Performance evaluation of SVC coding using MPLP-DVB-T2 for mobile and fixed reception

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate the broadcast delivery of Scalable Video Coding (SVC) stream over the DVB-T2 system, using differentiated robustness for each SVC layer based on the DVB-T2 MPLP mechanism. Laboratory measurements and field tests are done for this concept. Mobile reception is evaluated both in laboratory conditions using the TU6 channel and in the field at a limited speed which the current receiver's implementation can support. Fixed reception is evaluated in laboratory conditions using the Rice channel. For the laboratory and field tests and for the two considered reception profiles (mobile and fixed), we compare the results in the case of SISO, SFN and Alamouti MISO network configurations by considering two antennas. Coverage areas for the field measurements have been predicted for each reception profile and each layer, based on the laboratory sensitivity measurements. The field tests allowed experimenting the receiver switching from enhancement layer to base layer and vice-versa, leading to a change of image quality and resolution depending on the reception area and on the channel characteristics in the studied area. Therefore, the receiver decodes always an image but with different quality and format. We also experiment SISO, SFN and MISO networks configurations, and show a differentiated impact on the coverage area or on the performance gain.