Data Broadcasting
264	A high bit-rate data broadcasting system using the terrestrial FM radio network: SWIFT Eureka 1197 project P. Scomazzon and R. Andersson (70 KB)
	The SWIFT Eureka 1197 project aims to develop a multi-application data system using the FM radio network. This article presents a technical assessment of the various existing high bit-rate data broadcasting systems that are compatible both with the Radio Data System (RDS) and with the audio signals (monophonic or stereophonic) that are transmitted by FM radio networks. The technical performance of each existing system is reviewed, along with the performance criteria of the system which has been adopted in the SWIFT project. Finally, three classes of application – professional, public and services for disabled people – are described.
254	Secure banking application for broadcast data systems P. Shiel (186 KB)
	The enormous growth in the use of "plastic money" has brought with it a need for fast, cost-effective methods for combatting fraud. A new application of the Radio Data System provided by Radio Telefis Eireann, means users of lost or stolen credit cards can be caught "red-handed", without the need for costly and time-consuming verification of every transaction by telephone. The system uses the RDS channel to broadcast continuously up-dated lists of suspect card numbers to cash-register systems in shops, super-markets and other business premises.
Data Processing
265	Data-processing and news-production systems of Bulgarian National Television A. Deliysky, B. Simeonov and I. Baberkov (102 KB)
	Bulgarian National Television is currently implementing an integrated data-processing system which operates on three hierarchical levels. Three large databases for mass use are maintained at the first (i.e. highest) level. At the second level, databases for local collective use are grouped together, and the third hierarchical level generates databases for personal use. Another major project at the production centre in Sofia is the development and introduction of an electronic news-production system, linked to the 3-level data-processing system. The first part of the article describes the architecture of the 3-level data-processing system. The major characteristics of the electronic news-production system are then described in the second part.
Digital Archives
308	What archives want — the requirements for digital technology Richard Wright (172 KB)
	As the world goes digital, archives are moving from their kilometres of shelves to a brave new world where the holdings are invisible, on some sort of IT system. Can this really happen? In the BBC we have 100 km of shelves in our main archive and about 3.5 million physical items (video and audio tapes, reels of film). The holdings are the permanent result of all that the BBC has meant and accomplished – because broadcasting, itself, simply goes out into the ether and disappears. In the BBC archive we have decades of experience in dealing with this media. But how can we move all this content – this almost sacred legacy – into IT systems and still sleep at night? This article explains how it might be done.
307	Holographic data storage — a new archival solution for the professional market Mike Lanciloti (262 KB) German (FKT) version (184 KB)
	Holography has long held promise as a data storage technology with the potential for vast capacity and high data rates. Recent advances in materials, multiplexing architectures and components are finally making this vision a reality. These technical developments are occurring just as we see an explosion in the growth of “fixed-content” archival information. This articles describes how holographic media could provide a long-awaited solution for broadcast archives.
305	Documenting the archive — using content analysis techniques Alberto Messina (359 KB)
	The purpose of this article is to provide EBU Members with basic information on the possible benefits of employing content analysis techniques for documenting their television and radio archives. It is based on the considerable experience gained by RAI over recent years in this field. The article also looks analytically at the impact these new archive documentation techniques will have on traditional working practices.
290	Radio archive metadata Richard Wright and Marit Grimstad (362 KB)
	Radio archivists and engineers across Europe have agreed on a simple set of terms for describing archive content. This set agrees with the standard widely used in conventional archives, libraries, publishing and web production – and by the Audio Engineering Society. This article describes what was agreed and why, and how it fits in with other metadata work in broadcasting.
285	SlotFill – connecting audio/video archives via idle SNG transponders A. Morello and G. Alberico (461 KB)
	This article describes the RAI SlotFill system which allows the exploitation of unused SNG capacity for “batch” connections between the RAI Central Archive and remote production centres. The SlotFill system guarantees automatic management of the satellite transmissions, avoiding any interference to the “high priority” SNG services.
280	Multimedia catalogue — the RAI experience R. Del Pero, G. Dimino and M. Stroppiana (619 KB)
	At the beginning of 1997, RAI launched an internal project with the goal of digitizing and redocumenting all the audio-visual materials produced and owned by RAI. The project has been subdivided into several sub-projects, according to the parallel developments taking place in multimedia catalogues, radio and TV libraries, etc. After a brief description of the system architecture, the article describes the RAI Multimedia Catalogue in some detail.
280	YLE digital sound archive P. Gronow and M. Petäjä (284 KB)
	Like most other broadcasters, Finnish Radio is addressing the problem of what to do with its mounting volume of sound archive material, much of it still stored on quarter-inch analogue tape. A digital archive system is planned for the year 2000 and this article looks at the thinking which has gone into the planning of this new system.
280	Digital video archives — facing the facts I. Buscher (315 KB)
	The EC-funded Euromedia project set out to develop the software components for a basic digital video archive platform. Based on this work, the German engineering company TecMath – who was a Euromedia project partner – has produced a multimedia repository called “MediaArchive”. In this article, the author describes three successful implementations of MediaArchive by public broadcasters in Germany and Austria: ARD BUFFET, SWR FAMOS and the “Euromedia Light” version that has been implemented by ORF.
268	Maintaining a valuable programme archive in the face of technological change Chris Daubney (71 KB)
	The commercial value of programme archives is becoming more and more important, with the proliferation of new television channels. Ongoing developments in recording and storage technology mean that very careful decisions must be taken on how best to preserve our television archives. In this article, the Author offers his personal views on what is required to maintain a programme archive, particularly now that digital recording and bit-rate reduction technologies are taking over. He also describes the archiving strategy that has been adopted by Channel Four Television in the United Kingdom to serve its needs over the next decade or so.
268	A cost-effective strategy for the archiving of ageing film I. Baker and I. Bulford (64 KB)
	This article describes a cost-effective strategy that the BBC has developed for the archiving of images stored on ageing film. It is aimed particularly at images which are important for their historical content, rather than at the high-quality images normally associated with peak-time drama. The system requires the use of a 10-bit digital tape recorder that does not use compression. The images are transferred from film to tape in such a way that regrading can be carried out at a later date, e.g. during the making of a future television programme.
Digital Broadcasting
295	What does the future hold for computer-based technology in broadcasting? Telewizja Polska (184 KB)
	A discussion on the future of radio and television – in a computer-based technology environment – was held at Telewizja Polska S.A. on the 18th June 2002. The event was organized by the editor’s office of the quarterly journal Przeglad Techniki – Radio i Telewizja (RTV Technical Review) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of television in Poland. The resulting report was published in the Annex to edition No. 3 (121) of that journal and forms the basis for this article.
294	A road map for broadcast technology Jan Doeven (414 KB)
	This article describes three main developments in broadcasting technology – digital networks, receiver storage capacity and the convergence of services and networks – and indicates the routes that may lead to what is generally seen as the future of broadcasting: interactive multimedia delivery.
293	Broadcasting and mobile communications: interworking — not convergence Walter Tuttlebee, Derek Babb, James Irvine et al. (644 KB)
	Much has been spoken in recent years about the “convergence” of the telecommunications and broadcasting industries. Today, both industries have made the analogue-to-digital transition – with GSM/3G and DAB/DVB respectively. Many companies from both industries now accept that there is potential for new revenue streams – that could be created through collaboration, but not through convergence. The Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile and Personal Communications (Mobile VCE) was conceived to undertake leading-edge, industry-led, academic research for the mobile communications industry. This article discusses the motivations and constraints of their latest research initiative – which explores broadcast-mobile interworking – and describes the origins of the programme, its structure and key research themes.
289	Bits "R" Us — new economics and approaches for digital broadcasting David Wood (301 KB)
	Based on a recent presentation given in Tokyo to the ITE on their 50th anniversary, this article describes the market and other forces that will affect the successful roll-out of digital broadcasting systems (DAB and DVB-T) in Europe and elsewhere. In particular, it addresses the digital-to-software revolution which has now overtaken the analogue-to-digital revolution of the past two decades.
285	Personal digital recorders Philip Laven (180 KB)
	Video recorders based on hard disks, rather than on tape, are now being introduced as consumer products. This article suggests that these devices will eventually revolutionize broadcasting, by allowing consumers to break free of the constraints of linear broadcasting. Although such technologies will offer many opportunities for broadcasters, there will also be some threats to established business models, such as the use of commercial breaks during TV programmes.
276	Predicting the future of broadcasting Philip Laven (238 KB)
	Will broadcasting be supplanted by the Internet? ... Will “convergence” lead to a single delivery system for multimedia services? ... Which broadcast delivery systems (terrestrial, satellite or cable) will become dominant for digital TV? ... Will the reduction in costs of computer hardware affect broadcasting? ... Will computers merge with TV sets? This article attempts to answer such questions, both by looking “sideways” at the world of computers and the Internet, and by analyzing some technological trends.
Digital Networks
303	A broadcaster's view of security, interfaces and layers Andy Leigh (433 KB)
	This article focuses on the risks associated with introducing new communication and computing technologies into the broadcasting world. It is mostly concerned with inter-broadcaster connections, rather than issues that are internal to a specific organization.
278	ATM WAN tests for broadcasting applications Herbert Hofmann (465 KB)
	In order to evaluate the operational and technical feasibility of using standardized telecom network techniques for broadcasting applications over LANs and WANs, the IRT has set up an internal ATM-based high-speed transport network. It has also carried out tests on ATM WANs and was heavily involved in the planning and evaluation of the ARD HYBNET ® field-trial network, and in other trials and demonstrations which are described here. Based on these IRT tests, the author provides basic evidence as well as some general results and conclusions in favour of using ATM in broadcast networks which consist of both LANs and WANs.
260	Transmission of coded sound signals in a future ATM network U. Aßmus and M.S. Nunes (59 KB)
	The article describes a method for the adaptation of high-quality digital sound signals to a future integrated-services broadband network. The digital signals, with a highly-reduced bit-rate, are transmitted in cells in the asynchronous transfer mode. The method can be applied to the networking of signals for Digital Audio Broadcasting services between studio centres and the DAB transmission multiplexer.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
310	DRM — opening the gate to the information society ... or shutting it? Leonardo Chiariglione (243 KB)
	In our society, which is increasingly polarized by tense competition, Digital Rights Management (DRM) is seen as either the saviour of businesses trying to survive in the digital age ... or as the scourge of basic human rights. But it should not have to be like that. This article describes the work of the Digital Media Project (DMP) which is developing an industry-agnostic and scalable DRM standard that can at least reduce the most blatant impositions of DRM. As part of the effort, the DMP is also providing an Open Source Software implementation of the standard that can be exploited to accelerate the deployment of interoperable DRM solutions and to test how Traditional Rights and Usages can be mapped to the digital space for the benefit of end users and entrepreneurs alike.
309	DRM — "digital rights" or "digital restrictions" management? Richard Leeming (204 KB)
	If correctly applied, DRM can be likened to a motorway, providing a seamless high-speed route to content, enabling people to get the content they want, where they want it, quickly and easily. However, if badly applied, heavy handed and overly restrictive, DRM is more like a traffic jam – denying people access to the content they want and crucially denying rights-holders the revenue they want. This article looks at some of the proprietary DRM systems currently available and argues that we need to start thinking hard about when and how we apply DRM to our precious content
Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG)
282	DSNG — auxilliary co-ordination channels A. Morello, V. Mignone and W. Cascianelli (443 KB)
	In July 1997, the Technical Module of the DVB Project set up an ad hoc group on DSNG under the chairmanship of RAI, with the tasks (i) to define the specification for modulation/channel coding for DSNG and other contribution applications by satellite, (ii) to define the specification for the auxiliary co-ordination channels and (iii) to co-operate with other DVB groups in defining the user guidelines for source coding, Service Information (SI) and scrambling for Conditional Access (CA). The specification for the auxiliary co-ordination channels was finalized by the group in Autumn 1998 and approved within DVB and ETSI in Spring 1999. It consists of a specification for a set of two-way (i.e. full-duplex) satellite communication circuits to allow for SNG technical and/or programme co-ordination between the DSNG terminal, the broadcaster, the DSNG operator (when required) and the satellite operator – particularly useful in areas where access to the public switched or cellular telephone networks is difficult or impossible. The specified system is based on Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum and QPSK modulation, convolutionally coded with rate 1/2, and allows for voice, data and fax transmissions.
277	New DVB standard for DSNG — and contribution satellite links A. Morello and V. Mignone (390 KB)
	In July 1997, the Technical Module of the DVB Project set up an Ad-hoc Group on Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) under the chairmanship of the RAI. Its tasks were: (i) to define the specification of the modulation/channel coding for DSNG and other contribution applications by satellite, (ii) to define the specification for the auxiliary co-ordination channels and (iii) to co-operate with other DVB groups in order to define the user guidelines for source coding, Service Information (SI) and scrambling for Conditional Access (CA). A flexible DVB-DSNG system has now been defined and is described here. Mainly based on the DVB system for satellite broadcasting (DVB-S), it offers a range of different picture-quality levels at various bit-rates by using the MPEG-2 MP@ML and 422P@ML algorithms. The specification for the auxiliary co-ordination channels was finalized by the group in Autumn 1998 and the approval procedure is still in progress within DVB and ETSI. It is not described in this article for reasons of conciseness.
277	EBU interoperability tests — DSNG equipment based on MPEG-2 Louis Cheveau (239 KB)
	In October 1997, the EBU carried out tests to verify the interoperability of MPEG-2 MP@ML satellite news-gathering equipment from various manufacturers – under operational conditions via an 8.448 Mbit/s satellite channel. A report on these tests was published by the EBU in July 1998 and this article is based on that report.
272	DSNV4 — the BBC's first bi-media newsgathering vehicle Jonathan Higgins (254 KB)
	Following on from the success of the Eurovan, BBC Resources has now built a bi-media DSNV which not only serves the simultaneous needs of the BBC's radio and television news services but also is equipped for widescreen/stereo operations. An outline description of the new vehicle is given here.
269	The BBC European DSNG vehicle — the Eurovan Jonathan Higgins (95 KB)
	BBC News has introduced a new digital SNG vehicle called the "Eurovan" which, ultimately, will be stationed in continental Europe rather than in London. Based on an 8 Mbit/s digital system with Ku-band uplinks, it is compliant with both the Eutelsat and the Intelsat systems.
Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB)
289	Satellite DSB systems — and their potential impact on the planning of terrestrial DAB services in Europe Franc Kozamernik, Nigel Laflin and Terry O'Leary (304 KB)
	This article deals with both the system and frequency management aspects of digital sound broadcasting by satellite in L-band, and gives a short description of the newer satellite digital audio systems and their possible impact on T-DAB planning and implementation.
276	Digital radio by satellite — new risks, new opportunities and a possible new gateway David Wood (215 KB)
	The future of digital radio by satellite (DRS) is exciting but uncertain, with a number of current and proposed systems all hoping for success. In this article, the Author discusses the shortcomings of the current radio-by-satellite systems (DSR and ADR) – mainly their inability to provide for the mobile listener – and looks ahead to the difficulties that will be encountered if and when the rival WorldSpace and MediaStar systems take to the skies. The solution to this situation, he argues, is to work towards a minimum number of standards for DRS and to maximize the number of common elements between them.

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