By Narisa N. Y. Chu ,Motorola Broadband Communications Sector
Convergence of IP and MPEG technology has gained momentum in many sectors of the Cable, Satellite, and Terrestrial Broadcast industry worldwide. With increasing crossflows between IP and MPEG traffic, the Set- Top Terminal now has to recognize IP Multicast addresses, in addition to other essential information. New descriptors, new tables and IP-Control Channel protocol have been contemplated. The DVB Multi-Protocol Encapsulation standard is extended for implementation efficiency. Other much proliferated new protocols for the MPEG stream are also investigated, treating IP data transport as an equal, if not the primary service to video. The issues at stake are compatibility of IP and MPEG, network pre-determined conditions, scalability, and future evolution in anticipation that Internet streams might play a major role in the broadcast video channel space. This paper concerns the end-to-end signal flow from the program server to user receiver. Critical issues for IP and MPEG interworking are reviewed from an STT perspective.