<p>IP-based TV (IPTV) is gradually replacing traditional means for broadcasting. At the same time, players from the telecom industry is seeking to create a new, standardized architectural framework for delivering all kinds of multimedia services over IP to end users; the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).</p><p>This thesis is about video on demand, one of the more popular services enabled by IPTV. The thesis starts out by introducing the reader to IMS and IPTV and presents the current work in the area of IMS-based IPTV, done by the TISPAN committee of the ETSI.</p><p>The author then takes an explorative approach in investigating how a signaling schema for an IMS-based VOD service could look like, based on TISPAN’s existing work. The service is subject to an extra requirement; it should support session continuity, meaning it should be possible to resume the streaming of a video where the user left off, possibly on a different device. The investigation shows that it is possible to combine SIP and RTSP in several ways to get the desired behaviour.</p><p>The second part of the results consists of a proof of technology-implementation of the signaling schema that is the output from the first part. The implemented service runs on an IPTV set-top box on the client side, and a regular PC on the server side. The service uses open source software to a great extent and is fairly portable. A sample VOD session using the implemented system is presented along with full message contents.</p><p>The thesis concludes with a summary of the results and a discussion on what has been left out from the implementation and possibly subject to further studies. Finally, there is a brief summary on the recent developments within the field of IMS-based IPTV.</p>

IP-based TV (IPTV) is gradually replacing traditional means for broadcasting. At the same time, players from the telecom industry is seeking to create a new, standardized architectural framework for delivering all kinds of multimedia services over IP to end users; the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). This thesis is about video on demand, one of the more popular services enabled by IPTV. The thesis starts out by introducing the reader to IMS and IPTV and presents the current work in the area of IMS-based IPTV, done by the TISPAN committee of the ETSI. The author then takes an explorative approach in investigating how a signaling schema for an IMS-based VOD service could look like, based on TISPAN’s existing work. The service is subject to an extra requirement; it should support session continuity, meaning it should be possible to resume the streaming of a video where the user left off, possibly on a different device. The investigation shows that it is possible to combine SIP and RTSP in several ways to get the desired behaviour. The second part of the results consists of a proof of technology-implementation of the signaling schema that is the output from the first part. The implemented service runs on an IPTV set-top box on the client side, and a regular PC on the server side. The service uses open source software to a great extent and is fairly portable. A sample VOD session using the implemented system is presented along with full message contents. The thesis concludes with a summary of the results and a discussion on what has been left out from the implementation and possibly subject to further studies. Finally, there is a brief summary on the recent developments within the field of IMS-based IPTV.