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Internet evolution for multimedia; application classes

Short answer

The internet must add QoS (IntServ/DiffServ), more bandwidth, multicast, RTP/RTSP/SIP, CDN caching and IPv6 to support multimedia. Application classes are streaming stored (YouTube), streaming live (internet radio) and real-time interactive (VoIP/Zoom), with interactive needing the strictest delay limits.

How internet should evolve to support better multimedia? Explain different classes of multimedia application with suitable example?

How the internet should evolve to support better multimedia

The present best-effort IP network gives no guarantee of bandwidth, delay or loss. Multimedia (voice, video) is sensitive to delay and jitter, so the internet needs to change in these ways.

  1. Quality of Service (QoS). Introduce service guarantees: IntServ/RSVP (per-flow reservation) or DiffServ (traffic classes with priority marking) so audio and video get low delay and loss.
  2. More bandwidth. Faster access (fibre, DSL, 4G/5G) and backbone upgrades, as video needs megabits per second.
  3. Multicast. IP multicast delivers one stream to many receivers, saving bandwidth for broadcast and conferencing.
  4. Real-time protocols. Use RTP/RTCP over UDP for timing and feedback, RTSP for stream control, SIP/H.323 for session set-up.
  5. Content delivery networks and caching that place content close to users to cut delay.
  6. IPv6 for large address space, flow labels and simpler routing.
  7. Better scheduling and traffic management in routers (priority queues, WFQ), plus admission control and billing models.
  8. Efficient codecs (H.264, MP3, Opus) and adaptive streaming to match network capacity.

Classes of multimedia applications

ClassDescriptionExample
Streaming stored audio/videoPre-recorded content sent from a server, playback starts before the whole file is received; user can pause, seekYouTube, Netflix, music streaming
Streaming live audio/videoLive event is broadcast to many users; one-way, a few seconds of delay allowedLive TV, internet radio, live match
Real-time interactive audio/videoTwo-way conversation, very sensitive to delay (under about 150 ms)VoIP, Skype, Zoom, video conferencing

Properties: stored streaming needs buffering and has the least delay stress; live streaming needs multicast or CDN; interactive applications need the strictest QoS, because late packets are useless.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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