Interim report (editor's draft)

From Web and TV IG

Web and TV IG Interim Report (September, 2011)

Executive Summary [Yosuke with Kaz's help]

Progress Made Thus Far

In the Beginning

First Workshop Held

On September 2nd and 3rd, 2010, W3C held its first 'Web on TV' workshop in Tokyo, Japan, with the purpose of identifying key potential use cases and determining important requirements for smarter integration of existing Web standards, broadcasting, and non-PC devices such as televisions and cell phones. Discussions among participants led to the identification of 60 potential use cases which made it difficult to classify them effectively. From these discussions, the workshop attendees concluded that an interest group was necessary to deal with complex issues at hand. After some deliberation and a name change, the 'Web and TV' interest group was launched in February, 2011.

One hundred and forty-four representatives from 60 organizations attended the workshop, and provided a expansive view of the issues related to the 'Web on TV' knowledge domain. The following industries and agencies were represented at the workshop.

  • Broadcasters
  • Telecom companies
  • Content provider
  • Device vendors
  • Publishers
  • Software vendors
  • Standardization organizations
  • Web application providers
  • Researchers
  • Japanese Government agencies

Digital TV demonstrations by Japanese public and commercial broadcasters kicked off the workshop, and impressed the audience with the advances they had made in the DTV area. This was followed by six panel sessions consisting of brief presentations of the attendees' position statements, which in turn were followed by heated discussions on use cases and requirements for smarter integration of Web and TV. These panel discussions focused on the following topics:

  • Existing Digital TV approaches
  • Proposals for smarter integration of Web and TV from vendors' viewpoints
  • Proposals for smarter integration of Web and TV from research viewpoints
  • The role of HTML5 in the Web on TV, esp. expectation for HTML5 as UI
  • The role of HTML5 in the Web on TV, esp. TV as the hub within home network
  • The role of HTML5 in the Web on TV, esp. Device APIs for TV

Over the two-day workshop, the attendees produced 70 use cases and requirements. This number was more than expected and so the participants voted to determine the top categories based on their level of interest. The nine categories listed below in the order of most to least interest are the result of the vote.

  1. APIs for TV functions
  2. Richer user experience
  3. Smarter integration with CE (Consumer Electronics)
  4. Content rights
  5. Personalization
  6. TV as broadcasting service (rather than a device)
  7. Accessibility
  8. Relationship with existing approaches
  9. Security

For more details see W3C Web on TV Workshop.

Charter

After the Tokyo workshop, the W3C launched a public mailing list focusing on 'Web and TV' discussions. In this mailing list, use case discussions continued while at the same time we started drafting the initial charter. Most of the discussion related to the charter was on how to define the charter scope. Some participants preferred a more abstract definition because of the scale of the 'Web and TV' knowledge domain, while others preferred a specific definition to help the group focus on current topics more precisely. After three months of much back and forth discussion, the final draft of the charter was announced to all AC representatives, some of whom made thoughtful comments which helped improve the published charter. The charter was completed at the end of January 2011, and on February 7, 2011 the IG was officially launched.

For more details see the charter

Following the Official Launch of IG

Immediately following the launch of the IG on February 7, the Berlin workshop was held on February 8-9.

Second Workshop Held

On February 8th and 9th, 2011, the W3C held its second 'Web and TV' workshop in Berlin, Germany. The purpose of the workshop was to follow-up on the topics raised at the Tokyo workshop, and to discuss new topics and use cases brought up on the public mailing list. The workshop also aimed at expanding the already existing community of interested parties created after the Tokyo workshop, with a view to defining the charter of possible W3C Working Groups or Incubator Groups on the topic.

During the workshop, we had eight sessions consisting of brief presentations of the attendees' position papers followed by dedicated discussions on the topics. One of the sessions was a panel discussion that focused on DASH and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, and the audience agreed after a hot discussion that a single solution on top of HTML5 framework was necessary for proprietary solutions such as 3GPP DASH and MPEG DASH. The topics for the sessions were:

  • Web&TV: Use cases and Technologies
  • Second-Screen Scenarios
  • Panel on HTTP Adaptive Streaming
  • Content Protection
  • Metadata / Semantic Web
  • HTML5 and TV: Gap Analysis
  • Accessibility
  • Profiling / Testing

The geographical distribution of the presenters was:

  • Europe: BBC, Condition-ALPHA, EBU, Ericsson, Fraunhofer, Irdeto, Opera, ParisTech, Philips, Matroska, MPEG DASH, NoTube project and UK DTG
  • US: CableLabs, Cisco, Connected Media Experience, Intel, Microsoft, MIT, Netflix and Qualcomm
  • Japan: NTT, NTT-Communications and Tomo-Digi
  • Korea: KAIST and LG

In the wrap-up session of the workshop, the chairs decided to send liaisons to 3GPP and MPEG to seek cooperation. The participants also agreed that some sub groups or task forces should be formed to discuss specific topics more efficiently. As a result, the workshop chairs suggested the following candidate topics for possible task force or monitoring activity within the Web and TV IG:

  • Adaptive streaming over HTTP
  • Home networking
  • Metadata
  • Accessibility
  • Profiling / Testing
  • Extensions to HTML5

For more details see Second W3C Web and TV Workshop.

Task Forces Launched

Home Network Task Force (HNTF)

During the 'Web and TV' workshops in Tokyo and Berlin, multiple-screen scenarios interested most participants, while at the Berlin workshop, discovery and control of devices and services in the local area IP network was identified as a prerequisite for most multiple screen scenarios. Some of the participants in Berlin expressed interest in outlining requirements and doing a gap analysis on currently available technologies to identify areas where some specification effort may be needed. To handle this discussion, the HNTF was created June 1, 2011.

For more details see Task Forces: Home Network.

Media Pipeline Task Force (MPTF)

In both the first workshop in Tokyo and the second workshop in Berlin, many participants were interested in the relationship between 'Web and TV' and key enabling technologies such as DTV/IPTV/OTT, (e.g. streaming and broadcasting technologies.) The topic that spurred the most interest from the attendees was DASH. However, after the second workshop, it was decided by the co-Chairs that DASH was, although very interesting in and of itself, too specific a topic. A broader, more abstract theme, one that included not only DASH but also topics related to the HTML5 video tag, current streaming technologies, etc., would be better suited for a second task force. As a result, the MPTF was chartered on August 1, 2011, and soon after began its work.

For more details see Task Forces: Media Pipeline.

Current status

Hollywood Workshop

Following the success of its workshops in Tokyo, Japan and Berlin, Germany, the W3C will host a third workshop on 'Web and TV' convergence in Hollywood, California on September 19-20, 2011. In the previous two workshops, participants identified opportunities for convergence of 'Web and TV' infrastructure and began identifying technical challenges. This third workshop will continue these efforts, with a particular focus on the needs of content creators and distributors. Additionally, there will be an opportunity to discuss and debate some of the initial requirements arising in the 'Web and TV' Interest Group. It is expected that starting this fall, these requirements will drive W3C Working Group activity, defining new standards for the Web.

For more details see "Entertaining Content"—The Third W3C Web and TV Workshop.

The First F2F Meeting

The IG will hold its first f2f meeting on September 21-22, 2011 immediately following the third 'Web and TV' workshop in Hollywood. Over the two days, the meeting will provide effective environment to discuss key topics and make key decisions on the future of the IG.

Main topics on the agenda are:

  • Home Networking Task Force: review of requirements specs, wrapping up, publication and next steps
  • Media Pipeline Task Force: further discussions on use cases and requirements
  • Other topics raised in the IG: assessing level of interest, initial inputs, next steps
  • Web and TV IG interim report: inputs, issues, publication and next steps
  • Third W3C Web and TV Workshop: integrating the results of workshop discussions
  • Web and TV eco-system and future plans for the IG activities

For more details see F2F Hollywood 2011.

Hot Topics

Additional Task Forces

Additional task forces are being considered by the co-Chairs. The f2f meeting will provide an opportunity for the participants to give their opinions on which of the topics require a task force.

Current candidates are:

  • Web and Broadcasting
  • Accessibility
  • Metadata
  • Profiling / Testing
  • Contents Protection
  • Web and IPTV
Interim Report

This interim report will be made available to all IG members for viewing or commenting prior to the next 'Web and TV' workshop in Hollywood. At the following f2f meeting, participants will have the opportunity to discuss the details and finalize the report. (BTW: this report is the Interim Report for the 'Web and TV' IG.)

Cooperation with HTML working group

TBD

Topics

This section deals with the topics dealed with in the IG, either suggested in the workshops or discussed over the mailing list. 

<for each topic>

[TOPIC SHORT NAME] [Yosuke will allocate appropriate writer to each topic after we clarify list of topics in "workshop so far" sub-section.]

Short description of the topic, maybe mentioning when it was mentioned.

Analysis on the topic

This section contains the result of analysis on the workshops' topics from the viewpoint of 'Relationship to TFs' and 'Rough
Classification'.

Relationship to other topics

We clarify its relationship to the topics in workshops and TFs.

Rough Classification of Topic

Though we've not yet discussed all of the topics from the workshops in depth, we could probably
develop rough classification on them. It would help us to grasp the big picture of 'Web and TV' knowledge domain.

Topics should be classified into following categories.
1. Topics that should be done by a new Working Group.
2. New requirements for existing Working Groups. The IG should make sure that the right requirements
   get passed to the right Working Groups.
3. Work that is satisfactorily done outside W3C and has industry-wide consensus. We should document
   this for the record but should not try to re-create existing standards within W3C.
4. Work items, where it is unclear where they should be done.

Liaison and Dependencies

This section can be some kind of a reverse look up index of previous section from the viewpoint of the
destinations.  We may drop this section if the number of relationships is small.

Task Forces

Home Network [Giuseppe (with Francois' help)]

Summary

Charter

The TF was chartered few weeks after the workshop in Berlin. The HNTF charter highlights that HNTF's aim is to "identify usecases for devices, content and services discovery and control". HNTF deliverables are a requirement document and a set of recommendations for the W3C board of director on how to proceed in order to start a recommendation track work fulfilling some (or all) of the identified requirements.

TimeLine

The HNTF life is intentionally short (few months) since is just as a first step towards a recommendation track inside a W3C WG. The HNTF will finalize his work during the 1st Web and TV IG meeting in Hollywood, where the requirement document will be finalized/approved after collecting feedbacks from all IG participants. During the F2F next steps will also be discussed, where possible options are 1)closing the HNTF and continue working in one (or more) WGs 2) keep the TF alive to discuss additional usecases or refine already identified usecases.

Status

The HNTF started his work at the end of April 2011 and is chartered to conclude his work by the end of August 2011. At time of publication of this report, the HNTF ha almost completed his work on a Requirement document. All the usecases highlighted in the document has been agreed by TF members as relevant for the TF and worth being acted upon by one (or more) W3C WGs. The group is still discussing the relative importance/priority of each requirement but there is a general agreement that such requirements are relevant for the usecases discussed during the Tokyo and Berlin workshops and the TF activity.

Preliminary Recommendations / Classification of use cases

One of the deliverables of the HNTF is to recommend how W3C should follow-up on the identified use cases and requirements. The HNTF have recognized that the DAP WG (currently under re-chartering) seems to already partially cover in their charter some of the requirements identified by the HNTF. Therefore the HNTF will recommend W3C Board of Directors to let the DAP WG do a preliminary analysis of the requirement document generated bu the TF and discuss technical solution to cover those requirements. If some of the requirements are later found out of scope for the DAP WG the could be later on moved to another WG aeither existing or newly created

Liaison and Dependencies

There are no active liaisons at the moment between the HNTF and other internal/external groups

Media Pipeline [Clarke (with HJ's help)]

Summary

Charter

The goal of the MPTF is to propose HTML5 video and audio element extensions to support new media formats and commercial video provider service requirements. We have clarified five key topics for this task force in the charter, which can be read in detail at http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/MPTF/MPTF_Charter. In addition, it is not considered within scope of this task force to specify HTML5 support for any particular adaptive bit rate format. We have also decided to include support for DRM in the scope of MPTF, although it was initially considered out of scope. [HJ question/opinion] Can I ask why choosing specific adaptive streaming support is out of scope? I agree selection at this stage is very difficult. However, I suggest this task force needs to compare candidate adaptive streaming solutions and list up the priorited requirements for Web and TV.

Deliverables

The MPTF will do the following:

Refine the requirements and design goals at: (http://www.w3.org/2011/webtv/wiki/MPTF/MPTF_Requirements)

  • Identity clear gaps in the Open Web platform, and categorize all the use cases/requirements into the following categories:
    • Ignore
    • It's resolved already
    • Laision with others
    • New requirements for existing Working Group
    • Requires new working group
    • We know it needs to go into a W3C working group we just don't know where
    • We don't know where it goes and need more research
  • Propose WG charter(s) to W3C Director for recommendation track work fulfilling some (or all) of those requirements.

TimeLine

The MPTF should deliver the above listed deliverables by the end date mentioned in the charter (i.e. Nov 2011)

Detailed timeline is available below:

  • 3 months for the TF (that can be exceptionally extended up to 6 months on request from TF participants). At the end of this period, the TF should produce a report about the TF deliverables as described in this charter.
  • 1 month to present the result to the IG and reach consensus inside the IG.
Status

We are currently on schedule evaluating use cases. By the time of the F2F meeting, we expect to have a pretty complete draft of the requirements document.

Note: We will have a more complete status report closer to the time of the F2F meeting (still four weeks away).


Next steps

Finalize requirements document and prepare recommendations for the working group(s) and W3 management

Preliminary Recommandations / Classification of use cases
Use cases or API sets should be classified into following categories.
1. Topics that should be done by a new Working Group.
2. New requirements for existing Working Groups. The IG should make sure that the right requirements
   get passed to the right Working Groups.
3. Work that is satisfactorily done outside W3C and has industry-wide consensus. We should document
   this for the record but should not try to re-create existing standards within W3C.
4. Work items, where it is unclear where they should be done.


Liaison and Dependencies

We currently have no formal liaisons or dependencies.

[HJ] Web and TV IG sent a liaison letter to 3GPP during Berlin February workshop which was regarded unofficial letter and not replied yet. Web and TV IG sent a liaison letter to MPEG DASH after Berlin February workshop and received cooperative reply. Those two letters asked basically very same ideas such as the necessity of single solution of adaptive streaming on new HTML5 framework, licensing status/term of fundamental technologies when W3C would reference it, and invitation of cooperation.

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