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Mobile TV Trials Underway in Australia
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Broadcast Australia says that it is hosting a new trial of digital video broadcasting to handhelds (DVB-H) mobile TV services at its Gore Hill site in Sydney. The three-month trial, which commenced transmission on 7th May 2007, is a collaboration between Broadcast Australia, digital video solutions group Thomson Grass Valley, and digital content protection specialist, Irdeto, the trial license-holder.
Broadcast Australia is providing the RF transmission infrastructure for the trial, being broadcast on UHF channel 29, as well as systems integration, multiplexing and network operations expertise. The DVB-H head-end is from Thomson Grass Valley, and Irdeto has supplied an OSF-compliant digital security system, which provides digital content and access protection. All three partners collaborated to integrate the system, which will be managed via Broadcast Australia's Network Operations Centre (NOC). The service was on-air just one week after the commencement of integration and testing activity.
According to Martin Farrimond, Broadcast Australia General Manager Mobile TV, the objectives of the trial are to progress understanding of the various technology platforms available for DVB-H.
"This trial has a number of key differences from previous mobile TV trials Broadcast Australia has participated in," Farrimond said. "These include the Grass Valley DVB-H head-end and the Irdeto OSF-compliant digital access and content protection system, which is an alternative to the 18C based platform used in our previous trials. In addition, the trial will test statistical multiplexing, a technique that allows more services to be distributed in any given bandwidth, thus making better use of any investment in a mobile TV network."
The trial will also be used to explore the reception performance and functionality of the latest generation mobile handsets. Samsung is providing the core handsets for the trial (model SGH-P930), although the open architecture system deployed on this trial is compatible with multiple vendors' devices, some of which are also being trialled.
"Part of the system development has involved integration of the mobile TV service with cellular mobile network services," Farrimond said. "This was a greater challenge than in previous trials, since the security technology has advanced over the past year or so. We're also gaining further experience in the development of electronic program guides (EPG) and other interactive applications associated with Mobile TV services."
Currently, participants in the trial have access to five mobile TV channels: Australian public service channels ABC, ABC2, and SBS, plus Turner Broadcasting's CNN and Boomerang. However, this line-up could change as the trial - scheduled to end on 31 July - progresses."
Tags: [thomson] [mobile tv] [cnn] [cnn] [dvb-h] [broadcast australia]
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