HAVi

HAVi: Home Audio Video Interoperability

Abstract:
Eight major consumer electronics manufacturers have come up with anopen standard enabling home entertainment devices to communicate intelligently with each other. The HAVi (Home Audio Video Interoperability) standard promises to bring true platform independent interoperability to consumer devices using high bandwidth IEEE 1394 (FireWire) as the connecting medium. This paper studies the HAVi standard and what it has to offer to consumers.

1 INTRODUCTION An average household nowadays contains many very complicated devices. Many of them are home entertainment devices related to handling different audio or video data. These devices are computers in essence, but just more specialized in their features than a home PC. Home networking has become very popular nowadays since a normal household might contain several PCs that need to use shared resources like printers or file shares. Home audio and video devices like VCR, TV, amplifier, tuner, DVD, CD player and set-top-box form a similar interconnected network (see Figure 1). Why couldnt these miniature computers also make use of each others features and even control each other to make everything easier for the consumer? Major consumer electronics, software, semiconductor and computer manufacturers think that this should be possible and have decided to make it happen. The manufactures, namely Grundig, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba along with now over 30 other participants, have formed a non-profit organization called HAVi (Home Audio Video Interoperability) for promoting the development of interoperable consumer products. The goal of HAVi organization is to provide a standard open architecture for intelligent audio and video devices to interoperate with each other regardless of manufacturer, operating system, CPU or programming language used for implementation (HAVi, Inc., 2001a).

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The first beta version of the HAVi standard version 1.0 was published in December 1998 while the final 1.0 version was released in December 1999. The current version of the specification is 1.1 (HAVi, Inc., 2001b) and it was published in May 15th 2001. This paper presents the basic architecture and promises the HAVi standard offers. Various problems and questions still to be answered will also be discussed. Although HAVi is still to come into living rooms as a de facto standard, a brief look at the future of HAVi will be made. The paper is mainly based on the information offered by HAVi organization (HAVi, Inc., 2001a) and naturally the HAVi specification version 1.1 itself (HAVi, Inc., 2001b). Another main source of the paper is a HAVi introduction by Rodger Lea, Simon Gibbs, Alec DaraAbrams and Edward Eytchison (Lea et al., 2000).

2 PROMISES OF HAVI The idea of an open standard sounds very promising, but how can a normal consumer benefit from it? How can it make lives easier and what kind of things, not possible before, can be achieved by using it? The simplest example might be time synchronization between different devices. TV set might get the correct time from the broadcast stream and the other devices can query the TV and set their own clocks according to it. Setting the VCR to record a program is a familiar situationusers usually have problems with. With HAVi enabled devices this task can be made very easy. User can select the program (s)he wishes to record with the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) residing on a digital TV set (or set-top-box). The task can be as simple as just browsing the program information, selecting the desired program and pressing one button to activate recording. The TV then locates an available recorder (e.g., a VCR or a recording DVD device) and commands it to record the program supplying it with the time, length and channel parameters taken from the EPG. Thus, the user doesnt need to program or touch the recording device in any way. One of the more advanced scenarios might be automatic directing of an oncoming videophone call to the TV screen or part of it and muting all other sounds. Similarly, if a
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camera placed outside the door detects movement, the picture is automatically connected to the TV screen notifying the user about a possible visitor. All this could also be aided by giving voice commands to the devices. These are only some of the possible use cases. A lot more can be possible, especially when the HAVi devices are connected to other home appliances, PCs or even Internet. The possibilities HAVi offers seem endless and many of them might sound like science fiction or at least not likely in the near future, but that might not be the case. Many products have already been announced and several working demos have been presented at various consumer electronics fairs. The interoperability of HAVi devices seems pretty extensive and complex. Will the installation and configuration of the network be as complicated as in computer networks? Fortunately no, since devices are hot-pluggable and they are supposed to automatically announce their presence and capabilities to other devices and configure themselves when connected to the network saving the user from reading installation instructions and configuring network addresses and drivers. Finally, HAVi standard promises to be future proof by maintaining current functionality while making it easy to upgrade and add new capabilities. Non-HAVi devices can also be connected to the network if at least one of the HAVi devices supports the interface the legacy device provides.

3 HAVI ARCHITECTURE The HAVi architecture can be divided into several different layers (see Figure 2). On the bottom there is always vendor specific hardware and software Application Programming Interface (API) that HAVi is built upon. Also, on the hardware level there is the connecting IEEE 1394 wiring, which HAVi devices use as a connecting medium. Next, a media manager for IEEE 1394 is needed as well as a messaging system. On top of the messaging system, there are several software modules: Registry, Event Manager, Stream Manager, Resource Manager, Device Control Modules (DCM) and DCM managers. These layers compose the basic services for building portable distributed applications. Basic services provided by the system, include: Automatic discovery or devices added or removed from the network Addressing scheme and message-transfer service Lookup service for discovering resources Posting and receiving local or remote events
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Automatic installation and configuration of DCMs Streaming and controlling isochronous data streams Reserving devices and performing scheduled actions Device control via DCMs and FCMs User interaction with UI mechanisms

3.1 HAVi Devices HAVi devices are classified into four categories (see Table 1): Full AV devices (FAV), Intermediate AV devices (IAV), Base AV devices (BAV) and Legacy AV devices (LAV). HAVi compliant devices fall into the first 3 categories and all other devices belong to the 4th category. FAVs and IAVs are controlling devices in the HAVi network while BAVs and LAVs are the devices they control. A Full AV device has the most complete set of HAVi features. FAV contains a runtime environment for Java bytecode allowing it to upload bytecode from other devices. This feature provides much enhanced capabilities for controlling devices. Common FAV devices might be set-top-boxes, digital TV receivers, general-purpose home-control devices, residential gateways or even PCs. IAVs are generally a bit cheaper and do not contain the Java environment, thus having more limited capabilities for controlling other devices. IAVs may provide native support for controlling particular devices on the home network. Home theater amplifiers or DVD players might fall into this category. BAVs do not contain any of the HAVi software modules. However, their configuration Rom must contain uploadable Java bytecode that makes it possible for FAV devices to control them. They can also be controlled by a IAV device using native code. Most likely BAV devices include portable audio players, camcorders and mass storage systems. LAV devices do not recognize HAVi architecture. They use proprietary control protocols. LAV devices can be divided into two categories, IEEE 1394 devices and those not supporting it. They can be connected to the HAVi network, but they need a FAV or IAV device acting as a gateway for them.

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3.2 IEEE 1394 To meet the requirements for real-time transfer of high-data-rate streams, self-management and autoconfiguration, low-cost cabling and interfaces, a natural choice was to adopt the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) standard (IEEE, 1996) first conceived by Apple Computer. IEEE 1394 meets all these requirements. Its high data rate of 400 Mbps (upgradeable to 800 Mbps or even 1600 Mbps) is quite enough for several simultaneous data streams. Data can also be fullduplex, i.e., both data and control instructions can flow to both directions at the same time. Scalability of up to 63 devices in the same bus should be quite enough for normal consumer electronics. FireWire can also connect almost any kind of computer peripherals such as printers, scanners, keyboards, displays and hard drivers. However, so far it isnt very popular in normal PC environment except connecting workstations with digital video cameras for video editing. Naturally Apple products utilize it more commonly since it is a built-in feature in their workstations. On top of the IEEE 1394 layer, HAVi uses a simple Function Control Protocol (FCP) defined in IEC 61883.1 (IEC, 1998,) for the transport of command requests and responses. IEC 61883.1 also specifies a Connection Management Protocol (CMP) for creating, breaking, overlaying and restoring isochronous connections and for Common Isochronous Packet (CIP) format. 3.3 Software Modules HAVi software elements are self-contained entities that communicate with each other in peerto- peer fashion. Each software element has a well-defined API through which the services can be accessed. Elements also have a unique identifier assigned by the Messaging System before they register to the Registry. Since this unique identifier is used to pass messages between different modules, there is no distinction whether the modules reside within the same device or different devices on the same network. In addition to assigning unique ID to the software elements, the messaging system fragments the messages into multiple FCP packets and reassembles them. Software elements can request the messaging system to supervise other elements and notify if they become unavailable. The HAVi messaging system supports both acknowledged and unacknowledged messaging. Registry acts as the directory service of the network. It enables objects to locate other objects on the same network. In addition to the unique identifiers, the registry contains a small set of software element attributes. Clients can then, e.g., query the attributes of a specified element or locate an element matching a search predicate. Registry also forwards the queries to all
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remote registries and returns the replies to the client. Device Control Modules allow the controlling device to control other devices. A DCM might contain several function specific Functional Component Modules (FCM). HAVi 1.1 defines the following FCMs: tuner, VCR, clock, camera, AV disc, amplifier, display, AV display, modem and web proxy. DCM of a controlled device can be embedded in the controller or dynamically added by, e.g., uploading. HAVi also provides standard DCMs for controlling various kinds of devices, but proprietary DCMs can add vendor specific features and enhanced capabilities. DCM Manager is needed to make sure that each target device has only one DCM on the network. The hosting device is chose by a voting process. Device candidates can affect the voting process by setting preferences. Some device might be better suited to control the device than other candidates. In some cases it is useful for objects to notify any changes its state to other objects. Event manager monitors these events and posts a message to local software elements that have subscribed to that event. It can also forward the events to other event managers for global posting. Stream manager is responsible for managing transfer of real-time streams on the network. The transfer can happen internally or between different devices. Applications create the streams by defining a source and destination and then invoking the local stream manager. Stream manager verifies that the source and destination type are compatible and then allocates the needed resources. Resource manager is used to reserve and release FCMs and arrange scheduled actions. Managing is needed to prevent conflicts between devices. Only one device should command a controlled device at any time. However, this only applies to commands that require, e.g., a change in the state of the device, but not commands that only get or view information.

3.4 User Interfaces HAVi devices can be controlled through other HAVi devices on the same network. Thus, the user interface also needs to be portable. Device manufacturers can define graphical user interfaces (GUI) that can be rendered on a device with display capability. There are two ways to achieve this Level 1 UI and Level 2 UI. Level 1 UI is called Data Driven Interaction (DDI). DDI user interface elements (buttons, panels, etc.) are typically obtained from DCMs. DDI controller then connects to the controlled device and sends user action messages to it. The target notifies the state changes to the DDI controller. DDI controller just provides a way to remotely command a device; it doesnt have any intelligence about actions and their consequences. Target device can
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suggest a preferred layout of the user interface, but the DDI controller might modify it depending on the display capabilities. If more than one DDI controller is connected to the target, all the views are synchronized by the target. Level 2 UIs are constructed with Java and support more advanced features based on a subset of Java AWT 1.1. HAVi also defines some extensions, such as support for different screen sizes and aspect ratios, alpha blending and video/image layering, support for remote control input and support for UI components patterned after Level 1 DDI elements. 3.5 Security All devices can send messages and events to each other without any restrictions. To avoid some of the problems that may arise, HAVi specifies what type of messages and events each software element is allowed to send. Receiving system component will then check if the sender is allowed to send this message or event. For example, some system components might only accept messages from other system components. Protection from hostile or flawed applications is left to the device manufacturer. HAVi protection scheme has only two levels, trusted and untrusted. Vendors should thoroughly test all system and other software elements before granting them trusted level. All dynamically installed software, like updates and software patches, should be verified to make sure they are valid and come from verified sources. This verification is done by digital signature algorithm specified in the HAVi standard. 3.6 HAVi components in digital television Regular television broadcasting services began in England and France in 1936 [1]. In June 1999, the Finnish Ministry of Transportation granted licenses for three terrestrial multiplexes to start operating digital television before 1st September 2001. At the same time it was preliminarily decided that the complete transaction from analogue to digital television would take place at the end of the year 2006 [2]. In 1936, the pictures in the system were composed of 405 lines and the viewer was only able to sit in front of the television and watch what the stations decided to broadcast. Today, this so-called dumb device is changing, the digital quality is coming, interactive applications are arriving, and the number of new services available creates a wide range of possibilities. As mentioned above, a new period in the history of the television is beginning. A revolution in this entertainment field is coming about. It has to be taken into account
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that television has been a part of everybodys life for many years. So, habits, practices and traditions have already been developed in the society. Consequently, everyone involved in the process of providing this entertainment service, such as station workers, developers, and manufactures, cannot forget that it is oriented to all the population (i.e., people with different backgrounds). The main topic of this thesis is to highlight the importance of having an adequate television-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) when developing new applications for digital television. This thesis has been written at the Telecommunications and Multimedia Laboratory of the Helsinki University of Technology, in the Future TV research group under the supervision of Professor Petri Vuorimaa. This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter consists of an overview of the digital television. The second chapter talks about the different standards and organisations that are working on digital television. The third chapter is focused on how to proceed, when developing digital television applications. GUI aspect is emphasised. The fourth chapter is about the practical part of the thesis, where a GUI framework is developed and used is real applications. Finally, the last part of the thesis covers the conclusions and future improvements.

3.7 STANDARDS AND ORGANISATIONS The first intention of this chapter is to make clear who is who in digital television. Nowadays, in every technological area, many acronyms are produced, which usually originates a state of confusion and perplexity in the inexperienced. This chapter tries to provide a clear picture about digital television acronyms. Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristic [36]. Consequently, standards have two different options. First, being approved by a recognised organisation (e.g., ETSI, ISO). Second, being accepted as a de facto by the industry. In the late 1940s, television standards engaged the emotional issue of national sovereignty. The negotiators were under political pressure to resist all sorts of foreign incursions into weakened economy of Europe and Soviet Union [1]. Nowadays, the picture is completely different. With the European Union idea maturing, a common European standard has been developed (i.e., DVB-MHP). Definitely, this is a good thing if one takes a look at the actual incompatible analogue systems (i.e., Secam and
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PAL) situation [7]. Also, there are other two standards in the world. Japanese, to be used in their territory (i.e., ISDB) and ATSC Grand Alliance to be used in USA. In addition, it is important to remark the importance of other organisations. They have not developed standards for digital television, but anyway, their specifications are necessary for digital television regulations. These are MPEG, HAVi, DAVIC, and NorDig. MPEG is in charge of developing specifications for coded representation of digital audio and video [37]. HAVi has stated specifications about the home network [35]. DAVIC has created the standard for end-to-end interoperability of broadcast and interactive digital audio-visual information, and of multimedia communication [38]. Finally, NorDig is a co-operative organisation, which has specified a common platform for digital television within the Nordic region (i.e., Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) [39]. Finally, there are some other organisations related to the digital television. On one hand there are the standards organisations (e.g., ETSI, CENELEC, and EBU). On the other hand, two important groups called DigiTAG and DTG work to make easier the shift from analogue to digital terrestrial television. DigiTAG aim is to organise and facilitate the implementation and market driven introduction of digital terrestrial television services in all transmission media [40]. DTG, based in UK, was created to ensure that the new broadcast satisfies the standards and that new receivers work the way they should in UK [41]. Taking into account what is said in the previous paragraphs, this second chapter is divided into three parts. The first one, sub-section 3.1, discusses the standards specified for digital television in the world. The second part, sub-section 3.2, is about other important specifications related to the digital television. Finally, sub-section 3.3 talks about organisations, which, in some way, are related with the outgoing of digital television.

3.8 Standards of Digital Television in the World As said before, there are three different digital television standards in the world. In this thesis, most attention is paid to the European standard (i.e., DVB-MHP) over the rest, since it has been written in Europe. This section is structured as follows. First, in sub-section 3.1.1, DVB-MHP is studied. Then, in sub-section 3.1.2, ATSC Grand Alliance is introduced. After, in sub-section 3.1.3, ISDB is defined. Finally, in subsection 3.1.4, the current situation across the world is analysed.
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When defining the different standards in this thesis, there is a structure followed. First a little introduction about the organisation involved is given. Then the standard is defined. The categorisation is done taking into account the bandwidth of the channels to broadcast, the video resolution, the audio regulation, and the compression system to be used. It is very important to remark that the last issue (i.e. the compression system) is in all the standards MPEG-2. 3.8.1 DVB-MHP DVB, formed in 1993, is a consortium of around 300 companies in the fields of broadcasting, manufacturing, network operation and regulatory matters that have come together to establish a common European standard for the move from analogue to digital broadcasting [42]. From the beginning, DVB decided to be a politically independent group. This way, no political decision could be taken to develop the standard. To assure it, the group refused a grant offered by the European Community funding [7 and 43]. The principles guiding the DVB group behaviour are the following [42 and 44]: 1. System should be market-led rather than technology-driven. It is not worthy to develop standards the market is not ready to accept, but use the last technology hints. 2. Interoperability. Ensuring the user all the systems in the market behaves the same way. Multivendor interoperability is assured. 3. Open. The standard is agreed, approved, and published by a recognised standardisation body. Then, they are available at a nominal cost, worldwide. The group has developed DVB-S, DVB-T, and DVB-C, the standards for satellite, terrestrial and cable broadcast, respectively. The prime difference between them is the delivery transmission system. DVB-S uses Quaternary Phase Shift Keying Modulation (QPSK). DVB-C uses Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Finally, DVB-T, the most complex delivery system, uses Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM). The major difference between for the terrestrial system is the use of a multicarrier modulation system [44]. In Europe, the TV channel is decided to be 8MHz. As COFDM states, the channel is divided into several thousand of narrow sub-channels. The digital code is split into many streams, with one stream sent on each sub-channel [8]. Consequently, the data carriers in the COFDM can use QPSK or different levels of QAM modulation. This
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method stands up to multipath interference and unwanted reflections can be recognised and rejected. In the early 1990s, there was a system, in Europe, called HD-MAC, which failed. It was a project trying to co-ordinate the launch of a hybrid analogue-digital High Definition Television (HDTV). Learning from it, DVB has chosen the standardresolution television of 625 lines, 50 Hz interlaced pictures. HDTV is stated as optional until it becomes a market necessity [7]. In addition, the wide screen aspect ratio stated is 16:9. The audio standard selected is MPEG-2 sound (i.e., six channels). Initially stereo sound (i.e., two channels) can be used instead, because of the lack of multichannel MPEG decoder. Stereo, anyway, can be upgraded to multichannel surround (i.e., another channel of rear information is mixed with the stereo pair) [7]. DVB has stated, also, the following [44]: Service Information System (DVB-SI): to provide a comprehensive identification system for the transmission parameters and service content. Conditional Access Common Interface (DVB-CI): to control the access to some programs to unauthorised viewers. Teletext transmission transport system (DVB-Text): to carry fixed-format teletext system in the MPEG-2 transport stream. MHP is a subproject of DVB starting in 1997. While DVB activities are more related to physical and transport layer, MHP concerns with the upper system layer [15]. The scope of DVB-MHP is to define a common API, which provides a platform independent interface between applications from different providers and the manufacturer specific hardware and software implementation, which is called middleware [45]. DVB-MHP has defined three different profiles, which state functional requirements for supporting a wide range of application types. The profiles are enhanced broadcasting, interactive broadcasting, and Internet access. The first two are already developed and MHP is working on the third one. The major components of the MHP are the following : DVB-J platform: comprises a Java Virtual Machine and a set of specific television oriented APIs. Content Formats: including PNG, JPEG, MPEG, subtitles, and resident downloadable fonts. HTML: allowing the execution of HTML decoder written in Java, where
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there isnt an HTML decoder resident in the MHP receiver. Network Protocols: mandatory transport protocols, which are DSM-CC object carrousel (broadcast) and IP (return channel). Also, from the applications point of view, a security framework and the application model and lifecycle is defined. The security model covers both the broadcasting and data authentication (e.g., digital signature), and the return channel encryption (using TLS). In DVB-MHP, a DVB-Java application is called Xlet application. The lifecycleof an Xlet is similar to that used by Java applets in Internet, with four different states (i.e., ready, running, paused, and dead) [45 and 46]. Finally, it is necessary to explain, what the APIs DVB-MHP defines. The APIs, as said above, are used by an application to access the platform, where they are running [47]. The APIs of DVB-MHP can be categorised into [45 and 47]: Core Java: a subset of packages from JDK1.1. JavaTV: Some packages selected from JavaTV API developed by Sun Microsystems. HAVi: The User Interface API from HAVi specifications. DAVIC: Mostly addressed to MPEG transport and related subjects (e.g., tuning, conditional access). Also, a number of extensions of the JMF (Java Media Framework). DVB: including packages to address the broadcast transport files, user settings and preferences, DVB service information, and DVB related extensions to the JMF.

3.8.2 The HAVi Standard The HAVi standard specifies a set of distributed management services and their interfaces as required in the home entertainment environment, for example for the management of video and audio streams. Furthermore, a controlled device in the HAVi environment may provide its own device driver (called a Device Control Module, DCM), which can be executed on a controlling device, and its own user interface (in a so-called Havlet). This concept makes a HAVi network extensible, because it allows to add previously not supported controlled devices. An important aspect of the HAVi architecture is the distinction between different types of devices, which allows to have complex controlling devices (e.g.
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set top boxes) as well as more simple and therefore cheaper controlled devices (e.g. a CD player). Additionally, this concept allows to integrate legacy devices that are not aware of HAVi. Both is important for the automotive environment, as the former allows to include more of the numerous often simple Electronic Control Units (ECUs) in the HAVi network and the latter because it allows a reuse of existing devices, reducing the transition costs. The HAVi architecture defines the following device categories: " Full Audio/Video device (FAV): FAVs are controlling devices that run all HAVi managers (see below) and are able to execute the DCMs for controlled HAVi devices (BAVs and LAVs). To run an uploadable DCM provided by a BAV, an FAV has to contain a runtime environment for Java byte code. Applications using the HAVi framework will be executed on an FAV or IAV. The head unit of a vehicle telematics system would be an FAV. " Intermediate Audio/Video device (IAV): An IAV is similar to an FAV but has a reduced set of managers and no runtime environment for Java byte code. This allows for cheaper controlling devices with less resources. In the automotive domain, a rear-seat unit could be realized as an IAV. " Base Audio/Video device (BAV): BAVs are controlled devices that provide HAVi-specific information and a DCM code unit as uploadable Java byte code in its ROM. An FAV can download this code unit and run the DCM for a BAV. " Legacy Audio/Video device (LAV): Existing controlled devices that are not aware of HAVi can be included in a HAVi network as LAVs. An FAV or IAV can provide an embedded code unit and run a DCM for such a device (e.g. a device supporting the IEEE 1394-based Audio/Video Control protocol, AV/C). Existing controlled MOST devices, such as a CD changer or a radio tuner, will have to be treated as LAVs. 4 PROBLEMS WITH HAVI HAVi as a technology hasnt been widely tested and utilized in real environments. Naturally, until it is proven that everything works as it is supposed to, there are several problems to be foreseen. One of the most important goals is platform-independent interoperability. However, it has
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been seen that FireWire still isnt as solid as you would think considering that it has been on the market for several years. In fact, FireWire alone has proven to be very complicated to implement. The only guarantee is that devices of the same brand and same and same kind of proprietary programming will most likely work together. Until all the major problems with FireWire have been solved, they will hinder HAVi. Also, distributing audio and video data is still quite difficult since theres no one format that all devices understand. For example the data formats of a VCR, minidisc, CD player and MP3 player are quite different. One important issue when dealing with home entertainment is digital rights management. Without any copyright info data might be transferred freely between devices or even outside the home network. While it is legal to copy material for your self, the situation becomes more complicated when the HAVi network is connected to, for example, the Internet. Big entertainment corporations will not like the fact that their material could be freely distributed. This raises the question about how the devices are protected from intrusions from outside. HAVi specification leaves this issue mostly to the device manufacturers. It certainly wouldnt be nice if someone could disable your home network from outside, thus rendering video cameras, set to watch your apartment, useless. In another scenario, an intruder might get access to your personal home videos. These scenarios might seem far-fetched, but more common situations might cause problems too. The network must withstand an attack from within too. Faulty device might act in a wrong way sending invalid messages or monopolizing the network with traffic. Also, since devices can obtain bytecode from another devices or even Internet, it should be made sure that faulty program code wont cause too much problems. Again, it can be visualized that one device gets an update containing a virus which it then uploads to every other device. Due to the growing complexity of the devices and various standards, the initial models will most likely be priced quite highly for some time. A set-top-box implementing both HAVi and Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) will probably start with the price of a full-featured multimedia PC, which is too much for the majority of consumers. As long as these highpriced devices suffer from incompatibilities, they arent too tempting. Users will not like to have their expensive digital TV displaying error messages or crash once in a while. The high complexity of the protocols makes the verification of products very difficult and even the
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smallest mistakes in mass production of consumer electronics can cost quite a lot, both financially and in credibility. Engineers have nice visions about how devices can be connected with each other and the Internet, but the reason to do this just shouldnt be because we can. Sure, a lot of things not possible before can be realized with HAVi. HAVi promises easiness of use, which is welcomed since even setting the VCR to record can be a very formidable task sometimes. However, so far the discussion and development has been quite technology driven and issues, such as usability and what consumers actually want, havent been discussed enough. Hopefully this situation will change when the technology is ready and devices become more common. Finally, Microsoft also has its position in the development of home networks and has introduced a competing standard, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). UPnP is more tilted towards linking PCs with all kinds of home appliances together. HAVi and UPnP complete each other in many ways, but clashes between the two efforts might make situation a bit more complicated and slow down the development of devices.

5 THE FUTURE OF HAVI HAVi technology was first demonstrated at Winter CES (Jan 2001) in Las Vegas. After that, many of the participating companies have announced HAVi enabled products during the last year. However, most of the products are not publicly available yet. Naturally, the first HAVi compatible devices are targeted towards high-end markets, i.e., to professionals and home theater enthusiasts. It is most likely that the situation wont change much with next 2-3 years at least, not until HAVi technology is more mature and cheaper to implement. To battle the high cost of the products and time to develop them, T. Nakajima (Nakajima et al., 2001) presents a cost effective way of developing HAVi appliances. This solution uses system and applications to the product is easy since the development platform and the final product can both use Java and Linux. Linux was a natural choice, because it has recently gained popularity in embedded systems. Since virtually no modifications are needed, the development time and cost should be greatly reduced. However, Linux still has some problems to be solved, such as real-time resource management and making the memory footprint small enough. Another development area is connecting HAVi to other networks, namely the Internet. This allows appliances to be remotely commanded with any device with a browser connected to the Internet. For example, it could be possible to use a PDA to remotely program the VCR. R.G. Wendorf and M.P. Boedlander (2000) have demonstrated this in their paper. In this
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solution, a Messaging System Proxy encodes HAVi messages into Extensible Markup Language (XML) and SOAP. The encoded messages are then sent to Internet using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Vice versa, incoming messages are stripped from XML and SOAP and put on the HAVi network. All this functionality can be achieved without modifying the HAVi specification itself or adding features to Internet connected devices.

6 CONCLUSIONS HAVi comes with great promises, promises that seem to be quite troublesome to fulfill. However, with so many large companies working for a common goal, there is a good chance that HAVi will eventually prove to be what it promised. In the end, it is up to customers if they want to adopt the new technology. When new features and possibilities are as great as with HAVi, theres no question about the fact that HAVi will be something that customers want, provided that it comes with a reasonable price tag and solid functionality.

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7 REFERENCES

Bodlaender, M.P.; Wendorf, R.G., 2000, Adding full internet protocol functionality to HAVi, Proceedings of the ICCE International Conference on Consumer Electronics 2001, pp. 300-301 IEEE, IEEE standard 1394, 1996, Standard for a High Performance Serial Bus, Piscataway, N.J., IEEE Press, parts 1 - 5 IEC, IEC standard 61883, 1998, Consumer Audio/Video Equipment Digital Interface, Geneva, Switzerland , Intl Electrotechnical Commission, HAVi, Inc., 2001a, The HAVi Homepage [online] <URL:http://www.havi.org> [referenced Nov-22, 2001] HAVi, Inc., 2001b, The HAVi Specification Version 1.1, 529 p. Also available at <URL:http://www.havi.org/techinfo/index.html> Lea, R.; Gibss, S.; Dara-Abrams, A.; Eytchison, E., 2000, Networking Home Entertainment Devices with HAVi, Computer, Vol. 33 Issue 7, pp 171-178 Nakajima, T.; Soejima, K.; Matsuda, M.; Iino, T.; Hayashi, T, 2001, Design and implementation of distributed object-oriented infrastructures for networked home appliances on commodity operating systems, Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Object-Oriented Real-Time Distributed Computing 2001, pp. 171-178 Wendorf, R.G.; Bodlaender, M.P., 2000, Remote execution of HAVi applications on internet-based devices, Proceedings of the ICCE International Conference on Consumer Electronics 2001, pp. 232-233.

Dept of E.C.E.

B.I.T.Institute of Technology

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