L-PRISM: A Domain-Specific Language for Describing Multimedia Service Function Chains

Franklin J. V. Quico; Anselmo L. E. Battisti; Débora Muchaluat-Saade; Flavia C. Delicato

doi:10.5753/jbcs.2025.5453

Authors

Franklin J. V. Quico Fluminense Federal University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5513-8993
Anselmo L. E. Battisti Fluminense Federal University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3916-2368
Débora Muchaluat-Saade Fluminense Federal University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1233-9736
Flavia C. Delicato Fluminense Federal University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5334-8279

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5753/jbcs.2025.5453

Keywords:

IoMT, IoT, VNF, SFC, DSL, M-PRISM, L-PRISM

Abstract

Virtualization has emerged as a key technology for handling the complexity of heterogeneous environments, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and multimedia systems. In this context, multimedia sensors represent an important data source that contributes to the development of the Internet of Media Things (IoMT) paradigm. Using the concepts of virtualization and IoMT, a multimedia Virtual Network Function (multimedia VNF) has been introduced to encapsulate virtualized devices and software components for processing multimedia streams. Frequently, multimedia streams require a sequence of processing steps, forming what is known as multimedia Service Function Chains (multimedia SFCs). With the advancement of technologies like augmented reality and autonomous vehicles, which require processing complex multimedia streams, often handled by multimedia SFCs, the deployment continues to be highly challenging. Currently, the execution of multimedia SFCs is performed by creating and binding components individually, requiring manual configuration and low-level integration. This increases the development time and probability of errors. Moreover, existing approaches lack a standardized mechanism for describing multimedia SFCs, resulting in ad hoc solutions with low interoperability. Despite the importance of describing multimedia SFCs, there has been limited research on this topic. To bridge this gap, we propose a novel metamodel named M-PRISM, designed to serve as the conceptual foundation for describing multimedia stream processing. Using this metamodel, we create a new Domain-Specific Language (DSL) named L-PRISM, tailored to describe multimedia SFCs. Additionally, we introduce a novel architecture for executing multimedia SFCs, demonstrated through a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) which follows the proposed architecture and executes multimedia SFCs described in L-PRISM. Our approach was evaluated through experiments with software developers, focusing on aspects such as expressiveness, ease of adoption, and reduction of configuration complexity.In the experiments we adopted the Goal Question Metric (GQM), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Cognitive Dimensions of Notations (CDN) approaches, and the results indicate that L-PRISM and its PoC facilitate the definition and deployment of multimedia SFCs based on multimedia VNFs.

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