Frontiers attended "Demonstration of area-limited one-segment broadcasting" 
on April 16th

－Enhancement of campus life and revitalization of local communities with one-segment broadcasting
Demonstration of area-limited one-segment broadcasting on Keio University’s Hiyoshi Campus (Request for media coverage) :PDF－
 

< TRANSLATION of Keio Press Release>

Keio University's Research Institute for Digital Media and Content (DMC) [Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Yuichiro Anzai] will conduct experiments to evaluate one-segment broadcasting-based data transmission and services, which are aimed at sharing information inside and outside the university, in cooperation with Keio Economic Geography [Led by Associate Professor Masanao Takeyama] and Area Portal Co., Ltd [Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Junichi Kato].

In particular, Keio University's original program production and viewing styles that take advantage of area-limited one-segment broadcasting will be evaluated, as well as the effectiveness of inter-campus transport of program information and linkage with one-segment broadcasting using IP transport technology. These activities can be expected to contribute to enhancement of campus life, distribution of locally-produced and locally-consumed digital contents, revitalization of local communities and creating new business opportunities.

In these demonstrations, media personnel will be able to use terminals to actually view the one-segment broadcasting contents that are limited to on-campus viewing.

Aim of the experiments

(1) Evaluation of the possibility of one-segment broadcasting service limited to the campus

Terrestrial digital one-segment broadcasting service for mobile reception began in April 2006, and is spreading rapidly. It is expected that limiting the viewing area to local areas will add new values and categories to program contents, and further expand the applications of one-segment broadcasting technology.

In this experiment, viewing area will be limited to the campus, and students from Department of Economics will plan, produce, distribute and evaluate programs targeting student monitors, as part of their research activity on local mobile phone media.

Results of this experiment will be utilized from various viewpoints in our future research, including: utilization of mobile one-segment broadcasting to enhance the campus life of college students; sharing live video between campuses; distribution of locally-produced and locally-consumed digital contents, revitalization of local communities; and creating new business opportunities.

[Examples of program contents]
Interviews of alumni
Introduction of group activities
Gourmet information around the campus
Ranking of university co-op merchandise
(Programs produced by Keio Economic Geography)

(2) Construction of environment for transmitting broadcast data between campuses using IP networks

Two experiments will be conducted in this project, aimed at integrating IP-based media/contents distribution system and one-segment broadcasting, in order to construct a practical environment for distribution infrastructure of next-generation digital broadcasting contents.

①Construction of on-line studio
Live telecast is a vital element of digital contents. Most of conventional live telecasts have been delivered via satellite links, which presented problems such as transmission delay and high cost.

In this experiment, efficient live telecast is enabled by using IP network to link three remote campuses. DVTS (Digital Video Transport System), a high-quality media transport application, is used for live video telecast. Live video transmitted from Shonan Fujisawa Campus is sent to one-segment editing equipment installed at the DMC Global Studio on Mita campus, where it is mixed with recorded video or data for broadcast is added to it.

②Construction of one-segment transmission system linked with IP network
In this experiment, a flexible antenna configuration is enabled by using HD-x1000 IP (ASI over IP) Gateways in a conventional one-segment broadcasting system, which previously had been configured with a one-segment delivery equipment, a one-segment transmitting device and an antenna. Contents data is edited, mixed with data broadcast and encoded at the DMC Studio on Mita campus, and then is transmitted using an IP Gateway developed by Frontiers Co., Ltd. (Sogyo), via Mita-Hiyoshi Inter-Campus Network and Hiyoshi Campus LAN, to transmission equipment installed in the basement of Student Hall on Hiyoshi Campus. Thus, a low-cost one-segment broadcasting environment is constructed, in which distance is minimized between one-segment transmitting equipment and antenna.

●Live video source
SFC
Live camera
DVTS conversion
↓
●Inter-campus video transport
↓
●Broadcast Center
MITA
Morning  Afternoon
DVTS conversion DVD player
Real-time encoder Data broadcast streamer
Real-time MUX
Real-time Re MUX
IP conversion
↓
●IP transmission
↓
●Service field
HIYOSHI
Antenna
Coaxial cable
Student Hall  Cafeteria
1 seg. RF modulator 1 seg. RF modulator
IP conversion

Relevant URL
(1) Responsible organizations
Research Institute for Digital Media and Content (DMC), Keio University http://www.dmc.keio.ac.jp/
Keio Economic Geography, Department of Economics, Keio University
http://keglab.jp/

(2) Cooperating enterprises
●Construction of one-segment broadcasting system and contents processing
 Area Portal Co.  http://www.areaportal.co.jp/
 Hitachi Ltd.   http://www.hitachi.co.jp/
●Equipment provision
 Frontiers Co., Ltd.  http://www.big-frontiers.co.jp/
 Mediacast Co., Ltd.   http://www.mcast.co.jp/