MHP test platform – i-LAB – launched in Spain

AETIC, the Spanish Electronics, Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries Association, has announced the launch of i-LAB, a platform that will assist companies developing MHP applications for the Spanish DVB-T market.

The idea is to provide a virtual laboratory where applications can be tested against the full range of MHP receivers available on the Spanish market. Developers will have a means by which to ensure their applications run correctly without having to actually broadcast them.

The AETIC press release indicates that future releases of i-LAB will also cover authentication of electronic national identity documents to be used for e-Government MHP applications, and also the provision of open Internet services through the television.

In practice developers will need only a computer connected to the Internet to access and complete the i-LAB tests for all decoders that are available in the market. Equally, receiver manufacturers will have a one-stop shop solution to test their devices against services that are already on air and those in development.

It is hoped that the initiative will also be of interest to those Latin American countries that still in the process of selecting a terrestrial transmission standard. Due to the relatively low penetration for Internet access, the DTT network is seen as an attractive option for the provision of e-Government and tele-medicine services. i-LAB will make it possible to test such MHP applications with minimum investment in test equipment.

The initiative has been developed by AETIC, with the support of the Secretariat of State of Telecommunications, and in collaboration with the Polytechnical University of Madrid, the Technological Institute of Aragon and the De La Salle University.