On January 19th, 2010, the Digital TV Terminal Equipment Testing and Verification Platform, designed and developed by the Tsinghua University- ASTRI Multimedia Broadcasting and Communication Joint Research Laboratory (“MBC Lab”), won the 2009 award for “Best Collaboration (Greater China Market) Certificate of Merit and Certificate of Merit (Most Innovative Project) Collaboration Partner” issued by the Hong Kong Software Industry Association. Dr. Song Jian, Director of the Digital Television Technology Research Center of the Research Institute of Information Technology (RIIT) Tsinghua University and the MBC Lab, attended the ceremony and accepted the prize on behalf of Tsinghua University in Hongkong.

Digital Television Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) is a digital television transmission standard based on China’s independent background technology. Hong Kong, as the first region to launch commercial DTMB broadcasting services, has over one million users (out of a total Hong Kong population in over six million) with a signal coverage rate of about 90% and  a penetration rate nearly 50%.

Under the support of the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), Tsinghua University and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in 2007. The MBC Lab was established in December the same year.The goal of the lab is to promote the local implementation of DTMB through on-site testing, product certification and follow-up technical support, to stimulate the development of Digital TV-related industries in Hong Kong, and to provide support and services in technology and human resources for commercial broadcasting of television programs using DTMB in Hong Kong.

To date,  the MBC Lab has completed four joint R&D projects. The award-winning project, "Instrumentation Technologies", developed based on the instrument platform of Rohde & Schwarz (Germany), has been successfully applied to the test platform in Hong Kong Science Park and is already  used provide a testing service for DTMB set-top boxes and digital TV manufacturers. 

The achievements made by the MBC Lab owe credit, first of all, to the establishment of a joint research center between Tsinghua and the enterprise. The joint research center provides an important channel for technology transfer of Tsinghua University know-how. Moreover, this collaboration model not only helps the company solve problems in developing technological innovation capabilities, but also promotes the industrialization of technological achievements and talent training in the university. The achievements also owe credit to the support from both sides with regard to funding and management. Dr. Zhang Niankun, ASTRI President, serves as the Director of the MBC Lab Steering Committee, and the Deputy Director of the MBC Lab is Prof. Yang Zhixing from Tsinghua University. Prof. Yang is also the first author of the DTMB standard. The Steering Committee consists of Executives from ASTRI and Directors of Overseas R&D Management Office and RIIT Tsinghua University. At present, the focus of the MBC Lab is gradually being shifted from industrialization support to development of emerging applications.