Table of Contents

Foreword.


Preface.


Abbreviations.


1. Context, Objectives, and Process.
MPEG-4 Objectives. Formal Standardization Process. MPEG Modus Operandi. MPEG-4 Standard Organization. MPEG-4 Schedule. MPEG-4 Industry Forum. Summary. References.

2. MPEG-4 Overview.
Design Goals. An End-to-End Walkthrough. Terminal Architecture. MPEG-4 Tools. MPEG-4 and Other Multimedia Standards. MPEG-4 Applications. Summary. References.

3. Object Description and Synchronization.
Object Descriptors: Entry Points to MPEG-4 Content. Semantic Description and Access Management. Timing Model and Synchronization of Streams. Summary. References.

4. BIFS: Scene Description.
Basics of BIFS. Basic BIFS Features by Example. Advanced BIFS Features. A Peek Ahead on BIFS. Profiles. All BIFS Nodes. Summary. References.

5. MPEG-J: MPEG-4 and Java.
MPEG-J Architecture. MPEG-J APIs. Application Scenarios. Reference Software. Summary. References.

6. Extensible MPEG-4 Textual Format.
Objectives. Cross-Standard Interoperability. XMT Two-Tier Architecture. XMT-?Format. XMT-A Format. Summary. References.

7. Transporting and Storing MPEG-4 Content.
Delivery Framework. FlexMux Tool. MPEG-4 File Format. Transporting MPEG-4 over MPEG-. Transporting MPEG-4 over IP. Summary. References.

8. Natural Video Coding.
General Overview. Coding of Rectangular Video Objects. Coding of Arbitrarily Shaped Video Objects. Scalable Video Coding. Special Video Coding Tools. Visual Texture Coding. Summary. References.

9. Visual SNHC Tools.
SNHC Overview. Face and Body Animation. D Mesh Coding. D Mesh Coding. View-Dependent Scalability. Profiles and Levels. Summary. Acknowledgments. References.

10. Speech Coding.
Introduction to Speech Coding. Overview of MPEG-4 Speech Coders. MPEG-4 CELP Coding. MPEG-4 HVXC Coding. Error Robustness. Summary. References.

11. General Audio Coding.
Introduction to Time/Frequency Audio Coding. MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding. MPEG-4 Additions to AAC. MPEG-4 Scalable Audio Coding. Introduction to Parametric Audio Coding. MPEG-4 HILN Parametric Audio Coding. Summary. Acknowledgments. References.

12. SNHC Audio and Audio Composition.
Synthetic-Natural Hybrid Coding of Audio. Structured Audio Coding. Text-to-Speech Interface. Audio Composition. Summary. References.

13. Profiling and Conformance: Approach and Overview.
Profiling and Conformance: Goals and Principles. Profiling Policy and Version Management. Overview of Profiles in MPEG-. Summary. Acknowledgements. References.

14. Implementing the Standard: The Reference Software.
Reference Software Modules. Systems Reference Software. MPEG-4 Player Architecture. Scene Graph. PROTOs. Synchronization. Object Descriptors. Plug-Ins. D Compositor. D Compositor. Summary. References.

15. Video Testing for Validation.
General Aspects. Test Methods. Error-Resilience Test. Content-Based Coding Test. Coding Efficiency for Low and Medium Bit-Rate Test. Advanced Real-Time Simple Profile Test. Summary. References.

16. Audio Testing for Validation.
General Aspects. Test Methods. Narrowband Digital Audio Broadcasting Test. Audio on the Internet Test. Speech Communication Test. Version 2 Coding Efficiency Test. Version 2 Error-Robustness Test. Summary. References.

A. Levels for Visual Profiles.
Video Buffering Verifier Mechanism. Definition of Levels for Video Profiles. Definition of Levels for Synthetic Profiles. Definition of Levels for Synthetic and Natural Hybrid Profiles. References.

B. Levels for Audio Profiles.
Complexity Units. Definition of Levels for Audio Profiles. References.

C. Levels for Graphics Profiles.
Simple 2D Profile. Simple 2D + Text Profile. Core 2D Profile. Advanced 2D Profile. References.

D. Levels for Scene Graph Profiles.
Simple 2D Profile. Audio Profile. D Audio Profile. Basic 2D Profile. Core 2D Profile. Advanced 2D Profile. Main 2D Profile. References.

E. MPEG-J Code Samples.
Scene APIs. Resource and Decoder APIs. Network APIs. Section Filtering APIs.

Index.

Promotional Information

The MPEG-4 Book is the first comprehensive, targeted guide to the MPEG-4 standard and its use in cutting-edge multimedia applications. Leaders of the MPEG-4 standards community cover every element of the standard, and every aspect of MPEG-4 content creation and delivery, including: transport, coding, BIFS, object description and synchronization, Synthetic Natural/Hybrid Coding, MPEG-J, profiling, conformance testing, and more.

About the Author

FERNANDO PEREIRA, Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa - Portugal, and researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicacoes, is area editor of Signal Processing: Image Communication Journal and Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions of Circuits and Systems for Video Technology. Pereira has chaired many ad hoc groups in the context of the MPEG-4 and MPEG-7 standards' development and received an ISO certificate for his contributions to the MPEG-4 standard. His current interests include video analysis, processing, coding, description, and interactive multimedia services for Internet and mobile environments.TOURADJ EBRAHIMI, Professor of Image Processing at EPFL's Signal Processing Lab in Switzerland, has been nominated for two ISO certificates for his contributions to MPEG-4 and JPEG 2000 standards. He leads the Swiss delegation to MPEG and JPEG, and is associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, area editor of Image Communication Journal of EURASIP, and associate editor of Optical Engineering. His interests include image processing, coding, and visual information security. He holds a dozen patents.