Chapter 3. iTV Food Chain

Chapter Objectives

• Introduce some of the content food chain

• Describe entities, their roles and relationships

• Describe content authoring, integration, packaging, and emission issues

• Explain relations between MPEG-based and IP-based transports

Bringing iTV content to the consumer's receiver is complex and requires manipulation by various equipment operated by numerous organizations. It is more complex than traditional TV content in that it combines data with video. This chapter serves as a food chain overview rather than a complete reference. It discusses some of the issues that relate to the complex steps that iTV content passes through, from the authoring stage, through production, broadcasting, and all the way to viewing. The various protocols and processes are described that enable various aspects of content delivery and interactivity. The relationships between these protocols are also described.