Multimedia standardization for 3G systems

Third-generation mobile communication systems will open a wide range of new opportunities for the already flourishing multimedia market. Standardization will play an important role in the path towards the creation of a mobile information society in which the Internet meets the wireless multimedia world. The inherent richness of multimedia content, associated with the wide range of devices and the plethora of envisaged applications, make the standardization task quite challenging. On one hand, different philosophical approaches to standardization need to be integrated, bringing together the traditional standardization bodies, industry forums, and the Internet. On the other hand, elements of several different standards are often adopted for a specific application, and merged to constitute new "de facto" standards. We present a review of the standardization scenario for multimedia applications over 3G systems, together with a survey of the main players in this arena. As examples of specific applications, speech and videotelephony are addressed in more detail.