Until recently, databases contained easily indexed numbers and text. Today, in the age of powerful, graphically based computers, and the world wide web, databases are likely to contain a much greater variety of data forms, including images, sound, video clips, and even handwritten documents. When multimedia databases are the norm, traditional methods of working with databases no longer apply.

How do you query a video library, or an image database containing x-rays, or sounds in an audio database? Principles of Multimedia Database Systems explains how to work with these new multimedia data forms. It is the first comprehensive treatment of the skills and techniques required to build, maintain, and query multimedia databases.

This book presents the mix of techniques necessary for working with multimedia databases, including synthetic solutions for the design and deployment of multimedia database systems. Because rapid technological developments are constantly changing the landscape of multimedia databases, the book teaches basic theoretical principles applicable to any database.

Content Highlights

• Covers the major issues of multimedia database design, with a strong focus on distributed multimedia databases.
• Discusses important topics including how to organize the vast data types, storage and retrieval, and creation and delivery of multimedia presentations.
• Organized around the lively scenario of a crime-fighting database that evolves as new concepts are introduced.
• Includes numerous exercises and suggestions for programming projects.
• Additional materials on the web include updates, on-line supplements, and links to downloadable software.

Authors:

V.S. Subrahmanian was awarded his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Syracuse University in 1989. He is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Maryland, where he also heads the Multimedia Systems Laboratory. He is the recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, and the Distinguished Young Scientist Award from the Maryland Academy of Sciences. He has worked extensively in knowledge bases, synthesizing techniques in artificial intelligence, and database engineering. He is an editor of the IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering and AI Communications Journal, and co-author of Advanced Database Systems (1997 Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.).

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 A Quick Overview of Relational Databases
Chapter 3 A Quick Introduction to Object Oriented Databases
Chapter 4 Other Relevant Data Structures
Chapter 5 Image Databases
Chapter 6 Text/Document Databases
Chapter 7 Video Databases
Chapter 8 Audio Databases
Chapter 9 Multimedia Databases
Chapter 10 Retrieving Multimedia Data from Disks
Chapter 11 Retrieving Multimedia Data from CD-Rom
Chapter 12 Retrieving Multimedia Data from Tapes
Chapter 13 Creating Distributed Multimedia Presentations
Chapter 14 Distributed Media Servers
Chapter 15 Future Directions
Chapter 16 Term Projects

Web-Enhanced:

A comprehensive set of supporting materials for instructors including:

• solutions to problems and exercises (Available to instructors only. Please request password from vs@cs.umd.edu.
• a complete set of lecture slides
• sample homeworks and exams

Instructors are invited to request an examination copy.

Related Titles:

Database
Multimedia Information & Systems