Scalable Video on Demand

This highly original, thought-provoking book – written by a pioneer of communication studies – is the first to analyze the post 9/11 world in terms of global media and popular culture. Written in an engaging and candid manner by a leading expert in this field Argues that cross-cultural understanding can only be achieved by harnessing the power of global media, popular culture, information technology, and personal communications technologies Examines the global trend of using film, video, music, and TV “on-demand” as the framework through which we experience all cultural activity Draws inspiration from the work of a range of theorists, from Charles Darwin to Anthony Giddens Candidly interrogates the very latest developments in world affairs, especially the roles of fundamentalist religious ideology, media globalization, and individualism, whose complex relationships have yet to be explained by social scientists

INTERMITTENT DEMAND FORECASTING The first text to focus on the methods and approaches of intermittent, rather than fast, demand forecasting Intermittent Demand Forecasting is for anyone who is interested in improving forecasts of intermittent demand products, and enhancing the management of inventories. Whether you are a practitioner, at the sharp end of demand planning, a software designer, a student, an academic teaching operational research or operations management courses, or a researcher in this field, we hope that the book will inspire you to rethink demand forecasting. If you do so, then you can contribute towards significant economic and environmental benefits. No prior knowledge of intermittent demand forecasting or inventory management is assumed in this book. The key formulae are accompanied by worked examples to show how they can be implemented in practice. For those wishing to understand the theory in more depth, technical notes are provided at the end of each chapter, as well as an extensive and up-to-date collection of references for further study. Software developments are reviewed, to give an appreciation of the current state of the art in commercial and open source software. “Intermittent demand forecasting may seem like a specialized area but actually is at the center of sustainability efforts to consume less and to waste less. Boylan and Syntetos have done a superb job in showing how improvements in inventory management are pivotal in achieving this. Their book covers both the theory and practice of intermittent demand forecasting and my prediction is that it will fast become the bible of the field.” — Spyros Makridakis , Professor, University of Nicosia, and Director, Institute for the Future and the Makridakis Open Forecasting Center (MOFC). “We have been able to support our clients by adopting many of the ideas discussed in this excellent book, and implementing them in our software. I am sure that these ideas will be equally helpful for other supply chain software vendors and for companies wanting to update and upgrade their capabilities in forecasting and inventory management.”— Suresh Acharya , VP, Research and Development, Blue Yonder. “As product variants proliferate and the pace of business quickens, more and more items have intermittent demand. Boylan and Syntetos have long been leaders in extending forecasting and inventory methods to accommodate this new reality. Their book gathers and clarifies decades of research in this area, and explains how practitioners can exploit this knowledge to make their operations more efficient and effective.”— Thomas R. Willemain , Professor Emeritus, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Continuous media streaming systems will shape the future of information infrastructure. The challenge is to design systems and networks capable of supporting millions of concurrent users. Key to this is the integration of fault-tolerant mechanisms to prevent individual component failures from disrupting systems operations. These are just some of the hurdles that need to be overcome before large-scale continuous media services such as video-on-demand can be deployed with maximum efficiency. The author places the subject in context, drawing together findings from the past decade of research whilst examining the technology’s present status and its future potential. The approach adopted is comprehensive, covering topics – notably the scalability and fault-tolerance issues – that previously have not been treated in depth. Provides an accessible introduction to the technology, presenting the basic principles for media streaming system design, focusing on the need for the correct and timely delivery of data. Explores the use of parallel server architectures to tackle the two key challenges of scalability and fault-tolerance. Investigates the use of network multicast streaming algorithms to further increase the scalability of very-large-scale media streaming systems. Illustrates all findings using real-world examples and case studies gleaned from cutting-edge worldwide research. Combining theory and practice, this book will appeal to industry specialists working in content distribution in general and continuous media streaming in particular. The introductory materials and basic building blocks complemented by amply illustrated, more advanced coverage provide essential reading for senior undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in these fields.

Designing and Developing Scalable IP Networks takes a “real world” approach to the issues that it covers. The discussions within this book are rooted in actual designs and real development, not theory or pure engineering papers. It recognises and demonstrates the importance of taking a multi-vendor approach, as existing network infrastructure is rarely homogenous and its focus is upon developing existing IP networks rather than creating them from scratch. This global book based on the author’s many years’ experience of designing real scalable systems, is an essential reference tool that demonstrates how to build a scalable network, what pitfalls to avoid and what mechanisms are the most successful in real life for engineers building and operating IP networks. It will be ideal for network designers and architects, network engineers and managers as well as project managers and will be of particular relevance to those studying for both JNCIE and CCIE exams.

This book focuses on near-zero energy buildings (NZEBs), smart communities and microgrids. In this context, demand response (DR) is associated with significant environmental and economic benefits when looking at how electricity grids, communities and buildings can operate optimally. In DR, the consumer becomes a prosumer with an important active role in the exchange of energy on an hourly basis. DR is gradually gaining ground with respect to the reduction of peak loads, grid balancing and dealing with the volatility of renewable energy sources (RES). This transition calls for high environmental awareness and new tools or services that will improve the dynamic as well as secure multidirectional exchange of energy and data. Overall, DR is identified as an important field for technological and market innovations aligned with climate change mitigation policies and the transition to sustainable smart grids in the foreseeable future. Smart Buildings, Smart Communities and Demand Response provides an insight into various intrinsic aspects of DR potential, at the building and the community level.

Материал: . Страна-производитель: Китай. Книга Rizzoli OBEY: Supply And Demand, цвет чёрный

The concept of Demand Response (DR) generally concerns methodologies, technologies and commercial arrangements that could allow active participation of consumers in the power system operation. The primary aim of DR is thus to overcome the “traditional” inflexibility of electrical demand and, amongst others, create a new powerful tool to maximize deployment of renewable energy sources as well as provide active network management solutions to help reducing the impact of limited grid capabilities. DR allows consumers to actively participate in power system operation, thus bringing new opportunities in emerging energy markets as well as tangible system benefits. In this sense, DR is considered one of the key enablers of the Smart Grid concept. However, DR also poses a number of challenges, particularly when “active demand” is connected to the Low Voltage network, thus affecting all the actors involved in the electricity chain. This book presents for the first time a comprehensive view on technical methodologies and architectures, commercial arrangements, and socio-economic and regulatory factors that could facilitate the uptake of DR. The work is developed in a systematic way so as to create a comprehensive picture of challenges, benefits and opportunities involved with DR. The reader will thus be provided with a clear understanding of the complexity deriving from a demand becoming active, as well as with a quantitative assessment of the techno-economic value of the proposed solutions in a Smart Grid context. Many research contributions have appeared in recent years in the field of DR, both in journals and conference proceedings. However, most publications focus on individual aspects of the problem. A systematic treatment of the issues to be tackled to introduce DR in existing electricity grids, involving the extended value chain in terms of technical and commercial aspects, is still missing. Also, several books have recently been published about Smart Grid, in which there is some mention to DR. However, again while DR is seen as a key pillar for the Smart Grid, there is no dedicated, comprehensive and systematic contribution in this respect.

Visual quality assessment is an interdisciplinary topic that links image/video processing, psychology and physiology. Many engineers are familiar with the image/video processing; transmission networks side of things but not with the perceptual aspects pertaining to quality. Digital Video Quality first introduces the concepts of human vision and visual quality. Based on these, specific video quality metrics are developed and their design is presented. These metrics are then evaluated and used in a number of applications, including image/video compression, transmission and watermarking. Introduces the concepts of human vision and vision quality. Presents the design and development of specific video quality metrics. Evaluates video quality metrics in the context of image/video compression, transmission and watermarking. Presents tools developed for the analysis of video quality