Development: Linux DVB API history and future

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Introduction

Digital Video Broadcasting is an evolving field and every month new chipsets, STBs and software becomes available. Demands and Requirements change and thus even the best-established APIs have to evolve.

We tried to develop the public API in the past in a very conservative way so that application developers see only a minimum impact on their already-written code. Here a short overview over the pasttime milestones:


v1: the old Nokia API

Originally implemented on the first AV711x-based Siemens/Technotrend DVB-C and DVB-S cards by Christian Theiss and the Metzler Brothers for Convergence Integrated Media.


v2: the NEWSTRUCT branch

The first major Refactoring Step, after this process had stabilized we were ready for all DVB-S, DVB-C and DVB-T cards and STBs available in those days.


v3: DVB is part of the official Kernel

This API version mainly contained namespace cleanups but was mostly binary-compatible with the NEWSTRUCT branch.

Today hosted in the dvb-kernel module in CVS.


v4: use all features of today's STBs

Johannes' and Michael's current Project. The API was extended to support all features of today's latest STBs. Includes some cleanups.


v5: tomorrow.

(let's see;)