[mythtv] More things about IPTV...

[Robert Johnston]

I've been doing a bit (Okay, a lot) of digging (As I'd really rather
use my Myth box when we change provider than have to have a
set-top-box (Or two) cluttering my already full cabinet.

So, my little bit of digging reveals that:

IPTV is broadcast over Multicast (Which most *nix kernels are now set
up to recieve).

Multicast IP's are in the range 224.0.0.0/24.

So when you tune to channel 23, your STB binds to (For example)
230.0.0.23, and announces to the Router that it wishes to join
Multicast Group. The router then sends packets to the device that
requested it (And the whole multicast group).

The heart of this is already handled in VLC (The code's here:
http://trac.videolan.org/vlc/file/trunk/src/network/udp.c)

As VLC can send out a multicast stream that is compatible with IPTV
STB's, I think using VLC as a starting point for making an IPTV
frontend.

This won't solve problems with encryption, or how to do VOD/PPV, but
for general programming (And getting a start on integrating an IPTV
"Tuner" within Myth).
--
Robert "Anaerin" Johnston