DVB-IPTV means a delivery of DVB-Services over IP-based networks [23]. DVB-IPTV standard (formerly DVB-IPI as DVB – Internet Protocol Infrastructure) provides a set of technical specifications to cover the delivery of DVB MPEG-2 based services over bi-directional IP networks, including specifications of the transport encapsulation of MPEG-2 services over IP and the protocols to access such services.
Another important issue is the specification of the Service Discovery and Selection (SD&S) mechanism for DVB MPEG-2 based audio/video services over bi-directional IP networks to define the service discovery information and its data format and the protocols.
A basic IPTV architecture can be seen in Figure above. The IPTV architecture and technology in detail will be characterized in IPTV section.