Digital Television Exploitation

"By 2006, all television programs in the US will be broadcasted in the new Digital Television (DTV) standard format. Digital video signals of typical sizes (SDTV 480p/i: 704x480, progressive/interlaced, 60fps; HDTV 720p: 1280x720, progressive, 60fps; HDTV1080i: 1920x1080, interlaced, 30fps) represent a staggering raw data rates. Even with compression, the bit rate range is still overwhelming (3-19.3 Mbps). Transmitting such video over channels orders of magnitude lower in data rate requires the latestadvances in compression technology as a fundamental enabler. This is especially true for communications over wireless links that often support data rates of maximum 16 kbps "C one needs more than 50,000:1 compression! While it is desirable to usestandards-based solutions and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, as we will demonstrate, no existing video coding standard can adequately meet the needs of this program. To apply the DTV technology to the more limited environments of missiles,Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), manpackable systems, unmanned sensors, etc, we concentrate on two related solutions:1. Optimizing and upgrading current DTV components to meet the performance, size, weight, and power constraints. Try to employ as many COTS components as possible with minimal software/hardware upgrades.2. Exploit the most forward-looking compression technology in the market within the next five years, preferably in a form fa