Mobile TV using 3G technologies

3G (Third Generation) is the third generation of telecommunication standards and technology for mobile networking, represents the evolution from previous standards, it is replacing 2G and 2.5G networks (CDG, 2006).

3G networks, which were designed to have a greater capability for data. The main advantage is that it use of a wide radio spectrum resulting in a faster data transmission, which suits multimedia services (Kumar, 2007).

The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is one of the 3G mobile systems being developed under the ITU's IMT-2000 framework. 3G-UMTS provides circuitswitched connection up to 384 kbps and packet-switchedconnections up to 2 Mbps. Is achived by using 5 MHz carriers, improved radio interfaces, and core architectures (Kumar, 2007).

Speaking about Mobile TV services being provided over 3G networks, are possible thanks to standards like MBMS, 1xEvolution Data Optimized (1xEV-DO) and High-Speed Downlink Packet Data Access (HSDPA). These standards were driven by the need to make available Mobile TV services to serve more users within the same cellular networks and improve quality (Kumar, 2007).

Just checking my mobile phone and accessing to “Vodafone Live” service platform I can say that today video on demand through clip streaming services as well as live video are available for a broad range of content, , weather, sports, etc.

Mobile phone operators in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and specific areas of USA and Africa America offer such services (Kumar, 2007).

Multimedia (video and/or video) services including live TV over mobile networks are provided by streaming the video and audio over the networks in a manner very similar to streaming over the Internet (like Youtube), The streaming service quality is subject to sustained rates of data transfer that depends on the network technology and protocols.

Mobile TV services are possible and facilitated by the use of common standards for the file formats and video and audio codec’s as formalized by the 3G Partnership Project and the 3GPP Packet Streaming Standards (3GPP-PSS) (Kumar, 2007).

The procedures for setting up packet-switched streaming sessions have been formalized under the 3GPP-PSS for video streaming.

As I mentioned in the beginning the current 3G technology is the result from the evolution from voice-oriented networks such as 2G and 2.5G (GSM & CDMA). This evolution taken place in two branches, those involving GSM and those involving CDMA networks. The GSM network evolved to GPRS which evolver to EDGE (2-2.5G technologies), and finally evolved to the UMTS framework (3G). The UMTS uses Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to carry the radio air transmissions. (Kumar, 2007)

The CDMA networks evolved from IS95A to IS-95B and then to CDMA2000 a 3G standard. More evolutions have taken place in order to meet new demands of real-time Mobile TV (CDG). WCDMA (UMTS) standard dominates the market is a direct spread technology, and the CDMA2000 standards have grown. According to a report from RNCOS, the total number of 3G subscribers using WCDMA and CDMA2000 grew 45% in 2007 over the previous year to cross the mark of 600 million (ITU, 2008).

Figure 1: 3G Standards

In the next post I will discuss the standardization process for multimedia delivery (Movile TV) in 3G networks, and future technologies.

References:

- CDG. (2006). Retrieved 5 26, 2009, from Market Trends: http://www.cdg.org/technology/3g/resource/Market_Trends_FINAL_12-1-06.pdf
- ITU. (2008, 9 28). ITU news. Retrieved 05 2008, 25, from Global 3G Subscribers Passed 600 Million Mark in 2007 : http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/newslog/Global+3G+Subscribers+Passed+600+Million+Mark+In+2007.aspx
- Kumar, A. (2007). Mobile TV: DVB-H, DMB, 3G Systems and Rich Media Applications . Fucal Press Media Technoly Professional

Mobile TV Standards

In this chapter I provide a general view of which standards are currenlty using Mobile TV providers. Standardisation in that area according to the literature is fundamental to obtain a critical mass (operators goal). In next chapters I will define this standards in more detail and discuss their strong/weak points and future path.

According to the literature is important to distinguish between direct users, parties that read the standard to apply it, and indirect users, parties that have a stake in the application of the standard. In the Mobile TV industry that is complex because many actors are involved in different ways but I can say that mobile phone manufacturers are both indirect and direct users, because they develop and in some casese they just apply existing standards. Mobile Phone operators in most of the cases are also both indirect, apply existing standards to their infrastructure, and direct users, collaborate in the design and testing of the standards.

Most of the standards I will discuss are going to be describtive standards that describe a detailed solution to deliver TV to mobile devices. Most of the standards are the result of the collaboration and efforts off different parties that joint efforts.

Mobile video and TV content is a reality on existing 2.5G and 3G infrastructures, in downloading and streaming modes. However to cover mass-market, 3G has an overlay access network not designed and optimized to deliver large amounts of data to multiple receivers, from a technical an cost viewpoint. A single UMTS cell supports only a small number of simultunaneous, high-bit rate unicast multimedia sessions, typically four 256 kbit/s streams (Alcatel).

This capacity was improve with the planned evolution of UMTS, namely High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), that bring exceptional capacity to unicast. HSPDA can extend the bit rates to 10 Mbps or even grater on 5-MHz 3G networks (Kumar, 2007). In January 2009 HSDPA networks are commercially operating in 105 countries (GSA).

Work is already on for even higher data rate throughputs through 3GPP initiatives such as UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Node Long Term Evolution (3G LTE) (Kumar, 2007).

An alternative approach is deliver TV services is via a broadcast network. There are three main radio technology families for delivering broadcast content to mobile handset terminals:

· In-band cellular broadcast techniques suchas as the Multicast Services and Multinedia Services designed to overcome the actual limitation of 3G networks, when delivering live channels. MBMS is an extension to UMTS, and use multicast users to broadcast content rather than using one-to-one unicast sessions, which are limited by the capacity of the mobile network. (Kumar, 2007) (Alcatel)

· Terrestrial digital broadcast networks and extensions, are an important class, because of the high power terrestrial transmitters con provide and reach small mobile devices, with small antennas and indoor areas. Those are the main technologies using terrestrial transmission:
- Digital Video Broadcast transmission (DVB-H), based on DVB-T standards (Alcatel) .
- Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB), based on T-DAB standards Media Forward Link Only (MediaFlo), is a solution that improves DVB-H and is propertary of Qualcomm (US) (Kumar, 2007).
- ISDB-T is the Japanese digital television and allows HDTV as well as reception on small handsets. (Alcatel)

· Hybrid Satellite/Terrestrial systems is the combination of terrestrial and satellite systems to distribute Mobile TV. Such as S-DMB from SKT in Korea, MobaHo! From MBCO in Japan, both systems use the MBSAT satellite and the DVB-SH, satellite services to handhelds (Alcatel).

The following map (Figure 1) shows which standards are being used in each country:

Figure 1: Mobile TV standards geographical distribution (GSA)

It has been a massive job for the industry to come together and agree on standards that are being used as a common platform for delivering mobile TV services. The standards may differ slightly based on technology, but the extent of agreement that has been achieved in a time frame as short as a decade reflects a new life cycle of technology and products (Kumar, 2007).

To achieve this was necessary that countless group worked together. From chip manufacturers to operating systems and multimedia application software designers, handset manufacturers, software developers, the TV broadcast community, 3G mobile operators, and satellite TV broadcast operators, among the hundreds of stakeholders involver. It also involved the content generation industry, that generates audio and video content for the mobiles (Kumar, 2007).

The following Figure 2(Kumar, 2007) shows the current Mobile TV standards in the market:

Figure 2: Mobile TV technologies and standards

References:

- Alcatel. (n.d.). Alcatel White Paper. Retrieved 5 2009, 20, from Unlimited Mobile TV for the Mass Market: http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/com/en/appcontent/apl/S0206-MOBILE_TV-EN_tcm172-641791635.pdf?sess=e52f19db7d6cca388337e9f470a228fa
- GSA. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 25, 2009, from GSA January 2009 Market Update Shows 3G Evolution Steps Confirmed by Multiple Operators for HSPA+, LTE and EDGE Evolution: http://www.gsacom.com/news/gsa_261.php4
- Kumar, A. (2007). Mobile TV: DVB-H, DMB, 3G Systems and Rich Media Applications . Fucal Press Media Technoly Professional.

General Requeriments

Mobile TV is not like conventional TV, there are some constraints that differentiate them, in first place the technical features of a mobile device are different battery consumption, screen size, signal reception, etc.
Mobile devices are battery powered, so the TV system must take that in consideration to increase battery usage duration. Other constraints like man-made and natural noise affects the TV signal emission that diminish the reception quality, users are already compromising on their screen size, so the system shall mitigate “noise” effects on the receiving capabilities. So are required a set of special requirements for the compression and transmission parameters of the TV signal. Also the system must secure the distribution and consumption of Mobile TV. (Faria, Henriksson, Stare, & Talmola, 2006)

Additionally, the system coverage should cope with two scenarios indoor & outdoor.

Other difference is the way users consume the TV service, a mobile user will watch TV occasionally and during short time, that affects the TV content that operator should provide. The user probably we will use the service when is moving (mobile user), which is a technical difficult constraint to take into account. Most of the user expects a system that allows and easy operation (like traditional TV). (Carlsson & Walden, 2007)

The following are the requirements that need to be met by a service provider networks (Kumar, 2007):
- The first requirement is to have protocols standardized and agreed on video streaming.
- The networks needs standards for encoding of video and audio defined for video streaming.
- The networks must have enough data rate available for uninterrupted video transferences.

The system should be usable in different parts of the world and should offer the flexibility to use different transmission bands and channels. So the ideal system must be compatible (interoperable) with different network and systems implementations, so must be accepted by electronics manufacturer, mobile operator, TV broadcaster, and standard organizations (ITU, ETSI, etc.). The system require a precise understanding of the technological constraints and associated costs, the needs and expectations of customers, and needs to flexible to meet new requirements and business models.

To sump up, to deliver and recieve Mobile TV is made possible by standards and technologies that define audio and video coding, transmission, broadcast, and reception.

References:

- Carlsson, C., & Walden, P. (2007). IEEE xplore. Retrieved 5 2009, 20, from Mobile TV - To Live or Die by Content: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F4076361%2F4076362%2F04076476.pdf%3Farnumber%3D4076476&authDecision=-203

- Faria, G., Henriksson, J., Stare, E., & Talmola, P. (2006). IEEE xplore. Retrieved 05 2009, 22, from DVB-H: Digital Broadcast Services to Handheld Devices: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F11%2F4114770%2F04114803.pdf&authDecision=-203

-Kumar, A. (2007). Mobile TV: DVB-H, DMB, 3G Systems and Rich Media Applications . Fucal Press Media Technoly Professional.

Mobile TV

A simple definition about what is Mobile TV could be: “The transmission of visual images of moving and stationary objects, generally with accompanying sound, as electromagnetic signals and the reconversion of received signals into visual images on any mobile or portable device (mobile phone, PDAs, etc.) in any location” (Mirics).

Mobile analog TV receiver have been on the market for years. They have not been a high success, which may be to the fact do not have any new additional feature over the normal television.

But digital Mobile TV is just television or this technology brings new services? This is the question that a lot of people may have. Mobile TV is a supplement to the normal television that have the capacity to support different services to the end-user handset terminal like Video-on-Demand TV (VoD), social TV platforms, interactivity (users can vote and take part in show games), etc. (Vodafone).

A mobile TV service requires significant content development and formatting to adapt offerings to the specifics of the mobile broadcast environment and market demand (Jordan & Schatz, 2006).

The objective of the industry is to develop new adding services, trying to develop the next generation of multi-media technology services in order to offer a new experience to enrich and satisfy mobile end-users. Video 1 shows the Siemens Mobile TV solutions.

Video 1

We can distinguish basically two television services, unicast and broadcast delivery.

Unicast (one-to-one) the user access personalized content (VoD), accessing it when and where he/she wants. Using a dedicated radio bearer per user allows an unlimited number of TV channels to be offered to a limited number of users. Is an interactive service, user makes a content query to the Mobile TV service provider (operator), so is necessary a bi-directional link between the end user and a video server is required to allows this interaction (Alcatel).

Broadcast (one to many) service is good to deliver the same content to lots of consumers at the same time. Using a common radio bearer for all users in the coverage area allows a limited number of TV channels to be offered to an unlimited number of users. That contributes in a most efficient use of channel capacity and a cost effective delivery method. The mass market can most optimally be achieved using this technology (Alcatel).

The following diagram (Blondeau O., 2007) shows the strength/weakness of five factors of both delivery services:

Diagram 1 (Blondeau, 2007)

There is a dilemma “Unicast VS Broadcast”, and this question appeals to mobile operators. Operators want to exploit their existing mobile network as much as possible, so they are interested in services, like unicast TV that can work in their current infrastructure (3G). But one of the important reasons why operators need to implement broadcast systems is to increase capacity and quality to cope with mass access to TV services, due the network limitations. The 3G network when must support more than a “few” users in a cell area the service rapidly breaks down because a lack of bandwidth (Broadcast Engineering, 2008). However, from a user-social point of view, broadcast is going in the wrong direction. Nowadays we live in the era of personalization, users want on-demand services. Clear examples of that demand are the success of Youtube and multimedia podcasts. Currently unicast services, typically in the form of streaming video and data delivered over a 3G network, are the most predominant type of mobile TV (Broadcast Engineering, 2008). But from a scalability point of view, switching to a broadcast technology makes sense.

So the solution to this dilemma is to merge the two approaches into a unified system such that the limitations of each are overcome by the primary advantage of the other. Unicast being used for interactive services on-demand content, and the broadcast service to support popular forms of content (sports, news, life events, etc) (Alcatel). In such a combined system, radio resources are not wasted.

References:

- Alcatel. (n.d.). Alcatel White Paper. Retrieved 5 2009, 20, from Unlimited Mobile TV for the Mass Market: http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/com/en/appcontent/apl/S0206-MOBILE_TV-EN_tcm172-641791635.pdf?sess=e52f19db7d6cca388337e9f470a228fa
- Blondeau, O. (2007, 7 19). ANACOM & DigiTAG Mobile TV. Retrieved 5 2009, 20, from Broadcast/unicast complementarity for mobile TV and technology/spectrum issues: http://www.anacom.pt/streaming/olivieblondeau_apre.pdf?categoryId=247362&contentId=500329&field=ATTACHED_FILE
- Broadcast Engineering. (19 de 2 de 2008). Retrieved 5 2009,23 from Unicast versus broadcast mobile TV key dilemma for 2008 Mobile World Congress attendees: http://broadcastengineering.com/RF/unicast_versus_broadcast_mobile_0219/
- Jordan, N., & Schatz, R. (2006). IEEE Xplore. Retrieved 5 2009,13 from Broadcast Television Services Suited for Mobile Handheld Devices: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F11153%2F35811%2F01698502.pdf&authDecision=-203

Introduction

Emerging new technology applications in the mobile industry are revolutioning the way we live in this world. The mobile phones industry has evolved in a fast way in the last 15 years (Video 1). Mobile phones are getting more and more sophisticated and complex and new features and applications for mobile phones are created continuously. New technology allows more applications and services for users.

Video 1: Mobile Phone evolution

Portability is the evolution for consumer electronics. Mobile TV is the next step as mobile phones evolve and get more multimedia features. Mobile TV is a new service concept “Mobile TV on the go” that has the potential to change the present market for mobile handset services. Mobile TV combines the two bestselling consumer products in history, TVs and mobile phones (Jordan & Schatz, 2006).

The Mobile TV service is defined as real-time broadcast transmissions of multimedia (video & audio) content to mobile devices (Yeun, 2007), represents an emerging potential platform for multimedia applications because it bring traditional TV services and on-demand multimedia content to mobile devices (Jiehan Zhou, 2009).

Telecommunication infrastructures, ICT technology and media content service are converging in a way that mobile TV is feasible and a current reality. Mobile TV has become feasible as television signals are receivable on a mobile device. Is nowadays a reality, in the US mobile phone users have been accessing live broadcast TV since late 2003. And in China, due to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the population using mobile TV in the Beijing area increased. (Jiehan Zhou, 2009)

During the last 5 years a high number of technological and commercial trials in Europe and USA confirmed the feasibility and real applicability and potential of Mobile TV.

Mobile TV is multimedia service which has considerable technical and commercial attention. TV services offer a high potential revenue generator for all the players in the value chain, mobile operators and manufacturers, broadcasters and content providers.

There are multiple technologies for delivering Mobile TV services. Different transmission standards are adopted in different world areas such as EU, Asia, and America. Presently there are some uncertainties concerning the future market positions and strategies of: mobiles operators, TV broadcasters, content providers, standardization bodies and others, so they are researching and working on defining a interoperable and compatible technological scenario that enables the development of new innovative features and functionalities (Jiehan Zhou, 2009).

The past decade has seen many proposed standards for delivering Mobile TV service, such as Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H), Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB), Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS), MIMO, MediaFLO and so on (Jiehan Zhou, 2009).

The objectives of this Blog are:

- 1st Explain which technologies are behind Mobile TV services (emission).
- 2nd What is going on in the Mobile TV market discuss about the current standards situation and trend which are expected to dominate the sector according the country.
- 3rd Discuss about the new challenges in the broadcasting TV industry (Europe).

Refrerences:

- Jiehan Zhou, Z. O. (2009). ACM Portal. Retrieved 5 2009, 19, from Digital TV on mobile devices: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1515650

- Jordan, N., & Schatz, R. (2006). IEEE Xplore. Retrieved el 19 de 5 de 2009, de Broadcast Television Services Suited for Mobile Handheld Devices: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F11153%2F35811%2F01698502.pdf&authDecision=-203

- Yeun, C. Y. (2007). IEEE Xplore. Retrieved 5 19, 2009, from Mobile TV Technologies: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F4459487%2F4475588%2F04475607.pdf%3Farnumber%3D4475607&authDecision=-203