applications, Ginga applications ultimately lower the cost of television receivers and set-top boxes for consumers.

Ginga includes two primary programming paradigms: Ginga-NCL and Ginga-J. Ginga-NCL is a multimedia presentation environment for declarative applications. Developers use this XML-based language to synchronize media objects, control media content, and present interactive programs to consumer devices. Ginga-J provides an execution infrastructure for Java applications.

“Ginga-J extends Java DTV for the Brazilian system with specific APIs for interacting with consumer devices and managing an asynchronous messaging environment,” explains Fini.

Ginga-J was approved by the Forum in April 2009 along with the Java DTV API. These specifications (known respectively as transmission, reception, and code-back) enable Java developers to create apps that can receive content from broadcasters, read this content, and send content to subscribers. Oracle’s royalty-free specification has since become the digital terrestrial TV standard in Brazil and most other South American countries.

The Forum also adopted the
ISDB-T standard, which was
originally popularized in Japan
and is now pervasive across most
of South America. ISDB-Tb (the b indicates
the Brazilian version of the standard) had an
edge especially because of its one-seg feature,
which allows broadcasters to embed a free-
for-all low-resolution signal for mobile phones
and tablets, as well as standard-definition and
high-definition TV broadcasts. One-seg has
proven to be a very enticing feature for its abil-
ity to democratize access to news and infor-
mation in developing countries.

Resources for
Java Developers

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF INTERACTIVE TV

Today 10 developers on Fini’s team are bolstering Globo TV’s lineup with a wide array of interactive TV apps and content. “Everything is brand new, so the team is pioneering new models,” he says. The developers use Oracle’s Lightweight UI Toolkit (LWUIT), a UI library targeted for mass-market mobile devices that shields developers from the need to write device-specific code for different screen sizes. This is important because Globo TV simultaneously broadcasts content for large-format televisions and tiny mobile devices.

Globo TV’s digital TV applications take the form of PBP Xlets—self-contained Java apps that are packaged into signed JAR files and transmitted as part of the broadcast stream. Embedded Xlets allow the broadcaster to synchronize the application functions with the TV program, permitting viewers to start, stop, and pause the signal as well as to control interactive TV functions such as shopping, voting, and downloading content.

“The use of Java technology allows for rich
media and interactive applications com-
bined with the regular TV broadcast such as
program-related information, games, voting,
targeted advertising, and e-government,”
says Fini. “Platform architects, application
developers, and media content authors are
actively developing these applications.”
The Java DTV specification permits multiple
applications to be executed simultaneously
yet run autonomously, shielded from each
other in a persistent file system. Applica-

Downloads
Java DTV API 1.0 Specification
Forums
LWUIT Open Source Community
Java TV Forums Home
Java Embedded Forums Home

Data Sheets and White Papers
Java Technology for Digital Media
Java Technologies for Interactive Television
Java TV API Technical Overview

JAVA TECH

JAVA FACT

there are
2. 6 billion Java-
enabled phones in
circulation

tions, sounds, images, and other information can be embedded into the transport stream, which originates on the broadcast carousel and is transmitted to the set-top box. A Java Media Framework player handles time-based media streams, typically associated with a media decoder.

Media pundits acknowledge the bright potential for interactive TV in Brazil. By starting with a complete, royalty-free Ginga specification, supplemented by Java, Brazil is avoiding the gridlock that has plagued interactive TV in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“In 2011 the Brazilian market will reach between 17 million and 20 million DTV consumers, and part of them are using our interactive TV service,” concludes Fini. “Using a standard language ensures compatibility, and Java is rich and robust.” ●