purpose of m3u8 file in HTTP live streaming?

is m3u8 file 开发者_StackOverflow中文版a single file maintained in server for live streaming? is MPMoviePlayerController enough for live streaming to show a TV channel? what are the other possibilities? I have verified the Apple Document

The m3u8 file is the playlist for Apple HTTP live (or VoD) streaming. It contains URLs to the .ts files which normally contain 10 seconds of audio/video each. You can put the .m3u8 URL into the iPhone's browser and it will play the live stream. Here's the sample contents of a live stream's .m3u8 file:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:1
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000001.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000002.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000003.ts

To answer your first question "m3u8" is the file extension used but the Unicode version of an "m3u" file:

The unicode version of "m3u" is "m3u8", which uses UTF-8 unicode characters.

m3u on Wikipedia

I don't know enough about file streaming to be able to answer your remaining questions.