ARLINGTON, VA. — The broadcast standards association for over-the-air television has reached what it calls “an important milestone” in the development of Broadcast-to-Everything (B2X) technology.
What’s transpired at the ATSC? One of its technology groups has green-lit a new “Candidate Standard” that establishes “a critical foundation” for the emerging B2X platform.
As the ATSC explains, the Candidate Standard “represents much more than a new technical specification.”
How so? “It is an important first step toward ATSC’s vision of enabling broadcast and mobile technologies to work more closely together — potentially extending the reach and efficiency of broadcast to a much broader range of connected devices, networks and services, while creating a more efficient means for unicast networks to take advantage of one-to-many network architecture.”
Intriguingly, 5G Broadcast — a quest of groups such as HC2 Broadcasting and the LPTV Broadcasting Association — is inherently built on the delivery of over-the-air TV stations to smartphones. With a bevy of dollars invested in ATSC 3.0, a technology that originated a quarter-century ago, the group led by President Madeleine Noland believes it is on track with its commitment to “advancing broadcast technologies that meet the evolving needs of our industry and create new opportunities for broadcasters, technology companies and consumers.”
Approved by ATSC Technology Group 3 (TG3) for public review, S44-2-002r6, “B2X System Discovery and Signaling,” provides “one of the essential building blocks needed for devices to find and connect with future B2X services,” the ATSC says.
Furthermore, the association believes B2X “is intended to combine the strengths of broadcast with the enormous scale of the mobile ecosystem. The initiative could create new opportunities for broadcasters, wireless providers, device manufacturers, technology companies and service developers while opening new markets for broadcast-based services.”
Noland continued, “By bringing together expertise from across the broadcast and mobile ecosystems, ATSC is helping define how broadcast can evolve and work alongside other networks as an essential part of the communications landscape.”
Joe Fabiano, Chief Technology Officer of “internet of things” company EdgeBeam Wireless and Chair of the TG3 Specialist Group on B2X, added, “B2X can bring together broadcast efficiency in the mobile ecosystem, create new business opportunities, and ultimately extend advanced services to a broader range of devices, including very low-power devices such as wearables or remote sensors”
Rather than changing existing ATSC 3.0 standards, the specification “establishes an independent mechanism specifically designed for B2X,” ATSC continued. “It is envisioned as the first building block in a broader suite of standards that ATSC expects will ultimately define a complete B2X platform.”
The Candidate Standard review period closes at the end of June 2027.
