Advanced Emergency Alerting Addressed by New ATSC 3.0 I-Team

Posted on March 3, 2015 in ATSC News

The new “Advanced Emergency Alerting Implementation Team” kicked off with its first meeting in mid-February.  Chaired by industry veteran Jay Adrick of Gates Air, the new I-Team is focused on supporting integration of rich-media alerting capabilities into the ATSC 3.0 standard, building on the work of the former ATSC Mobile EAS I-Team.

“Advanced emergency alerting with ATSC 3.0 will significantly enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness and give broadcasters important new public service tools,” said Adrick, who highlighted the new I-Team’s scope of work, which may include:

• Development of prototype equipment and program materials, emergency alerting and/or subsystem components;
• Development of rich media generation systems and capabilities;
• Broadcast station implementation, integration with stations’ existing alerting and/or local emergency manager organizations;
• Interoperability “plugfest” testing, field trials and demonstrations;
• Market studies, marketing, branding and promotion;
• Compliance and certification; and
• Standards recommendations to the ATSC.

While the I-Team will not develop standards or recommended practices, it may make recommendations to ATSC and other standards development organizations as appropriate.

Adrick cited the charter for the ATSC Advanced Emergency Alert I-Team: “To provide a venue for industry discussions of issues related to implementation of emergency alerting.”  This I-Team may address business, regulatory and technical requirements for the successful inclusion of emergency alerting and the successful commercial rollout of ATSC 3.0, he said.

Participation in the I-Team is open to all organizations offering or planning to offer services, products or other efforts relating to or in support of implementation of ATSC 3.0. The base annual fee for participation in the Advanced Emergency Alert I-Team is $1,000 for ATSC members and $3,000 for organizations that are not ATSC members. To get involved, please contact jay.adrick@gatesair.com.

Representing a compelling ATSC 3.0 application, advanced emergency alerting promises to create new significant value for viewers, CE manufacturers, broadcasters and the public safety community.

AWARN to Leverage Robust ATSC 3.0 Signals

Formation of the new ATSC Advanced Emergency Alert I-Team dovetails with the launch by industry stakeholders of the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN), a new system that’s designed to leverage the higher data throughput, more robust transmission and improved indoor reception to be delivered by the emerging ATSC 3.0 broadcast TV standard.  AWARN will expand the capabilities of next-generation digital TV broadcasting to deliver reliable, rich media alerts to smartphones, tablets and fixed television receivers.  To learn more and get involved, see www.AWARN.org

Posted in ATSC News