With the rapid proliferation of multimedia data, including audio, image, video, and graphics, and the great advances in multimedia technologies such as the JPEG and MPEG standards, more and more network-based multimedia applications (IPTV, VoD, VoIP, etc.) are emerging and becoming part of our daily lives. All these applications share a basic requirement, i.e., broadband services. Indeed, driven by the rapid growing demand for multimedia service, broadband Internet access is now a common setup for many Internet users in modern cities. In May 2008, US broadband penetration reached 89.3% among active Internet users.
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