Design of Middleware for Interactive Data Services in the Terrestrial DMB

In this letter, we introduce a new middleware architecture and its generic application programming interface (API) (called the T‐DMB MATE API) for terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T‐DMB). Middleware in T‐DMB enables inter‐operable applications to be downloaded from both broadcast and telecommunication networks in advance and to be executed in any type of T‐DMB receiver. The middleware we introduce here is especially designed to support a proposed method for application provisions applied to a concept of application module appropriate to the service environment of T‐DMB. We also verify the designed T‐DMB MATE API through the implementation of the middleware and its application in a PC‐based receiver.