[opendtv] News: Stations to Organize More Mobile-DTV Tests
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:26:18 -0400
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6588890.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2228
Stations to Organize More Mobile-DTV Tests
Open Mobile Video Coalition to work with Advanced Television Systems
Committee to speed standards process.
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/20/2008 4:00:00 AM
The Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of more than 800 stations
pushing for a new mobile-digital-TV standard, confirmed that it will
organize further field trials this fall in conjunction with the
Advanced Television Systems Committee, as previously reported by B&C.
The OMVC will formally announce Wednesday that it is offering the
ATSC expanded support in the process of setting a new mobile/handheld
(M/H) standard that will enable stations to broadcast video and data
to cell phones and other portable devices.
The support includes additional funding and the commitment of
participating stations and manpower for ATSC testing of a candidate
M/H standard, which is expected to be in place by mid-October. Both
the OMVC and the ATSC said their goal is to have a final standard
ratified no later than the second quarter of 2009.
"Expanding our support for the ATSC's important work is a
reaffirmation of broadcasters' deep and unwavering commitment to
fielding outstanding mobile-digital-television services to
consumers," said Brandon Burgess, OMVC president and ION Media
Networks chairman and CEO, in a statement. "We will work together
swiftly and steadily to accelerate industry adoption of the ATSC M/H
Standard and realize this untapped opportunity nationwide."
The OMVC previously vetted competing mobile-DTV systems from LG
Electronics/Harris, Samsung/Rohde & Schwarz/Nokia and
Thomson/Micronas in a series of field evaluations in San Francisco
and Las Vegas called the Independent Demonstration of Viability
(IDOV).
The OMVC's new proposed support includes corroborative testing of the
M/H core transmission system, or "physical layer"; independent
verification of the candidate standard; complete system validation;
and on-air facility and interoperability testing.
"I think it's a substantial testing proposal and a good follow-on to
IDOV," OMVC executive director Anne Schelle said. "We're really
kicking the tires on the M/H system and candidate standard itself."
Schelle didn't have details on which markets the OMVC will conduct
the tests in, although she said the same locations will probably be
used for the different phases of the proposed tests and they will
likely be announced in October. An important step, she added, will be
the independent-verification phase, where a third party will build
gear for the mobile-DTV system proposed jointly by LG and Samsung.
The OMVC also plans to conduct consumer trials of mobile DTV, which
will be separate from the ATSC process and will be designed to gauge
the business prospects for such a service. Stations in Dallas and
Chicago have offered to host such trials, but those plans are not
firm and any consumer trial wouldn't start until early next year,
Schelle said.
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