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Multimedia Systems IntegrationEN 605.437.71

Dustin DoyleJohn GarofoloNickilyn Lynch

Tracey May Poletti Mark Von Heeringen

MOBILE INSURANCE ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM

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Mobile Insurance Adjustment System

-- a client - server system; regional headquarters at one end and individual investigators at the other!!

DEFINITION

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Introduction and Overview -- N. Lynch

Cellular Network Communications (CDPD) -- D. Doyle

Image Capture and Compression -- T. M. Poletti

Audio Compression/Speech Recognition -- J. Garofolo

OUTLINE

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InvestigatorPortable

HQ / CentralOffice

NodeComputing Device

Operating System

DataHierarchy Applications

CommSupport

Laptop CDPDPrinterDigital Camera

ProcessorPentium PRO

Windows 95

WindowsNT 4.0 Server

Temporarydata store

DistributedMultimediaDatabases

CDPD DriversFTP Client SoftwareNetscape Navigator 3.01Audio & Image Capture & Encoding

Netscape Enterprise ServerNT FTP ServerCold Fusion (DB Processing)Database Engine // PERL

CDPD CellularRS-232 Direct Link

EthernetLANWAN (T-1)

INTERNET

Workstations

Insurance CompanyServers(w / Databases)

CDPDNetworkRouter

Cellular / CDPDTransmitting Net

MOBILE INSURANCE ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM

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CLIENT-SERVER, WEB-BASED APPROACH

Why we selected this approach:

-- Familiar Browser Interface

-- Ease of Updating on the Central Server Software

-- Public Network Access

-- Forms Processing Capabilities

-- Ease of Database Integration

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-- A Digital Camera

-- A Network - Enabled Laptop running Windows 95 microphone/sound card for capturing interviews an interface to a digital camera

-- A Portable Bubble Jet Printer / FAX

CLIENT END

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CDPDNetworkRouter

Cellular / CDPDTransmitting Net

INTERNET

Insurance CompanyServers(w / Data Bases)

-- The connection to the server is a wireless cellular modemrunning TCP / IP, using CDPD to connect to a circuit switch system LAN lines to the regional headquarters

COMMUNICATIONS

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-- Examines and photographs the damage with the digital camera

-- Conducts a verbal interview with the customer

-- Calls up the appropriate form Fills in the form with information from the customer Reference image and audio files in the form Form is stored on an HTTP server at the regional headquarters

INVESTIGATOR DUTIES

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Investigator receives -- confirmation that the information has been received at headquarters -- Material to download for the client’s use (tip sheet) -- Information on hotels, car rental agencies, background on contractors, etc.

(All printable at client end)

INVESTIGATOR DUTIES (Cont)

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SERVER END (Regional Headquarters)

-- Information on the form is stored in an object-oriented database at the regional headquarters with graphics and audiofiles in a directory linked to the claim

-- At the end of each day all files are FTPed to the regionalheadquarters server where a batch program then adds them to the Claims database

Workstations

Insurance CompanyServers (w / Databases)

Workstations

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CLAIMS ADJUSTER DUTIES

-- Claims Adjuster at the Regional Headquarters Evaluates the claim Enters the assessment into the database Forwards decisions to the investigator electronically -- Claimant Receives the Paperwork by U.S. Mail

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WHICH CELLULAR SYSTEM TO USE ?

ANALOG vs. DIGITAL

Desiderata:

-- Mobility

-- Established technology

-- Reliability

-- Security

-- No need for a continuous session

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SYSTEM OF CHOICE

CDPD

Cellular Digital Packet Data

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CDPD NETWORK DEFINITION

-- A packet-oriented, connectionless, multi-protocol network

service providing peer network wireless extensions to existing

data networks

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BENEFITS OF USING CDPD

-- Uses Current Cellular Infrastructure

-- Open Specifications

-- Speed

-- Reliability

-- Security

-- Cost Effective

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CURRENT CELLULAR INFRASTRUCTURE

CDPD is an overlay network on top of the current cellular telephone system

-- Radio Frequencies at 800-MHz to 900-MHz Range

-- RF Channel Assigned at 30-KHz Separations

-- Full Duplex Radio Channel

-- RF Channel Reuse With Cellular Layout for Capacity and Coverage

-- Maximum RF Power Levels Same as Cellular Telephones

-- Frequency / Channel Agile Devices

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OPEN SPECIFICATIONS

-- Based on One of the Most Widely Accepted Network Protocols - IP

-- Sits Below Network Layer ( i.e., IP Layer )

CSCCP ( Circuit Switched CDPD Control Protocol ) is in use for the Mobile Insurance Adjustment System

-- Supports Multiple Protocols / Applications

Not forced to choose between: Internet IP vs. ISO FTAM for the file transfer Internet e-mail ( SMTP, POP3) vs. X.400-based message handling system IP vs. CLNP vs. IPV6

-- Can Grow to Meet Future Applications

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SPEED

-- Faster than any other Public Wireless System

-- Raw Data Rate of 19.2-Kbps

-- Real World Rate of 10-Kbps - 12-Kbps

-- Since Full Duplex, Overall Speed of Data Transfer is Quicker

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-- Efficient Modulation / Demodulation Techniques

Gaussian minimum shift keying

-- Efficient Forward Error Correction, which Reduces Need for Retransmission

Reed - Solomon

-- Sequence Number on Packets -- Retransmission for Excessively Corrupted Packets

RELIABILITY

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-- Uses Authentication Techniques

-- Uses Encryption Techniques

-- Sends Data in Packets instead of in a Continuous Stream

SECURITY

** Very High Level of Security which is Virtually Impossibleto Eavesdrop on

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COST EFFECTIVENESS

-- Since CDPD Takes Advantage of the “Bursty Nature” of Data Transmission, Cost Is Based on Kilobyte Usage Rather Than Connection Time

-- No Strong Financial Cost to Support New Technology Development Since Technology is Already Established

-- Since Technology is Established, Cost for Downtime is Low

-- Modems are Affordable ( $400 - $1600 )

** MIAS Project Will Utilize IBM Cellular / CDPD Modem which has Voice, FAX, and Data Transmission Capabilities ~ $950

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Price Quotes From AT&T

Service Plan Monthly MinimumFee

Monthly Kilobyte Allowance

Usage Rate( per Kilobyte )After Allowance

Plan # 1

Plan # 3

Plan # 5

$ 22

$ 85

$ 145

200

2,000

4,000

$ 0.12

$ 0.06

$ 0.05

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EXAMPLE CDPD DATA XFER SCHEME

1. CSCCP on Mobile Side Sends a Connection Request

2. CSCCP on Network Side Responds with a Connection Response (which contains a Unique ID Number )

3. At this Point the Connection is Established

4. Data is Transferred

5. When Idle Time is Detected, Network Side Relinquishes the Cellular Resource and an Idle Disconnect occurs

6. When Mobile Side has Data to Transmit again, a Reconnect Request is Sent which Contains the Unique ID Number

7. CSCCP on Network Side Responds with a Reconnect Response

8. Connection is Reestablished until further Idle Time is Detected

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FUTURE SYSTEM STATISTICS

NBI says CDPD is Fastest Growing Mobile Data Market( Northern Business Information )

1994 vs. 1999Mix of Mobile Data Users

1994 vs. 1999Mix of Mobile Data Revenues

Circuit Switched 80% 64%

CDPD -1% 27%

RF Packet Data 20% 9%

4.2 million Users by 1999

Circuit Switched 5% 10%

CDPD 3% 68%

RF Packet Data 92% 22%

$1.5 billion by 1999

1994 1999 1994 1999

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CAPTURING IMAGES

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STEPS FOR CAPTURING IMAGES

1. Photograph Damaged Property with the Kodak DC50 Zoom Digital Camera and Save Pictures in “Best” Format

2. Attach Camera to PC via the COM Port

3. User PhotoEnhancer ( Picture Works Technology, Inc. ) to Transfer Pictures from the Camera to the PC

4. Review Thumbnails and Select Desired Pictures

5. Save Pictures in TIF Format ( name them according to case # )

6. Compress Files (Compression Engine Wavelet)

7. At the End of the Day, the Investigator FTPs the Compressed Image Files to the Appropriate Directory on the FTP Server at Headquarters

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• Purpose: To capture photographs of claimed damage. This is currently done with a conventional camera and photographs are stored in physical files. Digital images could be stored, transmitted, and retrieved in a multimedia database.

• Considerations: Very limited bandwidth

IMAGE I/O

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• 2 Formats widely supported on Web:– GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)– JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

• New Technology:– Wavelets

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• GIF – 8-bit color– Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression

• lossless, general-purpose algorithm

• limited to 4:1 compression

• substrings coded in substitution dictionary

– packetized, stream-based

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• JPEG– 24-bit color– JPEG compression, lossy,

• better for photographs: high-quality intensity representation, lower-quality color representation

• block-oriented: downsample chrominance components, then apply Discrete Cosine Transform, then quantize and Huffman-encode coefficients

• adjustable compression ratio up to 100:1 (25:1 good quality)

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• CEW (Compression Engines Wavelet, www.cengines.com)– 24-bit color– wavelet compression, lossy, uses advanced

mathematics to characterize frequency, energy, time info (Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) spline wavelet algorithm)

• transform entire image rather than in blocks• fast compression/decompression, low memory usage• SDK available• adjustable compression ratio up to 300:1• ideal for tele-medicine applications

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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(JPEG - 180Kb. / ~2.4 minutes)

SAMPLES

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(CEW Low Compression - 49Kb. / ~39 seconds)

image01.cew

(CEW High Compression - 5Kb. / ~4 seconds)

image01h.cew

SAMPLES

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• Web-integrated client-side image capture not supported by Anyone!– Currently, to integrate image capture into Web-

based application would have to write your own helper app.

– Not feasible for this project given cost of SDKs and time constraints.

IMAGE CHALLENGES

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• Purpose: To capture interviews with claimants. This is currently done with analog cassette recordings. Digital recordings could be stored/retrieved in a multimedia database.

• Considerations: Very limited bandwidth

AUDIO I/O

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• WAV – PCM linear-encoded, 16-bit, 44.1-KHz – CD-quality– Widely supported, but very bulky– Sample: (4.3 seconds, 380K / ~5 min.)

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• UL – u-law-encoded, 8-bit, 8-KHz – Telephone quality– Widely supported, compact– Sample: (4.3 seconds, 35K / ~28 seconds)

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• RA – RealAudio-encoded – Telephone quality– Very compact, designed for audio streaming– Sample: (4.3 seconds, 4.5K / ~3.6 sec.)RealMedia File

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• VOX – Voxware-encoded, 8-bit, 8-KHz – Sub-telephone quality– Extremely compact, designed for speech

streaming and interactive applications– Sample: (4.3 seconds, 3K / ~2.4 sec.)sample.vox

CANDIDATE FORMATS

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• MetaVoice CODECs - model human speech – encodes resonance, pitch, timbre info– compression ratios as high as 106:1– supports warping, pitch shift, and VoiceFonts

• RT24 V2.0– 2400 bps, 8-KHz., 3.5 MOS

• RT29HQ V2.0– 2978 bps, 8-KHz., 3.6 MOS

• www.voxware.com

VOXWARE AUDIO

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• Dragon Dictate– Supports Command and Dictation modes– Isolated Word - must pause between words– Speaker Dependent - requires training– Limited Vocabulary - 30,000 words

• Dragon NaturalSpeech Dictation (NEW)– Continuous Speech Recognition (30,000 words)– Speaker Dependent - requires training– Can only use in special editor

• www.dragonsys.com

SPEECH RECOGNITION

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• State-of-the-art speech recognizer at server (offline) to produce transcription of recorded interviews. – But current state-of-the-art technology for

speaker-independent, continuous speech recognition still has about a 25% word error rate at 100 - 200 times real time!

– Still usable with human correction.

FUTURE APPROACH

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• Web-integrated client-side audio capture not supported by Anyone!– Currently, to integrate sound recording into

Web-based application would have to write your own helper app.

– Not feasible for this project given cost of SDKs and time constraints.

• Better ASR technology needed

AUDIO CHALLENGES