The main International Telecommunications Union (ITU) study group for broadband services approved Internet Protocol and advanced HDTV proposals during meetings Oct. 29-Nov. 2 at the headquarters of CableLabs.
During the meetings, ITU Study Group 9, entitled Integrated Broadband Cable Networks and Television and Sound Transmission, approved for standardization Recommendation J.700 “IPTV Service Requirements and Framework for Secondary Distribution.”
Secondary distribution is an ITU term meaning use of a transmission channel for distribution of video/audio programs to users at large, for example, by an over-the-air broadcast channel or by means of a fiber or cable network.
In addition, recommendations relating to second- and third-generation IPCablecom were approved for consideration by the full ITU for standardization. These recommendations add to a suite of more than 25 recommendations that have been developed for cable and hybrid networks.
From the beginning of the work on IPCablecom, equipment based on these recommendations — such as modems, set-top boxes, signaling equipment, interactive television application platform interfaces and digital program insertion, and others — has been widely implemented in Asia, Europe, and North America.
