Low-latency DASH and Filecasting advance in latest workplan
At the 88th meeting of the DVB Steering Board this week, the latest revision of the DVB Workplan was approved. It sets out the current status of all ongoing DVB work items and is available for download from the OUR WORK section of the DVB website.
Revision 6 of the workplan highlights a number of significant SB decisions, including the approval of a new specification for a Single Illumination System. It allows for the combination of DVB-S/S2/S2X distribution and DVB-T/T2 contribution in a single satellite beam. DVB-SIS will now be forwarded to ETSI for publication as a European Technical Specification. (A separate news item will be published in due course, along with the related BlueBook.)
Low-latency DASH
A new set of Commercial Requirements for Low-latency DASH was approved by the SB. The CRs will now be forwarded to the Technical Module and will serve as the basis for a new specification. The intention is to provide for the consistent delivery of live and linear television and radio services over DVB-DASH such that the latency performance can be on a par with other DVB distribution means, but without losing the additional functionalities provided by unicast delivery.
Filecasting
The SB also approved a Commercial Module report on filecasting. An earlier Long Term Vision report on terrestrial broadcasting had listed filecasting as a topic for further investigation. It was defined as:
“…to enable an easy and fluid delivery of files (e.g. video content, but all kind of digital files should be eligible) though a broadcast network, normally used for transmission of live services only. Enable simple access to these files for applications and end-users across all devices. This should be designed as a transport utility, available to all 3rd party end-user facing services, not as an end-user facing service itself.”
For the report on filecasting, the task force performed a gap analysis between existing standards and solutions and the functionalities described in the Long Term Vision report. Having been approved, the report will now serve as the basis for a discussion between DVB and HbbTV to identify appropriate next steps.
Join DVB!
Organisations that wish to contribute to any of the work items mentioned above or others listed in the workplan are encouraged to join the DVB Project and participate in the relevant CM and TM groups.
