Ginga is the middleware

Middleware

Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...

 specification for the Brazilian Digital TV System (SBTVD

SBTVD

ISDB-T International or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Philippines, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Uruguay, based on the Japanese ISDB-T...

, from the Portuguese Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital). Ginga was developed based on a set of standardized technologies, such as ITU

Itu

Itu is an old and historic municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2009 was 157,384 and the area is 641.68 km². The elevation is 583 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning big waterfall. Itu is linked with the highway numbered the SP-75 and are flowed...

-T J.200, and also adding innovations developed by Brazilian researchers. Its current reference implementation was released under the GPL license.

Architecture

Ginga specifications adopt the reference digital TV middleware architecture ITU-T J.200. Thus, Ginga is divided into two main integrated (bridged) subsystems, which allow the development of applications following two different programming paradigms. Depending on the required functionalities of an application project, one paradigm will be more suitable than the other. Those subsystems are called Ginga-J

Ginga-J

Ginga-J is the Ginga middleware subsystem which provides an execution infrastructure for Java applications, with functionalities for the Digital TV environment.-References:***...

 (for Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

 applications) and Ginga-NCL (for declarative NCL

Nested Context Language

Nested Context Language is a declarative authoring language for hypermedia documents.NCL is an XML application language, which provides several facilities for authoring a complete hypermedia document with synchronization relationships among its components...

 applications). Both implementation rely on a common core and are bridged - Java applications may include NCL applications and vice-versa.

Development

Ginga is the sinergy between FlexTV and MAESTRO, two compatible middleware implementations developed during the SBTVD project, in 2005. FlexTV was developed by the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB), while MAESTRO was developed by PUC-Rio.

Origin of the name

The name Ginga was chosen for the middleware in recognition of the culture, art, and constant fight for freedom and equality of the Brazilian people. Ginga is the fundamental movement in capoeira

Capoeira

Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...

, and pronounced jinga; literally: rocking back and forth; to swing.

External links

• Ginga
• Ginga Code Development Network (Portuguese language)
• GHTV GINGA-NCL player for Windows and Linux under Creative Commons
  Creative Commons licenses
  Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
  
  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License
• Intel and Sun will develop Ginga-J in Brazil (16 March 2009)
• ITU passed Ginga,NexTV Latam (6 April 2010)
• Telemídia Lab
• LAViD
• tmira solutions Ginga broadcast server and Ginga iTV browser.
• Brazil invested US$27 millon in five years (between 2005 and 2010) to develop interactive TV
• Fujitsu launches DTT STBs with Ginga, NexTV Latam (4 March 2011)
• Brazil wants to reach 2015 with the 100% of TV set fitted with Ginga,NexTV Latam (14 November 2011)