Audio-Video Transport WG                               Y Lim, D. Singer
Internet Draft                                   net&tv, Apple Computer
Document: draft-lim-mpeg4-mime-02                             July 2004
Category:                                         Expires December 2004


                    MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4


Status of this Memo

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   This document is a submission of the IETF AVT WG.  Comments should
   be directed to the AVT WG mailing list, avt@ietf.org.


Abstract

   This document defines the standard MIME types associated with MP4
   files and various MPEG-4 streams. This also document recommended use
   of registered MIME types according to the type of contents.


Table of Contents

   1. Introduction...................................................2
   2. General rules of using top level MIME types....................3
      2.1 Usage of "video"...........................................3
      2.2 Usage of "audio"...........................................3
      2.3 Usage of "application".....................................3
   3. MIME types for MPEG-4 contents.................................3

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      3.1 MIME types for MP4 file....................................3
      3.2 MIME types for elementary streams..........................4
      3.3 MIME types for IOD.........................................4
   4. IANA Considerations............................................4
      4.1 MP4 file with visual presentation..........................4
      4.2 MP4 file without visual presentation.......................5
      4.3 MP4 file without visual presentation.......................6
      4.4 IOD in binary format.......................................7
      4.5 IOD in textual format......................................7
   5. Security Considerations........................................8
   6. Acknowledgments................................................9
   7. Full Copyright Statement.......................................9
   8. Intellectual Property Notice..................................10
   9. References....................................................10
   10. Author's Addresses...........................................11


1. Introduction

   This document describes standard definition of MIME types associated
   with MPEG-4 contents and the guidelines of using them. This document
   only defines general MIME types not belong to specific RTP payload
   formats carrying MPEG-4 contents. Payload format specific MIME types
   will be defined in each payload format specifications.

   MPEG-4, ISO/IEC 14496, is a standard designed for the representation
   and delivery of multimedia information over a variety of transport
   protocols[3].  It includes interactive scene management, visual and
   audio representations as well as systems functionality like
   multiplexing, synchronization, and an object descriptor framework.

   The historical approach for MPEG data is to declare it under "video",
   and this approach is followed for ISO/IEC 14496.  In addition some
   MIME types are defined under "audio" and "application" for the
   streams not belonging to visual presentation.

   Amendment 1 of the ISO/IEC 14496 standard (also known as version 2)
   includes a standard file type for encapsulating ISO/IEC 14496 data.
   This file type can be used in a number of ways: perhaps the most
   important are its use as an interchange format for ISO/IEC 14496
   data, its use as a content-download format, and as the format read by
   streaming media servers.

   These first two uses will be greatly facilitated if there is a
   standard MIME type for serving these files (e.g. over HTTP).

   The ISO/IEC 14496 standard is broad, and therefore the type of data
   that may be in such a file can vary. In brief, simple compressed
   video and audio (using a number of different compression algorithms)
   can be included; interactive scene information; meta-data about the
   presentation; references to ISO/IEC 14496 media streams outside the
   file and so on. Different top-level MIME types are used to identify
   the type of the contents in the file.



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2. General rules of using top level MIME types

2.1  Usage of "video"

   "video" MUST be used for MPEG-4 Visual streams (i.e. video as
   defined in ISO/IEC 14496-2 (Streamtype = 4) and/or graphics as
   defined in ISO/IEC 14496-1 (Streamtype = 3)) or MPEG-4 Systems
   streams that convey information needed for an audio/visual
   presentation.

2.2  Usage of "audio"

   "audio" may be used for MPEG-4 Audio streams (ISO/IEC 14496-3)
   (Streamtype = 5)) or MPEG-4 Systems streams that convey information
   needed for an audio only presentation.


2.3  Usage of "application"

   "application" should be used for MPEG-4 Systems streams
   (ISO/IEC14496-1 (all other StreamType values))
   that serve other purposes than audio/visual presentation,
   e.g. in some cases when MPEG-J streams are transmitted.

3. MIME types for MPEG-4 contents

3.1 MIME types for MP4 file

   The MIME types to be assigned to MP4 files are selected based on the
   contents. Basic guidelines of selecting MIME types are as follows:

   a) if the file contains neither visual nor audio presentations, but
   only for example MPEG-J or MPEG-7, use application/mp4

   b) for all other files, including those which have MPEG-J etc. in

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   addition to video or audio streams, video/mp4 should be used,
   although:

   c) for files with audio but no visual aspect, including those which
   have MPEG-J etc. in addition to audio streams, audio/mp4 may be used.

   In either case, these indicate files conforming to the "MP4"
   specification (ISO/IEC 14496-1:2000, systems file format).


3.2  MIME types for elementary streams

   When a visual ISO/IEC 14496 ES is served (e.g. over HTTP or
   otherwise) and must be identified by a MIME type, the type
   "video/MPEG4-visual" MUST be used. This MIME type may require
   optional parameters to carry all necessary information to configure a
   receiver: therefore no further meta-information (such as that defined
   by the MP4 file format or by the ISO/IEC 14496 Object Descriptor
   framework) has to be provided in the data, and the data itself merely
   represents the media content..  The format of the bit-stream,
   including timing etc., is defined in ISO/IEC 14496-2.

   The payload names used in an RTPMAP attribute within SDP, to specify
   the mapping of payload number to its definition, also come from the
   MIME namespace.  Each of the RTP payload mappings defined above has a
   distinct name.  It is recommended that visual streams be identified
   under "video", and audio streams be identified under "audio", and
   otherwise "application" be used.

3.3  MIME types for IOD

   In some cases, the initial object descriptor needs to be identified
   with a MIME type. In this case, the type "applications/mpeg4-iod"
   shall be supported, and the type "application/mpeg4-iod-xmt" may be
   supported. In the latter case, the IOD will be described in an XMT
   textual format. The InitialObjectDescriptor is defined in sub-clause
   8.6.3.1 of ISO/IEC 14496-1, and its XMT format is defined in ISO/IEC
   14496-1:2001 PDAM 2.



4. IANA Considerations

   This section describes the MIME types and names to be used with
   various MPEG-4 contents. Sections from 4.1 to 4.5 register five new
   MIME types.

4.1  MP4 file with visual presentation

   MIME media type name:        video

   MIME subtype name:   mp4


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   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:     base64 generally preferred; files are
   binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
   stripping etc.

   Security considerations:     See section 5 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations:     A number of interoperating
   implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community;  and that
   community has reference software for reading and writing the file
   format.

   Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.

   Applications:        Multimedia

   Additional information:

   Magic number(s):     none
   File extension(s):   mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
   <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>
   Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4  is registered with Apple

   Person to contact for info:  David Singer, singer@apple.com

   Intended usage:      Common

   Author/Change controller:    David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
   chair


4.2 MP4 file without visual presentation

   MIME media type name:audio

   MIME subtype name:   mp4

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:     base64 generally preferred; files are
   binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
   stripping etc.

   Security considerations:     See section 5 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations:     A number of interoperating
   implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community;  and that


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                   MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4       December 2004


   community has reference software for reading and writing the file
   format.

   Published specification:      ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.

   Applications:        Multimedia

   Additional information:

   Magic number(s):     none
   File extension(s):   mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
   <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>
   Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4  is registered with Apple

   Person to contact for info:  David Singer, singer@apple.com

   Intended usage:      Common

   Author/Change controller:    David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
   chair


4.3 MP4 file with MPEG-4 system stream

   MIME media type name:application

   MIME subtype name:   mp4

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:     base64 generally preferred; files are
   binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
   stripping etc.

   Security considerations:     See section 5 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations:     A number of interoperating
   implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community;  and that
   community has reference software for reading and writing the file
   format.

   Published specification:      ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.

   Applications:        Multimedia

   Additional information:

   Magic number(s):     none
   File extension(s):   mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
   <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>
   Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4  is registered with Apple

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                   MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4       December 2004



   Person to contact for info:  David Singer, singer@apple.com

   Intended usage:      Common

   Author/Change controller:    David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
   chair


4.4  IOD in binary format

   MIME media type name:        application

   MIME subtype name:   mpeg4-iod

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:     base64 generally preferred; files are
   binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
   stripping etc.

   Security considerations:     See section 5 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations:     A number of interoperating
   implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community;  and that
   community has reference software for reading and writing the file
   format.

   Published specification:      ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001

   Applications:        Multimedia

   Additional information:

   Magic number(s):     none
   File extension(s):    none mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
   <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>
   Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple

   Person to contact for info:  David Singer, singer@apple.com

   Intended usage:      Common

   Author/Change controller:    David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
   chair


4.5 IOD in textual format

   MIME media type name:        application


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                   MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4       December 2004


   MIME subtype name:   mpeg4-iod-xmt

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations:      none

   Security considerations:     See section 5 of RFC XXXX

   Interoperability considerations:     A number of interoperating
   implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community;  and that
   community has reference software for reading and writing the file
   format.

   Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001 AMD2.

   Applications:        Multimedia

   Additional information:

   Magic number(s):     none
   File extension(s):   mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
   <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>
   Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple

   Person to contact for info:  David Singer, singer@apple.com

   Intended usage:      Common

   Author/Change controller:    David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
   chair



5. Security Considerations

   RTP packets using the payload formats referred to in this
   specification are subject to the security considerations discussed in
   the RTP specification [4]. This implies that confidentiality of the
   media streams is achieved by encryption. Because the data compression
   used with this payload format is applied end-to-end, encryption may
   be performed on the compressed data so there is no conflict between
   the two operations. The packet processing complexity of this payload
   type does not exhibit any significant non-uniformity in the receiver
   side to cause a denial-of-service threat.

   However, it is possible to inject non-compliant MPEG streams (Audio,
   Video, and Systems) to overload the receiver/decoder's buffers which
   might compromise the functionality of the receiver or even crash it.
   This is especially true for end-to-end systems like MPEG where the
   buffer models are precisely defined.


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   ISO/IEC 14496 Systems supports stream types including commands that
   are executed on the terminal like OD commands, BIFS commands, etc.
   and programmatic content like MPEG-J (Java(TM) Byte Code) and
   ECMASCRIPT. It is possible to use one or more of the above in a
   manner non-compliant to MPEG to crash or temporarily make the
   receiver unavailable.

   Authentication mechanisms can be used to validate of the sender and
   the data to prevent security problems due to non-compliant malignant
   ISO/IEC 14496 streams.

   A security model is defined in ISO/IEC 14496 Systems streams carrying
   MPEG-J access units which comprises Java(TM) classes and objects.
   MPEG-J defines a set of Java APIs and a secure execution model. MPEG-
   J content can call this set of APIs and Java(TM) methods from a set
   of Java packages supported in the receiver within the defined
   security model. According to this security model, downloaded byte
   code is forbidden to load libraries, define native methods, start
   programs, read or write files, or read system properties.

   Receivers can implement intelligent filters to validate the buffer
   requirements or parametric (OD, BIFS, etc.) or programmatic (MPEG-J,
   ECMAScript) commands in the streams. However, this can increase the
   complexity significantly.


6. Acknowledgments

   This draft has benefited greatly by contributions from many people,
   including Mike Coleman, Jean-Claude Duford, Viswanathan Swaminathan,
   Peter Westerink, Carsten Herpel, Olivier Avaro, Paul Christ, Zvi
   Lifshitz, and many others.  Their insight, foresight, and
   contribution is gratefully acknowledged.  Little has been invented
   here by the author; this is mostly a collation of greatness that has
   gone before.


7.     Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  This document is subject
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on
   an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE
   REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE
   INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
   IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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Internet Draft                                              June, 2004


8.     Intellectual Property Notice

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed
   to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described
   in this document or the extent to which any license under such
   rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that
   it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights.
   Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC
   documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use
   of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository
   at http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org.


9. References
9.1 Normative References

   [1]Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP
      9, RFC 2026, October 1996.

   [2]Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
      Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997

   [3]ISO/IEC International Standard 14496 (MPEG-4); "Information
      technology - Coding of audio-visual objects", January 2000

   [4]H. Schulzrinne, et. al., "RTP : A Transport Protocol for Real-Time
      Applications", IETF RFC 1889, January 1996.




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10. Author's Addresses


   Young-Kwon LIM
   net&tv Inc.
   Room 802 Hanseo Building
   1582-6 Seocho-3-Dong Seocho-Gu
   Seoul, 137-875, Korea
   E-mail : young@netntv.co.kr
   TEL : +82-2-581-2305


   David Singer
   Apple Computer, Inc.
   One Infinite Loop, MS:302-3MT
   Cupertino  CA 95014
   USA
   Email: singer@apple.com
   Tel: +1 408 974 3162

































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