this book provides a concise guide to the ip multicast technology and its applications. it is an updated survey of the field with the underlying focus on ip-based television (iptv)(also known in some quarters as telco tv), and digital video broadcast handheld (dvb-h) applications. iptv deals with approaches, technologies, and protocols to deliver commercial-grade standard definition (sd) and high definition (hd) entertainment-quality real-time linear and on-demand video content over ip-based networks properly, dvb-h is a protocol. more broadly, dvb-h deals with approaches and technologies to deliver commercial-grade medium-quality real-time linear and on-demand video content to handheld, battery-powered devices such as mobile telephones and pdas. ip multicast is also typically employed to support dvb-h.