The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards body has finally adopted an official architecture and started work on a new standard for home base stations. The specification for the interface between the Home Node B (HNB, the 3GPP term for femtocell) is being decided. The new interface will be called Iu-h and is a blend of existing standards Iu and generic access network (GAN), sometimes referred to as unlicensed mobile access (UMA). The 3GPP chose the solution backed by industry majors Alcatel-Lucent , Kineto Wireless Inc. , and its partners Motorola and NEC Corp. The new standard, which forms part of 3GPP’s Release 8, and interdependent with Broadband Forum extensions to its Technical Report-069 (TR-069), has been completed in just 12 months following close cooperation between 3GPP, the Femto Forum and the Broadband Forum.

Femtocells
The term has already been introduced to in one of the earlier posts. Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections.A Home Node B (HNB), is the 3GPP's term for a 3G femtocell. A Node B is an element of a 3G macro Radio Access Network (RAN). A femtocell performs many of the function of a Node B, but is optimized for deployment in the home.

The new standard
The new standard covers the following main areas:

• Network architecture
• Radio & interference aspects
• Femtocell management / provisioning and security

In the proposed network architecture, the interface between femtocells and gateways in the network core re-uses existing 3GPP UMTS protocols and extends them to support the needs of high-volume femtocell deployments. The new standard has adopted the Broadband Forum’s TR-069 management protocol which has been extended to incorporate a new data model for femtocells developed collaboratively by Femto-Forum and Broadband Forum members and published by the Broadband Forum as Technical Report 196 (TR-196).

It has been quite some time that we have seen some form of mobile TV or other. The technology has been existing for a while but has not matured yet. It is yet to find its foothold in many countries around the world. Mobile TV is expected to combine broadcast content with streamed and downloaded contents.

Mobile TV
Mobile TV means television contents that can be watched on small hand-held devices. It may be a pay TV service broadcast on mobile phone networks or received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations from either regular broadcast or a special mobile TV transmission format. Some mobile televisions can also download television shows from the internet, including recorded TV programs and podcasts.i.e. the content may be obtained either through an existing cellular network or a propriety network.

Standards
DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld)
This is the major one of the mobile TV formats. DVB-H was formally adopted as ETSI standard as early as in November 2004. DVB-SH (Satellite to Handhelds), DVB-NGH (Next Generation Handheld) are possible enhancements to DVB-H, providing improved spectral efficiency and better modulation flexibility.

ATSC-M/H (Advanced Television Systems Committee - Mobile/Handheld)
This standard for mobile digital TV allows TV broadcasts to be received by mobile devices. ATSC-M/H is an extension to the available digital TV broadcasting standard ATSC A/53. ATSC is optimized for a fixed reception and uses 8VSB modulation.

MediaFLO 
This technology transmits video and data to portable devices. In the United States, the service powered by this technology is branded as FLO TV. Broadcast data transmitted via MediaFLO includes live, real time audio and video streams, as well as scheduled video and audio clips and shows. The technology can also carry Internet Protocol data-cast application data.