BONUS ASSIGNMENT

Prepared By :
Abdelrhman Alaa Ahmed
sec4

Doctor : Ihab
The DVB-T Standard
The European standard for digital television, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), was initiated in
1993 by a consortium comprising over 300 entities. These include equipment manufacturers,
network operators, software developers, and regulatory bodies from 35 countries. The DVB
standard encompasses a collection of documents addressing aspects such as broadcasting,
transport, encoding, and middleware. It has been widely adopted in regions like the European
Union, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, South Africa, and more
than 100 other countries (DVB, 2006).
DVB-T was designed to cater to the diverse requirements of various nations, making it a highly
flexible standard with 126 possible configuration settings. The system operates on channels of
6, 7, or 8 MHz and utilizes COFDM multiplexing with either 1705 carriers (2K mode) or 6817
carriers (8K mode). Depending on the configuration, it supports broadcasting rates ranging
from 5 to 31.7 Mbps. For standard-definition television (SDTV), DVB-T can deliver up to six
simultaneous programs on a single terrestrial channel.
To minimize transmission errors, the channel encoding incorporates mechanisms that
mitigate the impact of the channel on the signal. The DVB standard employs Reed–Solomon
coding in conjunction with a convolutional code, akin to those used in mobile communication
systems like Qualcomm's IS-95 (CdmaOne), albeit with some bits suppressed. Guard intervals
between symbols further enhance robustness against intersymbol interference (Alencar,
2002b).
In terms of modulation techniques, DVB-C (Cable) uses 64-QAM, encoding six bits per symbol.
DVB-S (Satellite) employs QPSK modulation. Digital Video Broadcasting Microwave systems
operating below 10 GHz (DVB-MC) use the Multipoint Multichannel Distribution System
(MMDS) with 16-QAM, 32-QAM, or 64-QAM, while those operating above 10 GHz (DVB-MS)
rely on the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) with QPSK modulation (Alencar,
2007a; Resende, 2004; Fernandes et al., 2004; MHP, 2006).

DVB Specifications
The DVB consortium has developed comprehensive specifications for interactive services,
including solutions tailored for diverse network environments. These specifications cover
broadcasting requirements and the integration of interactive networks that enable return
channel capabilities for digital television systems. Figures and tables in the original
documentation illustrate the DVB architecture and summarize key technical areas with
corresponding acronyms. Although these specifications were designed for European digital
television standards, only a few countries, such as Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom,
currently utilize the return channel for digital TV broadcasting (CPqD, 2005).
Multimedia Home Platform (MHP)
The Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) is an open middleware framework created for the
European DVB standard. It establishes a standard interface to facilitate interoperability among
interactive digital applications. This ensures compatibility and adaptability across various
digital television systems.
Terminals and Application Execution
The Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) provides an interface for executing applications on
digital television terminals. This interface abstracts the hardware and software specifics of
the terminal, offering a layer of separation for vendors. MHP expands upon the existing DVB
standards to support interactive and broadcasting services across all types of broadcasting
networks, including terrestrial, satellite, cable, and microwave systems.
MHP is built on a platform known as DVB-J, which incorporates a virtual machine aligned
with the Java Virtual Machine specifications established by Sun Microsystems. The platform
is supported by several software packages that offer generic APIs, enabling interaction with
the platform's extensive resources. An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a code-
based interface that an operating system provides to allow programs to request and utilize
various system services.
The ATSC Standard
The American digital television standard, ATSC, encompasses a range of services, including
HDTV, SDTV, data transmission, multi-channel audio, and direct-to-home broadcasting (ATSC,
1995b). Established in 1982, the ATSC grand alliance consists of approximately 130 members,
including equipment manufacturers, network operators, software developers, and regulatory
bodies. This standard has been in use in the USA since November 1998 and has also been
adopted by countries such as Canada, South Korea, and Mexico. By 2006, it was estimated
that over 28 million digital TV sets had been sold in the USA since its implementation in 1998.
The ATSC standard comprises a series of documents defining its specifications for
broadcasting, transport, encoding, and middleware (Richer et al., 2006). For terrestrial
broadcasting, it supports channels with bandwidths of 6, 7, or 8 MHz. Original information at
a rate of 1 Gbit/s is compressed to 19.3 Mbit/s before undergoing error protection encoding
with a Reed–Solomon encoder (commonly used in DVDs) and a trellis encoder. The signal is
then modulated using 8-VSB for transmission over a 6 MHz channel, employing SCM.
The VSB modulation technique is favored in systems like PAL-M and NTSC for its efficient use
of bandwidth compared to AM and for its less demanding and cost-effective equipment
requirements compared to single sideband (SSB) modulation (Alencar, 2007a). However, it
presents challenges when used with traditional television antennas and performs poorly in
mobile reception scenarios. Conversely, cable television employs 64-QAM modulation,
resembling DVB standards, while satellite broadcasting utilizes QPSK modulation, which is also
similar to DVB.
System Features and Video Formats
The ATSC system supports a variety of image qualities through 18 distinct video formats,
including SDTV, HDTV, and intermediate picture qualities achieved with varying frame rates.
Additionally, it enables data transmission capabilities. The system is engineered to perform
effectively under diverse signal attenuation conditions, such as white noise, multipath
interference, and impulsive or phase noise. It is optimized for operation in crowded frequency
bands with high spectral efficiency, ensuring minimal interference with NTSC television signals
(Alencar, 2007a; Resende, 2004; Fernandes et al., 2004; DASE, 2003; Richer et al., 2006).
DTV Application Software Environment (DASE)
The DTV Application Software Environment (DASE) is an ATSC standard that specifies the
platform for advanced functionality in digital television receivers. It integrates with the
receiver's platform services, allowing it to process inputs from both the transmission carrier
and the end user while generating audio and graphical outputs for the receiving systems.
The receiver's platform provides core services to DASE, including operating system functions,
input/output management, and memory handling. DASE incorporates two distinct application
environments to support both declarative and procedural applications:
Declarative Application Environment (DAE): Handles declarative applications.
Procedural Application Environment (PAE): Processes content with active objects,
leveraging a Java virtual machine.
In addition to DAE and PAE, DASE includes content decoders for both application types,
enabling decoding and presentation of common formats such as PNG and JPEG (DASE, 2003;
MC/MCT/FINEP/FUNTTEL, 2004).