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IP-based Networks, Services and Terminals for Convergence Systems

Description du projet

Networked audiovisual systems and home platforms
Removing the barriers to digital TV on the move

Within the next few years, watching television on portable devices, including mobile phones, is expected to be widespread in Europe.

European researchers have developed a TV-to-mobile transmission system they say would allow Europe’s industry to roll out commercial DVB-H (digital video broadcasting – handheld) networks more easily.

Their research is helping to keep Europe’s broadcasters at the forefront of developments in digital television broadcasting.

DVB-H is part of the same family as DVB-T (digital video broadcasting – terrestrial), the platform being used to roll out digital TV to households all over Europe. Digital satellite and digital cable TV standards are also part of the same family.

Roadmap for mobile TV

Project INSTINCT, which has now come to an end, was set up in January 2004 with the aim of developing both new technology and a roadmap to enable the end-to-end delivery chain – from initial transmission to viewing the pictures on handsets – for providing TV content on mobile phones.

During the second phase of the project, researchers conducted medium-scale field trials around Europe to validate the mobile TV technology. The progress made by the INSTINCT partners was key to the recent successful rollout of the world’s first DVB-H commercial services in Italy and Finland.

Looking back on INSTINCT’s achievements, project coordinator Thomas Owens of Brunel University is convinced it would not have been possible to roll out commercial networks so quickly without the project’s groundbreaking work.

The introduction of DVB-H networks elsewhere in Europe is delayed mainly due to the lack of available spectrum, as well as licensing and commercial issues. The operation in Italy was facilitated because a mobile operator bought out a TV broadcaster and used the airwaves for mobile rather than terrestrial TV.

Planning the transition

Telecommunications and broadcast regulators throughout Europe are now planning the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. They will also have to decide what to do with the radio broadcast spectrum, some of which will be freed up by the greater efficiency of digital transmission, the so-called ‘digital dividend’. Several have already decided to set some of the spectrum aside for mobile TV services.

“Thanks to the success of the Italian and Finnish commercial networks, they can see DVB-H is a valid technology and there is consumer demand for mobile TV on handsets,” says Owens. “So now they can make an informed choice about how much spectrum to allocate to digital terrestrial TV, including High Definition TV (HDTV), how much to mobile TV and how much, if any, to other uses.”

Pictures on the move

Perhaps the major contribution of INSTINCT to making commercial DVB-H possible was the team’s development of the receiver architecture for mobile handsets. Most modern handsets already come equipped to receive both 3G and WiFi signals. Where there is a commercial DVB-H service, a built-in mobile TV receiver should become standard.

The researchers also had to develop middleware for handsets to convert the signal from a data stream to pictures on the mobile handset. The team also focused on creating a planning blueprint for a whole DVB-H network so it could interoperate with existing mobile networks.

Due to their work, INSTINCT’s researchers have helped make the rollout of large-scale mobile TV in Europe more likely in the near future.

INSTINCT will lay the foundation for the commercial take-up of the co-operation of broadcasting and telecommunication services for people on the move. It will develop a comprehensive vision of the business drivers, based on a study of user requirements and an active monitoring of the regulatory factors. It will also finalise all technical aspects necessary for a wide adoption of the system: multi-modal low-power terminals, scalable network and RF spectrum engineering solutions, standardised service provisioning and content creation tools and end-to-end quality of service. INSTINCT will build e-Europe by providing more radio network access and more affordable and attractive secure services to the end user. It will allow a non-discriminatory access for all potential users, i.e. for all citizens, and it will react to the users' demand for appropriate levels of quality in multimedia applications. It thus directly addresses the aims of eEurope 2005 by providing significant action to stimulate secure services on a widely available broadband infrastructure. Furthermore, it fosters e-inclusion by significantly enhancing the multi-platform provision of services with its "cross-over" service concept. In the new business and regulatory environment, the longer-term activities of various international workgroups such as DVB and 3GPP have slowed down as industry searches for a shorter term for return on investment. INSTINCT will bridge this recent trend with the latest technological developments, allowing DVB to keep its worldwide domination as a broadcasting standard toolbox by making DVB-T mobile and by supporting the design and testing of the DVB-H standard. INSTINCT will thus make a major contribution in helping Europe maintain its leadership in mobile and broadband communication technologies, and will constitute a milestone in response to Framework Directive 2002/21/EC of 7 March 2002 and to the Action Plan on digital television called by EP Resolution of 26 September

Programme(s)

Thème(s)

Appel à propositions

FP6-2002-IST-1
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Régime de financement

IP - Integrated Project

Coordinateur

BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
Contribution de l’UE
€ 1 157 557,00
Adresse
KINGSTON LANE
UB8 3PH UXBRIDGE
Royaume-Uni

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Type d’activité
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Aucune donnée

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Dernière mise à jour: 11 Avril 2016

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/507014/fr

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