Abstract
With the advent of the World Wide Web (WWW), large volumes of multimedia content are now available on-line in multiple formats. Furthermore, with the proliferation in the mass market of a diversity of multimedia-enabled end-user devices, consumers increasingly expect to be able to access any kind of content anywhere and at any time, regardless of the capabilities of their terminals and the networks to which they are attached. Access to content that meets user expectations and demands, must take into account all the different aspects of this Peterogeneous environment. This paper describes the approach adopted within the European project ENTHRONE-2 to address this challenge. ENTHRONE-2 has conceived, designed and implemented a distributed platform, based on open standards, notably MPEG-21 and Web Services technologies, that supports the kind of network multimedia content access users expect. In particular, it focus on the ENTHRONE Integrated Management Supervisor, the entity that coordinates all the actions required for the provision of quality and context-aware, multimedia services to end-users.

Abstract
This paper addresses the inter-operability problem of multimedia terminal in media content delivery over heterogeneous networks and devices. We design and implement a terminal which includes a content browser providing presentation, navigation and interaction with MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration (MPEG-21 DID) in order to support universal media access (UMA). We optimized the architecture in a client-server distributed approach with Web Service support. This terminal enables the MPEG-21 standard compliant content accessible on different terminal devices via common Web browsers. Such a design strategy illustrates a next-generation multimedia terminal supporting inter-operability in multimedia content adaptation over a heterogeneous delivery chain.

Abstract
The explosion of interest in consuming rich multimedia content resulted in a growing demand for technologies that enable seamless access over any network using any terminal without affecting the viewing experience. Scalable Video Coding (SVC) is considered to be one of the key technologies that will improve the accessibility to video resources through adapting them at network nodes or destination node at a negligible computational cost. State-of-the-art video coding technologies enable a comprehensive set of scalability options. However, the trade-off of having such enriched set of scalability options is the reduced compression efficiency and increased encoder/decoder complexity. This trade-off can be mitigated if the encoder has prior knowledge of the scalability options and levels that are actually needed at a given time. It is possible to achieve this goal in a closely monitored system, such as a Virtual Collaboration System (VCS), in which users and their usage environment are known. This paper proposes a framework to determine the scalability options and levels for encoding scalable video for a VCS. Simulation results highlight the benefits of the proposed framework.

Abstract
This paper proposes a framework for a virtual classroom application based on a Virtual Collaboration System (VCS), which is being developed under the VISNET II Network of Excellence (NoE)(1), and discusses adaptation technologies that enable seamless access to classroom sessions while intellectual property and digital rights are managed. The proposed virtual classroom framework enables academic institutions to conduct their collaborative lecture series, to which registered students will be able to attend remotely and interactively over the Internet. Furthermore, the general public may also follow the classroom sessions under certain restrictions imposed by the participating institutions. In order to facilitate seamless access to a heterogeneous audience that is composed of users with various preferences and privileges accessing the classroom sessions over different network infrastructures and using terminal devices with diverse capabilities, context-aware content adaptation is required to meet constraints imposed by the usage context and enhance the quality of the user experience. Thus, this paper describes the concepts and functionalities of a context-aware content adaptation platform, that suits the requirements of such multimedia application scenarios. This platform is able to consume low-level contextual information to infer higher-level contexts, and thus decide the need for and type of adaptation operations to be performed upon the content. In this way, it is aimed to meet usage. constraints while also satisfying restrictions imposed by the Digital Rights Management (DRM) to govern the use of protected content.

Abstract
The paper presents a method for generating partial bitstreams on-line for use in systems with run-time reconfigurable FPGAs. Bitstream creation is performed at run-time by merging partial bitstreams from individual component modules. The process includes the capability to create connections between the modules by selection from a set of routes found during an off-line pre-processing step. Placement and interconnection of modules must follow a precise set of rules. While restricting the number of possible module arrangements, this approach allows bitstream, creation to be performed with relatively few computational resources. Using a demonstration system with a Virtex-II Pro FPGA with a PowerPC 405 CPU, the process of creating at run-time a partial bitstream for 22% of the device area takes 24 ms.

Abstract
We recently introduced a novel Automatic Noise Reduction (ANR) algorithm for the removal of wideband stationary/non-stationary noise from audio [1]. Current noise reduction techniques exhibit certain undesirable characteristics. Distortion and/or alteration of the audio characteristics is a common problem. User intervention in identifying the noise profile is sometimes necessary. ANR uses a novel framework employing dominant component subtraction and restoration and performs better than conventional techniques in subjective tests. Here we describe three enhancements to ANR. The first of these increases the level of noise removal for the special case of stationary background noise. The second is a new tool for improving the temporal envelope coherence and yields additional noise removal. The third is a multi-band processing tool for conditioning time-frequency envelope for reduced listener fatigue.