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Mobile broadcast technology demonstrated at 3GSM

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Feb 13, 2007

Qualcomm and Abertis Telecom are conducting a live demonstration of MediaFLO mobile broadcast technology during 3GSM World Congress 2007in Barcelona, Spain.

Qualcomm and Abertis Telecom, Spain's leading telecommunications infrastructure management company and the official 3GSM Mobile TV Network Partner, are conducting a live demonstration of MediaFLO mobile broadcast technology during 3GSM World Congress 2007in Barcelona, Spain.

MediaFLO technology is a global mobile entertainment platform, enabling broadcasting of high-quality video streams, audio-only streams, Clipcasting media and IP datacasting to mobile handsets.

3GSM delegates will be able to view 20 streaming channels of high-quality, live, international and local video and audio content throughout the venue.

The demonstration will take place on a variety of MediaFLO-enabled OEM handsets at the Qualcomm booth (Fira de Barcelona, Hall 8, Exhibit B37/40) and will use transmitters in a single-frequency network implementation, as deployed commercially in the United States.

Abertis Telecom will provide its capacity to demonstrate MediaFLO technology in the show and has deployed the MediaFLO network infrastructure at the Congress, covering the Barcelona fairground area and providing an extensive channel lineup.

MediaFLO technology is built around FLO, a globally recognised, open-standard, air-interface technology designed to increase capacity and coverage, as well as reduce cost for multimedia content delivery to mobile handsets.

The live mobile TV demonstrations will illustrate that MediaFLO technology uses layered modulation to offer excellent coverage and performance even in dense urban environments like Barcelona.

MediaFLO technology is designed to reduce the network cost of delivering multimedia content by dramatically decreasing the number of transmitters that need to be deployed in a given service area.

"This demonstration of MediaFLO technology, which was engineered specifically for the task of mobile wireless multimedia delivery, offers more than double the total effective throughput of any other mobile broadcast technology being shown at 3GSM, resulting in more channels, more compelling services and a superior quality of video and audio", said Omar Javaid, Vice President of Business Development, Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies.

"Qualcomm's patent licensing policy means that FLO technology can be licensed for use in CDMA/WCDMA/UMTS handsets with no increase to its standard royalty rate for these handsets".

"We believe this will foster a thriving global community for MediaFLO-based mobile broadcast products and services".

Engineered specifically for the mobile environment, MediaFLO technology offers several advantages over other mobile multicast technologies, including higher-quality video and audio, faster channel switching time, superior mobile reception, optimised power consumption and greater capacity.

Specific performance features of MediaFLO technology in an 8MHz channel include: support for transmitting up to 30 streaming channels of QVGA-quality (320x240 pixels) video at up to 25 frames per second with a constant quality of service; 10 stereo audio channels (HE AAC+ parametric stereo) and multiple clipcasting downloads per day (short-format video clips); ans an average channel switching time of approximately two seconds.

In addition, MediaFLO's mobile broadcast technology will complement wireless operators' WCDMA/HSDPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO cellular network data and voice services, delivering content to the same handsets used on these 3G networks.

The MediaFLO system is an end-to-end solution comprised of the MediaFLO Media Distribution System (MDS) and FLO technology.

The MediaFLO system is a manageable, scalable, subscription-based distribution system and an efficient over-the-air network solution that provides wireless operators a way to cost-effectively deliver the high-quality audio and video content their subscribers desire.

FLO technology is an open, global standard for broadcast multimedia.

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has ratified four other FLO standards - TIA-1099, 1102, 1103 and 1004 - covering FLO Air Interface Specification, Minimum Performance Standards for Devices, Minimum Performance Standards for Transmitters, and Test Application Protocol for Devices and Transmitters, respectively.