Experimental Internetwork Multimedia Mail System

摘要

This paper describes the implementation and use of an experimental multimedia mall system, in particular the user interface program called MMM. Using MMM, it is possible for a user to create a multimedia message which may contain various types of text, image, and voice data and to then send the message to other hosts within the Department of Defense (DoD) Internet Environment. MMM is written in Pascal and runs on a PERQ personal computer equipped with a large bitmap display, a local hard disk, and a connection to a 3 Mbit Ethernet. A CHI-5 LPC speech box connected to the PERQ's RS-232 port provides voice input and output. Hardcopy pictures may be scanned by a Rapicom Facsimile machine, then translated into bitmaps for inclusion in multimedia messages. These bitmaps may be edited, or others created using a bitmap sketching program (which is also a part of MMM). Section II of this paper briefly describes the DoD internet and the family of protocols used in this environment. The physical data connections between the PERQ running MMM and the various networks used are also discussed. Section III describes the specific protocol used. This protocol allows generated types of structured data to be transfered within the internet. Section IV describes the subset of this protocol implemented in MMM and gives a detailed account of how MMM works and how one would use it to compose, send, and receive messages. Section V discusses our experience with this system and the problems encountered. Finally, Section VI outlines our plans for the future.