ATSC 3.0 : Candidate Standards

This document specifies the technical mechanisms and procedures pertaining to Service signaling and IP-based delivery of a variety of ATSC 3.0 Services and contents to ATSC 3.0-capable receivers over broadcast, broadband and hybrid broadcast/broadband networks. The Service signaling functionality defines the data formats and information components necessary to discover and acquire user Services. The IP-based delivery functionality specifies two application transport protocols for the carriage of media content and Service signaling data over broadcast and/or broadband networks to receivers. The delivery functionality also includes mechanisms for the synchronization of media components delivered on the same or different transport networks, and application-layer forward error correction methods that enable error-free reception and consumption of media streams or discrete file objects.

Download ATSC Candidate Standard: Revision of A/331:2021, Signaling, Delivery, Synchronization, and Error Protection, with Amendments No. 1, 2, and 3″, 26 July 2021. This ZIP file includes A/331 in redline and clean versions, and the accompanying schema. The Candidate Standard period extends until 31 December 2021.

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This document specifies the communication protocol between an ATSC 3.0 Primary Device (PD) and an ATSC 3.0 Companion Device (CD). In this context, the primary device is the primary receiver and is used to present the primary content. The companion device communicates with the primary device to present related, supplementary content, or even the same content as that being presented on the primary device. Examples of primary devices include television sets, set-top/converter boxes, and mobile devices that are capable of receiving ATSC 3.0 services. Examples of companion devices are laptops, tablets and smartphones. Use of one of these example companion devices as an ATSC 3.0 receiving device displaying primary content is out of scope of this document, such as using a tablet that has a built-in ATSC 3.0 antenna as a primary viewing device. Use of a companion device to access television-related content, but not in conjunction or communication with a primary receiving device is also out of scope of this document.

Download ATSC Candidate Standard: Revision of A/338:2021 Companion Device”, and accompanying schema, approved 12 August 2021. The Candidate Standard period extends until 31 December 2021.

A Word redline is available showing changes relative to A/338:2021 as published.

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This document describes the interactive content environment provided by an ATSC 3.0 receiver. This environment is comprised of a standard W3C User Agent with known characteristics, a WebSocket interface for obtaining information from the receiver and controlling various receiver functionality, and an HTTP interface for accessing files delivered over broadcast. This document also specifies the life cycle of the interactive content when delivered over broadband or broadcast or both.

Download ATSC Candidate Standard: “Revision of A/344:2021, ATSC 3.0 Interactive Content”, and accompanying schema, approved 13 September 2021. The Candidate Standard period extends until 30 November 2021. The following additional documents are provided:

Microsoft Word redline showing changes relative to A/344:2021 as published.

A change log summarizing the changes contained in this revision.

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This document adds the CENC encryption mode ‘cbcs’ to the allowable content encryption methods. The current A/360 text references a no-longer-current version of the CENC standard, and only allows use of two encryption modes: CTR (‘cenc’) and CBC (‘cbc1’). There is significant interest in allowing the use of CBCS (‘cbcs’) – which is a likely mode common to most services (ATSC and otherwise).

Download ATSC Candidate Standard: “A/360:2019 Amendment No. 3, cbcs”, approved 15 June 2021. The Candidate Standard period extends until 31 December 2021.

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