DVB-NGH: the Next Generation of Digital Broadcast Services to Handheld Devices

This paper reviews the main technical solutions adopted by the next-generation mobile broadcasting standard DVB-NGH, the handheld evolution of the second-generation digital terrestrial TV standard DVB-T2. The main new technical elements introduced with respect to DVB-T2 are: layered video coding with multiple physical layer pipes, time-frequency slicing, full support of an IP transport layer with a dedicated protocol stack, header compression mechanisms for both IP and MPEG-2 TS packets, new low-density parity check coding rates for the data path (down to 1/5), nonuniform constellations for 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and 256QAM, 4-D rotated constellations for Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), improved time interleaving in terms of zapping time, end-to-end latency and memory consumption, improved physical layer signaling in terms of robustness, capacity and overhead, a novel distributed multiple input single output transmit diversity scheme for single-frequency networks (SFNs), and efficient provisioning of local content in SFNs. All these technological solutions, together with the high performance of DVB-T2, make DVB-NGH a real next-generation mobile multimedia broadcasting technology. In fact, DVB-NGH can be regarded the first third-generation broadcasting system because it allows for the possibility of using multiple input multiple output antenna schemes to overcome the Shannon limit of single antenna wireless communications. Furthermore, DVB-NGH also allows the deployment of an optional satellite component forming a hybrid terrestrial-satellite network topology to improve the coverage in rural areas where the installation of terrestrial networks could be uneconomical.Gómez Barquero, D.; Douillard, C.; Moss, P.; Mignone, V. (2014). DVB-NGH: the Next Generation of Digital Broadcast Services to Handheld Devices. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 60(2):246-257. doi:10.1109/TBC.2014.2313073S24625760

A random access MAC protocol for MPR satellite networks

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaRandom access approaches for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks are usually incompatible with the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of multimedia tra c, especially when hand-held devices must operate with very low power. Cross-Layered optimization architectures, combined with Multipacket Reception (MPR)schemes are a good choice to enhance the overall performance of a wireless system. Hybrid Network-assisted Diversity Multiple Access (H-NDMA) protocol, exhibits high energy e ciency, with MPR capability, but its use with satellites is limited by the high round trip time. This protocol was adapted to satellites, in Satellite-NDMA, but it required a pre-reservation mechanism that introduces a signi cant delay. This dissertation proposes a random access protocol that uses H-NDMA, for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks, named Satellite Random-NDMA (SR-NDMA). The protocol addresses the problem inherent to satellite networks (large round trip time and signi cant energy consumption) de ning a hybrid approach with an initial random access plus possible additional scheduled retransmissions. An MPR receiver combines the multiple copies received, gradually reducing the error rate. Analytical performance models are proposed for the throughput, delay, jitter and energy e ciency considering nite queues at the terminals. It is also addressed the energy e ciency optimization, where the system parameters are calculated to guarantee the QoS requirements. The proposed system's performance is evaluated for a Single-Carrier with Frequency Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) receiver. Results show that the proposed system is energy e cient and can provide enough QoS to support services such as video telephony

A survey of digital television broadcast transmission techniques

This paper is a survey of the transmission techniques used in digital television (TV) standards worldwide. With the increase in the demand for High-Definition (HD) TV, video-on-demand and mobile TV services, there was a real need for more bandwidth-efficient, flawless and crisp video quality, which motivated the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting. In this paper we present a brief history of the development of TV and then we survey the transmission technology used in different digital terrestrial, satellite, cable and mobile TV standards in different parts of the world. First, we present the Digital Video Broadcasting standards developed in Europe for terrestrial (DVB-T/T2), for satellite (DVB-S/S2), for cable (DVB-C) and for hand-held transmission (DVB-H). We then describe the Advanced Television System Committee standards developed in the USA both for terrestrial (ATSC) and for hand-held transmission (ATSC-M/H). We continue by describing the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting standards developed in Japan for Terrestrial (ISDB-T) and Satellite (ISDB-S) transmission and then present the International System for Digital Television (ISDTV), which was developed in Brazil by adopteding the ISDB-T physical layer architecture. Following the ISDTV, we describe the Digital Terrestrial television Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB) standard developed in China. Finally, as a design example, we highlight the physical layer implementation of the DVB-T2 standar

Adaptive power link adaptation on DVB-T system based on picture quality feedback

In digital television systems such as DVB-T, service provider has difficulties to observe the quality of picture reception in the viewers’ television. This is due to the unavailability of quality feedback sent from viewers’ devices to the service provider. Therefore, this research proposes link adaptation method in DVB-T system based on image quality measurement at recipient side, so that service provider may adjust the transmission power in real-time to improve the image quality. Quality metric used in this research is human perception- based no-reference image quality metric, which does not need the presence of the reference frame. The quality assessment is focused on the severeness of blocking artifact, which is the dominant artifacts in MPEG video. The numerical results have shown that power adaptation could maintain good picture quality as well as transmission power efficiency at the same time on the digital television transmission system. The proposed scheme is also suitable for other DVB system as well as various digital television system standards

Soluções de broadcast para redes 4G

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e de TelecomunicaçõesA primeira difusão de conteúdos video e audio teve um forte impacto no quotidiano da população que assistiu a uma revolução nos modelos de transmissão de informação e de entretenimento. A evolução desde então foi significativa, e já na era digital, encontramo-nos face a uma nova sub-elevação da metodologia e do conceito subjacentes à transmissão de conteudos multimédia. O mundo actual apresenta, contudo, diferentes requisitos, de entre os quais se destacam a procura pela alta definição e mobilidade. A mobilidade tem sido um particular foco de atenção por parte dos operadores que exploram agora modelos para entregar uma vasta gama de serviços que sejam atractivos para os utilizadores. Esta dissertação apresenta um sumário das tecnologias emergentes de broadcast que se distinguem nas várias partes do mundo com a sua particular incidência geográfica, características e cenários de aplicação. É ainda apresentada uma arquitectura 4G abordando assuntos inerentes à mobilidade e qualidade de serviço com particular incidência nos aspectos relacionados com a integração de uma tecnologia de broadcast particular. Para avaliação da arquitectura proposta foram efectuados estudos com base num equipamento de broadcast na sua versão comercial, permitindo desta forma obter uma análise que ilustra o que os operadores podem esperar do estado actual dos dispositivos. Os resultados permitiram retirar ilações sobre o comportamento de um equipamento considerado como um produto final a disponibilizar aos operadores, quando integrado num ambiente 4G com suporte de mobilidade e QoS. Nomeadamente é discutida a sua aplicabildiade tendo em linha de conta as desvantagens introduzidas pelas características inerentes à própria tecnologia.Broadcast of video and audio through analogical television completely changed the paradigm of information and entertainment divulgation. Today, in the “digital era”, the Analogue Switch Off revolution is being held. Manufacturers and operators already show concerns regarding the support of mobility, quality of experience and of service. Delivering competitive High Definition contents and providing solutions for the average “on-the-move” user are two of the most important issues to be dealt by the service providers, which are also within the analysis scope of this work. This dissertation presents an overview on the most relevant broadcast technologies which are assumed to be of relative acceptance in their respective target market. It presents their main characteristics and applicability. 4G architectural concepts are also analyzed, closely dealing with mobility and quality of service provisioning, with particular focus on the seamless integration of broadcast technologies. As a mean to evaluate the feasibility of integrating broadcast technologies with 4G architectures, a performance evaluation study was performed using commercial equipment. In this way a several set of considerations constructed illustrating the features and functionalities which operators can expect or disregard from professional commercial broadcasting devices. Results allow the withdrawing of conclusions concerning the integration of a final broadcasting solution when incorporated within a 4G environment with QoS and mobility support. Its applicability is evaluated having in mind the performance drawbacks introduced by the specific technology, and generalized towards the gathering of more general conclusions which consider the main characteristics of the commercial broadcasting devices

Architecture and algorithms for the implementation of digital wireless receivers in FPGA and ASIC: ISDB-T and DVB-S2 cases

[EN] The first generation of Terrestrial Digital Television(DTV) has been in service for over a decade. In 2013, several countries have already completed the transition from Analog to Digital TV Broadcasting, most of which in Europe. In South America, after several studies and trials, Brazil adopted the Japanese standard with some innovations. Japan and Brazil started Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) services in December 2003 and December 2007 respectively, using Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial (ISDB-T), also known as ARIB STD-B31. In June 2005 the Committee for the Information Technology Area (CATI) of Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology and Innovation MCTI approved the incorporation of the IC-Brazil Program, in the National Program for Microelectronics (PNM) . The main goals of IC-Brazil are the formal qualification of IC designers, support to the creation of semiconductors companies focused on projects of ICs within Brazil, and the attraction of semiconductors companies focused on the design and development of ICs in Brazil. The work presented in this thesis originated from the unique momentum created by the combination of the birth of Digital Television in Brazil and the creation of the IC-Brazil Program by the Brazilian government. Without this combination it would not have been possible to make these kind of projects in Brazil. These projects have been a long and costly journey, albeit scientifically and technologically worthy, towards a Brazilian DTV state-of-the-art low complexity Integrated Circuit, with good economy scale perspectives, due to the fact that at the beginning of this project ISDB-T standard was not adopted by several countries like DVB-T. During the development of the ISDB-T receiver proposed in this thesis, it was realized that due to the continental dimensions of Brazil, the DTTB would not be enough to cover the entire country with open DTV signal, specially for the case of remote localizations far from the high urban density regions. Then, Eldorado Research Institute and Idea! Electronic Systems, foresaw that, in a near future, there would be an open distribution system for high definition DTV over satellite, in Brazil. Based on that, it was decided by Eldorado Research Institute, that would be necessary to create a new ASIC for broadcast satellite reception. At that time DVB-S2 standard was the strongest candidate for that, and this assumption still stands nowadays. Therefore, it was decided to apply to a new round of resources funding from the MCTI - that was granted - in order to start the new project. This thesis discusses in details the Architecture and Algorithms proposed for the implementation of a low complexity Intermediate Frequency(IF) ISDB-T Receiver on Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) CMOS. The Architecture proposed here is highly based on the COordinate Rotation Digital Computer (CORDIC) Algorithm, that is a simple and efficient algorithm suitable for VLSI implementations. The receiver copes with the impairments inherent to wireless channels transmission and the receiver crystals. The thesis also discusses the Methodology adopted and presents the implementation results. The receiver performance is presented and compared to those obtained by means of simulations. Furthermore, the thesis also presents the Architecture and Algorithms for a DVB-S2 receiver targeting its ASIC implementation. However, unlike the ISDB-T receiver, only preliminary ASIC implementation results are introduced. This was mainly done in order to have an early estimation of die area to prove that the project in ASIC is economically viable, as well as to verify possible bugs in early stage. As in the case of ISDB-T receiver, this receiver is highly based on CORDIC algorithm and it was prototyped in FPGA. The Methodology used for the second receiver is derived from that used for the ISDB-T receiver, with minor additions given the project characteristics.[ES] La primera generación de Televisión Digital Terrestre(DTV) ha estado en servicio por más de una década. En 2013, varios países completaron la transición de transmisión analógica a televisión digital, la mayoría de ellas en Europa. En América del Sur, después de varios estudios y ensayos, Brasil adoptó el estándar japonés con algunas innovaciones. Japón y Brasil comenzaron a prestar el servicio de Difusión de Televisión Digital Terrestre (DTTB) en diciembre de 2003 y diciembre de 2007 respectivamente, utilizando Radiodifusión Digital de Servicios Integrados Terrestres (ISDB-T), también conocida como ARIB STD-B31. En junio de 2005, el Comité del Área de Tecnología de la Información (CATI) del Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Brasil - MCTI aprobó la incorporación del Programa CI-Brasil, en el Programa Nacional de Microelectrónica (PNM). Los principales objetivos de la CI-Brasil son la formación de diseñadores de CIs, apoyar la creación de empresas de semiconductores enfocadas en proyectos de circuitos integrados dentro de Brasil, y la atracción de empresas de semiconductores interesadas en el diseño y desarrollo de circuitos integrados. El trabajo presentado en esta tesis se originó en el impulso único creado por la combinación del nacimiento de la televisión digital en Brasil y la creación del Programa de CI-Brasil por el gobierno brasileño. Sin esta combinación no hubiera sido posible realizar este tipo de proyectos en Brasil. Estos proyectos han sido un trayecto largo y costoso, aunque meritorio desde el punto de vista científico y tecnológico, hacia un Circuito Integrado brasileño de punta y de baja complejidad para DTV, con buenas perspectivas de economía de escala debido al hecho que al inicio de este proyecto, el estándar ISDB-T no fue adoptado por varios países como DVB-T. Durante el desarrollo del receptor ISDB-T propuesto en esta tesis, se observó que debido a las dimensiones continentales de Brasil, la DTTB no sería suficiente para cubrir todo el país con la señal de televisión digital abierta, especialmente para el caso de localizaciones remotas, apartadas de las regiones de alta densidad urbana. En ese momento, el Instituto de Investigación Eldorado e Idea! Sistemas Electrónicos, previeron que en un futuro cercano habría un sistema de distribución abierto para DTV de alta definición por satélite en Brasil. Con base en eso, el Instituto de Investigación Eldorado decidió que sería necesario crear un nuevo ASIC para la recepción de radiodifusión por satélite, basada el estándar DVB-S2. En esta tesis se analiza en detalle la Arquitectura y algoritmos propuestos para la implementación de un receptor ISDB-T de baja complejidad y frecuencia intermedia (IF) en un Circuito Integrado de Aplicación Específica (ASIC) CMOS. La arquitectura aquí propuesta se basa fuertemente en el algoritmo Computadora Digital para Rotación de Coordenadas (CORDIC), el cual es un algoritmo simple, eficiente y adecuado para implementaciones VLSI. El receptor hace frente a las deficiencias inherentes a las transmisiones por canales inalámbricos y los cristales del receptor. La tesis también analiza la metodología adoptada y presenta los resultados de la implementación. Por otro lado, la tesis también presenta la arquitectura y los algoritmos para un receptor DVB-S2 dirigido a la implementación en ASIC. Sin embargo, a diferencia del receptor ISDB-T, se introducen sólo los resultados preliminares de implementación en ASIC. Esto se hizo principalmente con el fin de tener una estimación temprana del área del die para demostrar que el proyecto en ASIC es económicamente viable, así como para verificar posibles errores en etapa temprana. Como en el caso de receptor ISDB-T, este receptor se basa fuertemente en el algoritmo CORDIC y fue un prototipado en FPGA. La metodología utilizada para el segundo receptor se deriva de la utilizada para el re[CA] La primera generació de Televisió Digital Terrestre (TDT) ha estat en servici durant més d'una dècada. En 2013, diversos països ja van completar la transició de la radiodifusió de televisió analògica a la digital, i la majoria van ser a Europa. A Amèrica del Sud, després de diversos estudis i assajos, Brasil va adoptar l'estàndard japonés amb algunes innovacions. Japó i Brasil van començar els servicis de Radiodifusió de Televisió Terrestre Digital (DTTB) al desembre de 2003 i al desembre de 2007, respectivament, utilitzant la Radiodifusió Digital amb Servicis Integrats de (ISDB-T), coneguda com a ARIB STD-B31. Al juny de 2005, el Comité de l'Àrea de Tecnologia de la Informació (CATI) del Ministeri de Ciència i Tecnologia i Innovació del Brasil (MCTI) va aprovar la incorporació del programa CI Brasil al Programa Nacional de Microelectrònica (PNM). Els principals objectius de CI Brasil són la qualificació formal dels dissenyadors de circuits integrats, el suport a la creació d'empreses de semiconductors centrades en projectes de circuits integrats dins del Brasil i l'atracció d'empreses de semiconductors centrades en el disseny i desenvolupament de circuits integrats. El treball presentat en esta tesi es va originar en l'impuls únic creat per la combinació del naixement de la televisió digital al Brasil i la creació del programa Brasil CI pel govern brasiler. Sense esta combinació no hauria estat possible realitzar este tipus de projectes a Brasil. Estos projectes han suposat un viatge llarg i costós, tot i que digne científicament i tecnològica, cap a un circuit integrat punter de baixa complexitat per a la TDT brasilera, amb bones perspectives d'economia d'escala perquè a l'inici d'este projecte l'estàndard ISDB-T no va ser adoptat per diversos països, com el DVB-T. Durant el desenvolupament del receptor de ISDB-T proposat en esta tesi, va resultar que, a causa de les dimensions continentals de Brasil, la DTTB no seria suficient per cobrir tot el país amb el senyal de TDT oberta, especialment pel que fa a les localitzacions remotes allunyades de les regions d'alta densitat urbana.. En este moment, l'Institut de Recerca Eldorado i Idea! Sistemes Electrònics van preveure que, en un futur pròxim, no hi hauria a Brasil un sistema de distribució oberta de TDT d'alta definició a través de satèl¿lit. D'acord amb això, l'Institut de Recerca Eldorado va decidir que seria necessari crear un nou ASIC per a la recepció de radiodifusió per satèl¿lit. basat en l'estàndard DVB-S2. En esta tesi s'analitza en detall l'arquitectura i els algorismes proposats per l'execució d'un receptor ISDB-T de Freqüència Intermèdia (FI) de baixa complexitat sobre CMOS de Circuit Integrat d'Aplicacions Específiques (ASIC). L'arquitectura ací proposada es basa molt en l'algorisme de l'Ordinador Digital de Rotació de Coordenades (CORDIC), que és un algorisme simple i eficient adequat per implementacions VLSI. El receptor fa front a les deficiències inherents a la transmissió de canals sense fil i els cristalls del receptor. Esta tesi també analitza la metodologia adoptada i presenta els resultats de l'execució. Es presenta el rendiment del receptor i es compara amb els obtinguts per mitjà de simulacions. D'altra banda, esta tesi també presenta l'arquitectura i els algorismes d'un receptor de DVB-S2 de cara a la seua implementació en ASIC. No obstant això, a diferència del receptor ISDB-T, només s'introdueixen resultats preliminars d'implementació en ASIC. Això es va fer principalment amb la finalitat de tenir una estimació primerenca de la zona de dau per demostrar que el projecte en ASIC és econòmicament viable, així com per verificar possibles errors en l'etapa primerenca. Com en el cas del receptor ISDB-T, este receptor es basa molt en l'algorisme CORDIC i va ser un prototip de FPGA. La metodologia utilitzada per al segon receptor es deriva de la utilitzada per al receptor IRodrigues De Lima, E. (2016). Architecture and algorithms for the implementation of digital wireless receivers in FPGA and ASIC: ISDB-T and DVB-S2 cases [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61967TESI

Energy-efficient diversity combining for different access schemes in a multi-path dispersive channel

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e ComputadoresThe forthcoming generation of mobile communications, 5G, will settle a new standard for a larger bandwidth and better Quality of Service (QoS). With the exploding growth rate of user generated data, wireless standards must cope with this growth and at the same time be energy efficient to avoid depleting the batteries of wireless devices. Besides these issues, in a broadband wireless setting QoS can be severely affected from a multipath dispersive channel and therefore be energy demanding. Cross-layered architectures are a good choice to enhance the overall performance of a wireless system. Examples of cross-layered Physical (PHY) - Medium Access Control (MAC) architectures are type-II Diversity Combining (DC) Hybrid-ARQ (H-ARQ) and Multi-user Detection (MUD) schemes. Cross-layered type-II DC H-ARQ schemes reuse failed packet transmissions to enhance data reception on posterior retransmissions; MUD schemes reuse data information from previously collided packets on posterior retransmissions to enhance data reception. For a multipath dispersive channel, a PHY layer analytical model is proposed for Single-Carrier with Frequency Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) that supports DC H-ARQ and MUD. Based on this analytical model, three PHY-MAC protocols are proposed. A crosslayered Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) scheme that uses DC H-ARQ is modeled and its performance is studied in this document; the performance analysis shows that the scheme performs better with DC and achieves a better energy efficiency at the cost of a higher delay. A novel cross-layered prefix-assisted Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) scheme is proposed and modeled in this document, it uses principles of DC and MUD. This protocol performs better by means of additional retransmissions, achieving better energy efficiency, at the cost of higher redundancy from a code spreading gain. Finally, a novel cross-layered protocol H-ARQ Network Division Multiple Access (H-NDMA) is proposed and modeled, where the combination of DC H-ARQ and MUD is used with the intent of maximizing the system capacity with a lower delay; system results show that the proposed scheme achieves better energy efficiency and a better performance at the cost of a higher number of retransmissions. A comparison of the three cross-layered protocols is made, using the PHY analytical model, under normalized conditions using the same amount of maximum redundancy. Results show that the H-NDMA protocol, in general, obtains the best results, achieving a good performance and a good energy efficiency for a high channel load and low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). TDMA with DC H-ARQ achieves the best energy efficiency, although presenting the worst delay. Prefix-assisted DS-CDMA in the other hand shows good delay results but presents the worst throughput and energy efficiency

On Transmission System Design for Wireless Broadcasting

This thesis considers aspects related to the design and standardisation of transmission systems for wireless broadcasting, comprising terrestrial and mobile reception. The purpose is to identify which factors influence the technical decisions and what issues could be better considered in the design process in order to assess different use cases, service scenarios and end-user quality. Further, the necessity of cross-layer optimisation for efficient data transmission is emphasised and means to take this into consideration are suggested. The work is mainly related terrestrial and mobile digital video broadcasting systems but many of the findings can be generalised also to other transmission systems and design processes. The work has led to three main conclusions. First, it is discovered that there are no sufficiently accurate error criteria for measuring the subjective perceived audiovisual quality that could be utilised in transmission system design. Means for designing new error criteria for mobile TV (television) services are suggested and similar work related to other services is recommended. Second, it is suggested that in addition to commercial requirements there should be technical requirements setting the frame work for the design process of a new transmission system. The technical requirements should include the assessed reception conditions, technical quality of service and service functionalities. Reception conditions comprise radio channel models, receiver types and antenna types. Technical quality of service consists of bandwidth, timeliness and reliability. Of these, the thesis focuses on radio channel models and errorcriteria (reliability) as two of the most important design challenges and provides means to optimise transmission parameters based on these. Third, the thesis argues that the most favourable development for wireless broadcasting would be a single system suitable for all scenarios of wireless broadcasting. It is claimed that there are no major technical obstacles to achieve this and that the recently published second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system provides a good basis. The challenges and opportunities of a universal wireless broadcasting system are discussed mainly from technical but briefly also from commercial and regulatory aspectSiirretty Doriast