NAB 2009: Rohde & Schwarz Unveils Mobile DTV System
Demonstrates single-frequency network in Vegas
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/24/2009 7:27:09 AM
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VIDEO: Watch Rhode & Schwarz's Dave Benco discuss mobile DTV
Las Vegas -- Transmitter supplier Rohde & Schwarz was at NAB showing a complete mobile DTV broadcast system based on the Advanced Television Systems Committee's candidate Mobile/Handheld (ATSC-M/H) standard.
Rohde & Schwarz was one of the original developers, along with Samsung and Nokia, of the A-VSB mobile DTV technology which eventually lost out to the MPH system created by LG and Harris as the choice for ATSC-M/H's underlying transmission scheme. But it is moving ahead with products for mobile DTV, which it sees as a significant opportunity to grow its domestic business--75% of the transmitters the company sells are to international customers. The company is also experienced in low-power transmitters designed for mobile DTV applications, as it provides transmitters to Qualcomm's MediaFLO mobile TV service.
The system it showed at NAB would allow U.S. broadcasters to immediately launch mobile DTV services. It includes the software-definable R&S SX800 exciter, the R&S AEM100 emission multiplexer, the AVE264 MPEG-4 audio/video encoder, transmitters and test equipment developed for ATSC Mobile DTV and single frequency network (SFN) operation, and third-party headend products such as PSIP, ESG, and service protection servers.
A complete mobile DTV system (not counting transmitter) consisting of an exciter, multiplexer, encoder and associated headend gear runs about $150,000, and less if a station already has the exciter, says Rohde & Schwarz program manager Dave Benco.
Rohde & Schwarz was also involved in several live mobile DTV demonstrations in Las Vegas, whose signals could be seen in various booths on the convention floor, including the ATSC Mobile DTV pavilion. Sinclair Broadcast Group station KVCW used the Rohde & Schwarz digital exciter and multiplexer in combination with an Acrodyne transmitter and Harmonic MPEG-4 encoder to broadcast three mobile DTV services on Channel 29: The CW primary feed (33.1), the PBS primary (10.1), and "THECOOLTV", an interactive Rich Media Environment (RME)-enhanced service from MobiTV and The Cool Music Network.
The same equipment was also used to demonstrate Single Frequency Network (SFN) technology, which transmits the same frequency from several low-powered transmitters and can provide more robust DTV reception in challenging environments such as mobile applications. NBC/Telemundo station KBLR, which was also generating mobile DTV demonstration feeds, provided its signal to Dish Network, which distributed it over a satellite feed to the KBLR transmitter on Black Mountain and two low-power Rohde & Schwarz transmitters also broadcasting on Channel 40: one located on the Stratosphere observation tower and one in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Triveni Digital, Ion Media Networks, MRC and LG also suppled equipment to support the SFN demonstration.
KBLR was using about 4.5 megabits per second of its DTV bandwidth to deliver two mobile DTV program streams of 500 kilobits per second each, with the rest being used for forward-error correction information. They included a simulcast of Telemundo programming and a specially formatted version of CNBC, both of which were on display in Rohde & Schwarz's booth.
Benco believes that Rohde & Schwarz's SFN technology, which relies on unique synchronization methods it developed, will give the company an edge as mobile DTV is broadly deployed.
"SFN is really a differentiator for us," says Benco. "And I think broadcasters need to deploy SFNs to provide quality of service for mobile DTV."
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