EBU DMF Media eXchange Layer (MXL): Streamlining Multi-Vendor Live Video

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) provides a layered model for software-defined production infrastructures running on commonly available IT infrastructure. The DMF seeks to enable customizable and dynamic workflows with cost-effective scalability and enhanced operational efficiency, security, and reliability to meet the challenges of the evolving media business landscape. A key element of the DMF is the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), an open source SDK for high-performance live media interchange between containerized software media functions. MXL provides an interoperable vendor-neutral platform with clear observability and uses the lowest latency asynchronous data transfer methods to avoid delays in the live signal chain. Shared memory is used for same-host functions, and remote direct memory access (RDMA) networking will be used for cross-host communication. The Linux Foundation hosts the MXL Project in collaboration with the EBU and the North American Broadcasting Association (NABA). The MXL SDK code is available on a public GitHub repository.