MODIBEC MODIBEC State-of-the-Art

Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital encoding rather than analogue to transmit broadcasts such as television or radio. In Radio, DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) is the open standard digital radio system for short-wave, AM/medium-wave and long-wave broadcasts. China has shown great interest in investing in DRM.

DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) has evolved from being a digital replacement of analogue radio to a fully-fledged multi-service, multimedia broadcast system incorporating recent audio and video coding technologies, for example using the DAB data mode and DMB standards. China (Beijing Jolon Digital Media Broadcasting, affiliated to Beijing Radio) started a DAB commercial service in April 2006.

For television broadcast, there are technologies such as DVB-T and DVB-H. DVB-T has been used to provide television services in public transportation. Recent receiver developments enable use in vehicle and high-speed train environments. DVB-H was developed to provide broadcasting to mobile devices, such as PDAs, mobile telephones and PMPs (Personal Multimedia Players). Shanghai Oriental Pearl (Group) Co., Ltd. started its first Mobile TV on bus services in China with the adoption of the DVB-T.

The convergence of digital broadcasting technologies with mobile communications enables broadcast video and data services to be delivered to handheld receivers. As the synergies between mobile technologies and broadcast technologies become increasingly clear, the telecom and broadcast industries are aligning their interests to take full advantage of the wealth of opportunities opened up by this new cooperation.

DVB-H is currently under trial in some 20 countries. MediaFLO exists in the US as a proprietary standard, but current use of DVB-H in North America demonstrates that countries using the ATSC system for television receivers are interested in DVB-H to provide services to portable and handheld devices.

Over the last ten years, digital technology has supported a rapid growth in the personal consumption of media, and digital broadcasting is becoming increasingly popular for television usage in Asian countries.

Source: ERTICO - ITS Europe