Multiprotocol Encapsulation

Multiprotocol Encapsulation, or MPE for short, is a Data link layer protocol defined
by DVB which has been published as part of ETSI EN 301 192. It
provides means to carry packet oriented protocols on top of MPEG transport stream.
Another encapsulation method is Unidirectional Lightweight Encapsulation which was developed and standardized within the IETF as RFC 4326.

Protocol Outline

MPE uses MPEG-2 Private Table sections to carry the user
datagrams. The section header is used to convey:

the frame's destination MAC address
optional ISO/IEC 8802-2 Logical Link Control and ISO/IEC 8802-1 Sub-Network Attachment Point information
a payload scrambling indication
a MAC address scrambling indication

MAC addresses from 1 to 6 bytes length may be used. The format of
MPEG-2 DSM-CC sections happens to be compatible with DVB MPE.

MPE-based IP Service Offerings

Service Architecture

A complete IP service offering over MPEG-2 TS can be established by
organizing MPE streams into one or more IP Platforms carried on a
broadcast network by means of the IP/MAC Notification Table
mechanism which is also defined in ETSI EN 301 192.

Commercial Offerings

Both major European satellite operators are offering commercial IP services using MPE to both businesses and consumers.