Tools

This task delivers a number of tools and supporting facilities in order to gather and provide design knowledge for creating, assessing, validating and testing MHP-based applications, including all important aspects of the MHP-related value chain from content provider/broadcaster to the TV-end-user and back. This task provides infrastructure that will be utilised for the building of the MHP knowledge.

The actual database will be constructed and configured according to the needs identified during the analysis.

The initial work item is to define the overall architecture of the Knowledge Database (KDB) and the structure of tools facilitating the assessment and validation of MHP based applications. Appropriate components will be chosen to realise the constituent components of this architecture. In summary the result is the plan and blue print how the other tools fit in and the related results are made accessible to the user of THE MHP KNOWLEDGE DATA BASE.

This data base contains and provides access to the design knowledge for MHP-based applications. This requires the provision of appropriate capacities and services in terms of persistent storage and servers. More importantly the structure of the data base is developed and implemented.

A crucial feature of this data base will be a portal providing the physical access to THE MHP KNOWLEDGE DATA BASE via the web and a related access protocol, which defines related user groups and access rights to the system via the portal. The aim is easy access and a modest degree of control over the use of the project's facilities (database, tools and test facilities) in order to avoid their abuse. Especially a staged concept for the access has to be developed which allows e.g. to enter and exchange speculative knowledge for project members which is only accessible to a wider public after the such speculative knowledge has been validated and is being authorised accordingly. The tools will be designed to realize the appropriate access scheme, versioning, storage and retrieval of the knowledge collected and created within and also outside the project.

Additionally, tools providing analysis results regarding the design of components of the MHP-related value chain are created and provided in this task. These tools include structural analysis and transformation (where possible) of MHP-based applications assessing for software qualities including speed and usability and analysis of the value-chain (including important parameters for the DSM-CC). Tools to assess those qualities are created here. From previous work in MHP based implementation and application programming the right focus can be established here directly from the beginning. Analysing the code structure in order to provide useful information for the application programmer facilitating efficient use of the scarce resources of a set top box is crucial for the development of successful and usable applications. The tools are accessible via the portal either remotely or can be downloaded for local use.

Test procedures and facilities like test signals are developed in this task in order to provide a test bed for MHP-based applications. Procedures and facilities can either exercised remotely via the portal or can be downloaded from the KDB for local testing. Since the programming of a given MHP application is only a part of the entire system it is necessary to allow for the effective validation of the application in the environment of the entire value chain of MHP. Appropriate ways, for example, to generate test signals, containing MHP (test)applications are developed here and will be made accessible to the user of THE MHP KNOWLEDEGE DATA BASE.