W ki i t d d iWorking in standards is like working in real lifelike working in real life
Leonardo ChiariglioneSpeech at WSC Academic Day, Sophia Antipolis – 2013/06/14
D fi i i f “ d d”Definitions of “standard”Webster’sWebster’s
A conspicuous object (as a banner) formerly carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especiallytop of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle or to serve as an emblemSomething that is established by authority, custom or g y ygeneral consent as a model or example to be followed
Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica(A reference that is) established to permit large production runs of component parts that are readily fitted to other parts without adjustment
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M d fi i i f “ d d”My definition of “standard”Codified agreement between parties who recognise theCodified agreement between parties who recognise the advantage of all doing certain things in the same way
NB: The actual “process” (de jure or de facto) is irrelevant, provided it is
Fair to all parties concerned andCarried out to match the needs of users
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Why the World Needs Communication Standards
Language requires an agreed correspondenceLanguage requires an agreed correspondence between Utterances and words
W iti i d d b tWriting requires an agreed correspondence between Graphic signs and words
Telegraphy requires an agreed correspondence between Combinations of dots/dashes and characters
Television requires an agreed correspondence between Certain waveforms and visible and audible information
Communication can take place only if an agreement exists about the meaning of the "symbols" used in specific communication systemspecific communication system
T f S d dTypes of Standards Optional: e g the technology used in a displayOptional: e.g. the technology used in a display
Desirable: e.g. threadings in nuts and bolts
Useful: e.g. a communication system assumes that there is a “standard”there is a standard
Mandatory (by law): e.g. safety and some forms of i ticommunication
Standards and interfaces
System D
System A System B System C
X Y Z
• If interfaces X, Y and Z are “exposed” they must f t th f d t d dconform to the referenced standard
• If interface Y is not “exposed”, it may be anything
I i l d di iInternational standardisation3 major bodies deal with standards at the international3 major bodies deal with standards at the international level
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) dealing withInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU), dealing with “telecommunication standards”International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), dealing with “electrical standards”International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), dealing with standards on “everything else”with standards on everything else
StatusITU i T t O i ti d UNITU is a Treaty Organisation and a UN agency ISO and IEC are not-for-profit organisations
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International Standards Making Structure
A number of committees organized in a 3 layerA number of committees organized in a 3-layer structure within ISO and IEC
Technical Committees (TC) ( )Subcommittee (SC)Working Groups (WG)
At TC and SC level decisions are taken by national votes
At WG level decisions are taken by consensus of technical expertsp
Consensus according to ISO/IECISO/IEC
General agreement, characterised byThe absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and A process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting argumentsconflicting arguments
NOTE — Consensus need not imply unanimity
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The ISO hierarchy (simplified)The ISO hierarchy (simplified)
ISOIEC
TC xx JTC 1 TC yy
SC uu SC 29 SC vvSC uu SC 29 SC vv
WG 1 (JPEG) WG 11 (MPEG)
102012/05/31Technologies and standards for digital media
Principles of ISO/IEC d di istandardisation
A standard should enable anybody to build equipmentA standard should enable anybody to build equipment conforming to the standard, therefore it should include
Normative clauses guiding implementersg g pMeans to test an implementation for conformity
In principle use of standards should be accessible byIn principle use of standards should be accessible by anybody
Standards whose use requires IPR from a third party are acceptable if that party declares to be willing to license his IPR “on fair and reasonable terms and non-discriminatory (FRAND) conditions” y ( )Development of standards is strictly separate from licensing terms
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Phases of ISO standards development
#1 Phase of work Acronym
1. New Project NPj
2. Call for Proposals (MPEG specific) CfP
3 W ki D ft WD3. Working Draft WD
4. Committee Draft CD
5. Final Committee Draft FCD
6 Fi l D ft I t ti l St d d FDIS6. Final Draft International Standard FDIS
7. International Standard IS
Th MPEG id ( d 1980’ )The MPEG idea (end 1980’s)Different countries/industries have different agendas butDifferent countries/industries have different agendas but
Digital audio-visual compression is matureThe enabling technology (can be) commonThe enabling technology (can be) common
A place to define digital representation of audio/videoI d d f li i ( d li )Independent of applications (e.g. delivery)Of global scopeWh t dd d d t liWhere competences add and agendas neutralise
SloganA fight between technologists is less expensive than a fight between assembly lines – and the result is better!
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Th MPEG hil hThe MPEG philosophyDevelop standards for converging mediaDevelop standards for converging media
Develop the required technologies using research results from multiple sources
Act as a bridge between academia/research and industry
Develop software implementations of the standards as a platform for peer review and optimisationp p p
Verify the performance of the standard
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B hi d hBehind the acronymsMPEG meets 4 times a yearMPEG meets 4 times a year
104 meetings until April 2013
Attendance ~500 experts
Countries actively represented 25Countries actively represented ~25
Industries represented: all industries with a stake in di it l di d iddigital audio and video
Academia, Broadcasting, Computers, Consumer Electronics Content Research Institutions ServicesElectronics, Content, Research Institutions, Services, Telecom, …
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Th MPEG i iThe MPEG organisationEvery meeting 3 plenary sessionsEvery meeting 3 plenary sessions
Mon amWed amFri pm
During the meeting subgroups meet in parallelg g g p pRequirementsSystemsVideo JCT VC JCT 3VVideo – JCT-VC – JCT-3VAudio3DGCommunication
The HoD group deals with administrative mattersg p
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MPEG i /1MPEG operation/1Need for a new standardNeed for a new standard
Identify the need for a standardApproval of a new standard projectApproval of a new standard project
Exploration The search for new technologySeek Industry expertsOpen seminars
RequirementsRequirementsEstablish the scope of workCall for ProposalsCa o oposa s
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MPEG i /2MPEG operation/2Competitive phaseCompetitive phase
Response to CfPInitial technology selectionInitial technology selection
Collaborative phaseCore ExperimentsWorking Drafts
ApprovalCDDISIS
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MPEG i /3MPEG operation/3AssessmentAssessment
Verification Tests
Life cycleCorrigendaAmendmentsAmendmentsWithdrawal
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P fil d l lProfiles and levelsThe notion of profile was developed by OSI and isThe notion of profile was developed by OSI and is defined as
set of one or more base standards and whereset of one or more base standards, and, where applicable, the identification of chosen classes, subsets, options and parameters of those base standards, necessary for accomplishing a particular function.
Because e.g. picture resolution is an important cost g p pelement, each profile is usually associated with levels, a decoder of level N being able to decode bitstreams up and including that level.
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Th li it f lf tifi tiThe limits of self-certificationSelf certification may work well when the marketSelf-certification may work well when the market
has large companies, producing mass market products, p g p ,non terribly sophisticated the product depends on a key technology licensed by a company th li i t t i diti l f it f ththe licensing contract is conditional on conformity of the implementation, conformity of the product is verified by the licensing company
This is not the case of MPEG standardsIn general an MPEG patent holder does not want to be theIn general an MPEG patent holder does not want to be the “guardian” of the correct implementation of the standard
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E d fEncoder conformance An encoder conforms to an MPEG standards if itAn encoder conforms to an MPEG standards if it generates bitstreams conforming with the syntactic and semantic bitstream requirements specified in thesemantic bitstream requirements specified in the standard
It is not possible to test an encoder for conformit b t itIt is not possible to test an encoder for conformity, but it is possible to test a sufficient number of bitstreams generated by that encoder for conformity to becomegenerated by that encoder for conformity to become reasonably sure of the conformance of that encoder
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Conformance ofbit t d d dbitstream and decoder
The two issues in MPEG 1 conformance areThe two issues in MPEG-1 conformance areHow to test conformity of a specific bitstreamHow to test conformity of a specific decodeHow to test conformity of a specific decode.
MPEG standards give Guidelines on how to construct
Tests to verify bitstream and decoder conformanceBit t t t it t h k if d d fBitstream test suites to check or verify decoder conformance
(Informative) test bitstreams implemented according to those guidelinesthose guidelines
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P h hPatents – what they areA definition (USA) of a patentable inventionA definition (USA) of a patentable invention
“any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter or improvement thereof”composition of matter or improvement thereof
To get a patent an inventor files an application with a P t t Offi d b itPatent Office and submits
A description of the inventionOne or more claims delimiting the scope of the rightsOne or more claims delimiting the scope of the rights requested
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P hPatents – how to get oneApplications are examined by Patent Office examinersApplications are examined by Patent Office examiners
If the examination confirms that the application satisfies the criteria for an invention
The patent is granted The description of the invention is made public
If another inventor files for the same invention after theIf another inventor files for the same invention after the first, the second filing is rejected
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P d d dPatents and standardsISO/IEC/ITU allow that the implementation of aISO/IEC/ITU allow that the implementation of a standard requires the use of necessary patents
The owner of the rights, however, must be willing to grant
free use of the patented item oruse on fair and reasonable terms and non discriminatory conditionsconditionswhat is “fair and reasonable”?
Companies owning such rights must make a statement that is kept in ISO/IEC/ITU files
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P d MPEG 2Patents and MPEG-2Reportedly 650 MPEG 2 essential patents in 57Reportedly 650 MPEG-2 essential patents in 57 countries owned by 23 companies/organisations are needed to implement MPEG-2 Video MP@MLneeded to implement MPEG 2 Video MP@ML
Even if use of each patent is granted on fair and reasonable terms the terms for all patents ma not bereasonable terms the terms for all patents may not be at all fair and reasonable
In early 93 discussions on the occasion of MPEG meetings, made outside of the meetings, led to the
t bli h t f MPEG LA (Li i A th itestablishment of MPEG LA (Licensing Authority, no relation with MPEG) for MPEG-2 patents
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Li i f MPEG 2 (V&S)Licensing of MPEG-2 (V&S)For encoders and decoders 2 50 $ per unitFor encoders and decoders 2.50 $ per unit
For Packaged Media 0.03 $ for the first MPEG-2 Video Event, plus 0.01 $ for each additional 30 min. recorded on the same copy
For consumer products (e.g. camcorders, read/write DVD players, PC software having codec capabilities) 2.50 $ per unit
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MPEG h iMPEG – the impactMPEG standards have changed the landscape ofMPEG standards have changed the landscape of media ☺
MPEG-1, -2, -4 used in hundreds of millionVideo CD players (all of MPEG-1)MP3 players (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3)Digital TV set top boxes (MPEG-2 Video/Systems and MPEG-1 Audio Layer 2)Audio Layer 2)DVD players (MPEG-2 Video/Systems)Photo cameras (MPEG-4 Visual)Mobile handsets (MPEG-4 Visual/AVC, AAC, File Format)Compressed movie players (MPEG-4 Visual + MP3)
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