An auto-generating tool for the MPEG-2 formatted test data: ATEP

Abstract

Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE) is an international standard for digital television broadcasting being rapidly spread throughout the world. DASE consists of software modules that decode and execute application programs transmitted in the form of MPEG-2 that deliver interactive and data broadcast services, within the context of digital TV beyond the existing audio/video service. Therefore, MPEG-2 formatted test data is needed to test DASE. Generating MPEG-2 test data is not only expensive and time-consuming but also requires expert knowledge of MPEG-2 due to the high complexity of the MPEG-2 Standard. The authors propose the Auto-Test data generator for Protocol standards (ATEP) that automatically generates MPEG-2 formatted test data for the DASE System Test. ATEP generates test data using a database consisting of 'Structure Information', 'Content Information', and 'Raw Data'. The Raw Data is used to make a broadcasting scenario while the Structure and Content Information are used to form this scenario into MPEG-2 formatted data. Our tool enables a tester to perform the DASE System Test efficiently without any knowledge of the MPEG-2 Standard.