Mobile end user device displaying live event

Digital broadcasting: More than brilliant pictures and crystal clear sound New possibilities through data services
Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Jaekel Product Marketing Datacasting Rohde&Schwarz FTK GmbH

Digital broadcasting offers a marvellous quality of pictures and sound with improved reception conditions. TV-everywhere is coming. New applications and services become reality, which extends the attractiveness of this technology. Mobile reception of extra information, transmission of local news based on modern and appealing data broadcasting motivate to actively participate in the digitalisation and convergence of the media. City information where they are needed Travellers need information. What has to be visited ? What's on today ? Where are the top events in town ? Visitors are usually on the way, cut off wired sources of information, such as the Internet. Und those information are needed especially on the road, now and here. So what would be better than receiving these services in the car, in public transport, on mobile terminals. Digital terrestrial broadcast systems, as DVB-T and T-DAB, enable the realisation of such applications: The transmission of Web pages, selected and designed for receiving information which could be of interest for many city strollers. They promote public events, restaurants and sights. This makes a stroll through the city a unique experience. I n t e r n e t t e c h n o l o g y a n d i ts s t e a d y development give the opportunity to design contents that adjust automatically and flexibly to user terminals this is Rich Media. Mobile terminals, such as mobile phones with large colour displays, for instance, enhanced by a DVB-T receiver, can depict these additional data transmitted simultaneously with the TV program. These information come very costeffective, without expensive connection fees for a phone call, better and cheaper than WAP. Local interaction as well as browsing in existing offers can be done, just as receiving live video clips of simultaneous happenings.

Streaming of events, reception on a mobile terminal

The information are completely available in a short time due to the cyclical transmission by WebCarousels and the high transmission rate in digital broadcast systems. It's as easy as that: drive the car to the next parking bay, switch the receiver on and receive the latest suggestion what has to be seen within little time. It's good to know where you can get your favourite dish for a reasonable price or which places you better should avoid. Let yourself take to the museum Berlin, for example, has to offer many museums and exhibitions. What is needed is an overview over the cultural life. Or are you interested in a special topic or a certain exhibit ? A more detailed description of the pieces to be seen would be nice. Nothing easier than this. Transmitters in the vicinity bring these kinds of information to your PDA free of charge. Now you know where to go and where this place is situated. Then you could have a look on the exhibition structure with the help of 3D models to find the most attractive route according to your interests. Having arrived at the museum, small in-house transmitters provide you with uninterrupted reception of a digital guide. It becomes unnecessary to borrow head-sets. Graphs and pictures on your

PDA complete the exhibition. And the best: You can show this information later on to family and friends who preferred to go shopping instead. The received data can be saved to your device and are consequently available also after your visit to the museum. Information which can be taken home easily. To which cinema do we go ? There is a number of cinemas in the city showing so many films that it is hardly possible to keep an overview. It would be great to have a schedule of all cinemas, and also the possibility to have a preview into the film and watch the trailer. Why not ? Data services, such as Streaming Media, compressed by modern MPEG-4 technology, deliver those trailers to the cinemagoer. This helps to decide for a film and you can already catch a glimpse at your favourite actor. Children will be happy about that this is the end of boredom: While mommy or daddy are driving, they have a look on what they can expect. You can even get the information where to book tickets. Simply activate the telephone module, perhaps there will be special discounts for using this way of buying tickets.

Left: i-wagen as mobile content editing system of data services, on-site generation of information and video streams - Right above: data service displayed in a web browser: song title and text with supplementary information - Right below: mobile device for the reception of data services via DVB-T Can I see this again ? Beautiful weather outside, just the right time to go to the beach. But then, you would miss the game of the year. If you could just see the goals to know how it is going. Well, just take the PDA with receiver with you and the day is made. Thanks to the additional data service which is transmitted by TV- or radio broadcasters via DVB or DAB, one has to miss it. The goals are sent as short MPEG-4 video sequences. The cyclical transmission and the option to choose your club, give the opportunity to see clearly that the keeper has been standing in the wrong corner of the goal. We are ready for the World Championship. And when you are at the stadium since you are luckily in possession of a ticket, you can watch a scene in slow motion again. Enough beach for a day, back to the city. What's going on tonight ? Event-TV as streaming service gives a hint on how the atmosphere is at the concert hall. The stage looks great. So let's go there. News always when you need them Everybody knows the situation: you get into the car, switch your radio on, and the news are over. What did they say about jams ? What will the weather be like in the next days ? The solution is iNews (Instant News). These are news as spoken audio clips. They are steadily received in the background already when you begin your journey or when you have finished your CD. These spoken news are played directly on demand simply by pushing the button, transmitted and saved as MP3 files. Filtering the news according to your favourite topics, your personal profile enables the reception of exchange quotations of your custody account. With the help of this feature, you always get the information important for you at the time you need them. Datacasting the solution behind All these examples are applications of data services as supplement of broadcast systems Datacasting. The combination of different technologies, such as Internet content and technologies, digital terrestrial transmissions via DAB or DVB-T, as well as the reception on mobile terminals, as laptops, PDAs or mobile phones with broadcast reception modules, make these applications possible. Thanks to modern compression technologies as MPEG-4 and developments as XML, this processing is highly effective and adjustable on most different terminals without complicated redesign. Even with little bandwidth, these applications can be realised in the same good quality as digital TV or radio itself. More than radio or television is achieved by the digitalisation of broadcasting. It is a most economical solution for the information service provider, as well as for the user. It's becoming so attractive that the change over into the age of digital broadcasting can hardly be waited for.