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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

In digital broadcasting, interlaced and progressive scanning pictures may be used. MPEG-2 can encode both scanning pictures independently. However, in handling both formats, format converter is required. We propose a new broadcasting system which makes scanning compatible. To realize this, a new coding method and pre/post-processing methods are discussed. New coding scheme is based on progressive scanning coding, and some improvement technologies are introduced. This coding also saves more than 30% bit-rate of MPEG-2 interlaced coding.

The Serial Real-time Communication System (SERCOS) is a 32-bit fiber-optic digital interface that outpaces any other industrial communications bus in speed and detailed design. It came from Europe and is foreseen to become a global standard for connecting digital controls and drives. There are over 70 SERCOS facilities in North America such as those of Boeing, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. It is, contrary to popular belief, not expensive and rivals older analog interfaces in cost effectiveness., Faster and more highly defined than any other industrial communication bus, the fiber-optic SERCOS may have what it takes to become a world standard for linking digital controls and drives. [...]

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 [...]

A clear shift towards digital technology was noticed at the 1992 International Broadcast Convention at Amsterdam. Scandinavian broadcasters indicated that the domestic use of HDTV, using digital transmission, may be possible by the year 2,000. An improved definition PAL system using widescreens, may be ready by 1995 and this may ring the death knell for mac. Random access video, use of supercomputers for generating slow-motion pictures and recording standards for videos were some other topics which featured at the convention.

Digital technology built into industrial controls and instrumentation devices greatly increase the amount of information available to plant operators while optimizing plant performance and automation. However, competition to set the standards is hampering development.

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.

The impact of the MP3 on the sound recording industry is assessed, focusing on difficulties in managing and calculating profits from digitally downloaded music. Topics include establishing standards regarding digital downloading, the history of compact discs, and the economic advantages of marketing MP3s to teenagers on the Internet.

One standard for digital wireless communication would have been ideal. But when you look at how telecommunications networks tend to evolve, one standard represents just that -- an ideal that [...]

Inserting ads into programming earned cable networks more than $3 billion last year, and with the increasing number of digital channels, the opportunity to earn more is enormous. But not [...]

WOFL, WESH, WFTV and WKMG filed for six-month extensions to a federal deadline for becoming compliant with new digital broadcast standards. The new standards took effect Nov. [...]

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 [...]

The lines have blurred. The similarities among computing, switching, and digital transmission equipment are more apparent than the differences, and the same digital techniques are being used for data, voice, [...]

Eventually, the trials and tribulations caused by incompatible networks will be overcome, the blue-sky theorists often claim. The esoteric links between mainframes and micros will be as commonplace as a [...]

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 [...]

Advanced digital telecommunications may become a reality in South Korea sooner than in Japan due to the South Korean Ministry of Communications' far-sighted policies. In 1993, the ministry boldly adopted the as yet untested code-division multiple access technology as the standard for the new digital mobile telephone system. The business consortium that the ministry tapped in Feb 1994 to develop the system hopes to have it operating by the end of 1995. However, competition by American telecoms firms and Europe's rival Groupe Speciale Mobile standard may frustrate these plans.

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 [...]

Are digital communicators approved for use in proprietary systems? NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, 1999 Edition, says that a Digital Alarm Communicator System (DACS) can be used to transmit [...]

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 [...]

The consumer electronics industry has arrived at a digital video disc standard, which will make technical specifications unified across different products. The new DVD standard will apply to both home entertainment and home office application products, the DVD itself will be able to hold as much data as 14 traditional CD-ROMs. The new standard ties in well with computers, and DVD players are due on the market in Sep 1996., NEW YORK--A group led by Toshiba and Sony last week agreed on common technical specifications for a unified digital video disc standard. It also settled on a name for the [...]

Within the last six months there has been a strong effort by several CEPS vendors, a commercial printer, a color trade group, a leading software firm, and a select number [...]