RIVUS: A Template Language for Modelling Multimedia Streams

Streams have been included in the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP), in response to advances in distributed multimedia computing. They describe the complex interactions that can occur in such systems. The simple client-server model of interaction is insufficient to properly represent streams and therefore an explicit binding model has been introduced. Details of the communication are encapsulated in a binding object whose behaviour is defined in a template. This report presents the ODP view of streams and then introduces the template language RIVUS. The language can be used to specify binding templates and thus allow classes of communication behaviour to be described. A syntax for the language is provided.