ARLINGTON, Va.—The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society has announced a virtual event will take the place of its annual Broadcast Symposium this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IEEE BTS conference will take place from Oct. 6-8, covering key industry topics like 5G and ATSC 3.0.

There will be an entire session dedicated to 5G broadcasting chaired by Peter Siebert, broadcast industry advisory. The sessions will strive to answer the role of 5G in the future of DTT broadcast and whether or not 5G will replace or complement DVB or ATSC broadcast.

The NextGen TV standard will also be a point of interest, with ATSC President Madeleine Noland leading another session reviewing the ATSC 3.0 implementation and rollout. Topics covered will include rollout status for ATSC 3.0, who will deliver the devices, how NextGen TV will entice end users and if the spectrum repack is an obstacle or opportunity for ATSC 3.0.

The final session will be chaired by Guy Bouchard, director of transmission systems at Tele-Quebec, and focuses on broadcast disaster preparedness. Up for discussion will be lessons learned during the pandemic, reviewing whether broadcasters were ready, how radio broadcast can be a vital emergency solution and if there can truly be a disaster resilient infrastructure.

The virtual event will enable attendees to earn multiple Continuing Education Credits or Professional Development hours, per IEEE.

For more information, visit bts.ieee.org.  

HARTFORD, Conn.—Television was again center stage at this year’s IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Broadcast Symposium, with nearly two-thirds of the presentations involving video. ATSC 3.0, or as it has been recently branded by the Consumer Technology Association, NEXTGEN TV, was in the limelight, with the final day of the Oct. 1-3 conference set aside for 3.0 presentations.

Leading off was Michael E. Bouchard, vice president of technology strategy for ONE Media at Sinclair Broadcast Group, who prognosticated as to how NEXTGEN TV and 5G technologies could work together in a mutually beneficial way.

“OTT is on the rise and 82% of internet traffic will eventually be video,” said Bouchard. “The consumer’s use of video on the internet is driving this exponential growth, and there’s nothing to indicate that this will end anytime soon. More and more broadcasters are moving their broadcasting to over-the-top. We’re loading these networks as they’ve never been loaded before. But we’re also becoming more and more dependent on a network that we don’t control, and mobile networks are becoming choked. Coverage is also poor in rural areas.”

Bouchard noted that while 5G may offer a lot of advantages not present in current wireless broadband systems, it may not be the universal panacea that many are promising, as under certain high-demand content viewing conditions, its unicast delivery mode can saturate. He suggested that if 5G and broadcast joined forces this would allow traffic to be offloaded for over-the-air delivery to phones equipped with 3.0 chips.

“[Such a] 5G converged network utilizes the superior features of IP-based terrestrial transmissions [and] it utilizes the unicast mode networks that are already in place,” said Bouchard. “It delivers data seamlessly across different technologies.”

Such a converged network would also benefit wireless broadband providers by extending their reach into rural areas and cutting system buildout costs, according to Bouchard.

“With the millimeter wave technology [that’s proposed for 5G], you need a tower every 200 to 300 feet,” said Bouchard. “How are you going to do that for Interstate 90 that goes from Boston to Seattle? Or better yet, how are you going to do that where I live in Hunt Valley, Md., where it’s horse country and every house has 40 acres?”

He views a plan where broadcasters could “rent out” some of their ATSC 3.0 bits to telcos as being a “win-win” for both.

“It would reinvent, extend and reinvigorate DTT broadcast TV, better enable telcom ecosystems, increase use of DTT spectrum and increase overall throughput efficiencies,” said Bouchard, noting that experimentation on such a converged ATSC 3.0/5G system are taking place in New Jersey and South Korea.

PHOENIX CONTINUES TO RISE

Dave Folsom, consultant to Pearl TV’s Phoenix 3.0 model market project, noted that there are now 12 stations and several television station groups participating in Phoenix, as well as a number of broadcast and consumer equipment manufacturers.

“A whole host of companies are providing enabling technologies behind the scene,” said Folsom. “Part of the mission is to evangelize … to ensure that all manufacturers of transmission and receiving equipment believe that the standard is going to be implemented. We have to come up with use cases, and test those use cases to show that there is consumer receiver demand.

“Manufacturers need a little bit of incentive that there will be a market; that broadcasters will be broadcasting in major markets,” Folsom added. “We don’t want to just replicate ATSC 1.0; otherwise there’s not a lot of incentive for viewers or receiver manufacturers.”

Other goals include demonstrating secure delivery of content and ensuring that the viewing audience served by MVPDs can access 3.0 signals.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions with MVPDs about moving forward, and hope to do testing with Phoenix MVPDs soon,” he said.

Folsom said that a professional ATSC 3.0 IRD is now available and that three television set manufacturers, and possibly more, should be making 3.0 sets available in the United States in 2020.

ATSC 3.0 FROM AN MVPD’S VIEWPOINT

As U.S. broadcasters move closer to a widespread ATSC 3.0 rollout, providers of cable and satellite systems are also laying plans to accommodate the new signals and services. Steve Watkins, executive director of Strategic Technology Policy at Cox Communications, described some of the challenges the cable industry faces by accommodating broadcasters’ ATSC 3.0 services.

“There’s a lot that has to happen when ATSC 3.0 is received by cable and satellite operators,” said Watkins, observing that 3.0 carriage will require restructuring and changes in multiple areas, including reception of program streams from broadcasters, signal processing, distribution to customers, set-top boxes and more. Watkins also foresaw difficulties arising from the many choices and possibilities inherent in the ATSC 3.0 signal itself.

“There’s apt to be customer confusion,” he said. “The AC-4 audio format provides additional language capability, music tracks, a means for providing increased separation between dialog and background audio, and immersive audio provides an increased number of audio channels that people will have to deal with.”

Watkins noted that such choices could be bewildering to some cable customers when difficulties arise, and asked “Who will be there to field questions and complaints?”

In the area of processing, Watkins said that 3.0 implementation will require new encoding and multiplexing schemes, a rework of failover/redundancy solutions to maintain continuity of operations in the event of a signal loss on primary feeds from broadcasters, and even new slate generators.

“Who converts the ATSC 3.0 service to provide ATSC 1.0?” he mused. “Where will it be done—at the broadcaster’s facility, or at the cable facility? Also, does the cable operator participate in the zoning or geotargeting that 3.0 enables? Cable systems typically are not equipped for this.”

Watkins noted that even though mandatory carriage of NEXTGEN signals will not be required “for at least another seven years, if the broadcasters come up with something that’s compelling and our customers want it, we want to be able to deliver it.”

MANUFACTURING FACILITY TOURS

Attendees to the 2019 BTS Symposium were also treated to pre-conference tours of the RFS RF component production facility in Meriden, Conn., and the Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark operation in Southwick, Mass., where they were briefed on that company’s Comark Digital Services initiative for assisting broadcasters who wish to move to the NEXTGEN TV platform. 

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

PISCATWAY, N.J.—The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society has announced that it will host its inaugural “Women in the Industry” breakfast on Oct. 2 during the 2019 IEEE Broadcast Symposium. The event is an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of women in the broadcast industry and encourage collaboration between them and the BTS.

As part of the event, Jaclyn Pytlarz, senior engineer for Dolby Laboratories, has been tapped to give a keynote presentation. Pytlarz has worked as part of Dolby’s Applied Vision Science group since 2014 and has conducted research on High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut displays. She is currently the lead on the Display Management Core Algorithm, which focuses on developing color mapping and display management algorithms to maintain consistent imagery on a variety of displays. She also is the education director for SMPTE.

The 2019 IEEE Broadcast Symposium will take place from Oct. 1-3 at the Marriott Hartford Downtown in Hartford, Conn.

Visit bts.ieee.org to register for the symposium.

NEW YORK—A new batch of acronyms are being used to describe the latest models of TVs that are dazzling and perplexing consumers. QD, QUHD, SUHD and ULED are quantum-dot technology that are currently available for TVs and our making their move to be the future of TVs, not the previously believed-successor OLED. IEEE takes a look at what is special about this new quantum-dot technology and how it is going to make the promised future of televisions finally a reality.

Read the full story from IEEE here.

PISCATAWAY, N.J.—IEEE has named Stephen Welby as its next executive director and chief operating officer, starting Jan. 2.

According to the announcement, Welby served as the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering, where he had the role of chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Defense. His technical experience includes development of aeronautical and space systems, robotics, machine learning, high-performance software and sensor systems.

IEEE President and CEO Karen Bartleson tasked Welby with ensuring the organization is “recognized as the voice of the global technical community” as well as “an essential contributor to the development and implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies.”

ARLINGTON, VA—HECAS, a South Korean-based startup in mobile live video transport solutions, is demonstrating what it says is the industry’s “first commercially-deployed” MPEG-MMT-based mobile live streaming solution, at the IEEE Broadcast Symposium, at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Va. this week.

Hoisoo Cho, head of business development and marketing for HECAS demonstrates the company’s MMT technology at the 2017 IEEE-BTS The Seoul-based company, which is publicly demonstrating its technology in the U.S. for the first time at this week’s event, first deployed its HECAS MLS (mobile live streaming) technology for SK Telecom’s Oksusu mobile IPTV service last year, delivering ultra-low latency on the Oksusu SPOTV live sports channel. Using HECAS MLS, the Oksusu service provides latency below three seconds on 4G networks; has 10 percent less data traffic than comparative HLS/DASH implementations, and has a playback differential of less than 30 milliseconds between multiple devices.

The HECAS MLS technology guarantees real-time end-to-end delivery of live videos on mobile networks. The company has a strong relationship with the KAIST Media Network Lab in Daejeon, where research on ultra low latency live video streaming resulted in the formation of HECAS in 2014.

“We have worked to achieve what we believe is the most robust live video delivery solution in the industry, and having deployed in South Korea, we are now planning to expand to the U.S. market with the vision of seamless convergence of both over-the-air and online content delivery,” said Hoisoo Cho, head of business development and marketing for HECAS. “Video providers of all kinds—telcos, broadcasters, and emergency network providers—have needs that can only be met with low latency and perfect sync solutions.”

South Korea broadcasters have already deployed ATSC 3.0 and a handful of stations are currently testing the standard in the U.S. At the 2017 NAB Show, U.S. broadcast group Sinclair vision stated that the Next Generation Broadcast Platform (NGBP) will be facilitated by the MMT (MPEG media transport) standard that can be used to enable hybrid broadcast/broadband services. The company believes its MLS platform has the potential to act as a media server that can help the MMT standard gain widespread adoption, from content production to distribution, according to the company.

The MLS Solution currently consists of HECAS MLS Caster; HECAS MLS Engine, and HECAS MLS Player. HECAS will introduce its MLS Service in early 2018, which will incorporate the HECAS MLS Cloud solution.

As previously covered in this column, IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is an essential part of a modern all-IP media production system. By distributing a highly accurate clock signal (to within a microsecond) to every part of a network, many good things can be made to happen: Cameras can be frame-accurately synchronized. Audio signals can be synced to each other and to video streams. Video signals can be switched at precise frame boundaries in the middle of a packet network. All this can happen with a simple common clock and an agreed-upon start point or “epoch.”

As it stands, the IEEE 1588 standard has a lot of built-in flexibility, allowing PTP to cover all sorts of applications, including mobile phone networking, industrial process control, automotive on-board systems, and the Internet of Things (IoT), just to name a few.

In order to accommodate all these different uses, 1588 defines a list of parameters that can be adjusted to handle a range of performance conditions. Unfortunately, all this flexibility can make it difficult to achieve interoperability between various devices.

To help resolve this conundrum, IEEE 1588 supports “profiles” which define ranges for all the allowed parameters to support a specific operating mode. Both the AES67 specification for IP audio and the SMPTE ST2059-2 specification for professional broadcast applications have well-defined PTP profiles. These two profiles are similar, but not identical. By determining an operating point where these two profiles overlap should make it possible for both audio and video signals to share the same clock and network.

That, at least, is the conclusion of a report AES-R16-2016 just published in May by the Audio Engineering Society (AES). By providing a detailed comparison of both the SMPTE ST2059-2 and the AES67 profiles, the nine authors of this document have provided a valuable service to our industry.

Based on these findings, creating an IEEE 1588 PTP clock distribution system that meets both specifications can be accomplished merely by carefully selecting values for each of the main parameters that fall within the permitted range of each standard.

For most of the major parameters in the two profiles, AES67 and SMPTE ST2059-2 have minimal differences. Both profiles support IPv4. Both specify that the default path delay measurement mechanism shall be the delay-request/response mechanism, which means that the master devices respond to requests from slave devices to achieve accurate synchronization. This is in contrast to the peer-to-peer delay measurement technique that both SMPTE and AES optionally support.

For certain parameters, one standard requires a tighter tolerance than the other; by adopting the tighter standard, a system can meet both specs. SMPTE requires a 5 ppm (parts per million) accuracy clock, whereas AES only requires 10 ppm. On the other hand, SMPTE only requires a slave to be able to adjust over a range of +/–5 ppm, whereas AES requires a range of +/– 50 ppm. Here, it appears that there could potentially be a compatibility issue, except that most (if not all) clocks used in modern networks are going to be significantly more accurate than the worst case spec, so the tighter SMPTE tolerance should not be a major issue in practice.

One interesting method that is used within IEEE 1588 to specify certain parameters is to use the base 2 logarithm of the actual value. This means that if the spec is 1, then the actual value of the parameter is 2 to the first power, or “2.” If the spec is –2, then the value of the parameter is “1/4.”

Fig. 1: Comparison of AES67 and SMPTE ST2059-2 ranges with proposed interop values For example, the time interval between successive Sync messages (sent from the master on a regular basis) are specified in AES67 as logSyncInterval is between –4 and +1, giving a range of 0.0625 (1/16th of a second) to 2 (two seconds). Fig. 1 shows a summary of the ranges for various parameters in both AES67 and SMPTE ST2059-2 as well as the proposed interoperability points described in AES-R16-2016.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
While many of the technical issues discussed in this article might seem arcane, readers should understand that resolving the differences between PTP profiles defined in the SMPTE and AES standards is vitally important for both audio-only and audio/video networking. Already, the work done in the Video Services Forum on TR-03 (and supported by industry groups such as the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS)), has adopted AES67 as the method for IP audio transport, while also endorsing SMPTE ST2059-2. By selecting a common operating point that fits within both profiles, media streams of different types can be synchronized and a single, common PTP clock distribution system can be used.

In fact, coordinating these two standards and achieving interoperability between different devices is so important that SMPTE has formed a Task Force in conjunction with AES to perform interoperability testing during June. This will be followed by a public interoperability demonstration during the SMPTE 2016 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition in October in Hollywood. This work is vital to the future interoperability of media networks, since clocks are fundamental to so many activities in a modern media production facility.

Wes can be contacted viawww.telecompro.tv. Thanks to Richard Bell of ARG ElectroDeisgn for his review and critique.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—People are now able to register online for the 2016 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, which is scheduled to take place from Oct. 12-14 in Hartford, Conn. The three day conference will feature tutorials, technical sessions and networking.

In addition, IEEE Broadcast Technology Society is seeking sponsors for the Symposium. Sponsors will have their logos displayed on the event’s website, in the conference program, in email and print promotions, at their own sponsored session, and at general sessions.

IEEE is offering a discount registration fee for past attendees, as well as for anyone who registers before June. For more information on the 2016 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, click here.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—The 2016 PBS Technology Conference has added a session of IEEE’s “IP Video for Broadcast Engineers” to its schedule. The course is taught by Wes Simpson, a member of IEEE BTS, owner of Telecom Product Consulting and columnist (Video Networking) for TV Technology.

The “IP Video for Broadcast Engineers” is a one-day course that offers instruction on how IP video technologies impact the current and future plans for video networking and delivery. Simpson will provide a look at technologies used to transmit video signals over IP networks to viewers, for contribution and distribution, and within production facilities, as well as showing practical applications for the technologies and introducing terminology and industry standards.

Modules expected to be covered in the course include IP basics, IP video, consumer video delivery, IP contribution/distribution networks, private and in-studio IP video, and system-level considerations.

The 2016 PBC TechCon will take place April 16 in Las Vegas. The course will take place at the PBS Las Vegas Studio from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Class size is limited to 35. Online registration is available here, at a price of $200.

UNDER TWO FEET OF SNOW, IS WHERE—Despite the wealth of options for furthering their knowledge these days, broadcast engineers— like so many us—still highly value the experience of sharing information and networking on a personal basis. Even after sitting through the umpteenth PowerPoint presentation, our community still prefers to obtain and share its expertise through personal contact. And there’s no shortage of events to share that knowledge. From the NAB Show to IBC to SMPTE (as well as many NewBay-sponsored summits, natch), our professional development is greatly enhanced when we can meet person to person and demonstrate new products and technologies. And despite the increased options in remote learning, industry conferences are growing in popularity.

Former SMPTE President Wendy Aylsworth and SMPTE Executive Director Barbara Lange prepare for a session at the annual HPA Tech Retreat, an event with a reputation for not taking itself too seriously. The two most recent examples were last fall’s IEEE-Broadcast Technology Society and SMPTE conferences, which saw increased interest and attendance. According to Roswell Clark, director of technical operations at Cox Media Group Tampa and IEEE BTS conference co-chair, the 2015 conference in Orlando was the group’s “most successful” gathering to date.

SMPTE, as well, saw record attendance at its Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition in Hollywood last year. “In so many ways, this was a banner year for the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition,” said Paul Chapman, SMPTE Fellow and co-chair of the conference. “We had to add space to accommodate more than 90 exhibitors. That, coupled with the record number of attendees, indicates that the industry is on a real upswing.”

There’s one other conference that is a particular standout: the upcoming HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15-19 in Indian Wells, Calif., a suburb of Palm Springs. The annual conference, which was first held in 1993, has grown in size and influence over the years and that’s perhaps why SMPTE took notice and initiated a partnership with the group last year.

The retreat, sponsored by the Hollywood Professional Association (a new name that was announced last fall) has gained a reputation for attracting some of the greatest minds in media production, hosting such notables over the years as the inventor of MP3, the head of Visual Space Perception Laboratory at the University of California- Berkeley, as well as experts in imaging from the federal government and the EBU. The networking and learning opportunities for attendees begin at sunrise and last well after sundown, with breakfast roundtables, Mark Schubin’s “Year in Review” and broadcasters panel particularly popular annual events. One might think of the event as an “intelligence boot camp” for media technology experts, but in a good way.

Schubin, who organizes the event, notes that the retreat has been the scene of numerous technology milestones over the years. Sony introduced its HDCAM SR, OLED monitors, and SR Memory at the retreat, while, Panasonic introduced its Varicam and the first 4K camera, a Lockheed Martin prototype, made its debut.

Since it’s held in February every year, the retreat, in some ways, serves as a “technology preview” of the spring NAB Show, but frankly, it doesn’t really matter when the event is held; its influence and impact on attracting the best minds and most advanced technologies are a testament to its longstanding commitment to excellence. It’s also known as the event that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with a reputation for being a bit more offbeat than similar gatherings.

This year’s event will focus on the growing importance of high dynamic range, VR, OLED and ATSC 3.0. And Schubin says he will talk about a new development with regard to frame rate. “High frame rate is an advanced TV feature,” he notes. “But people don’t see in frames. In increasing frame rate, we are trying to solve the problem of low frame rate. But what if we could produce imagery the way our eyes see it; sensitive to change? It turns out a lab in Germany has been working on a sensor that captures moving images the way our eyes work, and we’ll see images from that retinal sensor.”

The HPA Tech Retreat is a showcase of talent and technology. And who wouldn’t mind a week in the California desert in February?

For more information on the event, visit www.hpaonline.com.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—IEEE BTS’ announced the first ever winner of the Jules Cohen Award for Outstanding Broadcast Engineering, Electronics Research Inc. President Thomas Silliman. The award seeks to recognize broadcast engineering work that shows integrity and professionalism; quality and thoroughness; extent and reach; and commitment to client success. The award was handed out at the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, which took place from Oct. 13-16.

Thomas Silliman

Silliman began his career as director of engineering at ERI. He has served two terms as president of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers and the recipient of the 2008 NAB Engineering Award. Silliman currently sits on the board of Tri-State Public Radio and TV in Evansville, Ind. He also is the secretary of IEEE BTS.

The Matti S. Siukola Memorial Award was also handed out at the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, with David Layer, senior director of advanced engineering for NAB, named the recipient. Layer won for his paper “All Digital Radio AM Field Test Project,” which was presented at the previous IEEE Broadcast Symposium.

SPRINGFIELD, VA.—Next Tuesday, Oct. 13, will mark the start of the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium down in Orlando, Fla., a three-day conference set to cover some of the industry’s hottest topics. Here’s a quick look at some of the things that will be talked about during the conference and planned sessions.

5. Alternate Delivery
To stream or not to stream? That is one of the big questions facing broadcasters in this day and age of Netflix, Amazon and the like. IEEE BTS will touch on the topic with a session that will include presentations on second screen interactive applications, IP video delivery costs for live and non-live stream events, and a special look at one of the latest OTT services, CBS All Access with CBS’ Bob Siedel.

4. EAS
As part of a larger session on ATSC 3.0, Peter Sockett, Capital Broadcasting Co., will make a presentation on how the new standard will affect and advance Emergency Alerting Systems. With hurricane Joaquin having recently passed by the East Coast, the new standard to alert viewers about weather and other emergencies is timely.

3. Cyber Security
As the digital transition continues to move forward, being able to protect yourself against cyber threats is becoming even more important. That’s why there will be a tutorial session on cybersecurity on the symposium’s first full day. James O’Neal is heading the session that will see George Waters from Gwanda leading a presentation on cybersecurity risk management and best practices, and ERI’s Tom Sillimann talking about grounding concepts and techniques for broadcast.

2. TV Repack
The FCC’s TV spectrum incentive auction is less than six months away, and IEEE is dedicating a session to help people get ready. While people prepare themselves for just how the auction will go down, Joseph Davis from Chesapeake RF Consultants will give advice on what things could be like after the bidding with his presentation, “TV Repack: Post-Auction Transition Procedures.” Presentations from Sid Shumate of Givens and Bell Inc., and Benedikt Scheid from RFS World will also touch on TV repacking.

1. ATSC 3.0
The big news recently was ATSC's announcement that the physical layer standard of ATSC 3.0 had been moved to the candidate standard process, moving it one step closer to final approval. With ATSC 3.0 being such a huge potential development for the entire broadcast industry, IEEE BTS is spending plenty of time on the topic, with a full morning dedicated to ATSC Standard on Thursday, and then closing out the conference with a look at ATSC implementation on Friday, including Zenith’s Tim Laud presenting on the first field testing of the proposed ATSC 3.0 physical layer technologies.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Top-level general and reception sponsors for the upcoming 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium have been announced. General sponsors for the symposium include Dielectric, ERI, GatesAir, Jampro Antennas Inc., Nautel, NewTek, RFPath Connectivity Consultants and SymbolShifters. Sierra Automated Systems will serve as the exclusive welcome-reception sponsor.

IEEE BTS is still soliciting sponsorships. For more information, including a full list of sponsor levels and benefits, contact Amanda Temple at 732-562-5407 or email a.temple@ieee.org.

The 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium will take place from Oct. 13-16 at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlgando, Fla.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—IEEE has reached to the stars for its keynote speaker for the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, tapping former shuttle engineer and current partner manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, in partnership with SpaceX, Jon N. Cowart. Cowart will talk about his role with the CCP and SpaceX, as well as his experiences as the leader of several space shuttle missions and the redesign of the International Space Station.

Jon N. Cowart, Partner Manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program

Cowart is working with SpaceX on the agency’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability Initiative and will serve as the mission manager for the first flight with a crew during SpaceX’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract. SpaceX looks to demonstrate its ability to safely transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Joining NASA in 1987, Coward worked as a project engineer on the space shuttle Atlantis and has led a number of teams, including the International Space Station flight 2A and 3A processing teams and the shuttle Discovery engineering team. Prior to joining NASA, Cowart was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

Cowart’s presentation will take place during the BTS/AFCEE Luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 15.

The 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium will take place from Oct. 13-16 in Orlando, Fla.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Broadcast Symposium is traveling to the “Sunshine State” this fall and will be offering a full range of technical presentations keyed to the needs of today’s broadcast engineering community. The Oct. 13-16 event is being hosted by Orlando’s Caribe Royale Hotel and will feature some of broadcasting’s top engineering professionals who provide cutting-edge information on such timely topics as single frequency networks, cybersecurity, facility grounding, TV spectrum repacking, the ATSC 3.0 television standard, audio watermarking, advanced emergency alerting systems and much more. This year’s program features more than 30 technical presentations, panel discussions and tutorial sessions.

The Symposium will also provide plenty of opportunity for networking with other professions, with three evening receptions and an equal number of luncheons with keynote speakers including NASA’s Jon Cowart, Maxplay’s Frank Artes and duTreil, Lundin and Rackley’s Ron Rackley.

Registration is now open for this broadcast engineering event and special hotel rates are available for attendees. Symposium sponsors include the ATSC. SymbolShifters, Burk Technology, Dielectric, GatesAir, Gwanda Networking, the Broadcasters General Store, Myat, Radio Frequency Systems, Axia, Omnia, ERI, NewTek, Nautel, Shively Labs, SCMS Broadcast Equipment Solutions, duTriel, Lundin and Rackley, and The Telos Alliance, including Linear Acoustic, 25-Seven Systems and Telos.

Visit bts.ieee.org/broadcastsymposium for complete information. 

MELVILLE, N.Y.—The IEEE Broadcast Technology Society is continuing to accept sponsorships for its upcoming 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, which is set to take place from Oct. 13-16 in Orlando, Fla.

IEEE BTS offers eight levels of sponsorship for the symposium. At all levels sponsors’ logos will be prominently displayed on the event’s webpage, with links to the sponsor’s website. The two highest levels include sponsoring the BTS Awards Lunch or one of three scheduled receptions, where the sponsor’s logo will be displayed on corporate signage in the registration area and event rooms, be recognized by the symposium chairperson at the podium, and a 6-foot tabletop exhibit/display area, among other benefits.

For more information on becoming a sponsor of the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, contact Amanda Temple at 1-732-562-5407 or email at a.temple@ieee.org.

MELVILLE, N.Y. – Ron Rackley, founding partner of duTreil, Lundin & Rackley Inc., has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium. The symposium, an annual gathering of broadcast engineers from around the world, will run from Oct. 13-16 in Orlando, Fla. Online registration is now open.

Ron Rackley

Rackley has been a member of the IEE Broadcast Technology Society of more than 40 years and helped develop modern computer modeling techniques for both antenna and RF network analysis. Rackley has worked in AM radio engineering for more than 45 years, specializing in the design, troubleshooting, and testing of broadcast antennas.

The keynote presentation will take place on Friday, Oct. 16, during the IEEE BTS Awards lunch.

To register or to find out more information about the 2015 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, click here.

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters’ opening bid prices are out. The Federal Communications Commission today released the opening bid price that it will offer each broadcaster in the 2016 TV spectrum incentive auction. It provides the opening bids for the three participation options: relinquishment (including channel-sharing), moving from a UHF to a VHF, or a high VHF to a low VHF.

Each was calculated based on the Aug. 11 Bidding Procedures Public Notice, and the bidding constraint data—population served and interference factor, particularly—released yesterday in the Applications Procedure Public Notice. That notice defined the broadcaster filing window for the reverse auction as noon, Dec 1, through 6 p.m. on Dec. 18.

A full-power or Class A will have to file during the filing window, set for noon, Dec. 1 through 6 p.m., Dec. 18. These applications are not binding until Marc 29, 2016, the day the reverse auction begins. Applications will not constitute a binding commitment, but after Dec. 18, no other station will be able to apply to participate in the auction.

There are a number of stations for which the commission was able to keep in the pre-auction TV band, and are defined as “not needed” in the accompanying .pdf with the opening bids for all stations, TV Technology will continue follow up on this information:
/portals/0/Reverse Auction Opening Prices 101615 Attachment.pdf