Special Feature: Media Distribution System for FixedMedia Distribution System
Katsuhiko Kawazoe† and Satoshi Hayama
Abstract
NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories is developing a media distribution system that supports the various
different media of broadcasting and communications as well as fixed and mobile environments with thegoal of implementing more advanced content distribution and portal business services. This article gives
an overview of its capabilities and roles of its main technologies. By implementing cooperative combinations of different media, this system will open the way to novel business scenarios with much largermarkets than could be achieved by each medium alone.

1. Introduction
It is clear that much of the difficulty of implementing cooperative combinations of different kinds ofmedia these days can be attributed to the different
business models of IT (information technology)
providers and broadcasters. Broadcasters deriveincome from viewers, so naturally their businessmodel emphasizes attracting viewers to the programs
they produce and raising the value of media that
increase their income. The Internet—no matter how
abundant, convenient, and free its content is—will
not have a significant impact on changing this established business model unless the advantages of going
beyond the risk of the existing model collapsing areperceived.
Yet at the same time, broadcasters have plunged
into a number of businesses such as music download
services to mobile phones based on the belief that TV
viewing and the use of mobile phones are separate
and can be compartmentalized, and they have cometo the conclusion that these new services offer great
potential for new profits without any change to theexisting business model.
Thus, figuring out how to implement cooperative
combinations of the different media of broadcasting
and communication (IT) services on the one hand and† NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories
Yokosuka-shi, 239-0847 JapanE-mail: kawazoe.katsuhiko@lab.ntt.co.jp

32

between fixed and mobile environments on the otheris the fundamental challenge of the content distribution service.
2. Media distribution system
Research and development on the broadcasting andcommunication cooperative system [1] that we are
studying in this project has focused on developing aplatform that will support both broadcasting andcommunications services. Metadata is a key technology for implementing broadcasting and communication cooperative services. Our system uses international standardized metadata defined by the TV-Anytime Forum and was developed as a total system that
supports all functions needed to implement content
and metadata distribution services such as a metadata generation function and content/metadata delivery
and reception functions. Moreover, we are working
out the system operation regulations in conjunction
with broadcasters (all the major broadcasters inTokyo), who are examining various broadcasting/communication cooperative services besides ours.
Our system should be the first to achieve broadcasting/communication cooperative services because noother systems currently under development havespecifications defined for these operation regulations.
Our media distribution system supports the same
cooperation even when the usage environment isextended from the home to outdoors and the ubiquitous environment. There are essentially four types ofNTT Technical Review

and Mobile Broadcasting

content distribution-related services, as shown in Fig.
1. If we assume two axes—broadcasting versus communication and fixed versus mobile—this leads tofour types of services: fixed broadcasting, mobilebroadcasting, mobile communications, and fixedcommunications, yielding six cooperative combinations.
(1) fixed broadcasting & fixed communications(2) fixed broadcasting & mobile broadcasting(3) mobile broadcasting & mobile communications(4) mobile communications & fixed communications(5) fixed broadcasting & mobile communications(6) mobile broadcasting & fixed communications
Through these six cooperative combinations, wecan create content distribution services that cut acrossdifferent media. For example, by combining fixed
broadcasting with fixed communications (1), we canimplement a server-type broadcast service thatenables viewers to watch programs at home whenever they want [2]. Or by combining fixed broadcastingwith mobile broadcasting (2), we can implement a
service that supports continuous viewing so a user
can continue to watch a show by changing terminal
while moving from indoors to outdoors. Note thatthese six cooperative interfaces convey content, services, and rights. When these three entities are distributed, they are accompanied by metadata that indicates the content of the entity. Thus, metadata willlead to the distribution of more content.
Metadata can also control the degree of cooperation
between different types of media. For example, it
might be used to define the scope of permissible useof broadcast programs that tend to be subject to many
copyright restrictions. A schematic block diagram ofBroadcasting
Mobile terminal
TV, PVR• CS, BS digital• 1-segment(2)
broadcast• Digital terrestrial• Digital radio
broadcasting
Mobile broadcasting
Mobile(3)

Mobile communications• 3G WiFi• HSDPA,WiMAX

Fixed broadcasting

(6)

(4)

(5)

(1)

Fixed

Fixed communications• FTTH• ADSL FWA

the media distribution system is shown in Fig. 2. In
the case of broadcast programs, the following typesof metadata are defined.
(a) Distribution control information (distributionformat, date)(b) Rights information (content usage conditions)(c) Program information (genre, detailed information)(d) Advertising information (sales promotioninformation)
These types of metadata are standard, and theyrequire a format that is expandable. The program
information metadata must comply with TV-Anytime
Forum international standards, as described in detailin Ref. [3]. We have already proposed [1] that distribution control (a) and rights information (b) metadata should be formatted in XML (extensible markuplanguage). For the media distribution system introduced here, we now propose that advertising information metadata tags (d) should be used to define thecontent and that various usage scenarios should besupported.
The extension of the content usage to outdoor environments introduces two additional requirements:
more efficient metadata transmission and realtimeperformance. In mobile environments, metadata must
be sent in the same limited bandwidth as the content,
and the processing performed in the mobile terminalmust be minimized. The metadata, including broadcast program segment unit information, can amountto as much as several megabits, so efficient compression/expansion technology is required to reduce theamount of processing. And to support realtime viewing of sporting events and other live programming, ascheme for generating metadata on-the-fly in real
(1) Server-based broadcast service• Viewing of missed programs• Online shopping• Internet-based electronic program guide• Program retrieval• TV portal(2) Expansion of broadcast viewing area
• Continuous viewing (indoors to outdoors)• Continuous viewing (outdoors to indoors)(3)–(5) Mobile server type broadcasting• Digest viewing• TV remote control i-appli• TV-linked i-appli• Recommendation for individuals• Music downloading(6) Internet radio• Area expansion• Music downloading

Mobile phone, PDA
PC · STBCommunication
PVR: personal video recorder HSDPA: high-speed downlink packet access
CS: communication satellite
WiMAX: worldwide interoperability for microwave access
BS: broadcast satellite
PDA: personal digital assistant
3G: third-generation
FTTH: fiber to the home

ADSL: asymmetric digital subscriber line
FWA: fixed wireless access
PC: personal computer
STB: set-top box

Fig. 1. Interface between media.

Vol. 3 No. 8 Aug. 200533

Special Feature

Content distribution
control

Content generationand management

Broadcastprogram
Program provider

Satellite/digitalterrestrial
broadcasting

Program distribution
control
Database

Program content

Distribution
control
information

Internet
Advertising content
Media recognition

Metadata generationand management

Optimum distribution
control
Content rights
protection
Database

Rightsinformation

Programinformation

Media crossfunction
Program information
management
Database
View control
function
Advertising information
management

Automatic generation
function

AdvertisinginformationDatabase
Targeting function

Realtime metadata
generation technology

Dynamic advertising distribution
management technology

Optical fiber
RF distribution
IP multicast
Services for
IP unicast
households

TV- linked
function

Services forindividuals
Programinformationexchangefunction

Terrestrial
broadcasting(1 segment)

3G WiFi
Content viewing control
technology for mobile terminals
Content flow
Metadata flow
RF: radio frequency
IP: Internet protocol

Fig. 2. Media distribution system.

time as the game proceeds is required.
Besides the platform technologies related to cooperative broadcasting and communication described inRef. [1], the special feature in this issue introduces
three key technologies for the media distribution system that are needed to support new services: adynamic advertising distribution technology for
implementing new advertising functions linked to theInternet, a realtime metadata generation technologythat automatically generates metadata on the fly andcan thus keep up with live broadcasts, and a content
viewing control technology for mobile terminals for
implementing metadata transmission and processing
suitable for ubiquitous environments. These topics
are explained in detail in the following three articles.
References[1][2][3]34

K. Kawazoe and S. Hayama, “Cooperative Broadcasting and Communication Technology for a New Way of Viewing TV,” NTT Technical Review, Vol. 2, No. 8, pp. 50-51, 2004.
Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB):
http://www.arib.or.jp/
TV-Anytime Forum: http://www.tv-anytime.org/

Katsuhiko Kawazoe
Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, NTT
Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees inengineering from Waseda University, Tokyo in
1985 and 1987, respectively. Since joining NTTin 1987, he has mainly been engaged in R&D ofradio communication systems, satellite communication systems, and the personal handy-phonesystem (PHS). His specialty is forward error correction systems. He is currently a co-chairman of
the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses Working Group for Broadcasting Systems
based on a Home Server. He is a member of theInstitute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan andreceived the Young Engineer Award from IEICE
in 1995.

Satoshi Hayama
Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, NTT
Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in engineering from Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi
in 1981 and 1983, respectively. In 1983, hejoined Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public
Corporation (now NTT) and he has mainly been
engaged in R&D of communication processingsystems, OCN service providing systems, andInternet digital video content distribution systems.

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