Dynamic IP configuration of terminals in broadcasting networks

The concept of synergy between broadcasting and telecommunication networks has been strengthened by the emergence of multi-modal terminals, which are used in a broadcast environment (mainly in DTV-Digital Television networks) to provide IP-based multimedia services. The migration of IPv4/IPv6 applications, either interactive or not, in a broadcasting network, requires that certain parameters, such as Host, Gateway and DNS IP addresses are configured in the terminals, either statically or dynamically. This paper discusses issues of dynamic configuration of IP parameters for DTV terminals, based on an overview of relevant mechanisms usually used in access networks. It proposes an IP-based auto-configuration protocol tailored to the needs of an IP/DTV access platform, describes its implementation and evaluates its behaviour in a laboratory-based DVB-T network.