ATSC Mobile-Handheld Standard Candidates Combine Proposals
Two of ten companies offering mobile DTV technology for consideration in ATSC development of an industrywide standard have combined their proposals. That creates a third contender in what had been viewed as a two-horse race. Zurich-based Micronas and Thomson Grass Valley have merged their mobile DTV proposals, ratcheting up competition to technologies from Samsung and Rohde & Schwarz and Harris and LG. Broadcasters hope to nail down a standard in time to offer in-band mobile DTV service by the February 2009 analog cutoff. Thomson said it will take the lead in management and the presentation layer of the technology; Micronas will focus on the physical layer.
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Micronas and Thomson have teamed previously at ATSC. Both were among those who participated in the Grand Alliance that developed the ATSC standard for fixed DTV reception, said Richard Fiore, Thomson senior director for sales in transmission and mobility. “History indicates that we've been successful working together as a team and we should keep it going,” he said.
The new allies have their work cut out for them the next two weeks. Technical proposals are due Oct. 15 to the technical standards group overseeing the project. Samsung and Rohde & Schwarz have demonstrated their A-VSB technology; LG and Harris unveiled their Mobile Pedestrian Handheld system at NAB’s April Convention. Micronas and Thomson haven’t shown anyone their package, Fiore said. “Everything we've done is in terms of software. We have very little firmware and hardware available,” he said. But the companies are confident they'll have an impressive entry, Fiore said. “We understand what the timeline is, and we have made the commitment to provide the resources to meet that timeline,” he said.
Any ATSC-based standard may have drawbacks in the market, said Azzedine Boubguira, Dibcom vice president of marketing and development. “If somebody takes his car and travels from San Francisco to Los Angeles or anywhere between two cities, they will lose the signal until they get to the next city,” he said. Dibcom is involved in U.S. trials of a DVB-SH mobile TV system using satellites to deliver video across larger areas, solving the roaming problem. Moreover, it’s unclear whether a U.S. market for mobile DTV will ever appear. “From what I hear, Verizon isn’t really selling much” mobile video through Qualcomm’s MediaFLO service, “and not because they don’t want to,” he said. “That’s very disappointing and challenging. The U.S. market so far isn’t looking too good for us and for others in mobile TV.”
Qualcomm’s MediaFLO is participating in the ATSC process, but some observers question whether broadcasters will accept Qualcomm’s terms, which are typically propriety. In August, Qualcomm presented a plan for integrating its user interface and conditional access with ATSC’s transmission system to the committee and set a 2011 goal, said HiWire CEO Scott Wills. That may not be soon enough for broadcasters’ ambitious schedule, he said. “I don’t think they'll be the lead candidate for consideration, but things could change,” said Wills, who is overseeing DVB-H mobile TV trials in Las Vegas. “Local broadcasters are not going to settle on an exclusive technology like Qualcomm. I don’t think you're going to find them just locking in around a proprietary standard like FLO.”