DVB-MHP/Java TVTM Data Transport Mechanisms

With the advent of digital television, more specifically interactive television, the emergence and adoption of the JavaTM DVB-MHP standards here in Australia provides developers with a range of new technologies and issues. An appreciation of broadcast technologies, in particular MPEG-2 and the Object Carousel are required to understand the facilities and constraints of this new JavaTM technology environment. This paper covers the embedded JavaTM technology APIs related to the entire end-to-end broadcast chain: object carousel, the set-top-box environment, AWT GUI development, sending and handling data-updates return channel usage, connection, and back-end servers. The emphasis here is on the JavaTM DVB-MHP APIs that support communication mechanisms within the interactive television environment.