Parallel Implementation of MPEG-4 Encoding over a Cluster of Workstations

Parallel Implementation of MPEG-4 Encoding over a Cluster of Workstations is a research project and a project proposal to reduce the delay involved in the MPEG-4 encoding process. As a case study we take Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham which is a multicampus Deemed University, one of its own kinds in India. All the campuses are connected through satellite provided by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). A number of e-learning classes, guest lectures and meetings are conducted across the satellite network with the video being compressed in MPEG-4 standard. The project optimizes the system by parallelizing the encoding process. For this a cluster of machines is created and the video frames are distributed among these nodes. This follows the SPAM (Single Program Multiple Data) model. Dedicated nodes within the cluster perform the encoding process, while there is a node that distributes the video to be encoded over these nodes. Another node collects the encoded video and places them back in the original sequence. The two nodes can be utilized for the encoding process also.