Award Recipients

The collaborative B2C Lab team pivoted to transform the STEM aspect of ATSC3.0 to a STEAMS model; merging expertise in television broadcasting (Sushko) with the expertise of the research team leads in engineering (Erkmen) and the development of the wireless infrastructure (Syms) to support ATSC along with support and knowledge in the fields of infotainment, community service and cybersecurity.

Over the course of five years the B2C Lab will involve the contributions of over 150 students. The grant is designed to keep students at the centre of the experience. Students from FAST, FMCA and FSCS will be accorded a unique opportunity to work alongside and collaborate with external partners fostering student integration with industry. Thus, students and research assistants will be ahead of the competition when they are backed by Humber’s polytechnic education brand coupled with this research experience with emerging technology, giving them an advantage in their careers. Students will be mentored to think creatively, innovatively, and analytically and encouraged to manage the Lab, promote knowledge accumulation, and contribute to a knowledge economy.

This is the first lab of its kind in Canada and will help establish the new broadcast-broadband standards across North America. ATSC 3.0 is the next-generation global television broadcast standard set to replace the current North American standard (ATSC 1.0).

The B2C Lab team consists of Orest Sushko, Faruk Erkmen and Francis Syms. Orest Sushko has been seconded full-time to the Office of Research and Innovation in order to manage the B2C Lab and to handle business development with industry partners. The B2C Lab team will coordinate research activities and scope new projects and invite submissions from researchers from all of our Faculties in the Humber Community.

The Lab will explore multisectoral business applications enabled by the new Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) 3.0 standard.

ATSC 3.0 is the next-generation global television broadcast standard set to replace the current North American standard (ATSC 1.0). The new standard delivers content using internet protocol addressing and offers more robust and extended coverage on fixed and mobile devices, superior picture resolution (4-8K), immersive sound and integrates with web-based internet applications and content to provide new interactive broadcast television experiences. It also offers interactivity with broadband, wireless fidelity and fourth and fifth-generation cellular networks (4G, SG), which enable non-television datacasting applications; and shares a common timing clock with 5G, which makes integration of television streaming and data delivery possible.

This convergence of technologies will impact numerous industries, including automotive (infotainment delivery, software updates), emergency alerting (geo-targeted messaging), advertising (targeted television advertisements) and online education (television interactivity, remote reach), among others. The core objective of the Broadcast-Broadband Convergence Lab is to position Canada as a leader in ATSC 3.0 technology, services and products by advancing the state of experimentation and adoption of the standard by Canadian businesses – providing Canadian businesses with an advantage as the standard is globally adopted.