Blog

No, that’s not a typo—6G, the future but inevitable step beyond 5G wireless, is a lively topic of research in the technical side of the mobile broadband world. Below are some examples of initial thoughts [...]

Since 2016, PILOT has presented its annual Innovation Challenge, offering awards to teams who best answer specific challenge questions. We’ve taken a slightly different approach this year in response to the pandemic’s impact on remote [...]

Some of the best advances in telecommunications have been born as a side effect of networks built for other purposes. Perhaps the most brilliant example from the past is text messaging. In 1984, engineers developed [...]

A previous PILOT blog highlighted the introduction of hybrid (over-the-air plus internet) radio receivers in Audi and BMW vehicles in the United States. Both automakers are using technology defined in open technical standards developed by [...]

Many conversational artificial intelligence (AI) bots have been successfully deployed, and they are becoming quite common. Nearly everyone today has used or at least heard of Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri, for example. There are [...]

Next Gen TV (or ATSC 3) was designed to be flexible, extensible and future-proof with a plethora of new capabilities, including 4K, HDR and immersive audio. But what is exciting to me is the middleware [...]

The 2020 NAB Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology (BEIT) Conference covered many topics, but none more comprehensively than ATSC 3.0, or Next Generation TV. Of course, the physical conference did not take place as [...]

On May 12, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report on the 2019 Emergency Alert System (EAS) nationwide test. On August 7, 2019, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the FCC, conducted a [...]

“Innovation” is a simple word with quite a few definitions. Merriam-Webster defines innovation as “a new idea, method or device.” That definition, while simple and accurate, doesn’t seem to capture the implications behind the word. Saying “innovation” in just about any conversation focuses thoughts on new technology and creative thinking.

Mobile reception has been discussed since the early days of standardization for ATSC 3.0 or Next Gen TV. Just as there was a wide range of opinions on what functions ATSC 3.0 should include, the [...]