India plans mobile TV satellite
Posted by Sachin Garg on 28th January 2006 | Permanent Link
EETimes: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is finalizing the design of a specially-loaded satellite having a big antenna that can be unfurled to provide mobile television signals.
This satellite will also have the technology to significantly compress data to MPEG 4 standards for small screens and the very high power to enable omni-directional transmission, according to a report in The Hindu Business Line on Friday (Jan. 27). A prototype is being evaluated, it said.
“It is a unique experiment to provide TV signals to people on the move. It will have new technology for data compression, an on-board antenna that will be at least five meters in diameter, high power and mostly S-band communication,” the report quoted G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO as saying.
The mobile video technology ISRO plans to have is more than two years away and will be packed onto a two-ton satellite, which will also have provision for C-band communication. ISRO is attempting this initiative after it met with good commercial success in leasing one of its satellites for direct-to-home TV transmission.
An unnamed private firm in the U.S., which has on its own developed a technology called Digital-Enabled Video Audio Service, is talking to ISRO to lease much of the proposed satellite on a long-term basis. According to ISRO, Japan and South Korea have just started sampling similar services while Europe and the U.S. are considering such services.