Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture Specification

Updated: June 12, 2009

File name: MSPDBA_v1.3.1.msi
2.3 MB

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About This Download

This download provides the documentation for version 1.3.1 of the Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture (PBDA). Multiple files are included in this download.

PBDA is the new Microsoft worldwide platform for broadcast TV on the PC. Made possible by the recent release of Windows Media Center TV Pack, the platform for the first time enables the PC-TV hardware ecosystem to integrate virtually any free or premium TV service into Windows Media Center, while satisfying the TV industry's requirements for strong content protection in the case of pay TV.

The PBDA platform enhances and supersedes the existing Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA), which has been the Microsoft standard for digital video capture on Windows-based operating systems for many years.. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tuner-makers are no longer required to output broadcast services on a vendor-specific basis, but can develop and ship TV tuners for Windows Media Center to target a broad set of TV standards and markets.

This information applies for the following operating systems:
Windows 7
Windows Vista SP1 with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008

Organization of the PBDA specification

The PBDA specification is organized into three sections:

Part 1: Core Services

This section contains the core services that a PBDA-compliant Media Transform Device (MTD) must implement, along with some optional services. The core services specification is the center of any PBDA implementation.

This section describes the PBDA eXtensible Markup Language (XML) tuning formats and provides a core set of XML tuning schemas.

This section also contains profiles for specific networks. These profiles contain optional services, name/value pairs, tuning XML schemas, and universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) that must be used to implement support for these networks.

Part 1 of the PBDA specification contains the following files:

• PBDA_Pt1_Core Services.doc
  Describes the core services that a PBDA-compliant MTD must implement.

• PBDA_Pt1_CoreServices_CAS.doc
  Describes how PBDA supports interchangeable Conditional Access Services interfaces.

• PBDA_Pt1_AutomationService.doc
  Describes how PBDA supports Automation Service interfaces for automated testing.

• PBDA_Pt1_SI.doc
  Describes the Guide Data Delivery Service, which is the interface the MTD uses to deliver guide data to the MSD.

• PBDA_Pt1_TuningSchema.xsd
  Describes the PBDA XML tuning schema.

• PBDA_Pt1_TuningSchemas_CoreSchemas.doc
  Provides examples of tuning based on the PBDA XML tuning schema. These examples are applicable to many networks.

• PBDA_Pt1_Profile-ATSC.doc
  Provides the details of an Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) PBDA implementation.

• PBDA_Pt1_Profile-DVB.doc
  Provides the details of a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) PBDA implementation.

• PBDA_Pt1_Profile_ISDB.doc
  Provides the details of an Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) PBDA implementation.

• PBDA_Pt1_Profile_Microsoft.doc
  Provides the details of a Microsoft Corporation PBDA implementation.

Part 2: Bindings

This section contains the different network protocol bindings that are layered below the PBDA stack in the communication between the MTD and the Media Sink Device (MSD).

Part 2 of the PBDA specification contains the following files:

• PBDA_Pt2_BindingKernelStreaming.doc
  Describes the Kernel Streaming binding, which includes the BDA properties, methods, and events the PBDA tuner driver implements to support the underlying hardware.

• PBDA_Pt2_Bindings_IP_UPNP.doc
  Describes the PBDA-IP binding, which applies PBDA to an IP bus. Within the PBDA-IP binding, multiple protocols could be supported, but currently the only specified protocol is UPNP.

Part 3: Windows Media DRM on PBDA

This section contains specifics about the different digital rights management (DRM) systems that can support PBDA.

Part 3 of the PBDA specification contains the following file:

• PBDA_Pt3_WMDRM.doc
  Describes the additional services needed for the MTD to support Windows Media Digital Rights Management (WMDRM) through the PBDA interface.

The following files are also included in this download:

• License.rtf
  Contains the End User License Agreement (EULA) for the Microsoft PBDA, specification version 1.3.1.

• PBDA History.doc
  Summarizes the history and change list of the various versions of the PBDA specification.