Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Research Articles

An ANALYSIS OF DVB-T2 TV BROADCAST TESTING DRIVE TEST AND FIELD STRENGTH METHODS IN THE JAKARTA SERVICE AREA

Indonesia has adopted DVB-T2 as the technology standard for terrestrial digital television broadcasting. This research aims to test and analyze the reception quality of DVB-T2 TV broadcasts in the DKI Jakarta service area. The research was conducted using drive test and field strength methods to test and evaluate the quality of digital television broadcasts. Tests were conducted in various locations in the DKI Jakarta service area using the Gsertel Hexylon TV Analyzer technical device to test DVB-T2 TV broadcast signals. The field strength test results were more accurate and higher values were generated than the drive test. Several parameters such as signal level and MER are evaluated and analyzed to find out what affects their values. The transmitter parameter settings such as modulation, FEC code rate, FFT Mode, Guard Interval, and Pilot Pattern greatly affect the signal level and MER values. The optimization performed on CH 24 also managed to maintain its signal level value of 18.19 dB and its MER of 55.01 dBµV to maintain broadcast stability during a technical failure of the transmitter on CH 1.

Adjacent-Channel Compatibility Analysis of International Mobile Telecommunications Downlink and Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Reception in the 470–694 MHz Frequency Band Using Monte Carlo Simulation

This paper delves into the imperative need for coexistence and compatibility in the 470–694 MHz frequency band, as mandated by the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) and the WRC-23. It focuses on challenges in the coexistence of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) and International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020) services in downlink-only mode, particularly in adjacent-channel scenarios. Using Monte Carlo simulations, the study evaluates the probability of interference from IMT base stations with DTTB reception. The analysis thoroughly investigates the impact of the IMT transmitter’s Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) and the DTTB receiver’s Adjacent-Channel Selectivity (ACS) on the probability of interference. The results demonstrate a significant degradation in the DTTB reception probability at the edge of coverage based on standard assumptions. To address these challenges, this paper provides recommendations for mitigating interference. These include defining enhanced ACLR regulations for IMT base stations, implementing antenna discriminations, providing specialized filters, and establishing national coordination procedures. The research provides valuable insights for informed decision making in spectrum management within the 470–694 MHz band, aiming to facilitate the coexistence of DTTB and IMT-2020 services, in line with international regulations and best practices.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR TELEVISION BROADCASTING EQUIPMENT IN RUSSIA

The operation of uncertified broadcasting equipment located in 85 regions of Russia is the most important problem in the development of regional broadcasting networks in the absence of system requirements for network transmitters and earth stations of satellite repeaters in the «Digital Broadcasting Television. System of terrestrial terrestrial digital television broadcasting of the second generation DVB-T2. Second generation terrestrial digital television broadcasting system DVB-T2» domestic standard. Standard system requirements are the basis for actualization of requirements to the equipment during its certification. Requirements for network transmitters and earth stations of satellite repeaters in single-frequency broadcasting networks based on the author's research, published in domestic and foreign articles, protected by patents of the Russian Federation, are presented. In particular, the system requirements to the equipment for regional multiplex formation, metrological support of SFN (Single Frequency Network) operation and distributed system of DVB-T2 standard broadcasting quality monitoring are formulated. Requirements for assessing the efficiency of SFN networks, which will make it possible to further modernize existing regional networks to improve their reliability and the quality of television and radio broadcasting in all 85 regions of the Russian Federation, and to certify equipment in accordance with the resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation are also presented. The results of the author's research will make it possible to develop a system project for the creation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting in four new regions of Russia. The prospects for the development of DVB-T2 standard equipment at the program level are considered.

Co-Channel Compatibility Analysis of IMT Networks and Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in the Frequency Range 470-694 MHz Based on Monte Carlo Simulation.

According to Resolution 235 adopted during the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) and the preliminary agenda item 1.5 of WRC-2023, the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has been entrusted to carry out sharing and compatibility studies between broadcasting and mobile services in the frequency range 470-694 MHz in Region 1. This study specifically focuses on evaluating electromagnetic compatibility in potential co-channel sharing scenarios between Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) and International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems within the 470-694 MHz frequency band that may arise in the foreseeable future. To assess the conditions for coexistence, a Monte Carlo simulation method implemented through the SEAMCAT software version 5.4.2 is employed, examining six potential interference scenarios. The simulation results yield the minimum coordination distance required between IMT and DTTB services in the 470-694 MHz band based on the protection criteria to ensure harmonious coexistence while maintaining satisfactory performance. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of various factors such as transmitter power, antenna heights, coverage radius, antenna discrimination, and antenna tilt angle on the separation distances. The focus lies primarily on critical interference scenarios across neighboring countries' borders. The simulation outcomes confirm that sharing the same frequency band between IMT and DTTB networks would result in significant mutual interference. Nevertheless, carefully analyzing diverse parameters and assumptions helped provide recommendations to reduce the required separation distances. These findings are valuable for broadcasters, mobile operators, and regulators in establishing the technical coexistence conditions for DTTB and IMT in the new band.

The Future of Broadcasting: Technology, Policy and AI Integration in the Philippine Setting

The TV Broadcast has achieved a potential new level of evolution that could either help achieve improvement on the current condition of possible extinction due to new technologies such as OTT, VOD, and different ICT applications. The migration of Digital TV aims to provide a new landscape and opportunities to maximize technology, thus helping achieve the next level of benefits through entertainment, livelihood, news, connectivity, and new business models. However, the technology adoption of each stakeholder is crucial in ensuring implementation success. This paper is a survey of the processes, action plans, and governance that each country that implemented ISDB-T standards went through as they achieved the different milestones in their goal to turn off analog TV and roll out digital terrestrial television broadcasting. The integration of AI through the Agent-Based Model aims to bridge possible technology gaps, policy alignments, changes in business model, and support needed for a successful migration which results in the theoretical framework. The proposed Technology Adoption Model can be implemented for the ongoing Philippine digitization

Adaptation of Electric Field Strength Models for Terrestrial Television Broadcast Application in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Adaptation of Electric Field Strength Models for Terrestrial Television Broadcast Application in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Investigative Assessment of the Impact of Perturbations on the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Signal

This study examines the effects of perturbations on the digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) signal in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, using measurement-based performance analysis. In order to examine the effects of environmental perturbations on DTTB signal, measurement campaign used the Nigerian Television Authority, Integrated Television Services (ITS) digital video broadcasting -second generation (DVB-T2) signal. The aim of the research was to identify the environmental and atmospheric perturbations with highest impact on DTTB signal. Field measurement was accurately obtained throughout the measurement campaign using the E8000 series spectrum analyzer, a DVB-T2 receiver, and other facilities in order to actualize the two important measurement characteristics, such as field strength and received signal strength (RSS). The outcome showed a significant amount of dips in route A, depriving towns surrounding rocky hills of a DVB-T2 signal, as demonstrated in the Du community with RSS values of -87.1 dBm, 85.2 dB , and -27.8 dB V/m, -23.9 dB V/m for field strength. Additionally, the results show that signal performance was better in the dry season compared to the rainy season (more primary coverage in the dry season compared to the rainy season), with the RSS value being -41.6 dBm versus -36.4 dBm and the field strength value being 34 dB/m versus 38.6 dB/m for route A, or the same on route B. Solving signal propagation issues requires understanding the fundamental metrics driving an increase in perturbations in any broadcast environment. Creating a model to address these issues will help with system evaluation, network planning, and broadcast service operation, ensuring quality of service (QoS).

Support for Households Due to the Change in the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Standard – An Attempt to Evaluate the Adopted Normative Solutions

Abstract The Act on supporting households in bearing the costs related to the change of the digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard was passed by the government on February 24, 2022, and a month later, on March 23, 2022, it was amended, because it became necessary to clarify the issue of the circle of people entitled to receive state support, which is absolutely fundamental from the point of view of this act. The content of the article will therefore be to determine the content of the normative set by interpreting the regulations of the aforementioned Act, so it takes into account all functional relationships of the standards under study and is based on all available sources of information. At the same time, when analysing statutory regulations, the author will reflect on their compliance with the principle of specificity of law, interpreted by the Constitutional Tribunal from the constitutional principle of a democratic state ruled by law.

Dynamic Interference Suppression for TV White Space: the Case of Thailand

In this work, we study the problem of co-existence between the LTE (Long Term Evolution) and the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) channel. There are three scenarios: co-channel, upper and lower adjacent channels. We use the broadcasted signal from channel 3 called ThaiPBS, the actual case of Thailand for our study where the standard of digital terrestrial television broadcasting is DVB-T2 adopting 8 MHz bandwidth, while the 5 MHz bandwidth of LTE is considered as the interference. We propose a dynamic interference suppression method for increasing spectrum usage by optimizing TV white space utilization and minimizing interference. This method adopts the protection ratio concept to suppress the LTE interference on TV receiver. We implement our proposed algorithm as an adaptive interference controller using a Radio Frequency (RF) attenuator and a Raspberry Pi board for our testbed hardware. We illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm by doing experiment using our testbed and assessing the quality of the received TV signal by adopting the Quality of Experience (QoE) assessment. In our testbed hardware, a Log Periodic antenna is used for receiving the DTTB signal, while an RF digital transmitter is used for generating a 5MHz bandwidth of LTE signal, an ultra-high frequency (UHF) mixer is used to combine both signals, then a field strength meter is used to monitor video picture quality and to analyze the spectrum. According to the experiment, our proposed method can reduce the perceived video distortion by at least 62.5% for co-channel and 87.5% for adjacent channel, while the spectrum usage is increased by 100%.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF THE POWER AMPLIFIER ACCORDING TO W. DOHERTY’S SCHEME WITH AUTOMATIC POWER ADJUSTMENT

At present, in relation to the power amplifiers of digital television broadcast transmitters, the scheme proposed by engineer William Dougherty for the construction of broadcast transmitters with amplitude modulation is widely used. W. Dougherty’s method, today is practically the only solution for improving the energy efficiency of OFDM signal power amplifiers, as applied to terrestrial digital television transmitters, when the wide band of the envelope of such a signal does not allow the construction of a transmitter based on a polar architecture. Transmitters for digital terrestrial television broadcasting using linear power amplifiers built on the basis of the W. Doherty method are developed and produced. When building transmitters for terrestrial digital television broadcasting, the problem of ensuring an acceptable efficiency of a linear power amplifier is very acute. The main reason for the low efficiency of such amplifiers is the high OFDM crest factor of the digital television radio signal. The problem of increasing the linear power amplifiers average efficiency of digital broadcasting transmitters is considered. The joint application of two methods for constructing high-efficiency linear power amplifiers is discussed: the method of William Dougherty and method of automatic power mode control. Preliminary assessment results of the energy gain from the combined use of these two methods, obtained by computer circuit simulation, are presented.

Nigeria Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting: An Evaluation of the Transmitted Signal received under different environmental features in North-Central Region

The Government of Nigeria in the year 2016 switched from analog television broadcasting to digital terrestrial television broadcasting with the focus of providing reliable quality of television services to users. Regardless of the advantages of digital Terrestrial television system over analog television and efforts make by Nigeria Government to improve broadcasting, Signal reception is observed to be very poor. Therefore, this study aimed at monitoring, evaluating and mitigating environmental factors that cause signal degradation as well as attempting to provide solutions that will enhance the reception of signal even under severe environmental conditions. The transmitted signal of digital Terrestrial television was measured and received under different environmental features within the coverage area. The antenna radiation field was divided into four distinct regions (North-East, North-west, South-east and South-west of the transmitter) where the characteristics of the radiated wave are observed and measured starting from distance of 10km, 20km, 30km, 40km, 50km, up to 100km for each of the region. It was observed that the transmitted signal received at different distances varies depending on the physical features along the signal path. The result also shows that space loss increases with increase in distance. This study will guide DTT operators within the study area to precisely choose a site for installing the transmitting antenna for effective transmission.

Comparison of Sequential Decoding and Direct Decoding of LDM in Next-Generation Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting

Comparison of Sequential Decoding and Direct Decoding of LDM in Next-Generation Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting

Spectral Efficiency Evaluation of an NR-Based 5G Terrestrial Broadcast System for Fixed Reception

LTE-based 5G terrestrial broadcasting, standardized in 3GPP Release 16, allows broadcasters to reach cellular devices. In this paper, toward the development of a future terrestrial broadcast system in Release 18 or later called 5G-Advanced, a specification for New Radio (NR) based 5G terrestrial broadcasting is presented for a 6 MHz-channel raster, which is used in current digital terrestrial television broadcasting. The transmission performance is evaluated in physical layer simulations. In particular, the spectral efficiency is evaluated and compared with a second-generation DTTB system at a required carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) of 20 dB in a fixed-reception scenario with a rooftop receiving antenna. The evaluation in an additive white Gaussian noise channel indicates that the spectral efficiency of NR-based 5G terrestrial broadcasting can be improved by 0.83 (bps/Hz) by enhancing the code length of low density parity check code, the carrier modulation scheme, guard band ratio, and cyclic prefix ratio from what available so far in Release 16. Furthermore, when frequency interleaving is incorporated, the spectral efficiency is increased by 0.75 (bps/Hz) in a short echo channel with a desired-to-undesired signal power ratio of 0 dB. The introduction of time interleaving increases spectral efficiency by 0.97 (bps/Hz) in an impulsive interference channel with a carrier-to-interference signal power ratio of -20 dB. For each interleaving, the increase in spectral efficiency tends to be higher as the required CNR increases.

High robust broadcasting over DTMB-A with low-rate LDPC codes

As the 2nd generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) standard, digital terrestrial/television multimedia broadcasting — advanced (DTMB-A) can provide higher spectrum efficiency and transmission reliability by adopting flexible frame structure and advanced forward error correction coding compared with the 1st generation DTTB systems. In order to increase the flexibility and robustness of the DTTB network, the frequency reuse scheme of factor one (reuse-1) is proposed, where the same RF channel is used by different stations covering the adjacent service areas. However, it demands a very low carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) threshold below 0dB at the DTTB physical layer. In this paper, a robust broadcasting technique is proposed based on DTMB-A with newly designed low-rate low density parity check (LDPC) codes. By adopting quasi-cyclic (QC) Raptor-like structure and progressive lifting method, the high performance low-rate LDPC codes are designed supporting multiple code lengths. Both density-evolution analyses and laboratory measurements demonstrate that DTMB-A with low-rate coding can complete the demodulation reliably with the C/N threshold below 0dB, which is one important necessary condition to support frequency reuse-1 scheme.

Field Trials of UHDTV Broadcasting over DTMB-A System

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB), the most fundamental infrastructure for audio/video transmission networks, can support multimedia information services, targeting lots of audiences within a wide area in an efficient way. The advanced version of digital television/terrestrial multimedia broadcasting (DTMB-A), one of the second-generation DTTB standards of the International Telecommunication Union, provides higher spectrum efficiency and better transmission reliability compared with DTMB. By adopting a more flexible frame structure, advanced forward error correction coding, and improved constellation mapping, it is confirmed that the transmission capacity of DTMB-A is around 30% higher than that of DTMB under the same conditions carried out in laboratory tests and field trials on DTMB-A. In this paper, the trial network and the measurement results focusing on ultrahigh-definition television (UHDTV, both UHD-1/4K and UHD-2/8K) and the single-frequency network (SFN) are presented in detail. The preliminary work on the Integrated Communications and Broadcasting Network (ICBN) concept using both DTMB-A and fifth-generation (5G) networks for UHDTV delivery is also highlighted</i> .

A Novel Coordinated Multipoint Scheme With Zero Guard Interval for ATSC 3.0 Single Frequency Networks

Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has issued ATSC 3.0 as the standard for the next-generation of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) broadcasting. ATSC 3.0 introduces several new features including Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM) that is a form of Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA). ATSC 3.0 supports the legacy Single Frequency Networks (SFN), where the Guard Interval (GI) is considered to overcome the multipath as well as the asynchronous reception from different transmitters. Considering the huge distances between the DTT broadcasters, the GI overhead could be comparable to the data size, making the control/data ratio unfavorable. This paper proposes the association of Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) in SFN with NOMA-LDM. A novel formation of the channel matrix is provided that jointly includes the asynchronous channel's cross correlations for further joint detection of the signals at the receiver. The purpose is to enhance the coverage and spectral efficiency while avoiding hectic guard intervals or directional antennas. The capacity region is derived in an information theoretic framework based on exploiting the asynchronous channels' memory and correlation. We show that the spectral efficiency can exceed that of the non-coordinating schemes, provided that the proper receiver is equipped with the proposed channel matrix formation. Our extensive simulations validate that our proposed association of CoMP-SFN with NOMA-LDM provides a considerable boost in the coverage and channel reliability, while increasing the spectral and power efficiency.

Analysis and Estimation of the Field Strength of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting

DVB-T is the most widely used standard for digital television broadcast. With its introduction in 1997, it is used in more than 70 countries. Almost all of these countries adopted the new standard for digital terrestrial television broadcasting – DVB-T2. DVB-T2 is the best technology for digital television broadcasting, which offers better signal robustness, flexibility and more than 50% more efficiency, compared with other digital terrestrial television broadcast systems. This paper focuses on ways to deliver MPEG TS to transmitters and estimation of the field strength.

Low Complex Standard Conformable Transceiver based on Doppler Spread for DVB-T2 Systems

This paper addresses a novel Alamouti space-frequency block decoding scheme with discontinuous Doppler diversity (DDoD) and cyclic delay diversity (CDD). We investigate different antenna diversity concepts, which can be applied to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems over highly frequency selective channels. The main object of this research is standard compatibility and the effect of simple diversity techniques on the channel fading properties. Therefore, we analyze a receiver in terms of the effective channel transfer function, which leads to the possibility of optimizing diversity. Besides, a novel transceiver using DDoD is proposed, which increases the Doppler spread of the multipath fading channel without causing additional Intercarrier Interference (ICI). Moreover, an efficient Alamouti encoder and decoder based on CDD is proposed, which allows a high reliability and capacity enhancement. In order to evaluate the capability of that, we have implemented this scheme for the second-generation terrestrial video broadcasting (DVB-T2) system over different channels. Furthermore, mathematical analysis and simulation results show the bit error performance of the modified encoding method with these diversity techniques, performs mostly better than the other forms of encoding Alamouti over highly frequency-selective channels such as single frequency networks (SFN). The other advantages of the proposed method are simplicity, flexibility, and standard compatibility.

IMPLEMENTATION OF FPGA-BASED DVB-T2 TRANSMITTER FOR A SECOND GENERATION DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION BROADCASTING SYSTEM

Nowadays, with strong development of Science and Technology, integrated circuits continue to dominate not only in the field of digital information. Over the last several years, Technological television industry has taken huge strides and powerful transformation to meet with government’s policy about digitization of television all over the country in period 2015 – 2020. Stemming from the practical needs of “localization of products” and mastering of technological design of DVB-T2 transmitter (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial for Second generation), the authors have made an effort to research in algorithm, designed and tested in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. DVB-T2 is mainly aimed to replace the current standard DVB-T. The main motivation of DVB-T2 is to provide broadcasters with more advanced and efficient alternative to DVB-T standards. In DVB-T2 transmitter system, digital audio, video, and other data are compressed into a single signal to be transmitted on a single RF channel, using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with concatenated channel coding and interleaving. The higher offered bit rate makes it a suited system for carrying HDTV signals on the terrestrial TV channel. The next generation broadcasting systems should be designed to make full use of spectral resources while providing reliable transmissions in order to enable services like multichannel HDTV (High Definition Television) and innovative data casting services. The efficient usage of the radio spectrum can be achieved by the introduction of Single Frequency Networks (SFN). Digital transmitter DVB-T2 implemented on FPGA using a software Xilinx System Generator for DSP tool and Xilinx ISE Design Suite 14.7. System Generator for DSP is in conjunction on environment MATLAB-Simulink that is capable of simulating the proposed hardware structures that is synthesized and implemented by the programmable elements in Field-programmable Gate Arrays. In this project, adaptative MPEG-TS bitrate converter is designed to allows to increasing or reducing the MPEG TS rate by adding or filtering NULL packets. The entire digital transmitter DVB-T2 is integrated in one chip Xilinx FPGA Kintex-7 XC7K325T-1FFG676. Experimental design on development Kit NetFPGA-1G-CML of Digilent Corporation is performed at design department of technology center of Vietnamese Communications Television Development JSC. Authors are continuing to improve products, put into practical applications to replace the digital terrestrial television broadcasting stations that are being used in Vietnam. The article named “Implementation of FPGA-based DVB-T2 transmitter for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system” presents the research results, design methods, test results to compare, evaluate the accuracy of algorithm implementation. The results open up new directions for technological television in Vietnam.

Review on 5G NR LDPC Code: Recommendations for DTTB System

The freezing of the 5th generation new radio (5G NR) Release 16 indicates that 5G development has stepped into a new stage. The application of a dedicated low-density parity-check (LDPC) code for channel coding is an important technical advance that distinguishes 5G NR from the 4th generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) and LTE-advanced. Although LDPC codes has been used in many different systems, the newly developed LDPC code in 5G NR integrates many cutting-edge technologies to provide better performance and attractive features. Thus, it can be a good reference for channel coding in other evolving systems headed by digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB). In emerging applications, the DTTB system needs to carry information with higher density, while meeting the high requirements for real-time, coverage, and bit error rate of broadcasting. To provide a reference for DTTB channel coding that improves its performance and supports new services, a review of 5G NR LDPC code implementation is carried out from three aspects: code analysis and design, decoding algorithm, and decoder architecture. We thoroughly evaluate each solution and highlight some candidates for existing implementations or some directions for further development of the DTTB system.