ETSI ETR 211 ed.2 (1997-08)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST-TP ETR 211 E2:2005
01-november-2005
Digitalna videoradiodifuzija (DVB) – Smernice za uvedbo in uporabo servisnih
informacij (SI)
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Guidelines on implementation and usage of Service
Information (SI)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: ETR 211 Edition 2
ICS:
33.170 Televizijska in radijska Television and radio
difuzija broadcasting
SIST-TP ETR 211 E2:2005 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST-TP ETR 211 E2:2005

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SIST-TP ETR 211 E2:2005
ETSI ETR 211
TECHNICAL August 1997
REPORT Second Edition
Source: EBU/CENELEC/ETSI JTC Reference: RTR/JTC-00DVB-40
ICS: 33.020
Key words: DVB, broadcasting, digital, video, MPEG, TV
European Broadcasting Union Union Européenne de Radio-Télévision
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB);
Guidelines on implementation and usage of
Service Information (SI)
ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
ETSI Secretariat
Postal address: F-06921 Sophia Antipolis CEDEX - FRANCE
Office address: 650 Route des Lucioles - Sophia Antipolis - Valbonne - FRANCE
X.400: c=fr, a=atlas, p=etsi, s=secretariat - Internet: secretariat@etsi.fr
Tel.: +33 4 92 94 42 00 - Fax: +33 4 93 65 47 16
Copyright Notification:
No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission. The copyright and the
foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media.
© European Telecommunications Standards Institute 1997.
© European Broadcasting Union 1997.
All rights reserved.

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ETR 211: August 1997
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation and publication of this document, errors in content,
typographical or otherwise, may occur. If you have comments concerning its accuracy, please write to
"ETSI Editing and Committee Support Dept." at the address shown on the title page.

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Contents
Foreword .5
1 Scope .7
2 References.7
3 Definitions and abbreviations .8
3.1 Definitions .8
3.2 Abbreviations .9
4 Rules of operation .9
4.1 Service Information (SI) table information .10
4.1.1 Network Information Table (NIT) information.11
4.1.2 Bouquet Association Table (BAT) information .12
4.1.3 Service Description Table (SDT) information.12
4.1.4 Event Information Table (EIT) information .13
4.1.4.1 EIT Present/Following information.13
4.1.4.2 EIT Schedule information .14
4.1.4.2.1 EIT Schedule structure .14
4.1.4.2.2 EIT scrambling.15
4.1.5 Time and Date Table (TDT) .15
4.1.6 Time Offset Table (TOT).15
4.1.7 Running Status Table (RST) .16
4.1.8 Stuffing Table (ST) .16
4.1.9 Table update mechanism.16
4.2 SI descriptor allocation and usage.17
4.2.1 Descriptors of the Network Information Table (NIT) .17
4.2.1.1 First descriptor loop .17
4.2.1.1.1 Linkage descriptor .17
4.2.1.1.2 Multilingual network name descriptor .17
4.2.1.1.3 Network name descriptor.17
4.2.1.2 Second descriptor loop.17
4.2.1.2.1 Delivery system descriptors.18
4.2.1.2.2 Service list descriptor.18
4.2.1.2.3 Frequency list descriptor.18
4.2.2 Descriptors of the Bouquet Association Table (BAT).18
4.2.2.1 First descriptor loop .18
4.2.2.1.1 Bouquet name descriptor.18
4.2.2.1.2 CA identifier descriptor .18
4.2.2.1.3 Country availability descriptor .19
4.2.2.1.4 Linkage descriptor .19
4.2.2.1.5 Multilingual bouquet name descriptor .19
4.2.2.2 Second descriptor loop.19
4.2.2.2.1 Service list descriptor.19
4.2.3 Descriptors of the Service Description Table (SDT) .20
4.2.3.1 Bouquet name descriptor .20
4.2.3.2 CA identifier descriptor .20
4.2.3.3 Country availability descriptor.20
4.2.3.4 Data_broadcast_descriptor .20
4.2.3.5 Linkage descriptor .21
4.2.3.6 Mosaic descriptor .21
4.2.3.7 Multilingual service descriptor.21
4.2.3.8 NVOD reference descriptor .21
4.2.3.9 Service descriptor.22
4.2.3.10 Telephone descriptor.22
4.2.3.11 Time shifted service descriptor.22
4.2.4 Descriptors of the Event Information Table (EIT).22
4.2.4.1 Component descriptor .22
4.2.4.2 Content descriptor .23

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4.2.4.3 Data_broadcast_descriptor. 23
4.2.4.4 Extended event descriptor . 23
4.2.4.5 Linkage descriptor. 23
4.2.4.6 Multilingual component descriptor . 23
4.2.4.7 Parental rating descriptor. 23
4.2.4.8 Short event descriptor. 24
4.2.4.9 Telephone descriptor . 24
4.2.4.10 Time shifted event descriptor. 24
4.2.5 Descriptors of the Time Offset Table (TOT). 24
4.2.5.1 Local time offset descriptor. 24
4.2.6 Descriptors of the Program Map Table (PMT) . 25
4.2.6.1 Mosaic descriptor. 25
4.2.6.2 Service move descriptor . 25
4.2.6.3 Stream identifier descriptor. 25
4.2.6.4 Teletext descriptor . 25
4.2.7 Other descriptors . 25
4.2.7.1 Private data specifier descriptor. 25
4.2.7.2 Stuffing descriptor . 25
4.2.7.3 Data_broadcast_descriptor. 26
4.2.8 ISO 13818-1 descriptors. 26
4.2.9 Unknown descriptors . 26
4.3 Program Specific Information (PSI) and DVB SI operational interaction states. 26
4.4 Minimum repetition rates. 27
4.4.1 Satellite and cable delivery systems. 27
4.4.2 Terrestrial delivery systems . 28
4.5 Terrestrial systems. 28
4.5.1 Terms used within terrestrial systems . 28
4.5.2 The use of alternative frequencies for multiplexes . 29
4.5.3 Regional or local services. 30
4.6 Text string formatting . 31
4.6.1 Use of control codes in names . 31
4.6.2 Use of control codes in text . 32
5 Applications . 32
5.1 NVOD services. 32
5.2 Mosaic services. 34
5.2.1 General considerations. 34
5.2.2 Relationship between mosaic service and SI/PSI Tables. 35
5.3 Transitions at broadcast delivery media boundaries. 37
5.3.1 Seamless transitions. 37
5.3.2 Non-seamless transitions without re-multiplexing . 37
5.3.3 Transitions with re-multiplexing . 38
6 Storage media . 38
6.1 Program Association Table (PAT). 38
6.2 Program Map Table (PMT). 38
6.3 SI tables (NIT, SDT, EIT, BAT, RST, TDT, TOT). 38
6.4 Selection Information Table (SIT). 38
6.5 Discontinuity Information Table (DIT) . 39
Annex A (informative): Inter-operation with ATSC Systems. 40
A.1 PIDs. 40
A.2 Table Ids. 40
A.3 Descriptor tags. 40
Annex B (informative): Bibliography . 41
History. 42

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Foreword
This ETSI Technical Report (ETR) has been produced under the authority of the Joint Technical
Committee (JTC) of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Comité Européen de Normalisation
ELECtrotechnique (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
This ETR is based on the DVB document TM1324, rev. X / 162 rev. 13, and it may be converted into a
standard after market feedback. For this purpose, the wording of a standard (normative elements) rather
than of a technical report (informative elements) has been used.
ETRs are informative documents resulting from ETSI studies which are not appropriate for
European Telecommunication Standard (ETS) or Interim European Telecommunication Standard (I-ETS)
status. An ETR may be used to publish material which is either of an informative nature, relating to the
use or the application of ETSs or I-ETSs, or which is immature and not yet suitable for formal adoption as
an ETS or an I-ETS.
NOTE: The EBU/ETSI JTC was established in 1990 to co-ordinate the drafting of standards in
the specific field of broadcasting and related fields. Since 1995 the JTC became a
tripartite body by including in the Memorandum of Understanding also CENELEC,
which is responsible for the standardization of radio and television receivers. The EBU
is a professional association of broadcasting organizations whose work includes the
co-ordination of its members' activities in the technical, legal, programme-making and
programme-exchange domains. The EBU has active members in about 60 countries in
the European broadcasting area; its headquarters is in Geneva *.
* European Broadcasting Union
Case Postale 67
CH-1218 GRAND SACONNEX (Geneva)
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 717 21 11
Fax: +41 22 717 24 81
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Project
Founded in September 1993, the DVB Project is a market-led consortium of public and private sector
organizations in the television industry. Its aim is to establish the framework for the introduction of
MPEG-2 based digital television services. Now comprising over 200 organizations from more than
25 countries around the world, DVB fosters market-led systems, which meet the real needs, and
economic circumstances, of the consumer electronics and the broadcast industry.

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1 Scope
The present document provides implementation guidelines for the use and implementation of the DVB
Service Information (SI) coding in a DVB digital TV environment including satellite- cable- and terrestrial
networks.
The guidelines are intended to be highly recommended rules for the usage of the DVB SI syntax specified
in EN 300 468 [1]. As such, they facilitate the efficient and reliable implementation of basic user-interaction
functions in Integrated Receiver-Decoders (IRD).
The rules apply to broadcasters, network operators as well as manufacturers.
The rules are specified in the form of constraints on the DVB SI streams or in terms of intended
interpretation by IRDs.
The specification of these functions in no way prohibits IRD manufacturers from including additional
features, and should not be interpreted as stipulating any form of upper limit to the performance.
The guidelines do not cover features related to user-interface details or advanced Electronic Program
Guides (EPG). Such issues are left to the marketplace.
NOTE: It is highly recommended that the IRD should be designed to allow for future
compatible extensions to the DVB SI syntax. All the fields "reserved" (for ISO),
"reserved_future_use" (for ETSI), and "user defined" in the EN 300 468 [1] should be
ignored by IRDs designed not to make use of them. The "reserved" and
"reserved_future_use" fields may be specified in the future by the respective bodies,
whereas the "user defined" fields will not be standardized.
The present document uses the terminology defined in EN 300 468 [1] and should be read in conjunction
with that ETS.
2 References
For the purposes of the present document, the following references apply:
[1] EN 300 468: "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Specification for Service
Information (SI) in DVB systems".
[2] ISO/IEC 13818-1: "Information Technology - Generic Coding of Moving Pictures
and Associated Audio Recommendation H.222.0 (systems)".
[3] EN 300 472: "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Specification for conveying
ITU-R System B Teletext in DVB bitstreams".
[4] ETR 162: "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Allocation of Service Information
(SI) codes for DVB systems".
[5] prEN 301 192: "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Specification for data
broadcasting".
[6] prTR 101 202: "Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Guidelines for the
implementation and usage of the DVB data broadcasting specification".

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3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following definitions apply:
bouquet: A collection of services marketed as a single entity.
broadcaster (SERVICE Provider): An organization which assembles a sequence of events or
programmes to be delivered to the viewer based upon a schedule.
component (ELEMENTARY Stream): One or more entities which together make up an event, e.g. video,
audio, Teletext.
Conditional Access (CA) system: A system to control subscriber access to services, programmes and
events e.g. Videoguard, Eurocrypt.
delivery system: The physical medium by which one or more multiplexes are transmitted e.g. satellite
system, wide-band coaxial cable, fibre optics, terrestrial channel of one emitting point.
event: A grouping of elementary broadcast data streams with a defined start and end time belonging to a
common service, e.g. first half of a football match, News Flash, first part of an entertainment show.
MPEG-2: Refers to the standard ISO/IEC 13818. Systems coding is defined in part 1. Video coding is
defined in part 2. Audio coding is defined in part 3.
multiplex: A stream of all the digital data carrying one or more services within a single physical channel.
network: A collection of MPEG-2 TS multiplexes transmitted on a single delivery system, e.g. all digital
channels on a specific cable system.
section: A section is a syntactic structure used for mapping all service information into
ISO/IEC 13818-1 [2] Transport Stream (TS) packets.
programme: A concatenation of one or more events under the control of a broadcaster e.g. news show,
entertainment show.
service: A sequence of programmes under the control of a broadcaster which can be broadcast as part of
a schedule.
Service Information (SI): Digital data describing the delivery system, content and scheduling/timing of
broadcast data streams etc. It includes MPEG-2 Program Specific Information (PSI) together with
independently defined extensions.
sub-table: A sub-table is comprised of a number of sections with the same value of table_id,
table_id_extension and version_number. The table_id_extension field is equivalent to the fourth and
fifth byte of a section when the section_syntax_indicator is set to a value of "1".
table: A table is comprised of a number of sections with the same value of table_id.
Transport Stream (TS): A data structure defined in ISO 13818-1 [2]. It is the basis of the DVB standards.

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3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee of the USA
BAT Bouquet Association Table
bslbf bit string, left bit first
CA Conditional Access
DIT Discontinuity Information Table
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting
EIT Event Information Table
EPG Electronic Program Guide
IRD Integrated Receiver-Decoder
MFN Multi-Frequency Network
MJD Modified Julian Date
MPEG Moving Pictures Expert Group
NIT Network Information Table
NVOD Near Video On Demand
PAT Program Association Table
PCR_PID Program Clock Reference_Packet IDentifier
PID Packet IDentifier
PMT Program Map Table
PSI Program Specific Information
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
RST Running Status Table
SDT Service Description Table
SFN Single Frequency Network
SHY Soft HYphen
SI Service Information
SIT Selection Information Table
SMATV Satellite Master Antenna TeleVision
ST Stuffing Table
TDT Time and Date Table
TOT Time Offset Table
TS Transport Stream
uimsbf unsigned integer, most significant bit first
UTC Universal Time Coordinated
VCR Video Cassette Recorder
4 Rules of operation
This clause contains some recommendations on the usage of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
Service Information (SI) syntax.

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4.1 Service Information (SI) table information
Figure 1: SI table information

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4.1.1 Network Information Table (NIT) information
The Network Information Table (NIT) provides a grouping of Transport Streams (TSs) and the relevant
tuning information. The NIT could be used during set-up procedures of the IRD and the relevant tuning
information may be stored in non-volatile memory. The NIT also could be used to signal changes of tuning
information. The following rules apply to the NIT:
a) transmission of the NIT is mandatory for the actual delivery system;
b) the NIT describing the actual delivery system is valid if and only if it contains applicable delivery
system descriptors for the actual delivery system. This rule specifies the conditions under which the
NIT contains valid information. At some transitions of broadcast delivery system boundaries, the
NIT carried in a TS is allowed to describe an earlier network in the broadcast chain. A different
mechanism has to be selected by the IRD to obtain the relevant tuning information for the actual
delivery system. If a satellite IRD receives a satellite delivery system descriptor for the actual
delivery system, then it is valid. If a cable IRD receives a cable delivery system descriptor for the
actual delivery system, then it is valid. If a cable IRD receives a satellite delivery system descriptor
for the actual delivery system, then it is assumed to be invalid for the cable IRD;
c) if a valid NIT for the actual delivery system is present in the SI bit stream then it shall list all TSs of
the actual delivery system;
d) the SI stream shall have at least 8 TS packets per 10 seconds carrying NIT data or NULL packets.
This rule simplifies the replacement of the NIT at broadcast delivery system boundaries. With the
simple replacement mechanism, local frequency control is possible with relatively low cost
equipment.
The SI uses two labels related to the concept of a delivery system, namely the network_id and the
original_network_id. The latter is intended to support the unique identification of a service, contained in a
TS, even if that TS has been transferred to another delivery system than the delivery system where it
originated. A TS can be uniquely referenced through the path original_network_id/transport_stream_id.
A service can be uniquely referenced through the path
original_network_id/transport_stream_id/service_id. The network_id, thus, is not part of this path.
In addition each service_id shall be unique within each original_network_id. When a service (contained
inside a TS) is transferred to another delivery system, only the network_id changes, whereas the
original_network_id remains unaffected.
By way of example, consider the following, where two services (A and B), which originate in two different
delivery systems and happen to have the same service_ids and transport_stream_ids, are transferred to a
new delivery system.
In the example, the two services are located on different TSs (X and Y) in the new network. If the two
services were being combined onto the same TS, then it would be necessary to modify the identification of
the services, since the same service_id value cannot be assigned to more than one service within a TS,
and only one original_network_id can be associated with a TS (see subclause 5.3 for further discussion on
transitions at broadcast delivery media boundaries).

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Figure 2: Transfer to a new delivery system
4.1.2 Bouquet Association Table (BAT) information
The BAT provides a grouping of services which serves as one basis on which an IRD presents the
available services to a user. Transmission of the BAT is optional. The following rule improves the
consistency in the SI bit streams and simplifies the processing in the IRDs.
The SI bit stream shall list in each BAT sub-table all the services belonging to that bouquet.
NOTE: One service may belong to more than one bouquet. This rule creates consistency
across the different TSs which are accessible to the IRD.
If it is intended for the IRD to present service information to the user grouped in bouquets, then it would be
beneficial to ensure that every service is listed in one or more bouquets, or some services will be omitted
from this method of presentation. A bouquet may group together services from more than one TS, which
could even be carried in different networks. The IRD's access to information on all the services of a
bouquet would be facilitated if all the services referred to in the BAT were listed in the Service Description
Table (SDT). Similarly, the IRD's access to these services is facilitated if NIT information is given for all
TSs in which services of the bouquet occupy capacity.
4.1.3 Service Description Table (SDT) information
The SDT is used to list the names and other parameters of the services within TSs. For each TS a
separate SDT sub-table exists. The following rules apply in order to improve the acquisition of services:
- the transmission of the SDT for the actual TS is mandatory;
- the SI bit stream shall list in the SDT of a particular TS at least all the services of that TS.
In addition:
- any SDT for another TS than the actual one (i.e. with table_id = 0x46) shall list all the services of
that TS;
- it is strongly recommended that service_ids, once assigned to a specific service within a network,
remain unchanged in order to enable IRDs to implement features like favourite channel lists, etc.

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4.1.4 Event Information Table (EIT) information
The Event Information Table (EIT) is used to transmit information about present, following and further
future events. For each service a separate EIT sub-table exists.
4.1.4.1 EIT Present/Following information
The following rule simplifies the acquisition of the EIT Present/Following information. The SI specification
states that an EIT section has a maximum size of 4 096 bytes.
The SI bit stream shall have two sections per service for an EIT Present/Following with the
section_number 0x00 reserved for the description of the present event and section_number 0x01 for the
following event. These constraints do not apply in the case of an NVOD reference service which may have
more than one event description per section, and may have more than two sections in the EIT
Present/Following. It is recommended that the event descriptions be given in ascending order of event_id.
The SI bit stream shall have maximum of 4 096 bytes to describe a single event in a section.
The organization of the EIT Present/Following is based on the concept of present and following events.
Which event is the present one can be determined using the following scheme:
a) at each instant in time, there is at most one present event;
b) when there is a present event, this event shall be described in section 0 of the
EIT Present/Following;
c) when there is no present event (e.g. in the case of a gap in the schedule) an empty section 0 of
the EIT Present/Following shall be transmitted;
d) the running_status field in the description of the present event shall be given the interpretation
in table 1:
Table 1: running_status of the present event
undefined No information except the nomin
...