Abstract: The application discloses a program recommending method and apparatus for a smart television. Included are the steps of obtaining previous watching records of a current user, the previous watching records including at least names of programs watched by the user; according to the previous watching records, doing statistics of the frequency of each type of programs watched by the current user, and considering the types of programs with a high searching frequency as recommended programs for the current user; and loading information describing the recommended programs for the current user into video data of a currently broadcast program, so as to display the recommended programs for the current user on a broadcasting screen of the currently broadcast program, wherein the information describing the recommended programs for the current user includes at least program names. In this way, programs attractive to the user can be recommended based on the types of programs most commonly watched by the user, and the user is able to see the recommended programs on the broadcasting screen of the currently broadcast program so as to quickly find the programs they like. The watching efficiency is improved and the user experience is enhanced.

Abstract: This paper presents a novel cross-layer optimization framework to improve the quality of user experience (QoE) and energy efficiency of the heterogeneous wireless multimedia broadcast receivers. This joint optimization is achieved by grouping the users based on their device capabilities and estimated channel conditions experienced by them and broadcasting adaptive content to these groups. The adaptive multimedia content is obtained by using scalable video coding (SVC) with optimal source encoding parameters resulted from an innovative cooperative game. Energy saving at user terminals results from using a layer-aware time slicing approach in the transmission stage. A trade-off between energy saving and QoE is observed, and is incorporated in the definition of a utility function of the players in the formulated heterogeneous user composition and physical channel aware game. An adaptive modulation and coding scheme is also optimally incorporated in order to maximize the reception quality of the broadcast receivers, while maximizing the network broadcast capacity. Compared to the conventional broadcast schemes, the proposed framework shows an appreciable improvement in QoE levels for all users, while achieving higher energy-savings for the energy constrained users.

Abstract: Contributed by: Vijay Cuddeford, Managing editor, Farm Radio International, based on a document by David Mowbray, Manager, Training and Standards, Farm Radio International, and Blythe McKay, Manager, Resources for Broadcasters, Farm Radio International. Reviewed by: David Mowbray, Manager, Training and Standards, Farm Radio International

Abstract: Cooperative satellite cells and terrestrial wireless communication networks (comprising macrocells, picocells, and the Internet) are much anticipated access technologies to enable users to seamlessly access rich multimedia content (e.g., TV broadcasting, VoD streaming, and other services) on their devices. Furthermore, context awareness has become popular to accompany these services not only to enhance the users' perceived service quality but also to improve the overall utilization of such cooperative networks. However, delivering context-aware multimedia content through these cooperative networks is associated with a significant research challenge due to the inherently different satellites and terrestrial networks technologies. For example, to provide context-specific TV programs to a user, a satellite needs to adopt unicast-style delivery. This may be an expensive operation since satellites are intrinsically useful for broadcasting or multicasting services to a wide audience. In contrast, terrestrial communication networks can be better suited to perform unicast-based context-aware content delivery. In this article, we address these challenges, and propose a dynamic bandwidth allocation method to effectively utilize the satellite and terrestrial networks for providing context-aware contents to many users. Computer-based simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that the music programs and cable broadcasting of a television or a radio, Internet music broadcasting and the purchase of CDs as means for listening to various music at present are insufficient for encountering unknown broad musical pieces, listening to the musical pieces with related image information and purchasing favorite musical pieces.SOLUTION: The music content distribution system is configured to respectively distribute music content and related image content (video content or still image content) and data content by independent channels by streaming by using Internet as transmission media, and to set initial channels in a priority order determined under the consideration of service providing configurations, the request of a recipient and line speed conditions, and then to lower the priority order of the respective channels in accordance with the number of loss packets. Thus, it is possible for a user to easily purchase favorite musical pieces from among musical pieces that the user has listened to by using the related data.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and a method for controlling the same, wherein the mobile terminal provides a user with image-based broadcast guide information instead of the conventional text-based broadcast guide information, and allows the user to intuitively check broadcast content of other broadcasting channels while keeping the viewing of a currently tuned broadcast via the image-based broadcast guide information

Abstract: A content storage method and system for use in a content distribution network are provided. A personal file locker is established on the network for a user. A content-storage-request database is established. The database tracks requests by the user for placing video programs into the user's file locker for personal use by the user. Upon the broadcasting of a video program for which there exists a request by the user to place the video program into the user's file locker, the requested video program is stored in the user's file locker. The stored video program is then made available to the user for viewing. Alternative approaches to content storage methods and systems are also described, including the use of a buffer enhancement to enable the performance of operations on “live” television.

Abstract: Assistive listening devices (ALDs) refer to various types of amplification equipment designed to improve the communication of individuals with hard of hearing to enhance the accessibility to speech signal when individual hearing instruments are not sufficient. There are many types of ALDs to overcome a triangle of speech to noise ratio (SNR) problems, noise, distance, and reverberation. ALDs vary in their internal electronic mechanisms ranging from simple hard-wire microphone-amplifier units to more sophisticated broadcasting systems. They usually use microphones to capture an audio source and broadcast it wirelessly over a frequency modulation (FM), infra-red, induction loop, or other transmission techniques. The seven types of ALDs are introduced including hardwire devices, FM sound system, infra-red sound system, induction loop system, telephone listening devices, television, and alert/alarm system. Further development of digital wireless technology in hearing instruments will make possible direct communication with ALDs without any accessories in the near future. There are two technology solutions for digital wireless hearing instruments improving SNR and convenience. One is near-field magnetic induction combined with Bluetooth radio frequency (RF) transmission or proprietary RF transmission and the other is proprietary RF transmission alone. Recently launched digital wireless hearing aid applying this new technology can communicate from the hearing instrument to personal computer, phones, Wi-Fi, alert systems, and ALDs via iPhone, iPad, and iPod. However, it comes with its own iOS application offering a range of features but there is no option for Android users as of this moment.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a transmission method for enabling transmission of content using a broadcast wave and a communication channel includes: transmitting auxiliary information using at least the broadcast wave, the auxiliary information being information for synchronizing content transmission using the broadcast wave and content transmission using the communication channel when the content is transmitted using the broadcast wave and the communication channel, and the auxiliary information causing a reception side to perform the synchronization when the reception side receives the auxiliary information. Therefore, even if timing of starting reception of the content through the communication is delayed, the reception side can play back the content by a combination of the broadcasting and the communication.

Abstract: We study the problem of maximizing the broadcast rate in peer-to-peer (P2P) systems under node degree bounds, i.e., the number of neighbors a node can simultaneously connect to is upper-bounded. The problem is critical for supporting high-quality video streaming in P2P systems and is challenging due to its combinatorial nature. In this paper, we address this problem by providing the first distributed solution that achieves near-optimal broadcast rate under arbitrary node degree bounds and over arbitrary overlay graph. It runs on individual nodes and utilizes only the measurement from their one-hop neighbors, making the solution easy to implement and adaptable to peer churn and network dynamics. Our solution consists of two distributed algorithms proposed in this paper that can be of independent interests: a network-coding-based broadcasting algorithm that optimizes the broadcast rate given a topology, and a Markov-chain guided topology hopping algorithm that optimizes the topology. Our distributed broadcasting algorithm achieves the optimal broadcast rate over arbitrary P2P topology, while previously proposed distributed algorithms obtain optimality only for P2P complete graphs. We prove the optimality of our solution and its convergence to a neighborhood around the optimal equilibrium under noisy measurements or without time-scale separation assumptions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution in simulations using uplink bandwidth statistics of Internet hosts.

Abstract: Owing to the advancement of wireless communication technologies, the vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) has experienced a rapid development in recent years. However, it is challenging to design a reliable and efficient medium access control (MAC) protocol for safety messages with strict quality of service demands, owing to unreliable wireless links and frequent changes of topology. On the other hand, cooperative communication can enhance the reliability of wireless links by exploiting the spatial diversity. The authors present here a cooperative clustering-based MAC (CCB-MAC) protocol for VANETs, in order to improve the transmission reliability of safety messages. In CCB-MAC, the selected helpers relay the safety message to the nodes that have failed in reception during the broadcast period. In addition, cooperation is conducted in idle slots, without interrupting the normal transmission. Both mathematical analysis and numerical results demonstrate that CCB-MAC increases the successful reception rate of safety messages significantly.

Abstract: We discuss a few promising applications of the faster-thanNyquist (FTN) signaling technique. Although proposed in the mid 70s, thanks to recent extensions this technique is taking on a new lease of life. In particular, we will discuss its applications to satellite systems for broadcasting transmissions, optical long-haul transmissions, and next-generation cellular systems, possibly equipped with a large scale antenna system (LSAS) at the base stations (BSs). Moreover, based on measurements with a 128 element antenna array, we analyze the spectral efficiency that can be achieved with simple receiver solutions in single carrier LSAS systems.

Abstract: The challenges facing the terrestrial broadcast industry are to how more efficiently and effectively use the scarce spectrum to deliver the vast amount of media data to the general public. Future of Broadcast Television Initiative (FOBTV) was founded by the broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, standardization organizations, research institutes, and universities around the world, aiming at better solving these problems through global collaboration. Since its establishment, use cases for the future broadcast applications have been extensively collected and classified. Potential technologies applied for the summarized new application scenarios have been carefully studied and the most effective ones are highlighted. Moreover, FOBTV is trying to develop a layered model for the next-generation broadcasting system and taking great efforts toward the ultimate goal of a global harmonized terrestrial broadcasting system.

Abstract: Vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) is supposed to provide urgent broadcasting services, which can enhance driving safety greatly. This paper proposed a two-directional VANET model for analyzing the performance of broadcast with enhanced distributed channel access mechanism in 802.11p MAC layer, with the hidden terminal problem and message strict priorities considered. Moreover, an M/M/1 queue is used to calculate the broadcast delay of each access categories (AC). The analytical model is presented and then validated through simulations. Based on the solutions of the proposed analytic model, the average packet delay of low-priority and the Packet Delivery Rates of high-priority of each AC can be accurately evaluated.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for operating a broadcast receiving device. A broadcast receiving unit receives a first broadcast stream including broadcast content via a broadcasting network other than an IP network. An IP transmitting/receiving unit receives media content transmitted via the IP network. A control unit receives media content presentation information for the media content on the basis of the first broadcast stream, and presents the media content on the basis of the media content presentation information.

Abstract: The invention discloses a method and system for providing live broadcast services, a terminal, and a server, and belongs to the technical field of the Internet. The method comprises: determining a selected live broadcast, and initiating a request for subscribing the selected live broadcast to a server; and if a successful subscription response returned by the server is received, taking the selected live broadcast as a subscribed live broadcast, and when broadcasting of the subscribed live broadcast begins, prompting broadcast information corresponding to the subscribed live broadcast. According to the invention, after the selected live broadcast is determined through the terminal, the request for subscribing the selected live broadcast is initiated to the server, and when the broadcasting of the subscribed live broadcast begins, a prompt about the broadcast information corresponding to the subscribed live broadcast is made, such that a user can know the broadcast information of the subscribed live broadcast clearly, and the user can pay attainment to the subscribed live broadcast timely. Thus the user experience is improved.

Abstract: In music radio broadcasting, radio personalities (presenters, hosts, DJs) have traditionally been of critical importance to programming success. In this article, I seek to add to the understanding of contemporary developments within radio, especially music radio, through focusing on the presenter from a political economy perspective. How do new business models and technologies affect the performances and forms of talk developed by presenters in contemporary radio? What new roles are assigned to presenters in commercial music radio? How are work practices and labor relations affected? The article shows how media convergence has impacted the work of radio personalities in traditional broadcasting.

Abstract: Cognitive radio transmission relies on awareness of the instantaneous spectrum utilization. Such awareness can be gained by the spectrum sensing process. To this end, collaborative spectrum sensing (CSS) is preferred as it yields more reliable results than individual sensing. However, CSS requires collaboration among all the cognitive users (CUs), which leads to a high energy consumption. This letter provides a new energy-efficient CSS scheme. The proposed scheme implies that only a CU will broadcast its local decision among the whole network. All the other CUs that have a different local decision will object to the fusion center, whereas the CUs that agree with the announced decision will stay silent. Accordingly, the fusion center will be informed of all the local decisions of the CUs and will make a global decision. An analytical study on how to select the broadcasting CU such that energy efficiency is maximized is provided. Simulation and analytic results explore the energy efficiency gain compared to the literature.

Abstract: A method is performed using a smart TV, which receives from a television signal source device a television signal feed encoding primary television content and then presents that content. The smart TV receives data via the computer network, including first data representing a to-be-replaced portion of the primary television content and second data representing secondary television content. Using the second data, the smart TV automatically presents the secondary television content in place of the to-be-replaced television content. The method includes the smart TV: (a) automatically monitoring, during presentation of the secondary television content, the television signal feed and comparing it with the first data; and (b) automatically altering presentation of the secondary television content in accordance with a user-control action with respect to the television signal source device, in response to detecting any difference between the television signal feed and the first data indicative of that user-control action.

Abstract: In this work we consider image delivery in MIMO broadcast networks with diverse channel quality and varying numbers of antennas across receivers. In such systems, performance is normally constrained by the weakest users with either a low channel SNR or only a single receive antenna. To address both dimensions of heterogeneity, we propose a new analog image delivery system that adapts seamlessly along both dimensions simultaneously. Our sender scales the DWT coefficients according to a power allocation strategy, and generates linear combinations of the coefficients using compressive sensing (CS), before transmitting them with amplitude modulation. On the receiving side, the received physical layer symbols are passed directly to the source decoder without conventional MIMO decoding, and the DWT coefficients are recovered using a CS decoder. There are two main contributions of our system. First, integrating CS into MIMO transmission ensures that the reconstructed image quality at the receivers is commensurate with both the channel SNR and the MIMO channel dimension. Second, we introduce a power allocation strategy to achieve a performance tradeoff between receivers with different antenna numbers. Experimental results show that the proposed system outperforms both the analog reference SoftCast and the conventional digital system known as HM-STBC. The average gain is 2.92dB over SoftCast for single-antenna users and 1.53dB over HM-STBC for two-antenna users.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting and receiving an ultra-high definition broadcasting signal for high dynamic range representation in a digital broadcasting system. An apparatus for receiving an ultra-high definition broadcasting signal according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a receiving unit for receiving the ultra-high definition broadcasting signal including ultra-high definition broadcasting contents and high dynamic range metadata, the high dynamic range metadata indicating brightness information represented in the ultra-high definition broadcasting contents and information on a method for converting the ultra-high definition broadcast contents to be adapted to a display environment of the receiving apparatus; a decoder for decoding the received ultra-high definition broadcasting contents; and a reproduction unit for reproducing the decoded ultra-high definition broadcasting contents.

Abstract: A method for communicating over a wireless backhaul channel comprising generating a radio frame comprising a plurality of time slots, wherein each time slot comprises a plurality of symbols in time and a plurality of sub-carriers in a system bandwidth, broadcasting a broadcast channel signal comprising a transmission schedule to a plurality of remote units in a number of consecutive sub-carriers centered about a direct current (DC) sub-carrier in at least one of the time slots in the radio frame regardless of the system bandwidth, and transmitting a downlink (DL) control channel signal and a DL data channel signal to a first of the remote units, wherein the DL data channel signal is transmitted by employing a single carrier block transmission scheme comprising a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) spreading for frequency diversity.

Abstract: For safety applications, fast delivery is the key requirement that broadcasting protocols in VANET must fulfill. To achieve this goal, most of the existing schemes try to select the optimal next forwarder through a distributed contention phase. This latter adds few units of delay at each hop which is substantial in case of multihop transmission. A more pragmatic approach is to build a stable virtual infrastructure, ahead of time, which will be in charge of relaying messages. In this regard, this paper presents the Minimum Stable CDS-based Virtual Backbone, labeled CDS-SVB, which guarantees fast and efficient broadcasting. It selects vehicles with identical velocities to assure stability as well as low dissemination delay, and it deploys acknowledgments to ensure reliability. Simulation results show that CDS-SVB outperforms DBA-MAC in terms of dissemination delay, backbone's lifetime, and packets delivery ratio.

Abstract: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) rely on Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) to streamline the operation of vehicles by managing vehicle traffic, assisting drivers with safety and other information, along with the provisioning of convenience applications for passengers. For that, many applications and services use broadcast to perform the transmission of their data to intended recipients. However, due to the wireless medium and the characteristics inherent to vehicular environments, broadcasting becomes a challenging task. For instance, uncoordinated broadcasts may lead to severe packet collisions, thus resulting in network congestion. Such problem is well known as the broadcast storm problem. Moreover, the broadcasting mechanism must handle network disconnections, otherwise, the data delivery capability may be hampered. Although there are many studies that deal with these problems separately, very few consider a solution for both problems. Furthermore, those that handle both problems do not consider different scenarios, i.e., they only focus on urban or highway scenarios. Therefore, to deal with both problems and different scenarios, we propose a preemptive algorithm that automatically adjusts the data transmission process (PREDAT) to reduce the total number of collisions and maximize the data delivery capability across network disconnections. Simulation results show that our proposed solution induces short delays and a low overhead. Moreover, it provides good efficiency with respect to the coverage of the event and the distance to which the information is propagated.

Abstract: The invention discloses a mobile terminal and POS machine contact communication method. Bluetooth modules are arranged on a mobile terminal and a POS machine respectively, and the communication method includes the steps of starting the broadcasting function of the Bluetooth module of the POS machine, broadcasting Bluetooth signals, starting the scanning function of the Bluetooth module of the mobile terminal, obtaining the Bluetooth signals broadcasted by the POS machine, calculating the distance between the mobile terminal and the POS machine according to the obtained Bluetooth signals, judging whether the distance between the mobile terminal and the POS machine is smaller than a preset distance threshold value or not, and building communication between the mobile terminal and the POS machine to conduct communication if the distance between the mobile terminal and the POS machine is smaller than the preset distance threshold value. The invention further discloses a mobile terminal and POS machine contact communication device and a payment method. By means of the mobile terminal and POS machine contact communication method and device and the payment method, the mobile terminal can rapidly, conveniently and safely communicated with the POS machine.

Abstract: Smartphones have become more and more popular in the past few years. Motivated by the fact that location plays an extremely important role in mobile applications, this paper develops an efficient local message dissemination system PASA based on a new communication model called passive broadcast. It is based on the method of overloading device names described in MDSRoB [14] and Bluejacking [23]. In this new model, each node does not maintain connection state and data delivery is initialized by a receiver via a ‘scan’ operation. The representative carriers of passive broadcast include Bluetooth and WiFi-Direct, both of which define a mandatary ‘peer discovery’ scan function. Passive broadcast features negligible cost for establishing and maintaining direct links and is extremely suitable for short message dissemination in the proximity. In this paper, we present PASA with complete protocols and in-depth analysis for optimization. We have prototyped our solution on commercial phones and evaluated it with comprehensive experiments and simulation.

Abstract: A distribution system and reception apparatus, and methods thereof, are provided for broadcasting and receiving a plurality of non-backwards-compatible services. The broadcasting method includes receiving, by a first service provider, a plurality of first services, which include a first service from each of the first and second service providers. The first service provider generates a first broadcast multiplex, including the plurality of first services, and broadcasts the first broadcast multiplex on a first broadcast channel allocated to the first service provider. A second service provider receives a plurality of second services, which include a second service from each of the first and second service providers. The second service provider generates a second broadcast multiplex, including the plurality of second services, and broadcasts the second broadcast multiplex on a second broadcast channel allocated to the second service provider.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device and method for monitoring video live broadcast. The method includes that a camera is utilized for acquiring video images, the video images are transmitted to a digital or network hard disk recorder, the digital or network hard disk recorder codes the video stream data, the video stream data are transmitted to a monitoring live broadcast gateway, the monitoring live broadcast gateway codes the transmitted video stream data with different codes uniformly, the video stream data are transmitted to a streaming media server, the streaming media server distributes the video stream data to a player of terminal equipment, and the requirements of a terminal visitor on watching monitoring video live broadcasting images can be met. According to the method and device, the requirements on watching the live broadcasting monitoring images through the Internet by a large amount of users can be met without client and browser plug-in installation and login; meanwhile, management of the network or digital hard disk recorder and the connected camera is implemented, camera images unnecessary broadcasting outwardly are shielded, the local monitoring system and Internet are isolated, and the operation security of the monitoring system is guaranteed.

Abstract: The increasing demand for wireless multimedia services provided by modern communication systems with stable services is a key feature of advanced markets. On the other hand, these systems can many times operate in a neighboring or in the same frequency bands. Therefore, numerous unwanted co-existence scenarios can occur. The aim of this paper is to summarize our results which were achieved during exploration and measurement of the co- existences between still used and upcoming mobile net- works (from GSM to LTE) and digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DVB) systems. For all of these measure- ments and their evaluation universal measurement testbed has been proposed and used. Results presented in this paper are a significant part of our activities in work pack- age WP5 in the ENIAC JU project "Agile RF Transceivers and Front-Ends for Future Smart Multi-Standard Commu- nications Applications (ARTEMOS)".