Network Working Group T. Edwards Request for Comments: 5119 FOX Category: Informational February 2008
A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
Status of This Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
This document describes a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) for naming persistent resources that SMPTE produces or manages. A subnamespace for Universal Labels is specifically described.
SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) is an internationally-recognized standards-developing organization. Headquartered and incorporated in the United States of America, SMPTE has members in over 80 countries on six continents. SMPTE's Engineering Documents, including Standards, Recommended Practices, and Engineering Guidelines, are prepared by SMPTE's Technology Committees. Participation in these Committees is open to all with a bona fide interest in a committee's work. SMPTE cooperates closely with other standards-developing organizations, including ISO, the IEC, and the ITU. Also, the SMPTE Registration Authority maintains a registry of Universal Labels (ULs) used in identifying the type and encoding of data within data streams associated with audio-visual material.
SMPTE would like to assign unique, permanent, and location- independent names using URNs for resources that SMPTE produces or manages.
This namespace specification is for a formal namespace.
The Namespace Specific String (NSS) of all URNs that use the "smpte" NID shall be conformant to the URN syntax requirements defined in [RFC2141].
URNs for the "urn:smpte" namespace shall follow the structure defined in [SMPTE2029].
SMPTE (or it successor) may add additional subnamespaces in the future. Any system that deals with URNs for the "urn:smpte" namespace should be written with the awareness that this could occur at any time.
For informative purposes, the identifier structure described using ABNF (according to [RFC4234]) is as follows:
;start ABNF notation
URN = "urn:" NID NSS
NID = "smpte:"
NSS = UL-NSS / other-NSS
UL-NSS = "ul:" UL
UL = QUADBYTE *(DOT QUADBYTE)
DOT = %x2E ; period
QUADBYTE = 4BYTE
BYTE = 2HEXDIG
other-NSS = 1*(DIGIT / ALPHA / "-"/":")
; other-NSS that conforms with [RFC2141] for future expansion
;end ABNF notation
Relevant ancillary documentation:
The structure for URNs in the "urn:smpte" namespace are defined in [SMPTE2029].
Edwards Informational [Page 3]
RFC 5119 SMPTE URN Definition February 2008
The values of ULs in the "urn:smpte:ul" subnamespace shall be constrained as defined in [SMPTE298M]. Details regarding the use of ULs as keys in key-length-value (KLV) coding, including how to determine in which SMPTE registry a SMPTE-administered UL may be found, are described in [SMPTE336M].
Identifier uniqueness considerations:
[SMPTE2029] states that "All URNs in the SMPTE namespace shall conform to IETF RFC 3406. In particular, URNs in the SMPTE namespace shall not be re-assigned, and URNs shall continue to be valid, even if the owners or registrants of the SMPTE resources identified by the URNs are no longer members or customers of SMPTE. There need not be resolution of such URNs, but they shall not resolve to false or stale information."
Additionally, the rules for assignment of SMPTE-administered ULs requires that each UL be unique to the UL space and that it cannot be reassigned or reused.
It should be noted that [SMPTE298M] states that "A universal label shall be an 'object identifier' as specified by ISO/IEC 8824-1," ([ISO8824-1]) although the SMPTE Universal Label representation is a specialized one that carries additional semantics over the OID representation of a URN OID ([RFC3061]).
SMPTE will work to ensure that all current and future "urn:smpte" subnamespaces contain unique identifiers.
Identifier persistence considerations:
SMPTE-administered ULs may occasionally be deleted through SMPTE procedures. Regardless, even after a UL has been deleted, it will not be reused. Revisions to ULs will result in the creation of a new UL and the deletion of the old one.
The persistence of URNs in future "urn:smpte" subnamespaces will be defined by SMPTE Standards.
Process of identifier assignment:
Assignment of URNs in the SMPTE NID is limited to SMPTE and those authorities that are specifically designated by SMPTE. SMPTE may designate portions of its namespace for assignment by other parties.
Edwards Informational [Page 4]
RFC 5119 SMPTE URN Definition February 2008
Due process is followed by committees in the development of SMPTE documents. Some types of Universal Label registrations and other registrations may require a fee to be paid to SMPTE.
All classes of SMPTE-administered ULs require for registration the name and address of the applicant. Some classes of labels also require the submission of supporting technical documentation for the label and may require a due process evaluation through the SMPTE Engineering Committee process.
Process for identifier resolution:
SMPTE-administered ULs are resolved through publications of the SMPTE Registration Authority. Currently, publication of SMPTE-administered ULs are made through a Metadata Dictionary as specified in [RP210] and through the SMPTE Labels Registry as specified in [RP224], both of which are currently available online at http://www.smpte-ra.org/mdd/.
SMPTE expects to develop and maintain "URN catalogs" that map all future assigned URNs in the "urn:smpte" namespace to Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to enable Web-based resolution of named resources.
Rules for Lexical Equivalence:
Lexical equivalence of URNs in the "urn:smpte:ul" subnamespace is defined by case-insensitive string match.
Lexical equivalence of URNs in additional subnamespaces of "urn:smpte:" will be specified by SMPTE in the defining document; in the absence of such specification, lexical equivalence of URNs in the "urn:smpte:" namespace outside of the "urn:smpte:ul" subnamespace is defined by exact string match, according to [RFC2141].
Conformance with URN Syntax:
No special considerations beyond the syntax herein described.
Currently, only a "urn:smpte:ul" subnamespace is defined. This is the subnamespace for SMPTE Universal Labels [SMPTE298M]. SMPTE may add additional subnamespaces in the future.
The following examples are not guaranteed to be real and are provided for illustrative purposes only.
The SMPTE URN Namespace ID shares the security considerations outlined in [RFC3406], but has no other known security considerations.
5. Namespace Considerations and Community Considerations
SMPTE is an internationally-recognized standards-developing organization. As part of this effort, SMPTE also registers items such as Universal Labels through the SMPTE Registration Authority. The SMPTE namespace provides a uniform, unique, and effective way to communicate resource names for these items, which can be used by the motion imaging industry community. This namespace is also intended to be a useful mechanism to provide both human and automated access to these resources through online systems.
The individual URNs in the namespace shall be assigned through the process of development of documents by SMPTE, through definition by SMPTE standards, or through the registration of Universal Labels or other items by the SMPTE Registration Authority.
RFC 3406 states that a URN registration RFC must include a 'Namespace Considerations' section, which outlines the perceived need for a new namespace. There are four areas where existing URN namespaces fall short of the requirements for a SMPTE URN namespace.
URN assignment procedures: URNs for resources defined by SMPTE standards must be assigned exclusively by SMPTE or its delegates to ensure the integrity of the standards process. No other existing URN namespace has URNs assigned and managed by SMPTE.
URN resolution: URNs assigned by SMPTE standards must be resolved by SMPTE mechanisms such as the SMPTE Registration Authority to
Edwards Informational [Page 6]
RFC 5119 SMPTE URN Definition February 2008
ensure the integrity of the standards process. This resolution may require the reference of databases only maintained by SMPTE.
Types of resources to be identified: Many resources defined by SMPTE standards (such as Universal Labels) have no adequate existing URN representation.
Types of services to be supported: SMPTE expects to establish Web services for the automated resolution of resources defined by SMPTE standards utilizing the SMPTE URN namespace.
[RFC3406] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom, "Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace Definition Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406, October 2002.
[SMPTE2029] Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, "Uniform Resource Names for SMPTE Resources", SMPTE 2029-2007, <http://www.smpte.org>.
[ISO8824-1] International Organization for Standardization, "Information Processing - Open System Interconnection - Specification of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)", ISO Standard 8824-1:1995, 1995.
[RFC3061] Mealling, M., "A URN Namespace of Object Identifiers", RFC 3061, February 2001.
[RFC4234] Crocker, D., Ed., and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax Specifications: ABNF", RFC 4234, October 2005.
Edwards Informational [Page 7]
RFC 5119 SMPTE URN Definition February 2008
[RP210] Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, "Metadata Dictionary Registry of Metadata Element Descriptions", SMPTE RP210, <http://www.smpte.org>.
[RP224] Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, "Registry of SMPTE Universal Labels", SMPTE RP224, <http://www.smpte.org>.
[SMPTE298M] Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, "Universal Labels for Unique Identification of Digital Data", ANSI / SMPTE 298M-1997, <http://www.smpte.org>.
[SMPTE336M] Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, "Data Encoding Protocol using Key-Length-Value", SMPTE 336M- 2001, <http://www.smpte.org>.
Author's Address
Thomas G. Edwards FOX 10201 West Pico Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90035 US
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, THE IETF TRUST 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.
Intellectual Property
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.