A Fast Channel Change Technique Based on Channel Prediction

The channel zapping delay problem is a well-known problem in digital television. It has been researched quite extensively in the context of IPTV. In this paper, we present a technique for delay reduction that predicts the next channel that will be selected by the user. The technique is applicable to DVB-C/S/T, as well as in IPTV. The prediction is based on an adaptive model, which is built during a training process in which the history of channel changes is collected. The model is afterwards constantly updated. The problem is approached as a classification problem and C4.5 decision trees have shown the best performance among the tested algorithms. The proposed technique has been evaluated using channel history datasets obtained by simulation. The results of the evaluation show an increase of 5.67% in the probability that the next selected channel is already pre-joined, compared to the case when only neighboring channels are pre-joined. The application of the proposed technique is explained in detail.