The FLO Forum, a multi-company initiative led by QUALCOMM and dedicated to the global standardization of FLO (Forward Link Only) technology, introduced a new Multiplex Subsystem-to-Transmit Station Interface (MTI) specification that allows transmit stations from multiple manufacturers to be part of a single MediaFLO broadcast network. Transmit stations must be compliant with the MTI protocol to correctly broadcast a FLO waveform.
FLO technology is a new air interface originally developed by QUALCOMM with multicasting capabilities designed to increase capacity and reduce content delivery costs to mobile handsets.
The new MTI spec outlines the protocol for communicating FLO multiplex and control information from a FLO multiplexer subsystem in a FLO aggregation segment, to a transmit station. The FLO system supports multiple services including the video, audio, text and signaling components of a mobile multimedia multicast service. Technical requirements, such as the MTI specification, form a compatibility standard for FLO multimedia multicast systems.
At the FLO Forum's quarterly meeting held earlier this month in Toronto, Verizon Wireless executives held a presentation describing the evolution of video services within the Verizon network, why Verizon chose FLO technology, and how the company views the future growth of the mobile multicast market. In December 2005, Verizon Wireless announced that it is working toward launch multicast multimedia services using via the MediaFLO network in 2007.
http://www.floforum.org
- In June 2006, The FLO Forum ratified and adopted three cornerstone technical specifications: the Service Information Specification, the FLO Services and Use Cases Specification and updated versions of the FLO Device and Transmitter Minimum Performance specifications.
