Wireless Home Entertainment Center: Protocol Communications and Architecture
Marco Roccetti, Claudio Enrico Palazzi, Stefano Ferretti, Giovanni Pau · Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) · 2012
Definition: Wireless home entertainment center refers to a device able to handle heterogeneous media and to connect client devices located within the house and the outside world (i.e., the Internet). Technologies such as TiVo and Media Center have introduced the concept of Digital Video Recorder (DVR) in millions of homes. Consumers are now able to pause live-TV programs and watch them at their own convenience without the need of obsolete VCRs. These devices and their future evolution can be grouped into the class of Home Entertainment Centers (HECs). Specifically, a HEC can be defined as a hub for all in-home entertainment experiences able to handle heterogeneous media and to perform as a gateway between client devices located within the house and the outside world (i.e., the Internet). Besides the DVR functionalities, a HEC can be considered as a magic box that provides several other services such as IPTV, Web radio, game console, picture viewer, electronic program guide, DVR, CD/DVD/video player, music jukebox, web browser, email handler, instant messenger. Contents related to these services can be locally available or distributed over the Internet to be dynamically retrieved based on the consumer’s need with just one click on a button. Several streams are thus produced by these active services, all distributed by the HEC throughout the house.