Media OPerationS
charter-ietf-mops-00-03

Internet- and Internet-protocol-delivered media is widespread, leading to
significant technology development across industries not traditionally thought
of as Internet technology developers or operators, as well as considerable
quantities of traffic on local and transit networks. The focus of MOPS is on
identifying areas where existing protocols and/or networks are challenged by
these updated requirements.

MOPS will solicit input on operational issues and practices; existing and
proposed technologies related to the deployment, engineering, and operation
of media streaming and manipulation protocols and procedures in the global
Internet; and inter-domain and within-domain networking. In the context of
this working group, media is considered to include the transport of video,
audio, objects and any combination thereof, possibly non-sequentially. The
scope is media and media protocols’ interactions with the network, but not
the technologies of control protocols or media formats.

MOPS provides a venue for both video industry and Internet engineering
experts to engage in discussion of video technology’s requirements of
networking standards, as well as proposals for new uses of IP technology
in video. Where new protocols are needed, MOPS will help identify candidate
venues for their development.

The goals of MOPS include documenting existing protocol and operational issues
with media on the Internet, and identifying requirements for potential IETF work.
The general process of elaboration through documentation will be for issues to be
identified (on the mailing list) and presentations made at WG meetings. When topics
merit more coherent documentation, MOPS will adopt working group documents to
capture the information in Internet-Drafts. If the working group consensus is
that the material of the Internet-Draft is generally useful for archival purposes,
the WG will seek publication of the work items as RFCs. At any point — from
early discussion of topics, through later documentation stages — MOPS may
identify a more appropriate WG for the matter and/or document, and dispatch it.

With that in mind, MOPS will:

1/ Solicit regular updates from other media technology developing
consortia/standards bodies working with IETF-developed protocols.

2/ Solicit input from network operators and users to identify operational
issues with media delivery in and across networks, and determine solutions or
workarounds to those issues.

3/ Solicit discussion and documentation of the issues and opportunities in
media acquisition and delivery, and of the resulting protocols and technologies
developed outside the IETF.

4/ Document operational requirements for media acquisition (for example, from
cameras and recording devices) and delivery.

5/ Develop operational information to aid in operation of media technologies in
the global Internet.

These activities should document media operational experience, including global
Internet, inter-domain and within-domain operations.

In all cases of working with other organizations mentioned above, MOPS will
work with existing liaison managers where the IETF has them, and informal
connections with other organizations otherwise. If new formal liaison
relationships are required, MOPS will work with the IAB to help establish them.

Media operational and deployment issues with specific protocols or technologies
(such as Applications, Transport Protocols, Routing Protocols, DNS or Sub-IP
Protocols) remain the responsibility of the groups or areas responsible
for those protocols or technologies. However, the MOPS Working Group may
provide input to those areas/groups, as needed, and cooperate with those
areas/groups in reviewing solutions to MOPS operational and deployment problems.

There must be a continuing expression of interest for the Working Group to work
on a particular work item. If there is no longer sufficient interest in the
Working Group in a work item, the item may be removed from the list of Working
Group items.

The IESG is establishing this working group on an experimental basis and intends
to review it, for rechartering to continue or else closure, in 2 years.