INFOStandardization

The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly

A blueprint for the new millennium

From left to right: Houlin Zhao, Director of the TSB, Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the ITU, Michael Binder, Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information Tech-nologies and Tele-communications, and Hélène Cholette Lacasse, Director, International Telecommunications Policy and Coordination at Industry Canada
(ITU 990111)

 

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The forthcoming World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA)* promises to be a milestone in ITU's efforts to produce global standards. The four-yearly event, which was previously known as the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference (WTSC), will be held in Montreal (Canada) from 27 September to 6 October 2000. This will be the first time that the event is held in North America.

Canada offered to host the Assembly at the last WTSC in 1996 and is working closely with the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) to ensure that the Assembly fulfils the expectations and needs of the entire ITU membership — Member States and Sector Members alike.

Among the principal functions of the Assembly is the review and analysis of activities from the previous four-year study period, with a view to ensuring that the strategic priorities and objectives of the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU–T) are addressed over the next four years through:

• a comprehensive programme of work addressing key industry standardization areas;
• an appropriate study group structure to address the new programme;
• a partnership between Member States and Sector Members in the development and approval of technical recommendations;
• processes to ensure a timely response between WTSAs to changing industry needs.
• A number of factors are making the development of global standards increasingly critical to the telecommunication sector. Privatization, liberalization and deregulation have transformed the nature of telecommunications from a public utility to a traded commodity in a competitive market-place.

 As with previous ITU gatherings, decisions taken during WTSA-2000 will establish the road-map for the future of global telecommunication standardization in such critically important and dynamic areas as Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks, International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT-2000) networks and global multimedia services and systems. For both ITU Member States and Sector Members, the event provides an opportunity to contribute and influence the strategic direction to be adopted by ITU–T as it faces the challenges of the new millennium.

With the launch of the WTSA-2000 website (http://www.wtsa2000.com) at Telecom 99, which is linked to the ITU website (http://www.itu.int/), an opportunity exists for the ITU membership to follow developments in the continuing preparations for the Assembly, and to provide comments.

  In addition, future editions of ITU News will address various aspects of the WTSA preparations. This will include a review of the objectives and expectations of operators, vendors and governments on the future of standardization in ITU, as well as the activities of regional telecommunication organizations in the development of common proposals and positions for the event.

 With the convergence of technology, applications and services, new breeds of standards are needed to promote the interoperability of equipment from once disparate realms — telecommunications, information technology, broadcasting, consumer electronics and content provision industries. In addition, traditional distinctions between wireline and wireless applications are disappearing.

ITU: new standard for consumers

The means of connecting a cable television feed into a videocassette recorder (VCR) and a digital television set (DTV) in the home environment will become easier thanks to a global standard approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) during meetings in Geneva.

This new interface standard numbered Recommendation J.117 and entitled "Home Digital Network Interface Specification" is applicable to high definition television (HDTV) and to conventional definition television sets, anywhere in the world. Extensions of this standard will later apply to personal computers and a full set of networked devices in the home. Terrestrial and satellite television feeds could also make use of this standard.

Study Group 9 (Television and sound transmission) of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU–T) responsible for cable television specified this key interface, the basis of which is an existing interconnection technology called IEEE 1394. This technology was established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), based on an invention by Apple Computer, originally called "firewire". This technology is a preferred tool for those who increasingly seek to interconnect multiple audio and visual devices on a common network in the home.

Thus, if a consumer wishes to connect a VCR, a television set, and a set-top box, the internationally recognized method for doing so is using ITU–T Recommendation J.117. The physical characteristic of the interconnection system is a 4- or 6-wire cable which provides a high-speed serial data bus for up to 63 interconnected devices.

Recommendation J.117 provides a system that allows for the passage of large amounts of data at typical rates up to 200 million bits per second, which is important when delivering digital video and data services.

New system for protection from "signal theft"

The ITU also adopted a copy protection sys- tem in the hope of helping companies that own intellectual property, such as movies, to control the process of making copies and prevent theft.

The new ITU–T Recommendation J.95, referenced in Recommendation J.117, gives a basis for providing programme content owners with a recognized system to protect their work from possible signal theft. Theft of digital programming is a major problem because digital recordings may be duplicated in their original quality over many generations, whereas analogue recordings are reduced in fidelity with each successive generation. Extensions of this standard will further determine for each application the appropriate system to prevent such circumvention. 

 

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