Book excerpt: For one/two-semester, undergraduate/ graduate-level courses in Data Communications and Networks, Networked Multimedia, and Multimedia Information Networking. Ideal for those with little background in the subject, this text provides a cohesive and seamless presentation of both the fundamental and advanced concepts related to Multimedia Information Networking from basic technologies and communication systems, protocols, and networks, to a variety of multimedia applications. It offers balanced coverage of communication and multimedia issues focusing on multimedia information, as well as on techniques and technologies used in making this information available on computer networks.