Mobile TV Technologies:
Assessments & Challenges
Sami Alshuwair
Saudi Aramco Oil Company
Agenda
• What is Mobile TV?
• Mobile TV Market Demand
• Image Sizing Overview • Importance of Video Compression
• Streaming Serving Management
• Overview of Mobile TV Technologies
• The Economics of Unicast vs. Broadcast for Cellular Mobile TV
• Mobile TV Using 3G UMTS Architecture
• Challenges
• Conclusion
Some Interesting Quotes
• “The most important technical parameter of any system is cost” & “When analyzing a service be sure you understand the technology used in providing the service.” Dr. Charles Baker, SMU
• “In colder climates, people stay indoors more, which favors activities like watching television and Web browsing. …., so we can call them Telhomers. In contrast, some cultures (e.g., European) value a deep connection to nature or to other people, …..instead of watching TV or working on the computer….we can call European bandwidth users Cafeneans “ EXFO, FTTx PON Technology and Testing
• “…. virtual worlds monetizing and mobilizing, and cable companies becoming more "telco-ish" while telcos become more "IT-ish" and Internet video becomes more "TV-ish. “Frank Gens 2007 IDC Predictions Team
What is Mobile TV• Transmission of TV programs or video for
a range of wireless devices ranging
– Personal Computer
– Mobile Phone & Handheld
– Automotive
• Transmissions via:
– Broadcast
– Cellular
– Broadband
• Uses more efficient
– Video encoding/compression algorithm: H.264MPEG-4 AVC
– Audio coding: MPEG-4 HE
– COFDM
– Time Slicing
Source: Alcatel
Source: DiBcom
Single Carrier TransmissionCOFDM Multicarriers
Transmission
Source: CNN
News
Sports
Entertainment/series/comedy/reality tv
Current affairs programs
Short programs
Discussion programs
Music programs/videos
Finnish programs/programs w/o sub-titles
Weather forecast
Programs that can be listened to
Films
Children’s programs/cartoons
Documentaries
Programs made for Mobile TV
Local news
On-demand content
Program Types Best Suited for Mobile TV
Mobile TV Market Demand
Mobile TV Market Demand Cont.
Mobile TV Market Demand Cont.
Mobile TV Market Demand Cont.
Mobile TV users by 2010 out of 3G + Subscribes
Source: Pyramid Research
Mobile TV Market Demand Cont.• What happened in 2006
– Vendor merger Lucent+ Alcatel, Nokia+ Siemens ,
– Mighty AT&T is back
– Verizon and EvDo, VoIP
– AWS spectrum Auction ( top winners, TMO + Spectrumco,..)
– Sprint goes WiMAX at 2.5GHz
– MediaFLO vs, DVB-H the battle for market position. (crown castle DVB-H 30 markets by 2007)
– Continue the triple/quadruple players, Cellular, Cable, Dish..
– FCC approved for Satellite ICO, MSV, Terrestar ATC
– Erthlink + Google � municipal WiFi access in SF
Video/Image Sizing Overview• Human Eye prefers > 18 fps
“Smooth Flow”
• European (PAL) & American (NTSC):
– 50 fps (25 - 12) & 60 fps (30 -15)
• QVGA (76.8Kpixels) commonly used in Mobile TV
• Ex. TV / Motion Pictures Data Rate Calculation:– 76.8Kpixels @ 15 fps & 24-bit
(RGP)
– Uncompressed Data ≈ 277 Mbps
• 277 Mbps >> HSDPA (Max 14.4 Mbps) & 802.16D (Max 73.19 Mbps)
• 277 Mbps >> ISDN (Max 2.048 Mbps)
Mobile Screen Sizes and Resolutions
Source: Mobile DTV Alliance
Mobile TV Terminal Types
Source: Texas Instrument
DVB-H /T: Digital Video Broadcasting –Handheld /Television DMB: Digital Multimedia Broadcast ISDB: Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting DAB: Digital Audio Broadcast FLO: Forward Link Only
Source: Polytechnic University
Video Compression
• Why Compression?
– Bandwidth Not Enough
– Disk Space Not Enough
– Eliminate transmission of redundant materials
Performance Comparison for 90-Min. DVD-Quality Movie
Source: Intel
MPEG-AVC: Motion Picture Expert Group – Advance Video Coding
Video Compression Cont.
• H.264/MPEG-4 AVC used in Mobile TV– Lossy Compression – Drawback: losing correlation between block
boundaries @ high compression ratio
Compression ratio 1:16 % of original file size
no visible image quality degradation
Compression ratio 1:96 % of original file
size image quality clearly degraded
Motion Prediction and Temporal
Compression• Predict current frame based on
previously coded frames
• Three types of coded frames: – I-frame: Intra-coded frame, coded
independently of all other frames
– P-frame: Predicatively coded frame, coded based on previously coded frame; I- or P-frame
– B-frame: Bi-directionally predicted frame, coded based on both previous and future coded frames; I- and P-frames
Motion compensated prediction: Predict the current framebased on reference frame(s) while compensating for the motion
Source: HP
I Frame P Frame B Frame
I or P I & P
Source: IP Television
Prediction Error (Residual)
Prediction of Current Frame
Effects of an Error in Frame GOP
SDH APS 50 ms > PAL @ 30 fps ( 33 ms )
SDH: Synchronous Digital Hierarchy APS: Automatic Protection Switching
Current Frame to be Predicted
Source: HP
+ =
• Benefit:– Occupy less space on a storage
– Transmitted over lower bit rate networks
• Drawbacks:– Over all quality will be less than
original signals– Introduce delay due to frames
difference calculation
• NTSC 30 fps�1f @33ms• PAL 25 fps�1f @40ms
– Compressed signals are more difficult to edit
– Compression can be difficult on signals with a lot of noise
– Video compression requires many calculations in real time
Video Compression Cont.
Video Streaming Management• Streaming process involves two separate channels:
– Data Channel: provides for the transfer of the video and audio
– The video and audio data transferred via RTP using UDP and IP
– Control Channel: provides feedback from the streaming client
– RTSP framework supports client interaction with functions such as play and pause
Physical layer
Data Link layer
IP
TCP
RTSP
Application layer
Transport layer
Informationand Control
Video and Audio
Server
Physical layer
Data Link layerIP
UDP
RTP
Application layer
Physical layer
Data Link layerIP
UDP
RTP
Application layer
Video and Audio
Physical layer
Data Link layer
IP
TCP
RTSP
Application layer
Informationand Control
Client
Data Channel
Control Channel
RTP: Real Time Protocol RTCP: Real Rime Control Protocol RTSP: Real Time Streaming Protocol
Video Streaming Management Cont.• Client provides information, e.g., number of received packets quality of the
incoming channel via the RTCP channel
• Server based on the info. received knows the network congestion and error conditions and the rate at which the client is actually receiving the packets.
• RTSP supports VCR-like control of playback in association with the client’s media player provide the user full
Streaming Server
ParsingRTP
Packetiser
RTCP RTSP
Player commands
Index
Data
Fixed Size Packets
64 K
128 K
256 K
Low Data Rate
Medium Data Rate
High
Data Rate
Overview of Mobile TV Technologies3G Network
Based
Terrestrial
Transmission
Satellite
Transmission Broadband
Multicast &
BroadcastBroadcast
Unicast &
MulticastUnicast
3GPP DMS-S Wi-Max3GPP 3GPP2 DVB-H 3GPP2
HSUPA ISDB-S WiBro3G-
UMTSEV-DO
1X DMB-TCDMA
2000
MBMS DAB UWBHSDPA BCMCS ISDB-TEV-DO
1X
DMB-IP
MediaFLO
Broadcast
Mobile Operators BroadcastersBroadband
Operators
DVB-H /T: Digital Video Broadcasting –Handheld /Television DMB: Digital Multimedia Broadcast ISDB: Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting DAB: Digital Audio Broadcast
FLO: Forward Link Only
Overview of Mobile TV
Technologies Cont.
Cingular
Verizon-Sprint
Modo (1670 MHz)
Hiwire (700 MHz)
Verizon, Qualcom
UMTS
CDMA 2000
3G
DVB-H
FLO
Content Streaming
Mobile TV Services in United States
Which Tch. supports n-play &
Open standards?
The Economics of Unicast vs.
Broadcast for Cellular Mobile TV
Revenue per Megabits for different Services
Source: Mobile DTV Alliance
Revenue and Data Rate over Air Services “Cellular Operator”
The Economics of Unicast vs.
Broadcast for Cellular Mobile TV Cont.• 3G network/sector Capacity loading
– 3G BTS capacity around 2.4 Mbps
– Digital compressed voice12.2 kbps, Average call last 2 min– 1 Hr; 2.4Mbps x 3600sec = 9Gbps– 1 Hr; network serve = 9 Gbps/(12.2 kbps x 2 x 60) = 6,250 calls
• Scenario #1 Watching TV “Unicast” effect on Cellular:
– 128 kbps, 2 min clip, 5 % watch TV � 312 subscribers – Each consume in Hr. = 128kbps x 2 x 60 Sec. = 15.36 Mb– Total in 1 Hr. = 15.36 Mb x 312 = 4.2Gb – Remaining 4.8 Gb for voice
• Scenario #2 Watching TV “Unicast” effect on Cellular:– 128 kbps, 20 min clip, 5 % watch TV– Each consume in Hr. = 128kbps x 20 x 60 Sec. = 153 Mb– Total in 1 Hr = 153 Mb x 312 = 47.8 Gb
– 81% of subscribers can't be served
The Economics of Unicast vs.
Broadcast for Cellular Mobile TV Cont.• Unicast cellular capacity depends on # of subscribers & has to be
ahead of subscriber growth
• You can’t add 12.2kbps or 25 KHz � modifying BTS equipment “continually” just to satisfy additional customers
• Broadcast capacity depends on # of TV ch.
• In Broadcast increase # of subscriber � capacity & spectrum remain the same
Capacity Spectrum vs. Subscribers, Unicast and Broadcast
Source: Mobile DTV Alliance
The Economics of Unicast vs.
Broadcast for Cellular Mobile TV Cont.• Unicast: “Voice + TV”
– Uses the cellular network on a one-to-one basis
– Offers variety of programs VoD
– Air interface not optimized for high throughput, QoS delivery of video
• Multicast: “Voice + TV”– MBMS hybrid system; using
cellular system & allocating some BW to broadcast
– Cost structure is better & capacity impact is predictable & limited
– Air interface for multicast is like unicast
Source: Mobile DTV Alliance
Comparison of Video-to-Phone Delivery Methods
MBMS: Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service
Mobile TV Using Terrestrial and Satellite
Broadcasting Networks• Terrestrial: VHF, UHF & L-band
– Transmit @ high power “in-door”& based on freq. reach > 30km radius� reduce repeater Bay Station ”cost”
– Support high speed mobility
– DVB-H support 5-11Mbps @ 8 MHz
– Broadcast 20 - 30 Ch @ 256 kbps
• Satellite: S-band
– V. High power beam
– Handsets antenna smaller compared to satellite dishes
– Hybrid: Satellite & Terrestrial
– Broadcast 9 Ch (Sat.) + 18 Ch. (Rep.) @ 256 kbps
Source: Mobile DTV Alliance
Source: Alcatel
Mobile TV Streaming
Architecture (3G UMTS)
Local areanetwork
Server
Router
Streaming Media Server
Corporate
Intra-PLMNbackbonenetwork(IP based)
Serving GPRSSupport Node(SGSN)
Gateway GPRSSupport Node(GGSN)
GPRS INFRASTRUCTURE
HLR/AuC
MSC
RNCNode B Packet
networkPSTN
PacketnetworkSS7Network
Packetnetwork
Datanetwork(Internet)
Packet
networkInter-PLMN
Backbone
network
Border Gateway (BG)
Iu
Gr Gd
Gi.IP
Firewall
Firewall
Uu
SMS-GMSC
Gr Gd
Gs
Gs
Gp
Gn
Gn
EIR
MAP-F
Iu
Gc
3G Mobiles with Streaming Player
Source: Jonne Soininen, “GPRS/UMTS”, IAB Workshop, Feb - Mar 2000, Nokia
Multimedia Broadcast & Multicast
Service (MBMS)
Why Focus On 3G For Mobile TV
• Average data throughput GPRS-20kpbs EDGE 40-50kpbs
– Frozen frames, interrupted video viewing
• Live video carriage requires at least 100-128 kpbs with 15fps and QCIF (Quarter Common Intermediate Format) resolution with MPEG-4 coding
• Obviously not possible with 2G and 2.5G networks hence this brought the focus on 3G networks which were designed to provide higher data rates
• 3G UMTS provides circuit switched 384 kpbs and packet switched rate of 2Mbps
• Achieved by 5MHZ carriers, improved radio interfaces (WCDMA) andradio access network architectures.
• Protocols need to be followed identically across mobile networks
– Video call (3G-324M)
– Video streaming (UMTS Packet Streaming Standard)
3G UMTS Unicast Streaming
& Protocol Stack
Source: 'Mobile TV Networks', Webinar hosted by Envivo and Nokia Siemens Networks, Oct 2007
Unicast Session Setup in UMTS
• Client on the mobile (eg. HTTP client) selects the location of media file with an RTSP URL.
• Media player connects to streaming server and gives an RTSP DESCRIBE command
• Server responds with a session description protocol (SDP) message giving the description of media types, number of streams and required bandwidth
• Player or Media Client analyzes the description and issues RTSP SETUP command (which is issued for each stream to be connected)
• After the streams are setup the client issues a PLAY command. On receiving the PLAY command, the streaming server starts sending the RTP packets to the client using UDP.
• The connection is cleared by the client when desired by issuing TEARDOWN command
Challenges
• Better Harmonization of Standards
• Which Bands Are Suitable For Mobile TV
• Involvement of Regulators, Government & Mobile Operators
• Spectrum for Mobile TV Services
• Quality of Experience (QoE)– Channel Change Latency (Zapping Time)– Jitter– Packet Loss
• Video streaming during Handovers and Roaming
• Mobile Handset Battery Life
• Security
Harmonization Of Standards & Bands
for Mobile TV• Better Harmonization of Standards
– Divergence in the delivery level, 3G, DVB-H, DAP-IP, T-DMB, S-DMB and ISDB-T
– Variations the encoding level and file formats– MPEG-4, H.264 and Windows media for video– AMR, AAC, MP3 or WMA being used for audio – Common standards and protocols will determine the future
growth of mobile TV industry
• Which Bands Are Suitable For Mobile TV– Difficult question to answer – There may not be much of a choice for a particular
technology
Regulations & Spectrum For Mobile TV
• Involvement of Regulators, Government &
Mobile Operators
– Mobile TV industry is new
– There are no Globally harmonized spectrum
allocation for Mobile TV by the ITU
– Networks provide services tailored to
specific networks
• Spectrum for Mobile TV Services
Quality of Experience
• Focuses on the quality perceived by the end user
• Broader approach than that oriented to Quality of Service (QoS)
• Measure of end-to-end performance
• Channel Change Latency (Zapping Time) • Tune-in time, i.e. changing from one audiovisual
service to another
• Reducing the channel zapping time is critical problem
• Fast zapping time is a method to improve the zapping time
Quality Of Experience Cont.
• Jitter • Short-term variation in the packet arrival
time caused by network congestion
• Buffering is required to help smooth out the variations
• Packet Loss• Bandwidth limitations, network
congestion, failed links, and transmission errors may cause Packet Loss
• High quality video streaming services, a (PLR) of 10-6 to 10–7 or less may be tolerated.
Source: “IPTV Testing over DSL”, Francisco Palacios, 2006
Edge Distortion Unimpaired Video Screenshots Packet Loss
Handover, Roaming &
Handset Battery Life• Video streaming during Handovers and Roaming
– The need to handover to another frequency when quality becomes low
– Switching between different networks of different capacities
• Mobile Handset Battery Life– Limited Battery Capacity
– Merging, state-of-art-technology receivers into a mobile handheld requires reduction in power consumption
– E.g. DVB-H requires reduction up to 90%
Time Slicing & Phase Shifting
Mobile TV Technologies
Roll Out Time Line
• DVB-H commercially rolled out late 2006
• Unavailability of UHF frequencies prevent going beyond multi city –limit till 2010/2012
• DVB-H in S-band expected end 2007 for terrestrial & 2009 nationwide coverage
• 2.2 GHz band for UMTS allows easy integration of DVB-H S-band
Source: Alcatel
Conclusion
• Mobile TV has been rolling out innovative services based on varied technologies such as 3G, DVB-H, DVB-T, and ISDB.
• Coming years will lead to greater standardization in the industry
• Mobile TV is clearly an interesting new service
• Mobile TV has a role as a mobile entertainment, sports and news that can be watched spontaneously, anytime and anywhere
• Fixed monthly fee is best accepted pricing model
References• World Cellular Technology Forecast 2006-2011, www.3gamericas.org/English/Statistics/17.cfm
• Nick Holland, “Rescuing 3G with Mobile TV: Business Models and Monetizing 3G”, Pyramid Research.
• “Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB): DVB-H Implementation Guidelines”, ETSI TR 102 377 V1.2.1 (2005-11)
• “High Quality Mobile TV -The Challenge for Operators to Deliver High-Quality TV to Mobiles”, Sprint, 2007
• Yoram Solomon, “The Economics of Mobile Broadcast TV”, Mobile DTV Alliance
• “H.264 & IPTV Over DSL”, Intel. 2004, www.intel.com/• Detlev Marpe, Thomas Wiegand, Gary J. Sulliva, “The H.264-MPEG4 Advanced Video Coding Standard and its
Applications “, IEEE, 2006
• Yao Wang, “Video Coding Standards”, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY11201, [email protected]
• Thomas Wiegand, “MPEG MPEG-4 and H.26L for 4 and H.26L for Mobile Services”,
• Huahui Wu, Mark Claypool, and Robert Kinicki. “Guidelines for Selecting Practical MPEG Group of Pictures”, 2005
• Ken Kerpez, Dave Waring, George Lapiotis, J. Bryan Lyles, and Ravi Vaidyanathan, “IPTV Service Assurance”, IEEE Communications Magazine, September 2006
• Jun Kyun Choi, “IP TV Services and Its Business Potentials”, Information and Communications University, [email protected]
• David Short, “The many facets of IPTV”, 2005 • M. Molteni and M. Villari ‘’ Using SCTP with Partial Reliability for MPEG-4 Multimedia Streaming “, Cisco System
Technology Center, 2002
• Dapeng Wu, Yiwei Thomas Hou, Wenwu Zhu, Member,Ya-Qin Zhan, and Jon M. Peha “ Streaming Video over the Internet: Approaches and Directions” IEEE, 2001
• “Packet Switching Streaming Service”, TeliaSonera Finland-MediaLab, November 19, 2003
• R. Wietfeldt “Handset System Architectures for Mobile DTV” Texas Instruments, IEEE, 2006
• Philippe Lainé, Alistair Urie, Philip Kelley & Christophe Nussli, “Unlimited Mobile TV for the Mass Market”, Alcatel, 2006
References Cont.• Harri Holma and Antti Toskala, “WCDMA for UMTS –III Edition”, 2004• “3G powered 3G-324M networks”, Radvision, August, 2002• Jonne Soininen, “GPRS/UMTS”, IAB Workshop, February 29 - March 2, 2000, Nokia• “Mobile TV networks”, Webinar hosted by Envivo and Nokia Siemens Networks • http://metacast.agora.com/link.asp?m=44456&s=6781175&l=0• Frank Hartung et al, “Delivery of Broadcast Services in 3G Networks”, IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, March 2007• Markus Kampmann, “MBMS”, Ericsson Research, June 2004• MediaLab, “MBMS”, TeliaSonera, August 2004• “3GPP Head End”, Data Sheet from Maindata• MPG-4 AVC, H.264, 3GPP encoder/decoder for video streaming - Data sheet from Dicas• “The Evolution of UMTS/HSDPA 3GPP Release 6 and Beyond”, 3G Americas, December 2005• “Mobile TV-The Next Big “Killer App” in Wireless”, 3G Americas, July 2005• “3G bring TV to mobile phones today” – White paper from Nokia• “Data Capabilities GPRS to HSDPA and Beyond” 3G Americas, September 2005• M Siller and JC Woods,”QoS Arbitration for Improving the QoE in Multimedia Transmission”, University of Essex, United Kingdon, IEE 2003• Francisco Palacios, “IPTV Testing over DSL”, http://www.exfo.com/en/support/WaveReview/2006-June/WRArticle1.asp, 2006• Ken Kerpez, Dave Waring, George Lapiotis, J. Bryan Lyles, and Ravi Vaidyanathan, “IPTV Service Assurance”, IEEE Communications
Magazine, September 2006• Ling-Jyh Chen, Guang Yan, Tony Sun, M. Y. Sanadidi Mario Gerla,”Adaptive Video Streaming in Vertical Handoff: A Case Study”, The First
ACM Annual International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems, Boston 2004• Giuseppe Calarco, “Tune into key Mobile TV trends and success factors”, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pvt. Ltd, April 2007,
http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800478025_499488_NT_cd411e8a.HTM• Panu Mustonen, “Trends in Mobile Multimedia”, Satama Interactive, June 21, 2006 • Shumin Cao, “Wirelss Mobile Communication Trends”, China Academy of Telecom Research, December, 2006
Q & AQ & A