Mobile Communications

Chapter 6: Broadcast Systems

 Unidirectional distribution systems
 DAB
 architecture
 DVB
 Container
 High-speed Internet
 Unidirectional distribution systems

Asymmetric communication environments

 bandwidth limitations of the transmission medium
 depends on applications, type of information
 examples
 wireless networks with base station and mobile terminals
 client-server environments (diskless terminal)
 cable TV with set-top box
 information services (pager, SMS)

Special case: unidirectional distribution systems

 high bandwidth from server to client (downstream), but no bandwidth vice
versa (upstream)
 problems of unidirectional broadcast systems
 a sender can optimize transmitted information only for one group of
users/terminals
 functions needed to individualize personal requirements/applications
 Unidirectional distribution

service provider service user

A
B receiver
A
A
B
A receiver
A B unidirectional
sender distribution .
medium .
A B .
A
receiver

optimized for expected

access pattern  individual access
pattern of one user
of all users
 Structuring transmissions - broadcast disks

Sender
 cyclic repetition of data blocks
 different patterns possible (optimization possible only if the content is
known)

flat disk A B C A B C

skewed disk A A B C A A

multi-disk A B A C A B
Receiver
 use of caching
 cost-based strategy: what are the costs for a user (waiting time) if a data block
has been requested but is currently not cached
 application and cache have to know content of data blocks
and access patterns of user to optimize
 DAB: Digital Audio Broadcasting

 Media access
 COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex)
 SFN (Single Frequency Network)
 192 to 1536 subcarriers within a 1.5 MHz frequency band
 Frequencies
 first phase: one out of 32 frequency blocks for terrestrial TV
channels 5 to 12 (174 - 230 MHz, 5A - 12D)
 second phase: one out of 9 frequency blocks in the L-band
(1452- 1467.5 MHz, LA - LI)
 Sending power: 6.1 kW (VHF, Ø 120 km) or
4 kW (L-band, Ø 30 km)
 Date-rates: 2.304 Mbit/s (net 1.2 to 1.536 Mbit/s)
 Modulation: Differential 4-phase modulation
 Audio channels per frequency block: typ. 6, max. 192 kbit/s
 Digital services: 0.6 - 16 kbit/s (PAD), 24 kbit/s (NPAD)
 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM)

Parallel data transmission on several orthogonal subcarriers with

lower rate
c
f
k3

Maximum of one subcarrier frequency appears exactly at a frequency

where all other subcarriers equal zero
 superposition of frequencies in the same frequency range
Amplitude subcarrier: sin(x)
SI function= x

f
 OFDM II

 Properties
 Lower data rate on each subcarrier  less ISI
 interference on one frequency results in interference of one subcarrier only
 no guard space necessary
 orthogonality allows for signal separation via inverse FFT on receiver side
 precise synchronization necessary (sender/receiver)

 Advantages
 no equalizer necessary
 no expensive filters with sharp edges necessary
 better spectral efficiency (compared to CDM)

 Application
 802.11a, HiperLAN2, DAB, DVB, ADSL
 DAB transport mechanisms

MSC (Main Service Channel)

 carries all user data (audio, multimedia, ...)
 consists of CIF (Common Interleaved Frames)
 each CIF 55296 bit, every 24 ms (depends on transmission mode)
 CIF contains CU (Capacity Units), 64 bit each
FIC (Fast Information Channel)
 carries control information
 consists of FIB (Fast Information Block)
 each FIB 256 bit (incl. 16 bit checksum)
 defines configuration and content of MSC
Stream mode
 transparent data transmission with a fixed bit rate
Packet mode
 transfer addressable packets
 Transmission frame

frame duration TF
guard interval Td
symbol Tu

L 0 1 2 ...... L-1 L 1
0

phase
null data data data
reference
symbol symbol symbol symbol
symbol
synchronization FICfast information main service
SC channel FIC channel MSC channel
 DAB sender

DAB Signal
Service
Information FIC
Multiplex
Information carriers

Trans-
mission
Multi- Trans-
ODFM
plexer mitter f
1.5 MHz
Audio Audio Channel
Services Encoder Coder
MSC
Multi- Radio Frequency
plexer
Data Packet Channel
FIC: Fast Information Channel
Services Mux Coder
MSC: Main Service Channel
OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
DAB receiver

(partial)
MSC
ODFM Channel Audio Audio
Tuner Service
Demodulator Decoder Decoder

FIC
Independent
Data
Packet Service
Demux
Control Bus
Controller

User Interface
 Audio coding
 Goal
 audio transmission almost with CD quality
 robust against multipath propagation
 minimal distortion of audio signals during signal fading
 Mechanisms
 fully digital audio signals (PCM, 16 Bit, 48 kHz, stereo)
 MPEG compression of audio signals, compression ratio 1:10
 redundancy bits for error detection and correction
 burst errors typical for radio transmissions, therefore signal
interleaving - receivers can now correct single bit errors resulting
from interference
 low symbol-rate, many symbols
 transmission of digital data using long symbol sequences, separated by
guard spaces
 delayed symbols, e.g., reflection, still remain within the guard space
 Bit rate management

 a DAB ensemble combines audio programs and data services

with different requirements for transmission quality and bit rates
 the standard allows dynamic reconfiguration of the DAB
multiplexing scheme (i.e., during transmission)
 Multimedia Object Transfer Protocol (MOT)

Problem
 broad range of receiver capabilities
audio-only devices with single/multiple line text display, additional color
graphic display, PC adapters etc.
 different types of receivers should at least be able to recognize all kinds of
program associated and program independent data and process some of
it
Solution
 common standard for data transmission: MOT
 important for MOT is the support of data formats used in other multimedia
systems (e.g., online services, Internet, CD-ROM)
 DAB can therefore transmit HTML documents from the WWW with very
little additional effort
 MOT structure

MOT formats
 MHEG, Java, JPEG, ASCII, MPEG, HTML, HTTP, BMP, GIF, ...
Header core
 size of header and body, content type
Header extension
 handling information, e.g., repetition distance, segmentation,
priority
 information supports caching mechanisms
Body
 arbitrary data
7 byte
header header
body
core extension

DAB allows for many repetition schemes

 objects, segments, headers
 Digital Video Broadcasting

 1991 foundation of the ELG (European Launching Group)

goal: development of digital television in Europe
 1993 renaming into DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting)
goal: introduction of digital television based on
 satellite transmission
 cable network technology
 later also terrestrial transmission

DVB-S Satellites SDTV

EDTV
Multipoint Integrated HDTV
Distribution Receiver-Decoder
System
DVB-C Cable Multimedia PC

Terrestrial
Receiver
DVB-T B-ISDN, ADSL,etc. DVD, etc.
 DVB Container
DVB transmits MPEG-2 container
 high flexibility for the transmission of digital data
 no restrictions regarding the type of information
 DVB Service Information specifies the content of a container
 NIT (Network Information Table): lists the services of a provider,
contains additional information for set-top boxes
 SDT (Service Description Table): list of names and parameters for each
service within a MPEG multiplex channel
 EIT (Event Information Table): status information about the current
transmission, additional information for set-top boxes
 TDT (Time and Date Table): Update information for set-top boxes

MPEG-2/DVB MPEG-2/DVB MPEG-2/DVB MPEG-2/DVB

container container container container
HDTV
SDTV
EDTV

single channel multiple channels multiple channels multimedia

high definition television enhanced definition standard definition data broadcasting
 Example: high-speed Internet access

Asymmetric data exchange

 downlink: DVB receiver, data rate per user 6-38 Mbit/s
 return channel from user to service provider: e.g., modem with 33
kbit/s, ISDN with 64 kbit/s, DSL with several 100 kbit/s etc.

DVB/MPEG2 multiplex
satellite receiver simultaneous to digital TV

satellite
leased line provider
PC
Internet

DVB-S adapter
TCP/IP
information
service provider
provider
 Convergence of broadcasting and mobile comm.

Definition of interaction channels

 Interacting/controlling broadcast via GSM, UMTS, DECT, PSTN, …

Example: mobile Internet services using IP over GSM/GPRS or UMTS as

interaction channel for DAB/DVB
DVB-T, DAB
(TV plus IP data)
TV
TV broadcaster MUX
data
channels

Internet mobile
terminal
ISP GSM/GPRS,
UMTS
mobile operator (IP data)
 Comparison of UMTS, DAB and DVB

UMTS DAB DVB

Spectrum bands 2000 (terrestrial), 1140-1504, 130-260,
(depends on 2500 (satellite) 220-228 (UK) 430-862 (UK)
national
regulations) [MHz]
Regulation Telecom, Broadcast, Broadcast,
licensed licensed licensed
Bandwidth 5 MHz 1.5 MHz 8 MHz
Effective 30-300 kbit/s 1.5 Mbit/s 5-30 Mbit/s
throughput (per user) (shared) (shared)
Mobility support Low to high Very high Low to high
Application Voice, data Audio, push High res. video,
Internet, images, audio, push Internet
low res. video
Coverage Local to wide Wide Wide
Deployment cost Very high Low Low
for wide coverage