Enhanced services in digital video broadcasting networks

The established digital video broadcasting networks can do more than transmit the ordinary TV program to the viewer's living room. The future of digital television will be interactive. Especially for local communities or people who are not familiar with computers, local cable networks can be an interesting alternative to the global Internet. We present a technology platform for using the traditional cable television network as an information and interactive service platform. In this paper we give an overview of a research project with focus on technologies for small and medium-sized CATV networks in cities and communities, hotels or companies. We present the system architecture, the authoring environment, the playout system, and we discuss the platforms for future user devices.