The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has released a new standard to assist broadcasters, content creators, cable operators and consumer electronics manufacturers in developing interoperable services and products.
Called the Advanced Common Application Platform (ACAP) candidate standard (CS/11), the new standard successfully harmonized the ATSC DTV Application Software Environment (DASE) specifications with CableLabs’ OCAP specifications.
According to a statement on the ATSC Web site, a candidate standard is “an explicit call for implementation and technical feedback.” The T3 Specialist Group on ACAP, chaired by Craig Smithpeters, Cox Communications, is now responsible for the standard.
The ATSC also released the companion candidate standard for ATSC Interaction Channel Protocols (CS/96) to complement ACAP. This standard specifies protocols to enable interactive television applications using an interaction two-way channel. This could be used in combination with forward broadcast download channels from terrestrial, cable and satellite networks.
The ACAP and Interaction Channel Protocols candidate standards are available at www.atsc.org/standards.
