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

Technical Solutions for Local Service Insertion in DVB-NGH Single Frequency Networks

Current digital terrestrial television networks make use of either single frequency networks (SFN) or multifrequency networks (MFN). These network topologies are not ideally suited for delivery of both global and local services in an efficient way. MFNs enable the efficient transmission of local services but need a significant amount of frequency spectrum. The basic principle of SFNs is that all transmitters radiate the same signal synchronized in time and frequency, therefore are especially suitable for global services due to mutual support of the signal by multiple transmitters. Without violating the SFN principle, local services meant to address sub-regions of an SFN must therefore be transmitted throughout the whole network, causing inefficient distribution of local services. This paper describes the complementary techniques adopted by the next generation mobile broadcasting standard digital video broadcasting - next generation handheld for providing global and local contents in SFN topologies: hierarchical modulation (H-LSI) and orthogonal local services insertion (O-LSI) techniques. H-LSI uses hierarchical modulation to transmit local services on top of the global services in areas close to the transmitters, by transmitting the local services in the low priority stream and the global services in the high priority stream. The O-LSI scheme specifies groups of OFDM subcarriers in specific OFDM symbols for the exclusive use of particular transmitters to transmit local services. For both techniques, the transmission of local content through the whole SFN network can be scheduled in a way that different local areas do not interfere with each other. In addition to the description of both H-LSI and O-LSI schemes, the applicability of these approaches in terms of network topologies, implementation issues, and performance evaluation are analyzed.López Sánchez, J.; Zöllner, J.; Atungsiri, S.; Stare, E.; Gómez Barquero, D. (2014). Technical Solutions for Local Service Insertion in DVB-NGH Single Frequency Networks. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 60(2):293-301. doi:10.1109/TBC.2014.2322502S29330160

Physical Layer Signaling for the Next Generation Mobile TV Standard DVB-NGH

[ES] Esta tesina tiene como objetivo investigar, estudiar y desarrollar la nueva capa física para la nueva generación TV digital móvil DVB-NGH. Esta nueva capa física se basa en las especificaciones de la capa física de DVB-T2, pero introduce una serie de mecanismos avanzados que permiten la transmisión de servicios HDTV en entornos móviles.[EN] The next generation mobile broadcasting standard DVB-NGH (Next Generation Handheld) has enhanced the physical layer signaling of DVB-T2 (Second Generation Terrestrial) in several aspects: higher signaling capacity, improved transmission robustness, reduced signaling overhead, and reduced peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR). The physical layer signaling of DVB-T2 and DVB-NGH is transmitted in preamble OFDM symbols at the beginning of each frame. The preamble provides a means for fast signal detection, enabling fast signal scanning, and it carries a limited amount of signaling data in a robust way that allows accessing the physical layer pipes within the frame. This thesis provides an overview of the physical layer signaling in DVB-NGH. Results are compared with DVB-T2.Llorca Beltrán, JM. (2012). Physical Layer Signaling for the Next Generation Mobile TV Standard DVB-NGH. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/27341.Archivo delegad

MIMO for DVB-NGH, the next generation mobile TV broadcasting

DVB-NGH (Digital Video Broadcasting - Next Generation Handheld) is the next generation technology for mobile TV broadcasting, which has been developed by the DVB project with the most advanced transmission technologies. DVB-NGH is the first broadcasting standard to incorporate multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) as the key technology to overcome the Shannon limit of single antenna communications. MIMO techniques can be used to improve the robustness of the transmitted signal by exploiting the spatial diversity of the MIMO channel, but also to achieve increased data rates through spatial multiplexing. This article describes the benefits of MIMO that motivated its incorporation in DVB-NGH, reviews the MIMO schemes adopted, and discusses some aspects related to the deployment of MIMO networks in DVB-NGH. The article also provides a feature comparison with the multi-antenna techniques for 3GGP's LTE/LTE-Advanced for cellular networks. Finally, physical layer simulation results calibrated within the DVB-NGH standardization process are provided to illustrate the gain of MIMO for the next generation of mobile TV broadcasting.Vargas Paredero, DE.; Gozálvez Serrano, D.; Gómez Barquero, D.; Cardona Marcet, N. (2013). MIMO for DVB-NGH, the next generation mobile TV broadcasting. IEEE Communications Magazine. 51(7):130-137. doi:10.1109/MCOM.2013.6553689S13013751

MIMO for ATSC 3.0

"(c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.")This paper provides an overview of the optional MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) antenna scheme adopted in ATSC 3.0 to improve robustness or increase capacity via additional spatial diversity and multiplexing by sending two data streams in a single radio frequency channel. Although it is not directly specified, it is expected in practice to use cross-polarized 2x2 MIMO (i.e., horizontal and vertical polarization) to retain multiplexing capabilities in line-of-sight conditions. MIMO allows overcoming the channel capacity limit of single antenna wireless communications in a given channel bandwidth without any increase in the total transmission power. But in the U.S. MIMO can actually provide a larger comparative gain because it would be allowed to increase the total transmit power, by transmitting the nominal transmit power in each polarization. Hence, in addition to the MIMO gains (array, diversity and spatial multiplexing), MIMO could exploit an additional 3 dB power gain. The MIMO scheme adopted in ATSC 3.0 re-uses the SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) antenna baseline constellations, and hence it introduces the use of MIMO with non-uniform constellations.Gómez Barquero, D.; Vargas, D.; Fuentes Muela, M.; Klenner, P.; Moon, S.; Choi, J.; Schneider, D.... (2016). MIMO for ATSC 3.0. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 62(1):298-305. doi:10.1109/TBC.2015.2505399S29830562

An Overview of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Specification

"(c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works.")This paper provides an overview of the physical layer specification of Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0, the next-generation digital terrestrial broadcasting standard. ATSC 3.0 does not have any backwards-compatibility constraint with existing ATSC standards, and it uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based waveforms along with powerful low-density parity check (LDPC) forward error correction codes similar to existing state-of-the-art. However, it introduces many new technological features such as 2-D non-uniform constellations, improved and ultra-robust LDPC codes, power-based layered division multiplexing to efficiently provide mobile and fixed services in the same radio frequency (RF) channel, as well as a novel frequency pre-distortion multiple-input single-output antenna scheme. ATSC 3.0 also allows bonding of two RF channels to increase the service peak data rate and to exploit inter-RF channel frequency diversity, and to employ dual-polarized multiple-input multiple-output antenna system. Furthermore, ATSC 3.0 provides great flexibility in terms of configuration parameters (e.g., 12 coding rates, 6 modulation orders, 16 pilot patterns, 12 guard intervals, and 2 time interleavers), and also a very flexible data multiplexing scheme using time, frequency, and power dimensions. As a consequence, ATSC 3.0 not only improves the spectral efficiency and robustness well beyond the first generation ATSC broadcast television standard, but also it is positioned to become the reference terrestrial broadcasting technology worldwide due to its unprecedented performance and flexibility. Another key aspect of ATSC 3.0 is its extensible signaling, which will allow including new technologies in the future without disrupting ATSC 3.0 services. This paper provides an overview of the physical layer technologies of ATSC 3.0, covering the ATSC A/321 standard that describes the so-called bootstrap, which is the universal entry point to an ATSC 3.0 signal, and the ATSC A/322 standard that describes the physical layer downlink signals after the bootstrap. A summary comparison between ATSC 3.0 and DVB-T2 is also provided.Fay, L.; Michael, L.; Gómez Barquero, D.; Ammar, N.; Caldwell, MW. (2016). An Overview of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Specification. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 62(1):159-171. doi:10.1109/TBC.2015.2505417S15917162

DVB-T2: The Second Generation of Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting System

This paper provides a review of the second generation of terrestrial digital video broadcasting standard (DVB-T2). DVB-T2 is the evolution of DVB-T and, together with DVB-S2 and DVB-C2, inaugurated a new transition from the firstgeneration digital broadcasting systems, similar to the transition from analog-to-digital systems. In this paper, the most relevant features of DVB-T2 are explained in detail, along with their benefits and trade-offs. This paper also presents a comprehensive review of the laboratory and field trial results available so far. Especial emphasis is placed in the results of the measurements carried out to test the mobile reception and the novel technologies as multiple input single output and time frequency slicing.This work was supported in part by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU under Grant UFI 11/30, in part by the Basque Government under Grants IT-683-13 and SAIOTEK, and in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Project HEDYT-GBB under Grant TEC2012-33302.Eizmendi, I.; Velez, M.; Gómez Barquero, D.; Morgade, J.; Baena Lecuyer, V.; Slimani, M.; Zoellner, J. (2014). DVB-T2: The Second Generation of Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting System. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 60(2):258-271. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2014.2312811S25827160

Combined Time, Frecuency and Space Diversity in Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting Systems

El uso combinado de diversidad en el dominio temporal, frecuencial y espacial constituye una valiosa herramienta para mejorar la recepción de servicios de difusión móviles. Gracias a la mejora conseguida por las técnicas de diversidad es posible extender la cobertura de los servicios móviles además de reducir la infraestructura de red. La presente tesis investiga el uso de técnicas de diversidad para la provisión de servicios móviles en la familia europea de sistemas de difusión terrestres estandarizada por el prpoyecto DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting). Esto incluye la primera y segunda generación de sistemas DVB-T (Terrestrial), DVB-NGH (Handheld), y DVB-T2 (Terrestrial 2nd generation), así como el sistema de siguiente generación DVB-NGH. No obstante, el estudio llevado a cabo en la tesis es genérico y puede aplicarse a futuras evoluciones de estándares como el japonés ISDB-T o el americano ATSC. Las investigaciones realizadas dentro del contexto de DVB-T, DVB-H y DVBT2 tienen como objetivo la transmisión simultánea de servicios fijos y móviles en redes terrestres. Esta Convergencia puede facilitar la introducción de servicios móviles de TB debido a la reutilización de espectro, contenido e infraestructura. De acuerdo a los resultados, la incorporación de entrelazado temporal en la capa física para diversidad temporal, y de single-input multiple-output (SIMO) para diversidad espacial, son esenciales para el rendimiento de sistemas móviles de difusión. A pesar de que las técnicas upper later FEC (UL-FEC) pueden propocionar diversidad temporal en sistemas de primera generación como DVB-T y DVB-H, requieren la transmisión de paridad adicional y no son útiles para la recepción estática. El análisis en t�ñerminos de link budjget revela que las técnicas de diversidad noson suficientes para facilitar la provision de servicios móviles en redes DVB-T y DVB-T2 planificadas para recepción fija. Sin embargo, el uso de diversidad en redes planificadas para recepción portableGozálvez Serrano, D. (2012). Combined Time, Frecuency and Space Diversity in Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/16273Palanci

Cooperative Spectrum Sharing of Cellular LTE-Advanced and Broadcast DVB-T2 Systems

The allocation of parts of the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band to International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) technologies on a co-primary basis with terrestrial broadcasting technologies has been the major change in worldwide spectrum allocation in recent years. Nowadays, thanks to the Second Generation for Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T2) and the Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) technologies a new model of cooperation between cellular and broadcasting systems arises, where the cellular network can use of broadcast spectrum using time multiplexing. This paper proposes the cooperative spectrum sharing of DTT spectrum between DVB-T2 systems and LTE-A cellular networks by means of the use of DVB-T2 FEF for LTE-A analyzing the potential benefit.Calabuig Gaspar, J.; Monserrat Del Río, JF.; Gómez Barquero, D.; Cardona Marcet, N. (2013). Cooperative Spectrum Sharing of Cellular LTE-Advanced and Broadcast DVB-T2 Systems. Transaction on IoT and Cloud Computing. 1(1):1-16. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/46750S1161

Wideband Broadcasting: A Power-Efficient Approach to 5G Broadcasting

(c) 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this[EN] Efficient and flexible use of spectrum will be inherent characteristics of fifth-generation (5G) communication technologies with native support of wideband operation with frequency reuse 1, i.e. all transmit sites use all available frequency resources. Although not from the very first 5G release of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), it is expected that broadcast/multicast technology components will later be added and fully integrated in the 5G system. The combination of both wideband and frequency reuse 1 may provide significant gains for broadcast transmissions in terms of energy efficiency, since it is more efficient to increase capacity by extending the bandwidth rather than increasing the transmit power over a given bandwidth. This breaks with the traditional concept of terrestrial broadcast frequency planning, and paves the way to new potential uses of UHF (Ultra High Frequency) spectrum bands for 5G broadcasting. This paper provides an insight into the fundamental advantages in terms of capacity, coverage as well as power saving of wideband broadcast operation. The role of the network deployment, linked to frequency reuse in the UHF band, and its influence in the performance of a Wideband Broadcasting system are discussed. The technical requirements and features that would enable such power-efficient solution are also addressed.This work was supported in part by the European Commission under the 5G-PPP project 5G-Xcast (H2020-ICT-2016-2 call, grant number 761498). The views expressed in this contribution are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the project. This work was also partially supported by the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, Spain (TEC2014-56483-R), co-funded by European FEDER funds.Gimenez Gandia, JJ.; Gomez-Barquero, D.; Mogarde, J.; Stare, E. (2018). Wideband Broadcasting: A Power-Efficient Approach to 5G Broadcasting. IEEE Communications Magazine. 56(3):119-125. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.2018.170067511912556