The Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) announced this week the publication of the Architecture Specification for IPTV infrastructure elements and services to be included in Release 2 of the OIPF Specifications.
Release 1 of the OIPF technical specifications was published early in 2009. The Release 1 profiling specification, which will finalize the first release, is expected at the end of September. The OIPF technical workgroups now are developing Release 2.
The Release 2 architecture specification addresses a number of new services and features by introducing or extending functionality in a number of key areas:
- broadening of the service domain to include mobile networks, allowing OIPF-specified features such as remote access, notifications, and session transfer and replication to extend to mobile devices
- enhanced content access for consumers, including more sophisticated local and network PVR, time shift, pay-per-view and personalized channels
- remote access and remote management functions for more flexible control of the TV experience
- functions to increase consumer convenience, such as notifications, TV bookmarking, parental controls and session controls across multiple devices
- features that assist the service provider in the provision and measuring of the service, including forced playout controls and audience research
The OIPF was established in 2007 to develop and publish end-to-end specifications for standardized IPTV solutions, helping eliminate many of the interoperability and portability issues that historically have hampered IPTV service providers as they build their solutions. The specifications are being developed in a phased manner, to provide interested parties with timely and increasingly comprehensive coverage of the many infrastructure and functional areas involved in an end-to-end IPTV solution.
The Architecture Specification is available for download from the Publications section of the Forum Web site.
