Jay Adrick, Vice President of Broadcast Technology for Harris Broadcast talks about MPH™ (Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld)
Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) and LG Electronics are moving closer to the adoption of their MPH™ (Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld) standard for mobile devices. With a decision by the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) due in late 2008
Jay Adrick, Vice President of Broadcast Technology for Harris Broadcast addressed some questions about the proposed MPH standard as relates to TV broadcasters.
IpTVe
Currently, how many broadcast stations are in trials of the MPH platform?
Jay Adrick
MPH is currently on the air on two stations in Chicago, WCPX (owned by ION) and WPWR (owned by Fox), plus the Capitol Broadcasting Station WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since February 2007, U.S. MPH trials have also been conducted in Columbus, OH; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas, NV; and San Jose, CA.
IpTVe
Are broadcasters in the U.S. the primary trial sites?
Jay Adrick
The ATSC is the Digital Television standard in much of North and South America. Any country or broadcast following the ATSC standard could adopt MPH. Tests have been done in Mexico and Argentina. Canada is also very interested in the technology.
IpTVe
Within the IP-encapsulated mobile DTV signals, how wide is the data stream, i.e. what is the bandwidth for what you describe as "non-real-time content delivery, electronic service guides, banner advertising, datacasting and interactive experiences"?
Jay Adrick
Each mobile channel can support a payload of about 600 kbps. Any one TV station can support a minimum of one and a maximum of 16 mobile channels, depending upon how much bandwidth the station wants to dedicate to the mobile service. The entire ATSC channel supports a data rate of 19.39 Mbps, including the fixed HD and SD services, the mobile services, and any data services. As an example, a broadcast could devote 12 Mbs to an HD signal, 3 Mbs to an SD (standard Definition) and 4 Mbs to mobile services with .4 Mbs left over for PSIP services.
IpTVe
What additional transmission hardware will be required by broadcasters to install?
Jay Adrick
Each mobile channel can support a payload of about 600 kbps. Any one TV station can support a minimum of one and a maximum of 16 mobile channels, depending upon how much bandwidth the station wants to dedicate to the mobile service. The entire ATSC channel supports a data rate of 19.39 Mbps, including the fixed HD and SD services, the mobile services, and any data services. As an example, a broadcast could devote 12 Mbs to an HD signal, 3 Mbs to an SD (standard definition) and 4 Mbs to mobile services with .4 Mbs left over for PSIP services.
IpTVe
What technology hurdles were required to be vaulted in order to make the platform work with hand held devices in motion?
Jay Adrick
ATSC was developed originally as a fixed wireless service. As such, it was determined that a single carrier modulation such an 8-VSB would be more efficient than a multiple carrier solution like COFDM. When the ATSC called for a mobile standard, the biggest technical hurdle to overcome was to ensure the survivability of the signal in difficult multipath conditions while maintaining the integrity of the main digital television signal. The MPH system has been tested up to 100 miles per hour in real life and up to 200 miles per hour in a laboratory setting.
IpTVe
Does Harris or LG have plan to partner with existing mobile software and content management platform companies to leverage this technology?
Jay Adrick
Harris and LG have been behind the physical layer of MPH. The standard, if adopted by the ATSC, is an open one that would welcome any and all services that are of interest to the broadcasters and their viewers. The technology for mobile TV over ATSC is being championed by the hundreds of member TV stations who are members of the Open Mobile Video Coalition.
In addition to the transmission of video programming, the MPH technology will accommodate IP-encapsulated mobile DTV signals. This will allow broadcasters to send non-real-time content such as electronic service guides, banner ads, datacasting and interactive experiences. Using the 6-MHz, 19.39 megabit-per-second digital pathway, broadcasters will be able to
Leverage their investment in ATSC transmission
Deliver robust DTV signals to mobile-portable-handheld devices
Provide LOCAL News, Weather, Sports and traffic to consumers
Add 2 to 6 channels of mobile content per station
Time-line for MPH trials
2/07 MPH conducts first on air test in Columbus, Ohio on Dispatch Broadcasting WBNS-DT
4/07 MPH broadcasts NAB 2007 demonstrations in Las Vegas via Sinclair Broadcast Group
8/07 MPH on the air in Washington DC for VIP demonstrations on Gannett Broadcasting WUSA-DT channel 34
10/07 MPH international demonstrations at CAPERT show in Buenos Aries ARTEAR VHF Channel 13
11/07 MPH technical trial in Chicago with handheld receivers on Fox Broadcasting WPWR-DT Channel 51
12/07 MPH returns to Washington DC for OMVC demonstration with handheld receivers on WUSA-DT
12/07 MPH conducts pre CES tests with both handheld and new in car receivers on Sinclair Broadcast Group
1/08 MPH "on air" for public demonstrations of receiver technology at CES 2008 in Las Vegas via Sinclair Broadcast Group
1/08 - 2/08 MPH conducting technical trials on Cox Broadcasting KICU-DT in San Jose California
2/08 -4/08 MPH is participant in IDOV testing to support OMVC/ATSC standardization process
4/08 MPH on air in Las Vegas for NAB 2008 demonstrations with commercial receiver prototypes
7/08 MPH on air in Raleigh, NC at WRAL
Some of the points Jay mentioned are worth noting, a relatively inexpensive installation for most markets at $200,000 and those broadcasters can use their existing studio link and antenna. How far down the market chain MPH would be implemented is an open question. As we live in proximity of New York City, I expect to be testing MPH or some variant later next year, how well it will fare in the canyons of New York remains an open question.
According to the ATSC, the original ten companies that submitted RFP's in June of 2007 for the M/H standard were narrowed down several times to three main proposals: 1). LG/Harris, 2). Samsung/Rohde & Schwarz, and 3). Thomson/Micronas. Samsung and LG/Harris joined forces on May 14 of this year to propose their jointly developed technology as the North American technology standard.
Ken Nist, (MSEE) a retired design engineer raised some questions including the testing methodology itself, for example: "Columbus, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles are totally flat cities and thus are not representative of the rest of the country. In hillier terrain VHF would work better but would require an antenna longer than 7 inches."
"In addition, the reliability can be increased by taking more of the 6 MHz channel. But other sub-channels will suffer. Let's say there is 1 MPH viewer for every 100 HD viewers, how would a station justify taking more than 1% of the 6 MHz channel for it? MPH probably takes 10% of the channel."
But on the business development front, one can certainly envision opportunities for software developers to create applications that would reside above the physical layer and deliver custom tailored news, media and other data content for local stations.
In addition, Geo targeting consumers with advertising has been a goal for some time and perhaps an M/H content could add an interesting component in this puzzle. On the other side, will viewers find all the advertising a nuisance? As one person recently mentioned to me, the idea of walking by a Starbucks, get a coupon on your device is cool and has been the goal however, things can turn out differently when implemented live and continuously.
To sum, the future for OTA is not as dim as some prognosticate when they declared TV is dead. If the LG/Harris MPH proposal is made the standard for M/H, then it offers the potential to extend the reach of broadcasters and, of course, the advertisers who will make the economics viable. If however, the user experience is not stable in all or most conditions and advertisers do not underwrite the cost consumers might be slow to adopt an added expense to their monthly cell phone bills - especially if the country is still in a recession.
