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Seamless splicing requires that the encoder fication of splice points is supported in the
match the delay at the splicing point. Non-seam- MPEG-2 standard, but operation of the splicing
less splicing shifts the constraint from the en- mechanism is not specified. Splicing can be im-
coder to the splicing device. The splicing device plemented in a number of ways, deterring in-
is responsible for matching the delay of the old teroperable splicing devices. One of the
and new streams as closely as possible without important goals of standardization is to ensure
causing the buffer to overflow. Alternatively, that equipment is interoperable. This will allow
controlled underflow of the decoder buffer, cable operators to buy equipment from a com-
while displaying a repeated frame or several petitive marketplace and not be tied to a single
black frames before inserting the new stream, vendor. A program and commercial insertion
appears nearly seamless and prevents buffer system consists of three basic subsystems: inser-
overflow. Either splicing method may cause the tion, billing, and trafficking. To standardize all
audio buffer to overflow, resulting in an audio these subsystems in the cable headend, the
artifact. In most cases, this may be avoided by SCTE Digital Video Subcommittee (DVS) has
muting for a few audio frames. created the Digital Program Insertion (DPI) ad
hoc group.
As a result, splicing in the compressed do-
main is somewhat complex and needs additional
care. Splicing points have to be identified in the The PT20.02 group of the Society of Mo-
bitstream at the time of encoding prior to the ac- tion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
tual splicing operation. Without easily identifi- created an ad hoc group to devise a splicing
able splice points, splicing would be more standard. Similar efforts have also been under-
complex to implement. Some of the require- taken by the Society of Cable Telecommunica-
ments include simplicity, low cost, and, above tion Engineers (SCTE), the European Broadcast
all, preserving current functionalities (such as Union (EBU), and the Association of Radio In-
cue-tone signaling) as much as possible. Identi- dustries and Businesses of Japan (ARIB).
CableLabs has sponsored the Advertising in sability, they were concerned about substantial
TV (Ad TV) group among its member cable complexity and increased cost associated with
companies to provide requirements and opera- adding this functionality. Low revenue-generat-
tional information to equipment manufacturers. ing channels could be turned into more profit-gen-
CableLabs has contributed to the SCTE DVS erating channels by offering targeted advertising.
group regarding some functionalities, features,
and parameters desired for the next generation
Emergency Messages
digital program insertion system. This contribu-
tion summarizes some of the comments received
by CableLabs in response to the Request for In- Mandatory support for emergency messag-
formation on Digital Program Insertion Systems es was confirmed by many companies. Consid-
issued in April 1997. The comments address the eration of FCC requirements about emergency
following specific areas: messages should be taken into account where
applicable.
Bitrate
Timing Reference
Many responding companies have voiced
the need for mandatory support of constant bi-
trate insertion. Of the responses that also sup- Some responses proposed the use of a glo-
ported variable bitrate, most stated that the bal timing reference for scheduling the splicing
amount of bitrate variation required upper and operation. This constraint would require the co-
lower bounds. Some suggested that an industry operation of all program providers.
bitrate guideline be reflected in an insertion
standard. Other responses suggested that the in- Interoperability
sertion system should have the capability to re-
duce the inserted program bitrate through
recoding. In this case, some loss of video quality Most of the companies acknowledged the
may result. need for standardization to facilitate interopera-
bility, one of the important goals of the cable in-
dustry. The responses generally included
Audio
detailed physical interfaces that utilized formal
and de facto standards. Consideration of inter-
Mandatory support for Dolby AC-3 was
faces to proprietary analog insertion systems
suggested by many companies. There was also a
was suggested. Such interfaces could allow re-
request that the sampling rate be constant be-
placement of “core” splicing technology and as-
tween old content and new. If audio and video
splice points do not coincide, the audio splice sociated control within existing analog insertion
point should be selected after the video splice systems. There were requests to integrate exist-
point. Momentary muting of audio during the ing standards for various interfaces to take ad-
splice may be an attractive method to conceal vantage of economies of scale.
audible artifacts occurring near the splice point.
The audio of the new stream should be the first To facilitate interoperability at the sub-
byte of an audio frame. system level, CableLabs proposed a Logical To-
pology for the next generation DPI system in
Addressability their Request For Information (RFI) of April
1997. This architecture, shown in Figure 4, has
Although many vendors stated their intent been modified and submitted to both the SCTE
to support geographic and demographic addres- DVS and SMPTE groups.
Figure 4. Typical Architecture of a Digital Program Insertion System