A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

Network Working Group                                           J. Smith
Request for Comments: 3614              IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
Category: Informational                                   September 2003


            A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for the
                  Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG)

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document describes a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for
   the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) for naming persistent
   resources as part of the MPEG standards.  Example resources include
   technical documents and specifications, eXtensible Markup Language
   (XML) Schemas, classification schemes, XML Document Type Definitions
   (DTDs), namespaces, style sheets, media assets, and other types of
   resources produced or managed by MPEG.

1.  Introduction

   MPEG is a working group of the International Organization for
   Standardization (ISO) and International Engineering Consortium (IEC)
   in charge of the development of standards for coded representation of
   digital audio and video.  MPEG has produced MPEG-1, the standard on
   which such products as Video CD and MP3 are based, MPEG-2, the
   standard on which such products as Digital Television set top boxes
   and DVD are based, MPEG-4, the standard for multimedia for the fixed
   and mobile web, and MPEG-7, "Multimedia Content Description
   Interface", the standard for description and search of audio and
   visual content. Work on MPEG-21, "Multimedia Framework" is currently
   underway.

   MPEG would like to assign unique, permanent, location-independent
   names based on URNs for some resources it produces or manages.

   This namespace specification is for a formal namespace.

2.  Specification Template

   Namespace ID:

      "mpeg"

   Registration Information:

      Version: 1
      Date: 2001-11-20

   Declared registrant of the namespace:

      Name:           John R. Smith
      Title:          Chair, MPEG MDS Subgroup
      Affiliation:    IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
      Address:        30 Saw Mill River Road
                      Hawthorne, NY 10532 USA
      Phone:          +1 (914) 784-7320
      Email:          jrsmith@watson.ibm.com

   Declaration of structure:

      URNs assigned by MPEG will have the following hierarchical
      structure based on the organizational structure of the MPEG
      standards:

         urn:mpeg:{standard name}:{assigned US-ASCII string}

      where "{standard name}" is a US-ASCII string that conforms to URN
      Syntax requirements ([RFC2141]) and corresponds to the name of an
      MPEG standard (such as "mpeg1", "mpeg2", "mpeg4", "mpeg7",
      "mpeg21", and

      "{assigned US-ASCII string}" is a US-ASCII string that conforms to
      URN Syntax requirements ([RFC2141]).

      The individual URNs shall be assigned by MPEG through the process
      of development of MPEG standards.

   Relevant ancillary documentation:

      None

   Identifier uniqueness considerations:

      MPEG shall establish unique identifiers as appropriate.

      Uniqueness is guaranteed as long as the assigned string is never
      reassigned for a given standard name and that the standard name is
      never reassigned.

   Identifier persistence considerations:

      MPEG is committed to maintaining the accessibility and persistence
      of all resources that are officially assigned URNs by the
      organization.

      Persistence of identifiers is dependent upon suitable delegation
      of resolution at the level of "standard name"(s), and persistence
      of standard name assignment.

   Process of identifier assignment:

      Assignment is limited to the owner and those authorities that are
      specifically designated by the owner.  MPEG may designate portions
      of its namespace for assignment by other parties.

   Process of identifier resolution:

      The owner will develop and maintain "URN catalogs" that map all
      assigned URNs to Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) specifically to
      enable Web-based resolution of named resources.  In the future an
      interactive online resolution system may be developed to automate
      this process.

      The owner will authorize additional resolution services as
      appropriate.

   Rules for Lexical Equivalence:

      The "standard name" is case-insensitive.  Thus, the portion of the
      URN:

         urn:mpeg:{standard name}:

      is case-insensitive for matches.  The remainder of the identifier
      must be considered case-sensitive.

   Conformance with URN Syntax:

      No special considerations.

   Validation mechanism:

      None specified.  The owner will develop and maintain URN catalogs.

      The presence of a URN in a catalog indicates that it is valid.

   Scope:

      Global

3.  Examples

   The following examples are not guaranteed to be real.  They are
   presented for pedagogical reasons only.

      urn:mpeg:mpeg7:schema:2001
      urn:mpeg:mpeg7:cs:VideoDomainCS:2001
      urn:mpeg:mpeg7:cs:GenreCS:2001
      urn:mpeg:mpeg7:cs:ContentCS:2001

4.  Namespace Considerations

   URN assignment procedures:

      The individual URNs shall be assigned through the process of
      development of MPEG standards by the Moving Picture Experts Group
      (MPEG), which is a working group of ISO/IEC.

   URN resolution/delegation:

      The resolution and delegation shall be determined through the
      process of development of MPEG standards by the Moving Picture
      Experts Group (MPEG).  MPEG has developed requests for
      registration authority for MPEG-7 classification schemes and
      MPEG-21 identification systems. These registration authorities
      shall be responsible for corresponding parts of MPEG namespace.

   Type of resources to be identified:

      Types of resources to be identified include XML schema definition
      files, classification schemes, identification systems.

   Type of services to be supported:

      Types of services supported include controlled term lookup in
      classification schemes, resolution of ids in identification
      systems.

5.  Community Considerations

   Open assignment and use of identifiers within the namespace:

      With on-going development of MPEG standards, MPEG shall establish
      requirements for assignment and use of identifiers within MPEG
      namespace.  MPEG has already established requirements for
      assignment and use of MPEG-7 classification schemes under MPEG
      namespace. A registration authority shall have the responsibility
      for processing third party requests for registering classification
      schemes.

   Open operation of resolution servers for the namespace (server):

      With on-going development of MPEG standards, MPEG shall establish
      requirements and seek candidates for operating resolution servers
      as appropriate.

   Creation of software that can meaningfully resolve and access
   services for the namespace (client):

      With on-going development of MPEG standards, MPEG shall develop
      reference software implementations of its standards.

6.  Security Considerations

   There are no additional security considerations other than those
   normally associated with the use and resolution of URNs in general.

7.  IANA Considerations

   The IANA has registered formal URN namespace 12, to MPEG within the
   IANA registry of URN NIDs.

8.  Normative References

   [RFC2141] Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.

9.  Author's Address

   John R. Smith
   IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
   30 Saw Mill River Road
   Hawthorne, NY 10532 USA

   Phone: 1 (914) 784-7320
   EMail: jrsmith@watson.ibm.com

10.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

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Acknowledgement

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