Description
Video content delivery to home via satellite has proven to be a competitive solution to reach a large number of users in a cost-effective and convenient manner via a satellite communication infrastructure. However, the user expectations of viewing content is rapidly changing and alternative solutions to reach home users at any time and any place are arising (optical fibers, wireless networks): competition could be fiercer to sustain for satellite networks in the future, and more optimised solutions should be offered. The purpose of this activity is therefore to reduce significantly the cost of video content delivery via satellite to home users whileimproving service flexibility and availability and taking into account emerging market trends and user expectations to facilitate further growth of next generation video services (i.e., (U-)HDTV) at an affordable price for service providers and seamless service upgrades for the end users. The activity will include the following tasks: (1) Definition of scenarios and services to be implemented for content distribution in the medium to long term (2) Definition of metrics and assessment of the current solutions in answering to the anticipated needs (3) Review of technologies and techniques that could be integrated to improve the delivery of broadcasting services (such as, but not excluding others, and based on a systematic and structured approach): Exploitation of Ka-band extensions for BSS in addition to Ku-band, Exploitation of regional/linguistic (multi-) beams, Increased frequency/polarisation reuse, Use of active antennas, Reduction of orbital spacing for coordinated fleets, Higher EIRP/higher order modulations for broadcasting potentially coming from emerging DVB-Sx developments, Seamless reduction of video quality in case of fading to reduce the static link margin, Adaptive link margin control based on return channel feedback, (4) Assessment of the merits and constraints in implementing these techniques/technologies against their impacts in the value chain (i.e. possibly through direct surveys or interviews complementing the technical assessments performed through budgets analysis, simulations, etc.), (5) Ranking of the addressed techniques and technologies (6) Identification of roadmaps for implementation of development of related products (including requirements on demonstration activities).