A statistical framework to enlarge the potential of digital TV broadcasting

The use of formal probabilistic modelling together with advanced statistical inference in communications engineering, has the potential of providing a powerful workbench for deriving conclusions about the behaviour of systems and sources of data and therefore developing innovative and efficient control and management strategies of communication systems. Targeting the efficient dimensioning of systems and resources in order to make possible the provision of high-quality and larger-choice services to the end-users, this paper proposes the use of a Bayesian framework in video broadband communications. In the context of the combined transmission of several good-quality video sources, such as a digital television broadcast service, using VBR video encoding algorithms and based on prior beliefs and statistical models, an intelligent multiplexer is capable of predicting the probable amount of free space and fill it with extra services or increase the quality of the transmitted channels.