special report the connected world supplement
intended to address interoperability problems between different media devices. Access is a promoter member among more than 250 affiliated companies.
The idea behind the DLNA initiative is to enable seamless access to media anywhere on the home network, or in some cases beyond it, so long as there is an Internet protocol connection. This involves a distributed architecture composed of devices that can be players, controllers or servers, or any combination. The great thing is that as more devices are added to the network it becomes more flexible and more powerful, opening up all sorts of opportunities for additional services, business models and revenue streams. Obviously for home networks that support seamless media access to be commercially successful, media producers, consumer electronics manufacturers, service providers and consumers must all be able to recognise the value of these opportunities.
Media producers want to allow seamless access to their media but on their own terms. They understand that consumers want this access but they need to protect the intellectual property in their media assets. Traditional broadcasters want to embrace broadband, but also maintain their prominent position as media distributors. Interoperability with other retail devices enables broadcasters to deliver to more destination screens, which increases their reach and value propositions. Consumer electronics companies want to be able to differentiate their products and provide new features and functions. Apart from the few companies that may be able to impose the vertically integrated end- to-end system mentioned earlier, most manufacturers benefit from interoperating within an ecosystem of compatible products in a horizontal retail market. There is more to be gained from standardisation on core functions while differentiating in other features.
DLNA is designed around various use cases based on what people might actually want to do with digital media in the home. It aims to achieve interoperability at every layer of the communications stack, across a range of devices certified for conformance. These devices can be categorised as home network devices, which may be any combination of media servers, players, renderers or controllers, mobile handheld devices (which can
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also be upload or download controllers), or home infrastructure devices that can interconnect with other DLNA devices.
As the capabilities of devices are increasing, the ‘use cases’ that DLNA can support are becoming more sophisticated. Work is underway to establish a higher baseline of functionality that compliant devices must support, providing a firm foundation for the future home media network.
Secure distribution of commercial media is critical to many business requirements, and extending media protection across the home network enables the secure playback of commercial media on devices in the home network without requiring them to implement specific conditional- access systems. This can be achieved using the standard DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Content Protection) protocol.
Preserving the user experience
Another key requirement for both branding and usability is to preserve the user experience across all connected displays. By supporting a remote user interface (RUI) that enables devices to display their user interface on other network-connected devices, operators can maintain a consistently branded look and feel across all devices.
Companies such as Access have made significant investments in building software stacks to support a wide variety of usage scenarios, allowing manufacturers and service provides to benefit from proven implementations. These ready-made components not only reduce time-to-
The combination of browser, media player and DLNA compatibility is extremely powerful. These
elements provide the core building blocks of the network- connected home, and we think it makes sense to look for a pre- integrated solution that can accommodate all of these requirements.
market and the cost of deployment, they enable manufacturers to concentrate on what they do best - differentiating their products and services from the competition. One example of these stacks is Access’ NetFront Living Connect, a software solution that enables the seamless, secure access and management of digital media from any DLNA-certified device in the home network. NetFront Living Connect has been implemented in a variety of devices from digital televisions and set-top boxes to cameras, network storage boxes and mobile phones.
NetFront Living Connect v2.0, the latest version, includes powerful new features such as Content
Synchronisation, which allows pictures, movies or music to be synchronised between different devices coexisting within a home network, and Smart Media Manager, a media server management resource with a browser- based interface offering powerful metadata extensions, parental guidance and security settings. NetFront Living Connect v2.0 also lays the groundwork for next-generation DLNA functionalities such as scheduled recording service (SRS) and remote user interface (RUI). SRS provides a standardised method for users to schedule recordings of broadcast or other media on different devices inside the home while receiving notifications of any changes, and RUI allows external control of devices at home via small, embedded web servers. The integration of a browser within the home network environment allows existing web standards such as XHTML, JavaScript, CSS and HTTP to be used, while device discovery and control can be based on existing
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