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The new DVB-H standard allows broadcasting of audio/video content to mobile terminals. Such devices underlie severe restrictions concerning processing load and power consumption. The most computational intensive and therewith most power consuming part of such terminals is the decoding of the H.264/AVC video datastream. We present optimization strategies for software-based H.264/AVC video decoding as well as the architecture of an H.264/AVC decoding companion chip with specialized coprocessors, which targets the above mentioned restrictions (1). Index Terms--DVB-H, H.264/AVC, Decoder, SOC

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is often described as the future computer networking paradigm that will bring high-speed communications t the desktop. What is ATM? How is it different from today's […]

From specialized image-compression ICs to op amps, manufacturers have touted high-definition television (HDTV) as a potential application for products introduced within the last few years. This promotion occurred despite the [...]

Europe has emerged as the world leader in defining digital wireless telecommunications standards. The US lags behind Europe, as does Japan. Now IC vendors worldwide have to decide whether to [...]

New technologies have driven standards documents for network synchronization into overdrive, rendering existing timing equipment obsolete. What will it take for local exchange carriers to be free of relying on […]

CDMA won't go away. Coordinated efforts to dismiss code division multiple access, a wideband digital cellular radio format developed in 1989, as nothing but a sophisticated engineering experiment have failed. […]

'Shoot the engineers and go to market,' declared Robert Maher, former chairman of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, when he publicly voiced the association's support of time division multiple access […]

Gridlock on the airways blocks U.S. cellular growth In car-crazed Los Angeles, traffic-jammed commuters have embraced mobile cellular phones with the same passion once reserved for automobiles themselves. But the […]

An emergency system for public radio services could be the solution to provide highly mobile and accurate radio communications for the military. The system, known as terrestrial trunked radio, or TETRA, based on a set of standards developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, features quick set up time, multiple lines and a mode that allows direct communication with mobile radios.

OLE and subsequently OLE2 and the whole COM/DCOM/OLE/ActiveX world has fine aspirations. But does it give the right tools? In the first of a two part feature we look at […]

When wireless communications was introduced just a little more than a decade ago, the telecommunications industry went through a period of adjustment as carriers and vendors developed new methods and […]

THE U.S. TAKES THE TECHNOLOGY HIGH GROUND, BUT NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE IF DIGITAL SCHEMES WILL WORK Hype surrounding the all-digital systems now vying to be the U.S. high-definition […]

Fast and efficient DSX template testing In today's competitive market, the ability to interconnect digital communications equipment from many manufacturers is critical. The Exchange Carrier Standards Association (ECSA) has developed […]

A long-awaited first industry standard for digital signage has been released by the Digital Signage Standards Committee at the Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), the not-for-profit industry association for marketing at [...]

Backed by some of the biggest names in the online entertainment industry, RealNetworks Wednesday announced the formation of the Extensible Media Commerce Language Initiative. The company said the initiative will […]

Imagine you've been on the road for a week, collecting during your travels bits and bytes of information on your PDA. Now you are back in the office, and you […]

There have been many words written about the recording industry's new digital music standard, which was released on July 13. But I haven't seen much about the implications for the […]

Avica Technology Corporation, EVS and the Grass Valley Group announced that they have achieved compatibility for the playback of MPEG2 encoded content on their respective systems. In related news, the [...]

SIZZLING MARKETS SPEED VENDORS IN DRIVE TO DIGITAL CELLULAR The cellular-telephone boom is a classic case of success breeding new challenges, both technological and marketing. Less than five years after […]

There are many contenders, but none go to all the destinations to handle all the needs of industry yet. Should we wait longer? The April fieldbus conference organised by the […]

The worldwide effort to formulate standards for interoperability of digital systems has succeeded in defining an overall approach but remains snagged on details that are key to making the whole [...]

WASHINGTON--The Electronic Industries Association and cable TV industry have co-developed a decoder interface that is part of a new 'cable-ready' TV definition which the Federal Communications Commission could announce as […]

Fieldbus, the emerging international standard for low level digital communications, is turning into a three horse race - with some outsiders who could still. spring some surprises. The winner is […]

Hollywood's standards for digital cinema were savaged at a Monday debate at the Ficci-Frames entertainment convention in Mumbai. Rajaa Kanwar, vice chairman of UFO Moviez and chairman of the Ficci [...]

Many engineers remember the original ISA $84.01 safety standard of 1996, which stated, 'As new technology evolves and becomes available (e.g., ISA SP50 Fieldbus), it will be addressed in future [...]

The radio-broadcasting sector is at quandary over the cross-promotion stance of Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is no doubt welcome but way too short of expectation of the industry. The digital radio services licensing initiatives of Ofcom are also examined.

The Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation and PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO) have a collaborative project to extend specifications for device description language (DDL). This is claimed to be the most [...]

Sony's two new recently-unveiled Mini DV camcorders boast wireless Internet connectivity. Using Bluetooth technology, the DCR-PC120 and MICROMV-based DCR-IP7 allow consumers to connect their camcorders directly to the Internet without [...]

What's it going to be--TCM or ECH? Digital carrier technology has been available in various forms since the mid-1960s, but little of this technology has found its way into the […]

At the International Telecommunications Union's Telecom Interactive show in Geneva last week, a walk around the semiempty aisles on the exhibition floor revealed one acronym cropping up again and again: […]

CAP vs. DMT continues, but does the market really care? In the evolution of the asymmetrical digital subscriber line market, industry interest has shifted in the past year from standards […]

After years of denial, the American National Standards Institute decided last week to allow the formation of an ad hoc group to explore another line code standard for asymmetrical digital […]

A consortium of process control vendors and users that includes some large chemical companies says it will issue a final standard for field instrumentation communication early this year. Called the [...]

Seven U.S. vendors with licenses to develop Personal Communications Services (PCS) networks in the United States have formed an interest group to promote Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. […]

SAN FRANCISCO--The hammering out of several messaging standard upgrades, as well as a sprinkling of new products and service announcements, highlighted the Electronic Messaging Association's Messaging Solutions Summit recently. The […]

Delving into the depths of SVD technology is not for the faint of heart. As I revealed last week, neither of the two DSVD (digital simultaneous voice and data) technologies […]

Supporters of GSM have fired back loudly at critics who say the digital cellular standard, used throughout Europe and set to be adopted throughout most of Asia, will be surpassed […]