Platform and Media Profiles IEEE 1484.18 WG

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Platform and Media ProfilesIEEE 1484.18 WG

• Frank Farance, Farance Inc.

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Agenda

• Call to order
• Approval of minutes of last meeting (already
  done)
• Approve agenda
• Committee reports (if any)
• Old business
• Presentation by F. Farance on PMP progress and
  JTC1 N4046
• New business
• Next meeting 2000-09, Sedona, AZ, USA

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PAR Scope

• This standard profile will identify existing
  standards and specifications of learning
  technology platforms and their content. Several
  standards profiles will be developed for several
  operating scenarios, such as "browser platform",
  "workstation platform", "web media types". The
  standard profile will not specify the technical
  details, but limitations and enhancements to
  these standards and specifications. It is
  expected that these profiles will be updated and
  amended often enough to track current technology.

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PAR Purpose

• Many systems require compatibility for common
  suite of features such as browsers, operating
  systems, and content. A standard profile would
  specify functionality (e.g., Java 1.1, JPEF,
  GIF-89, C95, ...) rather than implementations
  (e.g., Netscape 4.0, Windows 95, Adobe PDF
  plug-in). A specification based on functionality
  allows consumers and vendors a wider range of
  implementations that are conforming. Since many
  standards and specifications may be implied by
  compatibility, a standard profile would allow
  consumers and vendors to point to a single
  document that references the collection of
  features.

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Simplified Description

• A standards profile points to other stds
• Other standards/specifications included
• Normative references to standards
• Include stds bibliographic info
• Normative references to specifications
• Use ISO/IEC JTC1 N4046 The Normative Referencing
  of Specifications other than International
  Standards in JTC 1 International Standards -
  Guidelines for JTC 1 SCs

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Sample Categories of Profiles

• Java
• probably probably 2-4 profiles depending upon
  capabilities, e.g., profile 1 is Java 1.1,
  profile 2 is Java 1.2
• JavaScript
• probably 1-3 profiles, profile 1 is JavaScript
  1.2, profile 2 is ECMAScript, profile 3 is
  JavaScript 1.3
• Graphics
• probably 3-5 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might be
  GIF89, profile 2 might be GIF89, JPEG, BMP
  profile 3 might just be photoshop graphics

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Sample Categories of Profiles

• Hypertext Markup
• probably 3-8 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might be
  HTML 2.0, profile 2 might be HTML 3.0, profile
  3 might be HTML 4.0, profile 5 might be DHTML,
  profile 6 might xHTML, profile 7 might be DHTML
  xHTML
• Other Markup
• probably 3-6 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might be
  XML, profile 2 might be CSS, profile 3 might be
  SMIL
• Audio
• probably 2-3 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might
  just be WAV, profile 2 might be WAV, Real Audio,
  and MP3

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Sample Categories of Profiles

• Video
• probably 3-5 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might be
  AVI and Quicktime, profile 2 might by AVI,
  Quicktime, and Real Video, profile 3 might be
  AVI, Quicktime, Real Video, and MPEG
• Documents
• probably 4-8 profiles, e.g., profile 1 might be
  MS-Word97, profile 2 might be Powerpoint 97,
  profile 3 might be Excel 97

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Sample Configuration

• A typical configuration might be specified by
• Java.2
• JavaScript.1
• Graphics.2
• Graphic.3
• HypertextMarkup.3
• OtherMarkup.1
• OtherMarkup.2
• Audio.2
• Video.2
• Documents.1
• Documents.2

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Implementations That Satisfy This Configuration

• Win98
• Netscape 4.x
• MS-Office 97
• Public "plug-ins" for Quicktime, Real Audio,
  Real Video
• For-purchase software Photoshop

• Linux
• Linux (RedHat 6.x)
• Sun StarOffice 5.x
• Public "plug-ins" for Quicktime, Real Audio,
  Real Video
• For-purchase software Photoshop

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How To Stay Current?

• Standards can be amended quickly
• Typically 3-6 response time
• Would allow standards committees to track current
  technologies

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Action Items for Next Meeting

• Sample standards wording (probably, a 1-2 page
  document)
• Investigate timing/administrative issues with IEEE