A buffer is 2 MiB in size. The lower limit of the buffer is set at 200 KiB and the higher limit is set at 1.8 MiB.
Data is being streamed at 1.5 Mbps and the media player is taking data at the rate 600 kbps.
You may assume a megabit is 1 048 576 bits and a kilobit is 1024 bits.
a) Explain why the buffer is needed.
b) i) Calculate the amount of data stored in the buffer after 2 seconds of streaming and playback.
You may assume that the buffer already contains 200 KiB of data.
ii) By using different time values (such as 4 secs, 6 secs, 8 secs, and so on) determine how long it will take before the buffer reaches its higher limit (1.8 MiB).
c) Describe how the problem calculated in part b) ii) can be overcome so that a 30-minute video can be watched without frequent pausing of playback.