Characterization of intermedia synchronization and its effects on the performance of an ATM multiplexer loaded by multimedia traffic

Abstract The time relationships which characterize the intermedia synchronization in a multimedia stream affect network performance. For this purpose in this paper a new parameter is introduced, here referred to as the intermedia synchronization index (ISI), which measures the intermedia relationships in a multimedia stream. The parameter is defined as the cross-covariance between the monomedia streams in the multimedia flow, and it is calculated in terms of the parameters of the emission process introduced in this paper to model a multimedia source. Also, an analytical framework is introduced in order to calculate the statistics of the loss process, the overload and underload periods, and the output process of an ATM multiplexer loaded by multimedia traffic. The influence of the ISI on these statistics is shown by means of examples in a case study.