ReMDoR: remote multimedia document retrieval over partial order transport

This paper presents results from performance experiments that demonstrate and quantify performance improvements when a PO/R transpor5t service is used instead of an ordered/reliable service (O/R e.g., TCP) or an unordered/unreliable service (e.g. UDP). We first describe the Remote Multimedia Document Retrieval system (ReMDoR), an experimental application developed by the authors to evaluate the performance of remote document retrieval over a variety of transport protocols. We then provide a detailed analysis of experiments comparing O/R service to PO/R service for retrieval of a multimedia document. Our results show that between 5% and 10% loss, user-perceivable improvements in progressive display are obtained when PO/R service is used. These results suggest that when packet losses occur in an underlying packet-switched network, transport services providing reliable delivery over independent streams (such the emerging Internet protocol SCTP) are beneficial for retrieval of streaming multimedia.