Abstraction for Programming

Abstractions Levels
Libraries
System Software
Toolkits
Higher Programming Languages
Object –oriented approaches

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State of the Art of the Programming
• Programming in the past & present:
- In the past, Multimedia applications are implemented in structural language i.e. based on procedure like c
- Multimedia specific functions were called, and respectively controlled, through hardware specific libraries or
device drivers.
• Now / Present scenario:
- Well defined abstractions in higher programming languages can be found in the form of data types (e.g. float, int in
C), which hides the actual hardware configuration.
- In research, OOP approaches to the programming of multimedia systems and especially applications have been
used.
- Multimedia objects help for fast integration in the environment; are used,
- Libraries, system software, toolkits etc. are emerging.
- For the representation/accessing and manipulation of data, the details of several defined approaches are use
for Abstraction levels in programming.
- It deals with hiding concepts of the multimedia program from the actual hardware configuration.

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Block Diagram of Different Abstraction Level of Multimedia
Abstraction levels in programming define different approaches with a
varying degree of detail for representing, accessing and manipulating
data.
Device:A separate component in a computer that is used for processing
continuous media.
Library:Simplest abstraction level, which includes the necessary
functions for controlling the corresponding hardware with specific
device access operations.
Device drivers:It is used for bounding the multimedia devices.
System software: It does the processing of continuous data. So, for this
several properties are required like-schedulers (can be monotonic
scheduler or earliest deadline-first scheduler).
Higher procedural programming language:Language used to
implement multimedia applications contains abstractions of multimedia
data.
Object-oriented programming language:Provides the application with
a class hierarchy for the manipulation of multimedia.
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Libraries
• The processing of continuous media is based on a set of function which is
embedded into libraries.
• Libraries are considered as a usual solution for programming multimedia data.
• Libraries are provided together with corresponding hardware.
• The device driver and or library which controls all available functions and
supports each device.
• Some libraries can be considered as extension of the graphical user interface &
others libraries consists of control instructions passed as control blocks to the
corresponding driver eg : Libraries use in AVC ( Audio Video Connection)
• Libraries did not address about which functions should be supported however
they are useful at O/S levels.
• The condition where neither sufficient OS support nor integrated programming
environment exists, we can use libraries.
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Example of Libraries: Open GL

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 System Software
Instead of implementing access to multimedia devices through individual libraries, the device access can become part of the
operating system
- E.g.: Nemo system. - The Nemo trusted supervisor call (NTSC) code implements the functions required by user mode
processes.
- It provides support for three types of processes.
- a) System process: Implements the majority of the services provided by the operating system.
- b) Device driver processes: similar to system processes, but are distinguished by the fact that they are attached to
device interrupts stubs which execute in supervisor mode.
- c) Application process: Contains user programs.
- Processes interact with each other through the system abstraction-Inter Process Communication (IPC).
- Data as time capsule:
- Time capsules can relate to file system in multimedia.
- Serves as storage, modification, and access for continuous media.
- Each LDU (Logical Data Unit) carries in its time capsule, in addition to its data type and actual value, its valid life
span.
- More useful technique for video than Audio.
- Data as a Stream:
- A stream denotes the continuous flow of audio and video data.
- A stream is established between source and sink before the flow.
- Operation on a stream can be performed such as play, fast forward, rewind and stop.
- In Microsoft windows, a media control interface (MCI) provides the interface for processing multimedia data.
- It allows the access to continuous media streams and their corresponding devices. 6
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System Software:Windows Media Control Interface

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System Software: DirectX

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Toolkits
• Toolkits are used for controlling the audio and video data processing in a
programming environment.
• Toolkits are used to:
• a) Abstract from the actual physical layer.
• b) Allow uniform interface for communication with different devices of continuous
media.
• c) Introduce the client –server paradigm
• d) Toolkits also hide process structure.
• e) Toolkits should represent interface at the system software level.
• Example:
• Animoto, iMovie, Quicktime etc.

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Higher Programming Languages
• In the higher programming languages, the processing of continuous media data is
influenced by a group of similar constructed functions.
• These calls are mostly hardware and driver independent.
• The programs in an HLL either directly access multimedia data structures, or communicate
directly with, the active processes in the real-time environment.
• The processing devices are controlled through corresponding device drivers.
• Media as types
• Media as files
• Media as processes

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Media as Type

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Media as File

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Media as a process

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Programming language requirements

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Object Oriented Programming Approaches
3. Object:It is an instance of the class. objects, derived from the
same class include the same operations as an interface to the
outside world. Object includes a set of operations, which are
called methods. Object communicates among each other
through the exchange of messages.
4. Inheritance: Classes contains root and leaves of the
hierarchy, and also the super classes and subclasses (fathers
and sons). Inheritance can be simple and multi inheritance.
5. Polymorphism: It is related to the property of inheritance
indicating when the same name of a method is defined in
Object oriented approach is used to reduce the complexity in
several classes (& objects) with different implementation
the s/w development. and functionalities. Polymorphism can cause programming
1. Abstract type definition: The definition of data errors that are difficult to find.
types through abstract interfaces is called abstract type
definitions. Abstract type definition is understood as an
interface specification without a knowledge and • This can be implemented as :
implementation of internal algorithms. Data abstraction
• Device as a classes
hides the used algorithms.
• Processing Unit as a Classess
2. Class: The implementation of abstract data types is done
through classes. A class specification includes an • Media as a Classess
interface provided to the outside world.
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