Professor Dr Klara Nahrstedt

Research Priorities: Computer networks, real-time multimedia applications, video streaming, QoS Broker concept (Quality of Service Management), video conference systems (immersive telepresence)
Klara Nahrstedt is an expert in computer science. Her research focuses on real-time multimedia applications in networks. She introduced the QoS Broker concept (Quality of Service Management) for multimedia systems. The concept improves the quality of multimedia transmission. She alsoinvestigates the “future internet” and cutting-edge video-conference systems (immersive telepresence).
Klara Nahrstedt studies the distribution of multimedia signals over computer networks. She is particularly concerned with real-time multimedia applications such as voice over IP and video streaming. In this area she developed a concept to improve the reception quality of multimedia applications. The “Quality of Service Management” (QoS), often simply called Quality of Service, defines all functions that ensure a certain quality is present for the use of a service. When it comes to real-time applications, high demand or low bandwidth have an impact on quality. The transmission may be disrupted, a livestream may be “jerky” or suffer repeated interruptions.
Generally speaking, networks do not differentiate between a video data packet and a regular data packet. They do not prioritise one form over another. The QoS functions developed by Klara Nahrstedt counteract this shortcoming by matching data packets to certain applications. Prioritised data packets are forwarded preferentially, which improves the quality of real-time applications. Klara Nahrstedt continuously optimises this concept and develops algorithms that are sensitive to QoS applications.
In other research areas she investigates new models and procedures that allow communication systems to adjust to shifting framework conditions. The “transition” concept allows communication systems to recognise the best possible transmission path and to independently switch between respective processes. She also develops immersive video communication technologies (immersive telepresence). These groundbreaking systems incorporate the overall environment into video technologies, for example using special backdrops and lighting methods, to give participants the impression that they are actually sitting opposite one another.