AMWA/EBU FIMS Reports First Results and Roadmap

During IBC, EBU and AMWA organised a round table session around SOA and the Framework for Interoperable Media Services (FIMS) project jointly coordinated by the two organisations. During the round table, which comes after a successful meeting with respondents Amberfin, BBC, Cinegy, IBM, and Sony to its request for technology, FIMS was privileged to announce the following roadmap for developing specifications.

Phase 1 will consist of a common service definition format, after the high level architecture and framework described in the request for technology is first refined. This framework will cover all system and management requirements (service management, awareness and communication, content and time awareness, security, framework extension). The framework will be built upon IBM (SOA based Media Services Framework) and Sony (Media SOA Framework) proposals with the valued experience of service developers and users from Amberfin, BBC and Cinegy. The project will also address container issues seeking maximum compatibility with AAF and MXF.

Phase 2 will subsequently investigate the possibility of defining common services using the framework developed in phase 1. All respondents have already suggested key services. It is very encouraging to see that these contributions have been received in the framework of the AMWA licensing policy, which is compensation free. This is essential to the successful standardisation of the core technology on which the project is working.

The work will continue in a public manner via the FIMS wiki and open meetings that will allow third parties to also actively contribute to this important work. Direct participation will be subject to the signature of a ‘participation agreement' to safeguard the favourable licensing conditions under which FIMS operates.

Source: EBU