In case you missed out on the opportunity to submit a paper on IPTV for the February and May 2008 issues of the IEEE Communications Magazine, which had an excellent major focus on IPTV Systems, Standards and Architectures:

you now have a second chance! There will be a special issue on IPTV for the IEEE Computer Society's Internet Computing Magazine much like its current issue (see http://www.computer.org/portal/site/internet) which is focused on Mesh Networking:

The IPTV issue is targeted for May/June 2009 which sounds a long way off, however we need to start the work to assemble it now. Along with Robert Chen of AT&T Research, I have been volunteered to be a guest editor for this special issue on IPTV.

Unfortunately, we have not yet received submissions for the issue even though the Call For Papers (cfp) has been out for a while. Therefore it seems necessary to reach out to my colleagues in the IPTV standards community to directly solicit papers and articles for the issue. Like the earlier IEEE Communications articles on IPTV, it will be a great opportunity to highlight our IPTV standards work as well as other aspects (and organizations) involved in developing, deploying and supporting the next generation of Television using Internet-based technologies.

Further details on this special issue on IPTV, including instructions for submitting an outline of your article idea or its complete manuscript, can be found at:

We have done a lot of work collaborating across many Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) developing real workable standards for IPTV. We should further share the results of our efforts as well as highlight how we are turning it into real products and services that all will benefit from in the future.

So please excuse this brief interruption, as I invite you to submit your idea for an article to Dr. Chen and myself so we can kick-off the process to create this special issue on IPTV.

IPTV (May/June 2009)

Final submissions due 15 September 2008

Please email the guest editor a brief description of the article you plan to submit by 1 September 2008.

The integration of the Internet and TV, referred to as IPTV, is a rapidly evolving suite of technologies, protocols, and standards that’s generating much excitement and innovation across commercial ventures and research organizations. A potential exists for innovative new applications and services, including time-shifted video content, P2P IPTV, and TV contents delivered to any display: mobile, PC, or home. However, the IP network infrastructure will have to accommodate much larger traffic volumes and preserve the loss-free quality of the IPTV stream as it traverses the network.

This special issue of IC seeks original articles describing research efforts, experiences, and observations concerning the delivery of broadcast entertainment-grade video over the Internet. Appropriate topics include:

IPTV network architectures, protocols, standards, and solutions;

video-error concealment and packet-loss recovery methods;

fast channel change techniques;

peer-to-peer IPTV;

video-on-demand (VoD) architecture, protocols, and scalability;

Advertising (ad) insertion technologies;

IP set-top-box architecture and home networking technologies;

three-screen and time-shifted IPTV services; and

the impact of IPTV on IP networks.

IPTV (May/June 2009)

Guest editors: Robin Chen and Greg Thompson