ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009
(Main)Information technology — Multimedia application format (MPEG-A) — Part 6: Professional archival application format
Information technology — Multimedia application format (MPEG-A) — Part 6: Professional archival application format
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009 specifes the professional archival application format (PA-AF). The purpose of the PA-AF is to provide a standardized packaging format for digital files. This packaging format can also serve as an implementation of the information package specified by the reference model of the open archival information system (OAIS). The OAIS reference model is a framework for understanding and applying concepts necessary for long-term digital information preservation (where “long-term” is long enough to be concerned about changing technologies). In addition, PA-AF can also be used as an intermediate or exchange packaging format for any kind of multimedia content. While a general archival process may include processes starting from creation, to delivery to archival system, and dissemination to consumers, PA-AF is limited in scope as follows. PA-AF does not specify how input content is created. PA-AF does not specify any agreement of how the content should be handled and delivered to the archiving process. PA-AF assumes that input content for the archiving process is available in an appropriate digital format. PA-AF specifies the format of a digital archive produced by the archival process. PA-AF does not specify how the archive output by the archival process is disseminated to end-users. PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe the original structure of digital files archived in a PA-AF file. PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe context information related to a PA-AF file and digital files archived in it. PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe necessary information to reverse the pre-processing processes applied to digital files prior to archiving them in a PA-AF file. PA-AF specifies a file format for carriage of the metadata formats and digital files.
Technologies de l'information — Format pour application multimédia (MPEG-A) — Partie 6: Format pour application d'archivage professionnel
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INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 23000-6
First edition
2009-04-15
Corrected version
2010-09-01
Information technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A) —
Part 6:
Professional archival application format
Technologies de l'information — Format pour application multimédia
(MPEG-A) —
Partie 6: Format pour application d'archivage professionnel
Reference number
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2009
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
PDF disclaimer
This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobe's licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but
shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and installed on the computer performing the editing. In
downloading this file, parties accept therein the responsibility of not infringing Adobe's licensing policy. The ISO Central Secretariat
accepts no liability in this area.
Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Details of the software products used to create this PDF file can be found in the General Info relative to the file; the PDF-creation
parameters were optimized for printing. Every care has been taken to ensure that the file is suitable for use by ISO member bodies. In
the unlikely event that a problem relating to it is found, please inform the Central Secretariat at the address given below.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2009
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56 • CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2009 – All rights reserved
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction.v
1 Scope.1
2 Normative references.1
3 Terms and definitions .2
4 PA-AF Overview.3
5 Normative Components of PA-AF File .4
6 Archive Structure Information .6
6.1 Overview.6
nd
6.2 MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF .7
6.3 File Attribute Model.8
6.4 Relative File Location Reference .10
7 Context Information .11
7.1 Overview.11
7.2 MPEG-7 Multimedia Description Scheme Profile for PA-AF.11
7.3 Application Specific Context Information.20
8 Pre-processing Information.20
8.1 Overview.20
8.2 Identification of Pre-processing Tool.21
8.3 On the Use of contentEncoding Attribute of DIDL and MPEG-21 IPMP Components Base
Profile for PA-AF.21
8.4 MPEG-21 IPMP Components Base Profile for PA-AF .22
8.5 Content Usage Governance Description .22
9 File Format for PA-AF .22
9.1 Overview.22
9.2 Restrictions on MPEG-21 File Format for PA-AF .22
9.3 Restrictions on Item Name in IINF Box and URI Value in Reference Attribute.23
9.4 File Brands .24
10 Conformance Points .24
Annex A (normative) XML Schema Definition of Preservation Description Information .25
Annex B (normative) Extracting Files from a PA-AF File .85
Annex C (informative) Recommendation for Mime Type and Pre-Processing Tool Identification.86
Annex D (informative) XML Instance Examples for Preservation Description Information .88
Annex E (informative) Example of File Format Structures for PA-AF .109
Annex F (informative) Showcase: Use of Relative URI in Archived Webpage Files .112
Annex G (informative) Showcase: Archiving Files into Several PA-AF Files .114
Bibliography.116
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 23000-6 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
ISO/IEC 23000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A):
⎯ Part 1: Purpose for multimedia application formats [Technical Report]
⎯ Part 2: MPEG music player application format
⎯ Part 3: MPEG photo player application format
⎯ Part 4: Musical slide show application format
⎯ Part 5: Media streaming application format
⎯ Part 6: Professional archival application format
⎯ Part 7: Open access application format
⎯ Part 8: Portable video application format
⎯ Part 9: Digital Multimedia Broadcasting application format
⎯ Part 10: Video surveillance application format
⎯ Part 11: Stereoscopic video application format
This corrected version of ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009 corrects the part title.
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Introduction
The advance of digital multimedia technology has made the creation of digital multimedia content easier. This
has resulted in an abundance of digital multimedia contents available for user consumption. It also
necessitates ways to manage those digital multimedia contents. Digital multimedia contents should be
well-handled and well-preserved in content archives so that part of or all of the contents aggregation can be
reused for creation of new contents.
For preserving digital multimedia contents in an archive, one has to provide a packaging mechanism together
with preservation technologies for data protection, data integrity, and data compression. In addition, the
consumption of the archive can continue long after it has been created; therefore, the context information that
describes the context of the archive and digital multimedia contents in it should also be contained in the
package. This necessary context information may include information that can answer who, what, where,
when, and why questions about the archive and the digital multimedia contents archived in it.
This part of ISO/IEC 23000 is an MPEG standard that specifies component technologies and their integration
for digital multimedia content archive. ISO/IEC 23000 (also known as “MPEG-A”), is an MPEG standard
defined by selecting readily tested and verified tools taken from the MPEG body of standards and combining
them to form a AF (Multimedia Application Format). If a needed piece of technology is not provided within the
MPEG, additional technologies originating from other organizations can be included by reference in order to
facilitate the envisioned application format. For digital multimedia content archives, MPEG has designated this
part of ISO/IEC 23000 “Part 6: Professional archival application format.” In other parts of this International
Standard, the term “Professional Archival Application Format (PA-AF)” refers to this part of ISO/IEC 23000.
© ISO/IEC 2009 – All rights reserved v
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Information technology — Multimedia application format
(MPEG-A) —
Part 6:
Professional archival application format
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 23000 specifes the professional archival application format (PA-AF). The purpose of the
PA-AF is to provide a standardized packaging format for digital files. This packaging format can also serve as
an implementation of the information package specified by the reference model of the open archival
information system (OAIS). The OAIS reference model is a framework for understanding and applying
concepts necessary for long-term digital information preservation (where “long-term” is long enough to be
concerned about changing technologies). In addition, PA-AF can also be used as an intermediate or
exchange packaging format for any kind of multimedia content.
While a general archival process may include processes starting from creation, to delivery to archival system,
and dissemination to consumers, PA-AF is limited in scope as follows. PA-AF does not specify how input
content is created. PA-AF does not specify any agreement of how the content should be handled and
delivered to the archiving process. PA-AF assumes that input content for the archiving process is available in
an appropriate digital format. PA-AF specifies the format of a digital archive produced by the archival process.
PA-AF does not specify how the archive output by the archival process is disseminated to end-users.
PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe the original structure of digital files archived in a PA-AF file.
PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe context information related to a PA-AF file and digital files
archived in it. PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe necessary information to reverse the pre-
processing processes applied to digital files prior to archiving them in a PA-AF file. PA-AF specifies a file
format for carriage of the metadata formats and digital files.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 14721:2003, Space data and information transfer systems — Open archival information system —
Reference mode
ISO/IEC 14496-3, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 3: Audio
ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 12: ISO base media
file format (technically identical with ISO/IEC 15444-12)
ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 14: MP4 file format
ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 2: Digital Item
Declaration
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 3: Digital Item
Identification
ISO/IEC 21000-4:2006, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 4: Intellectual
Property Management and Protection Components
ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 5: Rights
Expression Language
ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 9: File Format
ISO/IEC 21000-14:2007, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 14:
Conformance Testing
IETF RFC 1738, Uniform Resource Locators (URL), IETF Request for Comments: 1738, December 1994
IETF RFC 1808, Relative Uniform Resource Locators, IETF Request for Comments: 1808, June 1995
IETF RFC 3629, UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646, IETF Request for Comments: 3629, November
2003
IETF RFC 3986, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax, IETF Request for Comments: 3986,
January 2005
W3C XINCLUDE, XML Inclusions (Xinclude) Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 15 November 2006
W3C XML, Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition), W3C Recommendation, 16 August 2006
W3C XML C14N, Cannonical XML Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 15 March 2001
W3C XML NAMES, Namespaces in XML 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 16 August 2006
W3C XML SCHEMA, XML Schema 1.1 Part 1: Structures (Second Edition), W3C Recommendation,
28 October 2004
W3C XML SCHEMA, XML Schema 1.1 Part 2: Datatypes (Second Edition), W3C Recommendation,
28 October 2004
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 14721:2003, ISO/IEC 14496-3,
ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003, ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003,
ISO/IEC 21000-4:2006, ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004, ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005, ISO/IEC 21000-14:2007 and the
following apply.
3.1
application-specific context information
context information whose semantics are not defined in the general PA-AF specification but may be used in
specific application domains
3.2
archive structure information
information that describes structural relationships among content information
3.3
content information
file or fragment of file that is archived in a PA-AF file
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
3.4
context information
information that describes the context of a PA-AF file and content information stored in it
3.5
file attribute
information that preserves attributes attached to an input file by the file system before it is archived in a PA-AF
file
3.6
information package
package containing the file(s) being archived and associated descriptioin information needed to aid in the
preservation of the archived file(s) in a specific file format
3.7
professional archival application format file
PA-AF file
archive whose format complies with the PA-AF specification
3.8
pre-processing tools
software or software module used for processing before a file is archived in a PA-AF file
NOTE Pre-processing tools include tools for lossless data compression, encryption, governance checking, and
integrity checking.
3.9
pre-processing information
information carried in a PA-AF file describing tool(s) and other settings required to reverse pre-processing
action(s) applied to content information
3.10
preservation description information
information describing content information stored in a PA-AF file
NOTE It consists of archive structure information, context information, and pre-processing information.
4 PA-AF Overview
PA-AF archives digital files in a PA-AF file. In addition to containing digital files being archived, a PA-AF file
also contains information for the preservation of the archived digital files. While implementation of a packaging
tool that complies with PA-AF is out of the scope of this specification, Figure 1 outlines an informative
packaging tool that may produce an output file that complies with a PA-AF file. The tool consists of the
following modules:
⎯ file structure information generator, which analyzes and generate meta information to model hierarchical
structure of the input files;
⎯ context information generator, which creates meta information to record context information related to the
output PA-AF file and input files to be archived;
⎯ pre-processing information generator, which creates meta information for required tools and their
execution parameters to reverse any pre-processing processes applied to the input files;
⎯ archive header wrapper, which combines all the generated meta information into PA-AF file header;
⎯ file formatter, which takes the header and input files (original or after pre-processed) and wraps them in a
file.
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File Formatter
Content Information
Content Information
Preservation
Description
Information
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Files’ structure
info generator
Archive
Input PA-AF
Header
Context info
File(s File
Wrapper
generator
Pre-processing
info generator
Pre-processed data
Governance and data integrity tool
Lossless compression tool
Protection tool
Figure 1 — Overview of a PA-AF packaging tool for creating a PA-AF file
5 Normative Components of PA-AF File
A PA-AF file consists of header and content part as illustrated in Figure 2. The header part contains
information, called Preservation Description Information, needed to understand the PA-AF file itself and all
files archived in it. The content part contains one or more archived files. These archived files are called
Content Information.
PA-AF File
Header Content
. . .
Figure 2 — Logical view of a PA-AF file
Content Information includes digital data in its original format as input into the PA-AF file and/or in the format
after pre-processed with pre-processing tools allowed by this specification. The categories of pre-processing
tool are lossless data compression, reversible data protection such as encryptions, and removable data
attached to the content for usage governance and data integrity, such as checksums, and digital licenses.
Preservation Description Information is in XML metadata format and shall comply with W3C recommendations
related to XML. It includes Archive Structure Information, Context Information, and Pre-processing Information.
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Content Information
Content Information
[Metadata]
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Archive Structure Information describes structural relationships among Content Information. Figure 3
illustrates the importance of Archive Structure Information. While the original structure of digital files input into
a PA-AF file can be hierarchical in one or more directories, in a physical PA-AF file format, they are stored in
flat manner. Archive Structure Information preserves the original hierarchical structure of the input digital files.
When Content Information is extracted from the PA-AF file, the structure of output digital files is as it was input
into the PA-AF. Archive Structure Information also acts as an entry point to access Context Information and
Pre-processing Information in the Content Information.
Figure 3 — Usage of Archive Structure Information
Context Information describes context information attached to a PA-AF file and Content Information.
It includes:
⎯ creation information of the PA-AF file and content Information, such as information about what, how,
when, where, who, and why;
⎯ profile information of the Content Information, such as the file format, file size, audio and visual profile of
the content (if it is an audio visual data);
⎯ access history to the Content Information, which records any actions applied to the Content Information,
such as archiving and extraction; this record may include who the actor is and when the action is
performed;
⎯ application specific context information.
An application domain that adopts PA-AF specification could add additional information to describe Content
Information in the PA-AF file to satisfy its specific requirements by means of application specific context
information. Figure 4 illustrates how PA-AF accommodates such a mechanism. Application- specific context
information can be manifested in any meta information format and archived in a PA-AF file as Content
Information. PA-AF provides a link to refer to this application-specific context information so that an application
that can understand this information can read and use it.
PA-AF File
Header
Content
Context
Info
. . .
App-
Specific
Context
Info
Figure 4 — Application-specific context information in a PA-AF file
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Pre-processing Information describes profile of tools that can be used to reverse pre-processing applied to
Content Information. It contains information, such as identification of the tool, required parameters to execute
the tool, and part of Content Information pre-processed with that tool, and where to acquire the tool.
Required components technologies to meet normative components of PA-AF are as follows:
nd
⎯ MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
⎯ ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003
⎯ MPEG-21 Intellectual Property Management and Protection Components Base Profile for PA-AF
⎯ ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004/Amd.1:2007
⎯ MPEG-7 Multimedia Descrption Scheme Profile for PA-AF
⎯ MPEG-21 File Format for PA-AF
⎯ Lossless compression tool identifiers
⎯ Encryption, hash, and digital signature identifiers
⎯ Additional metadata dedicated for use in PA-AF only
The component technologies listed above can be used in combination to fulfil basic functionality and
enhanced functionality of PA-AF as illustrated by Figure 5. The enhanced functionality is optional and
implemented on top of the basic functionality. For example, the combination of ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005,
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF, ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, and MPEG-7 Creation Information Tool
of ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003 provides solutions to satisfy the basic functionality of PA-AF which is packaging
Content Information in a PA-AF file. By adding MPEG-21 Intellectual Property Management and Protection
Components Base Profile for PA-AF, one can add functionality, such as compression, protection, and integrity
checking to the PA-AF. By adding ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004/Amd.1:2007, one can add license information to
govern the usage of the PA-AF file. Finally, by adding MPEG-7 Multimedia Descrption Scheme Profile for
PA-AF, one can have interoperable description of Content Information that can be exploited to implement
functionality for interoperable content searching. The combination of all component technologies provides a
full solution for PA-AF.
Data protection, Usage Interoperable Application
compression, governance content specific
and integrity searching context info.
Basic Function
[Package input digital files into PA-AF archive]
Figure 5 — Basic and enhanced functionality of PA-AF
6 Archive Structure Information
6.1 Overview
Archive Structure Information consists of a file structure model and file attribute model. The file structure
model provides a description to preserve the original structure of input files to be archived, whereas the file
attribute model provide a description to preserve the original description given by the file system to the file,
such as file access information, system timestamp, etc. 6.2 provides explains the file structure model and
explains the file attribute model.
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
nd
6.2 MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF is a subset of ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, with restrictions, and two
additional attributes. The profile is designed to provide the following functionalities:
⎯ modeling of original structure of input files for archive creation;
⎯ provision of a pointer to the location of archived file in archive container;
⎯ provision of a container for other information related to the archive itself and the Content Information.
nd
The elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF, their use, and restrictions applied on them are
listed in Table 1.
nd
Table 1 — Elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2
Restriction
Edition
Profile Element
Possible child element is only Container, and the
DIDL
cardinality is exactly 1
Container As in 7.2.8 of ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005
Item Possible child elements are Component and Descriptor
Component Possible child element is Resource
Resource Restricted to have no child element
Possible attributes are mimeType, ref, and
contentEncoding
Resource element shall not carry inline binary data as
its element content
Descriptor Possible child element is only Statement
Statement Possible attribute is only mimeType with value
“text/xml”
nd
The association of elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition profile for PA-AF and file structure is listed in
Table 2.
Table 2 — Elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2nd Edition Profile for PA-AF and file structure association
Element Name Association to file structure
Container
Directory
One directory is modeled by one Container element
Item
File
One file is modeled by one Item element
Component
Fragment of file
If a file is not fragmented, only one Component shall
occur as child element of Item
If a file is fragmented, the following are applied:
– One Component is associated with one
fragment of file
– Occurance order of Component elements
reflects order of fragments of file
Resource
Provide link to physical location of archived files in the
archive container
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
The DIDL element shall contain exactly one Root Container. The Root Container can contain one or more
Container element(s), which is/are associated with the directory, and/or one or more Item element(s), which
is/are associated with the file.
If file is split into several fragments, each fragment shall be archived in separate PA-AF files. PA-AF does not
mandate how to split files; however, it is recommended that the file be split according to its byte order. For
example, if file is split into three fragments, then fragment 1 shall contain the data subset from byte 0 until
byte X-1, fragment 2 shall contain the data subset from byte X until byte Y-1, and fragment 3 shall contain
byte Y until the last byte of the original file. For every PA-AF file, the Item element associated to fragmented
file shall have as many child Component elements as the number of file
...
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 23000-6
First edition
2009-04-15
Information technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A) —
Part 6:
Professionnal archival application format
Technologies de l'information — Format pour application multimédia
(MPEG-A) —
Partie 6: Format pour application d'archivage professionnel
Reference number
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2009
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
PDF disclaimer
This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobe's licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but
shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and installed on the computer performing the editing. In
downloading this file, parties accept therein the responsibility of not infringing Adobe's licensing policy. The ISO Central Secretariat
accepts no liability in this area.
Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Details of the software products used to create this PDF file can be found in the General Info relative to the file; the PDF-creation
parameters were optimized for printing. Every care has been taken to ensure that the file is suitable for use by ISO member bodies. In
the unlikely event that a problem relating to it is found, please inform the Central Secretariat at the address given below.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2009
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56 • CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2009 – All rights reserved
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction.v
1 Scope.1
2 Normative references.1
3 Terms and definitions .2
4 PA-AF Overview.3
5 Normative Components of PA-AF File .4
6 Archive Structure Information .6
6.1 Overview.6
nd
6.2 MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF .7
6.3 File Attribute Model.8
6.4 Relative File Location Reference .10
7 Context Information .11
7.1 Overview.11
7.2 MPEG-7 Multimedia Description Scheme Profile for PA-AF.11
7.3 Application Specific Context Information.20
8 Pre-processing Information.20
8.1 Overview.20
8.2 Identification of Pre-processing Tool.21
8.3 On the Use of contentEncoding Attribute of DIDL and MPEG-21 IPMP Components Base
Profile for PA-AF.21
8.4 MPEG-21 IPMP Components Base Profile for PA-AF .22
8.5 Content Usage Governance Description .22
9 File Format for PA-AF .22
9.1 Overview.22
9.2 Restrictions on MPEG-21 File Format for PA-AF .22
9.3 Restrictions on Item Name in IINF Box and URI Value in Reference Attribute.23
9.4 File Brands .24
10 Conformance Points .24
Annex A (normative) XML Schema Definition of Preservation Description Information .25
Annex B (normative) Extracting Files from a PA-AF File .85
Annex C (informative) Recommendation for Mime Type and Pre-Processing Tool Identification.86
Annex D (informative) XML Instance Examples for Preservation Description Information .88
Annex E (informative) Example of File Format Structures for PA-AF .109
Annex F (informative) Showcase: Use of Relative URI in Archived Webpage Files .112
Annex G (informative) Showcase: Archiving Files into Several PA-AF Files .114
Bibliography.116
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 23000-6 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
ISO/IEC 23000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A):
⎯ Part 1: Purpose for multimedia application formats [Technical Report]
⎯ Part 2: MPEG music player application format
⎯ Part 3: MPEG photo player application format
⎯ Part 4: Musical slide show application format
⎯ Part 5: Media streaming application format
⎯ Part 6: Professional archival application format
⎯ Part 7: Open access application format
⎯ Part 8: Portable video application format
⎯ Part 9: Digital Multimedia Broadcasting application format
⎯ Part 10: Video surveillance application format
⎯ Part 11: Stereoscopic video application format
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Introduction
The advance of digital multimedia technology has made the creation of digital multimedia content easier. This
has resulted in an abundance of digital multimedia contents available for user consumption. It also
necessitates ways to manage those digital multimedia contents. Digital multimedia contents should be
well-handled and well-preserved in content archives so that part of or all of the contents aggregation can be
reused for creation of new contents.
For preserving digital multimedia contents in an archive, one has to provide a packaging mechanism together
with preservation technologies for data protection, data integrity, and data compression. In addition, the
consumption of the archive can continue long after it has been created; therefore, the context information that
describes the context of the archive and digital multimedia contents in it should also be contained in the
package. This necessary context information may include information that can answer who, what, where,
when, and why questions about the archive and the digital multimedia contents archived in it.
This part of ISO/IEC 23000 is an MPEG standard that specifies component technologies and their integration
for digital multimedia content archive. ISO/IEC 23000 (also known as “MPEG-A”), is an MPEG standard
defined by selecting readily tested and verified tools taken from the MPEG body of standards and combining
them to form a AF (Multimedia Application Format). If a needed piece of technology is not provided within the
MPEG, additional technologies originating from other organizations can be included by reference in order to
facilitate the envisioned application format. For digital multimedia content archives, MPEG has designated this
part of ISO/IEC 23000 “Part 6: Professional archival application format.” In other parts of this International
Standard, the term “Professional Archival Application Format (PA-AF)” refers to this part of ISO/IEC 23000.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Information technology — Multimedia application format
(MPEG-A) —
Part 6:
Professionnal archival application format
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 23000 specifes the professional archival application format (PA-AF). The purpose of the
PA-AF is to provide a standardized packaging format for digital files. This packaging format can also serve as
an implementation of the information package specified by the reference model of the open archival
information system (OAIS). The OAIS reference model is a framework for understanding and applying
concepts necessary for long-term digital information preservation (where “long-term” is long enough to be
concerned about changing technologies). In addition, PA-AF can also be used as an intermediate or
exchange packaging format for any kind of multimedia content.
While a general archival process may include processes starting from creation, to delivery to archival system,
and dissemination to consumers, PA-AF is limited in scope as follows. PA-AF does not specify how input
content is created. PA-AF does not specify any agreement of how the content should be handled and
delivered to the archiving process. PA-AF assumes that input content for the archiving process is available in
an appropriate digital format. PA-AF specifies the format of a digital archive produced by the archival process.
PA-AF does not specify how the archive output by the archival process is disseminated to end-users.
PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe the original structure of digital files archived in a PA-AF file.
PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe context information related to a PA-AF file and digital files
archived in it. PA-AF specifies a metadata format to describe necessary information to reverse the pre-
processing processes applied to digital files prior to archiving them in a PA-AF file. PA-AF specifies a file
format for carriage of the metadata formats and digital files.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 14721:2003, Space data and information transfer systems — Open archival information system —
Reference mode
ISO/IEC 14496-3, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 3: Audio
ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 12: ISO base media
file format (technically identical with ISO/IEC 15444-12)
ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003, Information technology — Coding of audio-visual objects — Part 14: MP4 file format
ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 2: Digital Item
Declaration
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 3: Digital Item
Identification
ISO/IEC 21000-4:2006, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 4: Intellectual
Property Management and Protection Components
ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 5: Rights
Expression Language
ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 9: File Format
ISO/IEC 21000-14:2007, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 14:
Conformance Testing
IETF RFC 1738, Uniform Resource Locators (URL), IETF Request for Comments: 1738, December 1994
IETF RFC 1808, Relative Uniform Resource Locators, IETF Request for Comments: 1808, June 1995
IETF RFC 3629, UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646, IETF Request for Comments: 3629, November
2003
IETF RFC 3986, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax, IETF Request for Comments: 3986,
January 2005
W3C XINCLUDE, XML Inclusions (Xinclude) Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 15 November 2006
W3C XML, Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition), W3C Recommendation, 16 August 2006
W3C XML C14N, Cannonical XML Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 15 March 2001
W3C XML NAMES, Namespaces in XML 1.0, W3C Recommendation, 16 August 2006
W3C XML SCHEMA, XML Schema 1.1 Part 1: Structures (Second Edition), W3C Recommendation,
28 October 2004
W3C XML SCHEMA, XML Schema 1.1 Part 2: Datatypes (Second Edition), W3C Recommendation,
28 October 2004
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 14721:2003, ISO/IEC 14496-3,
ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003, ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003,
ISO/IEC 21000-4:2006, ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004, ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005, ISO/IEC 21000-14:2007 and the
following apply.
3.1
application-specific context information
context information whose semantics are not defined in the general PA-AF specification but may be used in
specific application domains
3.2
archive structure information
information that describes structural relationships among content information
3.3
content information
file or fragment of file that is archived in a PA-AF file
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
3.4
context information
information that describes the context of a PA-AF file and content information stored in it
3.5
file attribute
information that preserves attributes attached to an input file by the file system before it is archived in a PA-AF
file
3.6
information package
package containing the file(s) being archived and associated descriptioin information needed to aid in the
preservation of the archived file(s) in a specific file format
3.7
professional archival application format file
PA-AF file
archive whose format complies with the PA-AF specification
3.8
pre-processing tools
software or software module used for processing before a file is archived in a PA-AF file
NOTE Pre-processing tools include tools for lossless data compression, encryption, governance checking, and
integrity checking.
3.9
pre-processing information
information carried in a PA-AF file describing tool(s) and other settings required to reverse pre-processing
action(s) applied to content information
3.10
preservation description information
information describing content information stored in a PA-AF file
NOTE It consists of archive structure information, context information, and pre-processing information.
4 PA-AF Overview
PA-AF archives digital files in a PA-AF file. In addition to containing digital files being archived, a PA-AF file
also contains information for the preservation of the archived digital files. While implementation of a packaging
tool that complies with PA-AF is out of the scope of this specification, Figure 1 outlines an informative
packaging tool that may produce an output file that complies with a PA-AF file. The tool consists of the
following modules:
⎯ file structure information generator, which analyzes and generate meta information to model hierarchical
structure of the input files;
⎯ context information generator, which creates meta information to record context information related to the
output PA-AF file and input files to be archived;
⎯ pre-processing information generator, which creates meta information for required tools and their
execution parameters to reverse any pre-processing processes applied to the input files;
⎯ archive header wrapper, which combines all the generated meta information into PA-AF file header;
⎯ file formatter, which takes the header and input files (original or after pre-processed) and wraps them in a
file.
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File Formatter
Content Information
Content Information
Preservation
Description
Information
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Files’ structure
info generator
Archive
Input PA-AF
Header
Context info
File(s File
Wrapper
generator
Pre-processing
info generator
Pre-processed data
Governance and data integrity tool
Lossless compression tool
Protection tool
Figure 1 — Overview of a PA-AF packaging tool for creating a PA-AF file
5 Normative Components of PA-AF File
A PA-AF file consists of header and content part as illustrated in Figure 2. The header part contains
information, called Preservation Description Information, needed to understand the PA-AF file itself and all
files archived in it. The content part contains one or more archived files. These archived files are called
Content Information.
PA-AF File
Header Content
. . .
Figure 2 — Logical view of a PA-AF file
Content Information includes digital data in its original format as input into the PA-AF file and/or in the format
after pre-processed with pre-processing tools allowed by this specification. The categories of pre-processing
tool are lossless data compression, reversible data protection such as encryptions, and removable data
attached to the content for usage governance and data integrity, such as checksums, and digital licenses.
Preservation Description Information is in XML metadata format and shall comply with W3C recommendations
related to XML. It includes Archive Structure Information, Context Information, and Pre-processing Information.
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Content Information
Content Information
[Metadata]
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Archive Structure Information describes structural relationships among Content Information. Figure 3
illustrates the importance of Archive Structure Information. While the original structure of digital files input into
a PA-AF file can be hierarchical in one or more directories, in a physical PA-AF file format, they are stored in
flat manner. Archive Structure Information preserves the original hierarchical structure of the input digital files.
When Content Information is extracted from the PA-AF file, the structure of output digital files is as it was input
into the PA-AF. Archive Structure Information also acts as an entry point to access Context Information and
Pre-processing Information in the Content Information.
Figure 3 — Usage of Archive Structure Information
Context Information describes context information attached to a PA-AF file and Content Information.
It includes:
⎯ creation information of the PA-AF file and content Information, such as information about what, how,
when, where, who, and why;
⎯ profile information of the Content Information, such as the file format, file size, audio and visual profile of
the content (if it is an audio visual data);
⎯ access history to the Content Information, which records any actions applied to the Content Information,
such as archiving and extraction; this record may include who the actor is and when the action is
performed;
⎯ application specific context information.
An application domain that adopts PA-AF specification could add additional information to describe Content
Information in the PA-AF file to satisfy its specific requirements by means of application specific context
information. Figure 4 illustrates how PA-AF accommodates such a mechanism. Application- specific context
information can be manifested in any meta information format and archived in a PA-AF file as Content
Information. PA-AF provides a link to refer to this application-specific context information so that an application
that can understand this information can read and use it.
PA-AF File
Header
Content
Context
Info
. . .
App-
Specific
Context
Info
Figure 4 — Application-specific context information in a PA-AF file
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
Pre-processing Information describes profile of tools that can be used to reverse pre-processing applied to
Content Information. It contains information, such as identification of the tool, required parameters to execute
the tool, and part of Content Information pre-processed with that tool, and where to acquire the tool.
Required components technologies to meet normative components of PA-AF are as follows:
nd
⎯ MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
⎯ ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003
⎯ MPEG-21 Intellectual Property Management and Protection Components Base Profile for PA-AF
⎯ ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004/Amd.1:2007
⎯ MPEG-7 Multimedia Descrption Scheme Profile for PA-AF
⎯ MPEG-21 File Format for PA-AF
⎯ Lossless compression tool identifiers
⎯ Encryption, hash, and digital signature identifiers
⎯ Additional metadata dedicated for use in PA-AF only
The component technologies listed above can be used in combination to fulfil basic functionality and
enhanced functionality of PA-AF as illustrated by Figure 5. The enhanced functionality is optional and
implemented on top of the basic functionality. For example, the combination of ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005,
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF, ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, and MPEG-7 Creation Information Tool
of ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003 provides solutions to satisfy the basic functionality of PA-AF which is packaging
Content Information in a PA-AF file. By adding MPEG-21 Intellectual Property Management and Protection
Components Base Profile for PA-AF, one can add functionality, such as compression, protection, and integrity
checking to the PA-AF. By adding ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004/Amd.1:2007, one can add license information to
govern the usage of the PA-AF file. Finally, by adding MPEG-7 Multimedia Descrption Scheme Profile for
PA-AF, one can have interoperable description of Content Information that can be exploited to implement
functionality for interoperable content searching. The combination of all component technologies provides a
full solution for PA-AF.
Data protection, Usage Interoperable Application
compression, governance content specific
and integrity searching context info.
Basic Function
[Package input digital files into PA-AF archive]
Figure 5 — Basic and enhanced functionality of PA-AF
6 Archive Structure Information
6.1 Overview
Archive Structure Information consists of a file structure model and file attribute model. The file structure
model provides a description to preserve the original structure of input files to be archived, whereas the file
attribute model provide a description to preserve the original description given by the file system to the file,
such as file access information, system timestamp, etc. 6.2 provides explains the file structure model and
explains the file attribute model.
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
nd
6.2 MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF is a subset of ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, with restrictions, and two
additional attributes. The profile is designed to provide the following functionalities:
⎯ modeling of original structure of input files for archive creation;
⎯ provision of a pointer to the location of archived file in archive container;
⎯ provision of a container for other information related to the archive itself and the Content Information.
nd
The elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF, their use, and restrictions applied on them are
listed in Table 1.
nd
Table 1 — Elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition Profile for PA-AF
nd
MPEG-21 DIDL 2
Restriction
Edition
Profile Element
Possible child element is only Container, and the
DIDL
cardinality is exactly 1
Container As in 7.2.8 of ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005
Item Possible child elements are Component and Descriptor
Component Possible child element is Resource
Resource Restricted to have no child element
Possible attributes are mimeType, ref, and
contentEncoding
Resource element shall not carry inline binary data as
its element content
Descriptor Possible child element is only Statement
Statement Possible attribute is only mimeType with value
“text/xml”
nd
The association of elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2 Edition profile for PA-AF and file structure is listed in
Table 2.
Table 2 — Elements of MPEG-21 DIDL 2nd Edition Profile for PA-AF and file structure association
Element Name Association to file structure
Container
Directory
One directory is modeled by one Container element
Item
File
One file is modeled by one Item element
Component
Fragment of file
If a file is not fragmented, only one Component shall
occur as child element of Item
If a file is fragmented, the following are applied:
– One Component is associated with one
fragment of file
– Occurance order of Component elements
reflects order of fragments of file
Resource
Provide link to physical location of archived files in the
archive container
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ISO/IEC 23000-6:2009(E)
The DIDL element shall contain exactly one Root Container. The Root Container can contain one or more
Container element(s), which is/are associated with the directory, and/or one or more Item element(s), which
is/are associated with the file.
If file is split into several fragments, each fragment shall be archived in separate PA-AF files. PA-AF does not
mandate how to split files; however, it is recommended that the file be split according to its byte order. For
example, if file is split into three fragments, then fragment 1 shall contain the data subset from byte 0 until
byte X-1, fragment 2 shall contain the data subset from byte X until byte Y-1, and fragment 3 shall contain
byte Y until the last byte of the original file. For every PA-AF file, the Item element associated to fragmented
file shall have as many child Component elements as the number of file fragments. Annex G provides a
showcase of fragmented files in PA-AF and how they are described.
6.3
...
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