DVB-H and IP Datacast—Broadcast to Handheld Devices

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) is the digital broadcast standard for transmitting broadcast content to handheld terminal devices, developed by the International DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) Project. DVB-H is based on the DVB-T standard for digital terrestrial television but tailored to the special requirements of the pocket-size class of receivers. The IP Datacast specification, which was also recently standardized, contributes the higher layer protocols to build a complete end-to-end system. This article presents an overview of the DVB-H and IP Datacast systems with respect to features and technology. An outlook on DVB-H network deployment is given