oriented Programming

This paper describes an approach centered on aspect oriented programming (AOP) for controlling the synchronization of distributed multimedia systems. AOP fosters separation of concerns between application objects and synchronization aspects, which naturally arise as cross-cutting concerns. Aspect modularization and encapsulation contribute to re-usability and maintenance of both application components and control mechanisms. The paper illustrates the use of AOP technologies through the construction and evaluation of a real-time quality of service (QoS) filter regulating the QoS at the receiver-side of a multimedia system over the Internet. Aspects are programmed using AspectJ. Particular aspects are exploited for testing the temporal behavior of the synchronized system. Execution experiments make use of Java Media Framework which provides the presentation system.