This document defines a container usable by cable system operators for the delivery of Emergency Alert (EA) metadata into the consumer domain. This metadata is designed to support cable set-top terminals which function as servers of “commercial video services” (CVS) into the home network, by providing preformatted XML-based EA data required by such Digital Media Servers (DMS) in the home. The container, specified as being in the form of an ANSI J‑STD‑042-B [2] descriptor, is defined only for carriage within the emergency alert signaling message defined in ANSI J‑STD‑042-B [2]. The metadata carried in the descriptor includes metadata elements conforming to ANSI J‑STD-070 [1], which is the standard delivery format for XML-formatted EA data in the home network.
Users of this standard should be aware that EAS is a topic which is subject to regulation and is currently under consideration by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).