Broadband Wireless Multimedia Networks

CHAPTER 5

ATSC DIGITAL TV AND IEEE 802.22 STANDARDS

Consumer desire for media content anywhere and anytime continues to tax cellular networks’ ability to deliver video via their one-to-one architecture. As a result, cellular operators are imposing data limits on services that have raised concerns among content providers and consumers. On the other hand, broadcasters’ one-to-many architecture has an edge in terms of delivering video to mass audiences with few constraints, an advantage that could serve the industry well in terms of meeting consumer expectations. The migration of analog to digital TV promises free yet high-quality broadcast TV transmission. In addition, mobile digital TV is gaining momentum with the ratification of the ATSC M/H standard in September 2009. Access to spectrum is critical to development of a wireless broadband platform. The ability for a carrier to share TV band spectrum with other providers makes the most sense in rural areas where underutilization is more often the case than in highly populated metropolitan areas. Small service providers would be able to lease spectrum from larger carriers. This chapter covers the ATSC digital TV standard and the emerging two-way 802.22 standard that utilizes the TV band white space for unlicensed operation.

5.1 DIGITAL TV FREQUENCY CHANNELS

The number of digital TV (DTV) channels in the United States is increasing steadily since the demise of the analog channels in June 2009. There were originally 68 digital channels, ...