Intelligent Media Agents Key technology for Interactive Television, Multimedia and Internet Applications

Intelligent agents are rescuer in the information glut. They help users to find information which better corresponds to their interests and needs. This book describes the architecture and basic modules of an intelligent media agent. A personal television guide is described as an example of intelligent help, addressing the problem of managing TV channels by using an intelligent agent.
Contents: intelligent agents - software agents - programming - fuzzy logic
Target groups: Computer scientists - students - software developers - multimedia and internet programmer
About the Author: Hartmut Wittig is directing the corporate strategy department of "Deutsche Telekom Computer Service Management" (DeTeCSM). In the recent years, H.Wittig has directed multimedia and internet software R&D departments and groups. He gave lectures on "Multimedia Systems" in German universities and worked as Editor in Chief of IEEE Multimedia Newsletter.

1 Introduction.- 1.1 Research in Interactive Television Systems.- 1.2 Applications.- 1.3 The Problem of an Information Glut.- 1.4 Need for Agent-based Systems.- 1.5 Overview.- 2 Towards Personal Television Systems.- 2.1 Software Agent Definition.- 2.2 Related Work.- 2.3 Practical Issues and Examples.- 2.4 Intelligent Agent Research Applied to Television.- 3 Requirements.- 3.1 Requirements to Multimedia Environments.- 3.2 Requirements to Program Provision.- 3.3 Requirements to User-Specific Functions.- 3.4 Conclusion.- 4 Agent Run-Time Environment.- 4.1 System Standards.- 4.2 Multimedia Standards.- 4.3 Dynamic Generation of Multimedia Applications.- 5 Architecture of the Intelligent Media Agent.- 5.1 Multilayered Agent Approach.- 5.2 Module Description.- 5.3 Discussion of Privacy and Security Aspects.- 6 Program Descriptors and User Profiles.- 6.1 Classification Units.- 6.2 Program Descriptors.- 6.3 User Profile.- 6.4 Attribute Types.- 7 Matching and Clustering.- 7.1 Matching Methods.- 7.2 Application to Attribute Types.- 7.3 Matching Example.- 7.4 Clustering.- 8 Profile Initialization and Update.- 8.1 User Profiles Initialization.- 8.2 User Profile Reference Table.- 8.3 User Profile Updates.- 8.4 User Groups.- 9 Decision Support System.- 9.1 Characteristic Properties.- 9.2 User Behavior Variables.- 9.3 Reaction to Zapping.- 10 Implementation and Testing.- 10.1 Implementation based on the MHEG Standard.- 10.2 Implementation of the Electronic Program Guide Application.- 10.3 Evaluation with Respect to Requirements.- 10.4 Summary.- 11 Conclusions.- 11.1 Classification.- 11.2 Suggested Extensions.- Appendix A: Genre Trees.- Appendix B: Personal EPG Application based on JAVA.- Appendix C: The Administration Tool.- Appendix D: Sample Hit List.

Hartmut Wittig is directing the corporate strategy department of "Deutsche Telekon Computer Service Management" (DeTeCSM), In the recent years, H. Wittig has directed multimedia and internet software R&D departments and groups. He gave lectures on "Multimedia Systems" in German universities and worked as Editor in Chief of IEE Multimedia Newsletter.

Hartmut Wittig ist Zentralbereichsleiter für Unternehmensstrategie bei der Deutschen Telekom Computer Service Management GmbH (DeTeCSM). Das Buch stützt sich auf seine Erfahrungen in leitenden Tätigkeiten der Internet-Softwareentwicklung. In den vergangenen Jahren war er außerdem als Dozent für Multimedia-Systeme an verschiedenen deutschen Universitäten sowie als Herausgeber der IEEE Multimedia Newsletter tätig.