A Framework for Internet Media Services Delivery to the Home Environment

In this paper, we propose a framework that enables Internet service providers (ISPs) to provide multimedia content to generic devices located inside the domestic networks of their customers (such as PCs and generic media players) in a seamless manner. In order to achieve this transparent integration between ISP-provided multimedia content and generic consumer media players, the domestic gateway becomes a managed UPnP AV/DLNA (Universal Plug and Play/Digital Living Network Alliance) media server, which can be dynamically updated by the broadband operator using Broadband Forum’s CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) WAN Management Protocol (CWMP) extensions specifically designed for this purpose. This framework enables the domestic gateway to become a mediator for both operator-provided and Internet media content, provided through UPnP services visible inside the domestic LAN. The adoption of a neutral UPnP/DLNA architecture that uses plugins to abstract each service allows it to become independent of the domestic gateway platform, allowing ISPs to easily add support for new media services while better coping with protocol updates. The proposed framework has been developed and validated in the scope of the project S3P, in cooperation between the University of Coimbra and Portugal Telecom’s PT Inovação innovation and R&D unit.