DVB publishes updated Multicast ABR specification and guidelines

The DVB Steering Board, at its recent meeting in Geneva, approved the publication of two DVB BlueBooks related to adaptive streaming over IP multicast. BlueBook A176r3 is an update of the DVB-MABR specification itself, while BlueBook A181r1 is an update of the implementation guidelines for the specification.

Both are available from the DVB Specification Library.

New optional transport protocols

The latest version of the DVB-MABR specification addresses several change requests along with some new topics related to the Phase 2 Commercial Requirements. Examples of the latter include the addition of two new optional multicast transport protocols as well as sections dealing with reporting, authenticity assertion and tampering protection.

The two new optional transport protocols, which join the existing mandatory FLUTE and ROUTE protocols, are MSYNC and NORM. Both protocols are already used in commercial deployments of MABR and are described in technical specifications published by IETF. Their inclusion in DVB-MABR will accelerate market adoption, providing a viable transition path for legacy deployments that use NORM or MSYNC to DVB-MABR without having to change an already deployed transport protocol.

A parallel update of the implementation guidelines and worked examples for DVB-MABR has also been published. It includes a new fourth worked example along with additional guidance on several existing clauses.

DVB Workplan

The Steering Board also approved the latest version of the detailed DVB Workplan, which sets out the timelines and expected milestones for all ongoing work items. It is available for download from the How We Work page.