Format-Independent Multimedia Streaming

The Bitstream Binding Language (BBL) is a new technology developed by the authors and being standardized by MPEG, which describes how multimedia content and metadata can be mapped onto streaming formats. This paper describes a particular application of BBL - format-independent multimedia streaming. This means that streaming servers no longer require additional software modules in order to support new content formats as they are introduced. Instead, the server requires only a BBL description of the mapping between the content format and the stream, and any content in the new format may then be delivered by the streaming server. This approach is validated using the H.264/AVC format as an example, and performance data are provided.