Overview
ISO/IEC 23090-8:2020 - Information technology - Coded representation of immersive media - Part 8: Network based media processing (NBMP) defines a framework and interfaces for remote, networked media processing. The standard specifies data formats and application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable uploading media, instantiating and configuring processing tasks, orchestrating workflows, and accessing processed media and metadata in real‑time or deferred modes. NBMP targets dynamic creation of media processing pipelines and standardized interaction among media sources, workflow managers and media processing entities.
Key technical topics and requirements
- NBMP architecture & workflow model: Logical definitions for workflow graphs, task lifecycle, allocation and distribution of tasks across networked entities.
- API and resource definitions: RESTful resource mapping between logical objects, data objects and APIs to control workflows and tasks.
- Data and metadata formats: Standardized media and metadata representations exchanged between sources, managers and processing nodes.
- Descriptors and JSON schemas: A comprehensive set of descriptors (scheme, input, processing, configuration, monitoring, security, failover, events, reporting, etc.) with JSON schema definitions for interoperability and automated validation.
- Function discovery: APIs and query mechanisms to discover available processing functions and capabilities in the network.
- Protocols and operational behavior: Supported protocols and functional behaviour for instantiation, configuration, monitoring, reporting and failover handling.
- Operational requirements: Definitions for task startup, client assistance, variables, monitoring, notifications and acknowledgements to manage lifecycle and QoS.
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO/IEC 23090-8 is practical for any organization building scalable, interoperable media processing ecosystems:
- Cloud and edge media platforms - standardizes remote transcoding, packaging, and analytics pipelines.
- Broadcasting and streaming providers - enables dynamic workflows for live events, VOD preparation, and realtime transformations.
- VR/AR and immersive media developers - coordinates multi‑step processing (stitching, encoding, metadata enrichment) across distributed services.
- CDN and media service vendors - facilitates discovery and orchestration of media processing functions across heterogeneous infrastructures.
- System integrators and standards implementers - provides machine‑readable descriptors (JSON schema) to automate deployment, monitoring and failover.
- Device and software vendors - ensures consistent handling of media and metadata between endpoints and network services.
Related standards
- Part of the ISO/IEC 23090 series for coded representation of immersive media - complements other parts of the series that define codecs, bitstream formats and immersive metadata.
- Integrates naturally with REST, JSON and common web protocols used in cloud-native media services.
Keywords: ISO/IEC 23090-8:2020, network-based media processing, NBMP, immersive media, media processing pipelines, APIs, JSON schema, workflow orchestration, media metadata, function discovery.