Digital Living Network Alliance

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Digital Living Network Alliance
Image:Dlna.jpg
Founded 2003
Headquarters 3855 SW 153rd Drive Beaverton, Oregon USA
Area served Worldwide
Members 253
Website www.dlna.org

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a standard used by manufacturers of consumer electronics to allow entertainment devices within the home to share their content with each other across a home network without a complicated configuration process.

[edit] Introduction

The Digital Living Network Alliance is an international, cross-industry collaboration of consumer electronics, computing industry and mobile device companies. Members of DLNA develop a concept of wired and wireless interoperable networks where digital content such as photos, music, and videos can be shared through consumer electronics (CE), personal computers (PCs), and mobile devices in and beyond the home. The organization delivers an interoperability framework and design guidelines that. The framework definitions are accompanied by a certification and logo program to communicate the conformance and interoperability of compliant products to consumers.

DLNA was founded in 2003 and published its first set of Interoperability Guidelines in June 2004. The latest version of the DLNA Interoperability Guidelines, version 1.5, was published in March 2006 and then expanded in October 2006. The current guidelines expand the capabilities of the DLNA-defined network to include more device classes and functional capabilities—including printers, mobile devices, controllers, uploaders and downloaders. They also include specifications for digital rights management [1].

[edit] Certification

The certification and logo program to validate DLNA-compliant products was launched in September 2005, certified products are allowed to use the DLNA CERTIFIED logo. There are currently four DLNA-accredited testing laboratories covering the major geographic regions (U.S., Japan, Europe and Taiwan) which conduct the conformance and interoperability test suites for the certification. As a part of the program, Universal Plug and Play certification is required for products that can be tested for UIC certification. Similarly, for products that support a IEEE 802.11 wireless interface, Wi-Fi certification is required.

As of September 2008 more than 3000 DLNA CERTIFIED products from 36 manufacturers are registered, out of which about 900 are publicly listed on the DLNA website.

In addition to the DLNA Certification and Logo Program, the organization hosts technical conferences (plugfests) on a quarterly basis to provide its members with opportunities to test products with other companies’ products and prototypes in advance of their formal certification.

[edit] Members

As of 2008 the DLNA organization comprises more than 200 Contributor Members and 26 Promoter Members:

Access, AMD, AWOX, Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, DigiOn, HP, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Kenwood, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Macrovision, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, NXP, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba and Acer.

[edit] Types of devices

There are three main roles for a DLNA devices and a given device may have one or many roles.

[edit] Digital Media Server

With this role a device has a store of content (such as video files) which it makes available for client devices to use, if those devices cannot use a particular format the server may be able to convert the file before sending.

[edit] Digital Media Player

With this role a device can show content which it requests (or is sent) from the server, examples of these devices are Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and some of Sony's bravia range of televisions

[edit] Digital Media Controller

With this role a device can instruct other devices to do something, such as telling a server to play a video on a particular television or a photoframe to send a photo to a printer[1]

[edit] Design Guidelines

The DLNA Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines, expanded in October 2006, consists of three volumes covering Architecture & Protocols, Media Format Profiles and Link Protection. It provides vendors with the information needed to build interoperable networked platforms and devices for the digital home. The digital home vision integrates the Internet, mobile, and broadcast networks through a seamless, interoperable network, which will provide a unique opportunity for manufacturers and consumers alike.

The DLNA Design Guidelines are free to members of the organization and can be purchased by non-members for $500 USD.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.techradar.com/blogs/article/dlna-adds-new-digital-home-functions-496479?src=rss&attr=all

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance"
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