UPnP support (Universal Plug and Play) (1 Viewer)

[Gamester17]

frodo, nice to hear you like the concept of UPnP. Suggest that you e-mail Sylvain (a.k.a. c0diq) sylvain@plutinosoft.com
(he's the author of the Platinum SDK and the one who implemented the UPnP client into XBMC, he's also adding a server)

He also hangs around in #xbmc on efnet IRC, under the username c0diq

PS! If UPnP works out fine then maybe the MediaPortal project should think about joining the UPnPâ„¢ Forum :wink:

 

[Gamester17]

frodo, you should now be able to compile the PlatinumSDK:

I downloaded, but could not see any documentation what it is, how to use it etc.

no documentation for the Platinum SDK exist yet, according to c0diq it shouldn't be really needed anyway, quote; "You don’t have to see the under the hood of what’s going on unless you want to write your own device. In that case, just look at how the MediaServer works. There are some tests also in the project that shows how to initialize the upnp stack and a device, it’s litterally 4 lines of code. Can’t make it simpler than that.".

If it contains a upnp client & server then i would be very interested to integrate it into mp

Yes, "the Platinum SDK lets you easily create a UPnP MediaServer, MediaRenderer or Contol Point".

i was unable to compile the platinum sdk sources?
its missing the following file:
\upnp\PlatinumSDK\Neptune\Source\Core\NptFile.cpp

c0diq released version 0.2.0.0 of the Platinum SDK today and it does now contain that file (FYI, 0.2.0.0 uses SCons instead of make)

PS! If you don't like the Platinum SDK then maybe you can checkout CyberLink for C++ development package,
downside with CyberLink for C++ is that it's licensed under BDS (while Platinum SDK is licensed under GPL)

By the way, XBMC currently 'only' has a "UPnP MediaServer ControlPoint" which means it can play media files from a UPnP share from UPnP MediaServers like on any other share (just like from SMB/SAMBA or XBMS/XNS shares) but it can not yet send any other command to the UPnP MediaServer, like play/stop/record/shedule:

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is a set of royalty-free computer network protocols from the UPnP Forum. UPnP is built upon open, internet-based communication standards such as SSDP, HTTP, XML, SOAP, etc. (which means that any developer/programmer can make a device or software for any operating-system/platform in any program-language by following the UPnP standards and it should automaticly be compatible with all other UPnP devices). UPnP achieves this by defining and publishing UPnP device control protocols (also called profiles). One profile called UPnP Gateway is what routers implements to let computers automatically discover them or even control them by opening/closing ports on a firewall for example. Another profile which is not to be confused with the previous one is UPnP AV (for audio/video) which defines a set of functionalities to share/control and render content on a local network. There are typically three types of devices in UPnP AV (Audio/Video); a MediaServer which is a 'slave' device which sole purpose is to share content, a MediaRenderer which is a 'slave' device that can render content, and a UPnP MediaServer ControlPoint which is the 'master' that can detect/find UPnP MediaServers and control them (browse). UPnP MediaServers ControlPoint is not an actual UPnP device as it cannot be detected by other UPnP devices. A UPnP MediaRenderer ControlPoint is the 'master' that can detect/find and control UPnP MediaRenderers. A DMP (Digital Media Player) typically only implements a UPnP MediaServer ControlPoint."

 

[Gamester17]

An alternative to using open source code would be for MediaPortal to use Microsoft UPnP API's for Windows Media Connect (WMC) (but then the users must install WMC which contains Microsoft's UPnP framework). WMC is also limited in what file-extentions and media-formats it will share:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/upnp/upnp/universal_plug_and_play_start_page.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/consumerelectronics/p4skit/p4s_tools.aspx
http://www.wmcplayer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39

 

[sprawl]

I'm currently looking into some different uPnP stacks to see which way to proceed with implementing the support for uPnP in MediaPortal.

I'll check out your different suggestions and see which way to go forward.

/Andreas

 

[Gamester17]

bump, any news? :?:

 

[sprawl]

I'm on vacation since two weeks and will be away for one more so nothing has really happend and won't happen until I get back from vacation. After that I'll try to post a plan of how the implementation will go.

/sprawl

 

[ditronics]

Everyone have the right to enjoy

Nice vacancy 4 all

We´ll waiting 4 you guy.

 

[Gamester17]

FYI, on the 12th of July 2006 the UPnP Forum announced the release of the Enhanced AV Specifications, with the release of version 2 of the UPnP Audio and Video specifications (UPnP AV v2).

The new UPnP AV specifications use the UPnP Device Architecture specifications – the core interoperability technology for all UPnP enabled devices – allowing different companies to build home network products that automatically locate and identify each other without any end-user configuration.

The UPnP AV v2 specifications are fully backward compatible with the UPnP AV v1 specifications.

"The UPnP AV specifications provide an interoperability infrastructure, which enables device manufacturers to deliver innovative AV products that allow an end user to purchase products from different manufacturers, bring them home, plug them into their home network, and they just work together – it’s that simple", said John Ritchie, co-chair of the UPnP Forum’s AV Working Committee and staff engineer, Intel Digital Home Group.

"End users can expect an improved synergy among home
which the incremental benefit of each device increases as devices are added to the home network", added Geert Knapen, committee and Digital Architect, Royal Philips Electronics.

Read the full announcent here:
http://www.upnp.org/news/documents/AV2_PR20060712.pdf

MediaServer V2.0 and MediaRenderer V2.0 standars:
http://www.upnp.org/standardizeddcps/default.asp

 

[Gamester17]

Another FYI; MythTV 0.2 was released yesterday and among other things the 0.2 release notes states:
* "Added internal UPnP server support for TV and Music" (however it's still a work in progress)

I hope the MythTV project will expand on that in the future with a client and control-protocols, etc. as well. If so, and if the MediaPortal project started to use UPnP too, then it should be possible to make MediaPortal and MythTV incooperative, (in the way that you could possible make it so that one could use MediaPortal as the front-end and MythTV as the back-end, and vice versa), ...but as for now I can only hope and dream.

 

[tkortell]

This UPnP stuf is werry interesting

R / tk