HNTF/Home Network TF Discussions/HomeNetworkUA MediaServer

Use Case: Home Network Enabled User-Agent - Network Media Server

Submitter(s): Samsung Electronics (Russell Berkoff)

Description:

• Enable a User-Agent to act as a Home Network Media Server

Need/justification:

• Existing Home Network interfaces do not (by scope/tradition) standardize user interface control. However, the combination of HTML markup and Javascript allow both access to Home Network devices functions and access to very capable user interface resources.

Scenarios

• The use-case scenarios are divided into the following sets:
  • The User-Agent acts as a Home Network Media Server device. For example:
    • List available content that the User-Agent chooses to make available on the Home Network
    • Provide descriptive metadata (title, description) for this content.
    • Provide multiple binary formats for this content.
    • Provide functionality to allow other User-Agents to search for content matching specified metadata criteria.
• Why were you not able to use only existing standards to accomplish this?
  • HTML User-Agents do not provided the abstractions necessary for Javascript to issue discover and issue commands to home network devices.
  • Basic access methods to home network devices need to be standardized so that developers can implement pages to control Home Network devices using Javascript/HTML.
• What might you suggest could be standardized?
  • Provide generic access methods to enable a User-Agent to discover and command home network devices.
  • Provide extensions to HTML5 <video>, <audio> elements to allow HTML5 to comply with Home Network Media Transport Requirements (mainly transport protocol specific headers). Also, provide backward-compatible extensions to previous HTML versions to support similar functionality (presumably as browser-plugins).
  • Provide access and privacy controls for untrusted pages accessing home network devices.
  • Allow pages to control future Home Network device classes where the comand sets are not currently known.
  • Allow pages to discover functional differences (optional functionality) that may be implemented in some but not all Home Network ecosystem devices.

Steps:

• The User-Agent acts as a Home Network Media Server device. For example:
  • List available content that the User-Agent chooses to make available on the Home Network
  • Provide descriptive metadata (title, description) for this content.
  • Provide multiple binary formats for this content.
  • Provide functionality to allow other User-Agents to search for content matching specified metadata criteria.
  • Notify User-Agents of changes to available content.

Dependencies:

• This use-case provides the basic framework for generic access to home network devices. It is "agnostic" towards the underlying functionality of the devices being controlled.