Overview
ISO/IEC 23007-1:2010 - also known as MPEG‑U Part 1: Widgets - is an international standard that specifies how rich‑media widgets are packaged, exchanged, controlled and communicated across heterogeneous devices. A widget is defined as a self‑contained, interactive and dynamic visualization. The standard defines normative interfaces between widgets and widget managers to enable interoperability, mobility and state preservation across environments such as TVs, set‑top boxes, mobile devices and desktop systems.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Architectures: Defines the widget manager architecture and the internal widget architecture to separate normative and non‑normative entities.
- Widget management: Covers widget composition, life cycle (activation, deactivation, mobility), communication between widgets and services, and context information required to restore state.
- Packaging and delivery: Specifies both unpackaged delivery and packaged delivery (including use of ISOFF / ISO base media file format compatibility) to support MPEG transport mechanisms.
- Widget API: Normative description of the MPEGwidget interface and InterfaceHandler interface for widget‑to‑manager interactions.
- Manifest and context syntax: Defines an XML widget manifest format (elements such as , , , , , mw:interfaces, mw:contextConfiguration, etc.) and a widget context information syntax for state and preferences.
- Security: Includes security considerations for both widget execution and communications.
- Media type registration: Annexes provide registration forms for MIME types (e.g., application/mw‑manifest+xml and application/mw‑context+xml).
- Normative references: Relates to ISO/IEC 14496‑12 (ISO base media file format) and W3C Widgets Packaging & Configuration.
Practical applications and who uses this standard
ISO/IEC 23007-1 is intended for:
- Widget developers creating portable rich‑media components.
- Device and platform vendors implementing widget managers on smart TVs, set‑top boxes, mobile devices and home appliances.
- Broadcast and OTT service providers who need interoperable widget delivery over MPEG transports.
- Presentation engine and middleware vendors responsible for rendering scene descriptions and managing widget lifecycle and mobility.
Practical benefits include cross‑device portability of widgets, standardized packaging for distribution, consistent APIs for widget communication, and mechanisms to preserve widget state during migration between devices.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 23007 series (Part 3 - conformance and reference software; Part 2 planned for advanced interaction)
- ISO/IEC 14496‑12 (ISO base media file format)
- W3C Widgets Packaging and Configuration (compatibility and relationship described in Annex E)
Keywords: ISO/IEC 23007-1, MPEG‑U, widgets, rich media user interfaces, widget manager, widget manifest, widget API, packaging, widget lifecycle, ISO base media file format.
