IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting Special Issue on: Convergence of Broadcast and Broadband in the 5G Era

Abstract

The Fifth generation of mobile broadband (BB) networks, popularly known as 5G, aims to revolutionize different vertical industries, including media broadcasting. Although it remains to be seen the real impact and timescale of the 5G revolution, 5G may represent an opportunity rather than a threat for broadcast (BC), especially when considering new approaches for BC and BB evolving into new converged platforms inter-connecting terrestrial BC and cellular/wired BB systems together [item 1) in the Appendix]. Hybrid BC-BB platforms are already a success in several countries, based, e.g., on HbbTV in EU, hybridcast in Japan and Ginga in Brazil. But the increasing importance of fixed and mobile BB IP delivery for television services, well-illustrated by the new IP-based ATSC 3.0 standard [item 2) in the Appendix] and the on-going DVB-I (Internet) specification, and the fact that the 5G system will support and be interoperable with non-3GPP access technologies, potentially allowing multiple access technologies to be used simultaneously for one or more services, opens the door to new convergence scenarios.