MOQ Wiki

MSFTS - MPEG-2 Transport Stream Packaging for Media Over QUIC Transport

4 min read

2026-06-02: First publicly-announced reference implementation lands. mondain/moq2ts (“MOQ + M2TS”, C++, created May 21 2026) publicly announced by Paul Gregoire on Slack #moq June 1 19:43 UTC: “Created a demonstrator for the msfts draft https://github.com/mondain/moq2ts — only works with one relay that I know of at this time, but no one should be surprised by that 😉“. Surge May 31-June 2 (~9 commits) completes the demonstrator: cross-platform CI build workflow Linux/macOS/Windows via GitHub Actions with AppImage + macdeployqt + windeployqt packaging (8306eee9 June 1 19:50 UTC); real relay-capable binaries by linking moqxr SDK pinned MOQXR_VERSION=v0.3.2 (5721c914 22:34 UTC), Linux wraps archives in --start-group to resolve circular picohttp/picoquic deps; ffmpeg 8 + Qt qsizetype build fixes (7c143817 + aef64cd0); native AVCaptureSession publish on macOS because libavdevice/avfoundation hangs in avformat_open_input (8f281a43). README + DEVELOPER docs refresh document mediatimeline MSF type + compact [mediaTimeMs,[groupId,objectId],wallclockMs] record array. Same June 2 02:25 UTC window, moq PR #1587 opens MPEG-TS import/export support for moq-mux via single mpeg2ts crate (+1548/−2, 15f) — codec-agnostic (H.264/H.265/AAC) and protocol-neutral, does not directly implement MSFTS catalog fields but provides the MPEG-TS wire substrate. Two complementary MoQ-side MPEG-2 TS paths now exist: (a) moq2ts (C++, MSFTS-spec-conformant); (b) moq-dev/moq PR #1587 (Rust, codec-agnostic MPEG-TS container in moq-mux). Carry-forward: with MSFTS now having a first-impl + supporting infrastructure (moqxr SDK packaging June 1) + complementary moq-dev/moq MPEG-TS container support, MSFTS becomes the second concrete MoQ-side MPEG-2 TS path (after moqlivemock catalog work) — directly relevant to London Day-2 35-min MSF/CMSF/MSFTS slot. Draft itself still at -00 (no revision on Datatracker); no mailing-list adoption call.

draft-gregoire-moq-msfts-00 | 21 pages | Informational | Expires 7 November 2026 | Submitted 6 May 2026

Authors

  • Paul Gregoire (Red5) — also maintainer of moqxr; first MoQ contribution
  • gwendal-simon (Synamedia) — first IETF-side artifact after the late-April SWITCH cross-pollination

Abstract

Extends the MOQT Streaming Format (MSF) by registering the m2ts packaging value for carrying MPEG-2 Transport Stream and M2TS source packets over MOQT. Defines catalog fields for transport-stream track description and specifies receiver and relay behavior for joining, switching, and validating packetized streams. Aimed at publishers that already produce packetized MPEG-2 TS output — contribution feeds, broadcast workflows, and systems currently segmenting TS for HTTP delivery.

Why It Matters

First non-CMAF, non-LOC packaging extension proposed for MSF. MSFTS extends MoQ from OTT-style workflows (CMAF, LOC) into broadcast/contribution territory where MPEG-2 TS remains the dominant container.

Key Design

Packaging Modes

  • TS packet — 188-octet MPEG-2 Transport Stream packet ([ISO138181])
  • M2TS source packet — 192-octet packet consisting of a 4-octet source-packet timestamp followed by a 188-octet TS packet
  • Source-packet size signaled by the catalog (m2tsPacketSize = 188 or 192)

Object Mapping

Consecutive source packets are mapped into MOQT Objects. The format does not define a new elementary-stream container — it preserves the packet stream end-to-end. LOC packaging does not apply to m2ts tracks; equivalent behavior is defined in this draft.

Catalog Fields (10 m2ts-specific)

  • m2tsPacketSize — 188 or 192
  • m2tsPacketsPerObject — packetization granularity
  • m2tsProgramNumber — for SPTS or selecting one program from MPTS
  • m2tsPmtPid — Program Map Table PID
  • m2tsPcrPid — Program Clock Reference PID
  • m2tsPsiInterval — PSI table repetition interval
  • m2tsRandomAccess — random access point signaling
  • m2tsTimestampMode — timing/timestamp interpretation
  • m2tsScte35Pid — SCTE-35 splice signaling PID
  • initData — Base64-encoded initialization packets (PAT/PMT/etc.)

Multi-Program Source Handling

A multi-program transport stream (MPTS) can be split into multiple m2ts MoQ tracks, one per program — each track selected via m2tsProgramNumber.

Status

Individual submission — not adopted by the MOQ working group. Submitted 6 May 2026; no mailing-list announcement at submission time.

External Links

Related

  • moq-msf — Umbrella streaming-format draft this extends
  • moq-cmsf — CMAF packaging extension (sibling under MSF)
  • moq-loc — Low Overhead Container (the existing MSF default packaging)
  • media-packaging — Container format comparison

Graph View

DraftsConceptsPeopleImplDiscInteropOtherTags
DraftsConceptsPeopleImplDiscInteropOtherTags

Backlinks