Digawarenessrfs PORQUE DIGITAL

DIGITAL AWARENESS
99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

PH : 717-249-4900 FAX : 717-249-3630 John Scott, March 2007
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Contents
Section One
Why Digital? 3
The big issues! 4
The Conundrum! 5
Digital Television Basics 6
Standard Definition 6
Serial Digital Interface 8
About Widescreen 9
High Definition 11
Compression, MPEG 14
Modulation, COFDM 15
Radio Frequency Stages 18
RF Centrals unique position 19
Section Two
MPEG Compression 20
Summary 20
Background 21
How does MPEG work the process 22
Section Three
COFDM modulation 27
Summary 27
How does COFDM work 27
Forward Error-correction Coding (FEC) 28
DVD-T Coding 31
Section Four
Diversity Reception with COFDM 32
About Diversity Reception 33
Appendix One
Compression Modes 36
Appendix Two
Table of DVB-T non-hierarchical bit rates 37
Appendix Three
Glossary - General 38
- MPEG 39
- COFDM 41

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Section One
Why Digital?
The Advantages of Digital Transmission
Digital information can be transmitted without degradation and reconstructed at its

destination, within predictable limits. A digital signal can also be compressed, reducing
the information that has to be conveyed. In turn this reduces the bandwidth requirements
of transmission systems. The principle technical advantages of digital microwave links
are:
Error free and predictable under most conditions
The quality of the signal is entirely dependant on the encoding/decoding being
employed providing the transmission path is operating within limits.
Transmission is more 'Robust'
Because compression reduces the size of the signal.
Because digital transmissions have greater 'Threshold Margins'.
Increased protection ratios compared with analog signals because the
unwanted signal does not have the coherence of an analog signal and appears
like noise.
Better threshold margins
The lower order Digital modulations (e.g. QPSK) achieve better threshold
margins i.e. improved link budgets (longer range, and/or lower power, and/or
smaller antennas)
Uses less spectrum
Compression is key to reducing the size of the signal to be transmitted.
Digital modulation increases the achievable payload.
More efficient use of spectrum
Rectangular spectrum mask/ better adjacent channel rejection.
COFDM employs orthogonal coding which theoretically gives perfectly
rectangular shaping and infinite adjacent channel protection ratio.
(This is subject to the accuracy of the orthogonality and the linearity of the RF
amplifiers)
Makes adjacent channel operation practical and realistic.
Improved spectrum management.

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Digital Links - the BIG issues
The performance of a Digital Link is determined by the
coming together of three independent advanced
technologies:
Compression
Defines the bit rate
Defines the Quality
Introduces Artifacts
Introduces Delay
Modulation
Defines the Bandwidth
Defines the Ruggedness
Defines the Link Budget
RF
Importance of linear and harmonized RF & IF
amps; Up & Down Converters; PAs
Importance of Transmitter/Receiver performance
Importance of Antenna performance

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THE CONUNDRUM...
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Digital Television Basics
An introduction to some of the terms commonly used terms used in Digital
Broadcasting and Digital Transmission.
Binary numbers
In digits, binary numbers are used where numbers are represented to the numerical
base 2, i.e. 1 or 0. Each 1 & 0 is referred to as a bit.
Bits and Bytes

1 Byte (B) = 8 bits (b) or 256 discrete values
Telecoms & broadcasters talk about 'bits' (b) IT talk about 'Bytes' (B)
Pixel
A pixel, a shorted version of Picture Cell, or Picture Element.
It is one sample or the smallest piece of picture information.
SD or SDTV
Standard Definition Television (US, Japan etc) 525 lines / 60Hz
Standard Definition Television (Europe, etc.) 625 lines / 50Hz
SD (US ATSC) Digital Horizontal Resolution: 720 pixels x 480 active lines
HD or HDTV
High Definition Television: 1125 lines / 60 Hz (USA, Japan, etc.)
1125 lines / 50 Hz (Europe, etc.)
HD resolution: 1920 pixels x 1080 active lines
Composite Video
In Composite Video the luminance and chrominance elements or components of the
picture are combined and presented as a serial signal.
(e.g. NTSC, PAL, SECAM. - See also SDI).
Component Video & Standard Component Video

In Component Video the luminance and chrominance elements or components of the
picture are digitized and presented as a parallel signal.
Standard Component Video is the standard for Standard Definition Television.
The standard is known as ITU-R BT.601 or REC 601 or CCIR 601
The components are: Red, Green, Blue (RGB)
Represented as: Luminance signal, Y
Color difference signals:
(R-Y) or (u), (B-Y) or (v) when analog
Cr & Cb when digitized

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Standard component video is also referred to as: 4:2:2
The numbers relate to Luminance & the 2 Chrominance signals respectively.
The '4' is a random reference relating to Luminance resolution and corresponds to
13.5 MHz sampling and 720 pixels
The '2' is the proportion of the '4', and relates to the Chrominance resolution, and
to 6.75 MHz sampling and 360 pixels
(The color difference signals contain less information since the eye is better at
resolving luminance than chrominance.)
Coding levels. Both 8 bit or 10 bit are used (SD requires 10 bit)
8 bit coding provides 256 discrete coding levels
(level 16 for black, 235 for white, a total active of 219 levels
10 bit coding provides 1024 discrete coding levels
(level 64 for black, 940 for white, total of 876 levels
Other standards commonly used

4:2:0 One line is sampled 4:0:0 (i.e. luminance only), the next 4:2:2,
i.e. vertical chroma resolution is halved.
4:1:1 The color difference signals are sampled at 3.375 MHz and 180 pixels,
i.e. horizontal chroma resolution is halved.
3:1:1 Chroma as above, with luminance sampled at 10.125 MHz
i.e. luminance reduced by 25% & horizontal chroma resolution is halved
Sample (clock) frequency

Nyquist says clock must be significantly above 2 x max frequency
i.e. 2 x 5.5 MHz (max frequency for SD, 625/50) = 11 MHz
The sampling frequency has to produce a static pattern on both 525/60 & 625/50 and
therefore needs to be a whole multiple of both line lengths. The lowest common
frequency to provide static sampling on both standards calculates out to be 2.25MHz.
Multiples of 2.25 5 x 2.25 = 11.25 MHz (not sufficiently above 11.0 MHz)
6 x 2.25 = 13.5 MHz is the chosen sample frequency
For 4:2:2 Luminance (Y) sample frequency: 13.5 MHz
Chrominance (Cr & Cb) sample freq: 6.75 MHz

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Serial Digital Interface, SDI
Standard component video is a parallel signal and is not a convenient format for
transmission systems. Therefore before transmission the signal is converted into a
Serial Digital Interface signal, ITU-R BT.656 or REC 656;
The standard is: 4:2:2, 525 line, 60Hz, 10 bit coded uncompressed digital video
Transfer rate is: 270 Mbit/s
This comprises: 720 pixels x 480 active lines (Y signal)
2 x 360 pixels x 480 active lines (Cr & Cb signals)
30 frames/second
10 bit coding
This becomes 270 Mbit/s (full rate) with audio, data, and overheads
Embedded audio Four groups of four channels
For 8 bit coding: 216 Mbit/s (full rate)
Interlaced and Progressive scanning

Interlaced
Interlacing is the method of scanning used in television whereby each picture
comprises two interlaced fields. One field displays odd lines, and the next even lines.
TV formats have odd numbers of lines e.g. 525 so that the lines from one field lie
between the lines of the next.
Interlacing improves the portrayal of motion and reduces flicker, without increasing
picture rate, bandwidth, or data rate.
However there are disadvantages with interlacing:
1. The vertical resolution is reduced by about 30% to reduce the dither that can
occur between adjacent lines from alternate fields.
2. Fast movement can result in successive fields being slightly displaced causing
a sawtooth or blurring on vertical edges.
3. Interlacing complicates further processing e.g. in Digital Visual Effects (DVEs),
freeze frames.
Progressive
Progressive scanning simply scans all the lines in one vertical scan from top to bottom.
Progressive scanning is used in computer displays, most television flat panel displays,
and in some HD television systems. Film is effectively progressive scanning.
The disadvantage with Progressive scanning is that the frame rate is either 30Hz,
which results in judder on moving pictures, or 60Hz, which doubles the bit rate and
bandwidth. Progressive scanning at 30Hz is good for most drama but not good for
sport.
There is strong debate on the relative advantages of Interlaced and Progressive
scanning, and the choice of which should be adopted as a world standard for HD.

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About Widescreen
All HD television is shot in widescreen, and the last five years or so have seen
increasing amounts of SD television shot in widescreen, with widescreen television
sets becoming readily available.
The Widescreen television picture has a picture ratio, or aspect ratio, of 16

(horizontally) to 9 (vertically) and so is wider than traditional television where the
picture ratio was 12:9 or 4:3.
The wider picture appears more pleasing aesthetically, being closer to the way the
human eye views the world. The eye can more easily roam inside the picture frame to
find detail, and this enhances the sense of realism.
The cinema industry were the first to change to widescreen formats, moving from the
Academy Format (roughly 4:3, the same as television) and adopting wider picture
formats in the 1950s. First were super-wide' formats like CimemaScope (21:9)
followed by numerous others, before settling down to formats close to 16:9
The 16:9 widescreen format has now been adopted as the standard for television by
broadcasters throughout the world.
SD resolution 720 x 480 aspect ratio 4:3

HD 720 1280 x 720 16:9
HD 1080 1920 x1080 16:9
A widescreen picture first has to be produced in a widescreen camera, one in which

the CCD sensor is in the ratio 16:9. It is then conveyed to the viewer and displayed on
a 16:9 television. So far so good.
Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world, not all cameras are widescreen, and
neither are all television sets widescreen. For many years we face the prospect of
living with a mix of aspect ratios and all the problems this can bring. There may be
some enthusiasm for viewers to change their primary televisions at home in the short
to medium term, but secondary 4:3 sets, in the kitchen or kids room, are likely to be
around for some years to come.
Some 4:3 cameras i.e. cameras with 4:3 CCD sensors are capable of producing 16:9
images by underscanning the sensor. However this compromises quality as follows:
It reduces the vertical resolution.
The same number of pixels are spread across a wider screen, which effectively
reduces the horizontal resolution.
It reduces camera sensitivity.
What is the effect of: 16:9 pictures being displayed on 4:3 televisions?
4:3 pictures being displayed on 16:9 televisions?

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16:9 pictures displayed on 4:3 televisions
They simply dont fit and therefore involve one of a number of compromises:
The picture can be displayed letterboxed i.e. blank areas left to the top and
bottom of the picture. This reduces the vertical resolution to 350 lines (525/60),
the other active lines being taken up by the blank areas at the top and bottom of
the picture.
OR the picture is made to fill the screen by chopping off a portion, left and right.
(This can result in loss of captions, clock, scores, etc. although program makers
do adopt a shoot to protect practice, to minimize the problem.)
OR a compromise between the first two options by displaying the pictures in
14:9 i.e. partial letterbox and reducing the amount of picture chopped off.
OR by Pan Scanning, a reversioning process in which the most appropriate 4:3
image is manually selected in a shot-by-shot basis. This is very time
consuming, expensive, and is generally only used on feature films.
4:3 pictures displayed on 16:9 televisions?

Some picture origination will remain in 4:3 and then be required to be displayed on a
16:9 televisions.
Disadvantages:
The picture will not fill the screen, leaving blank columns left and right.
OR the picture will be made to fill the screen by chopping off top and bottom
(This could result in loss of captions, clock, scores, subtitles, etc.)
OR the picture can be stretched horizontally to fit the screen. Looks dreadful,
everyone and everything distorted and fat, and circles no longer circular.
(Commonly seen, even in Television outlets! Even the experts, who should
know better, get it wrong!)
A further complication with mixed aspect ratios is that both broadcaster and viewer
have some control over how the images are displayed, and this can conflict.
Is it any wonder we see it wrong so often!
What difference does widescreen make to the transmission chain?
None!
It does not make any difference what aspect ratio the pictures are in so far as
contribution or distribution is concerned (i.e. microwave links, radio cameras, etc.)
Standard definition television is 720 pixels x 480 lines whether it is 4:3 or 16:9. All that
matters is the resolution, which directly relates to the bandwidth or bit rate of the
signal.
NB Widescreen or not. - It makes no difference to circuits or any part of the

transmission chain, contribution, or distribution.

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High Definition
HD Television Standards
ITU-R BT.709 defines two standards: 1080 lines/60i Hz (USA, Japan, etc.)
1080 lines/50i Hz (Europe, etc.)
The overall resolution is 1920 pixels x 1080 lines (SD is 720 x 480)
There are an additional 45 lines added for data, subtitles, etc, making 1125 total
number lines.
The frame rate is either 25 or 30Hz, with interlaced fields of 50 or 60Hz
respectively. The i refers to interlaced scanning as opposed to p for
progressive
The sampling frequency for HD 4:2:2 is 5.5 times that for standard definition.
i.e. Y = 74.25 MHz (SD is 13.5); Cb/Cr = 37.125 (SD is 6.75).
HD-SDI to SMPTE-292M is 1.485 Gbit/s (SD-SDI is 270 Mbits)
(10bit, 4:2:2 component video/audio/ancillary data)
The Aspect Ratio for HD is: 16 x 9 Widescreen.
(SD was originally 4 x 3 and is now a mix of 4 x 3, 14 x 9, & 16 x 9)
There are, however, a number of other formats and standards which may be broadly
divided into three categories
1. Interlaced and Progressive.
2. Various different field and frame rates
3. 720 lines and 1080 lines
The horizontal resolution for 720 line HD is 1280 (16 x 9)
and for 1080 line HD is1920 (16 x 9)
Some of the standards currently available:

1920 x 1080 50i An ITU and SMTE specification
1920 x 1080 60i An ITU and SMTE specification
1920 x 1080 50p Not viable because it is double the bandwidth.
1920 x 1080 60p Not viable because it is double the bandwidth.
1280 x 720 50p A SMTE specification but not yet ratified by ITU
1280 x 720 60p An ITU and SMTE specification
Also
1920 x 1080 23.98p
1920 x 1080 24p
1920 x 1080 25p
1920 x 1080 29.97p
1920 x 1080 30p
1920 x 1080 59.9i
1280 x 720 23.98p
1280 x 720 24psF
1280 x 720 25p
1280 x 720 29.97p
1280 x 720 30p
1280 x 720 59.9i

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The many frame and field rates are to satisfy the US market (60Hz), the European
market (50Hz), the film market, and the film-look market (24 -25 Hz)
Some of the arguments:

60p & 50p Looks stunning in slow motion but requires double the bandwidth
60i & 50i Interlacing reduces the vertical resolution and causes softening on
moving images (effectively reducing horizontal resolution)
30p & 25p It gives a film-like detached look and judder on movement. It does give
full vertical and horizontal resolution even on moving images.
What does High Definition mean today?
The Wow factor! HD looks terrific - once seen never forgotten.

High Definition offers very much increased resolution and therefore gives so much
more clarity and realism to the pictures. The overall definition or picture resolution of
HD is more than five times that of SD. i.e. 1920 x 1080 compared with 720 x 576 for
SD.
HD is always portrayed in widescreen format with a horizontal to vertical ratio, or
aspect ratio, of 16 x 9; and with more than twice the number of pixels horizontally,
giving over twice the horizontal resolution, and slightly under twice the number of lines
or slightly less than twice the vertical resolution.
The horizontal resolution is increased by more than the vertical resolution to take
account of the wider screen, and to retain equitable resolution horizontally and
vertically, i.e. square pixels,
Other benefits brought by HD are that the increase in the number of lines, together
with the improvements in displays, means that the line structure normally associated
with television completely disappears.
HD is usually associated with better sound, 5.1 Dolby or similar.
Standard Definition (SD) is simply quoted in terms of the total number of lines and
the field rate i.e.: 525 line 60 Hz in USA
This corresponds to 720 pixels horizontally & 480 active lines, 525 lines in total.
Television has always been scanned at 60Hz (50Hz in Europe) with Interlaced Fields
and with an aspect ratio of 4 x 3.
In recent years some SD television has been distributed in widescreen (16 x 9) or
partial widescreen (14 x 9)
High Definition is quoted in terms of the horizontal resolution, the active number of
lines, the field rate, and if it is Interlaced or Progressive (i or p).
e.g.: 1920 x 1080 lines 60i Hz
In this case there are 1080 active lines, plus another 45 lines for data and additional
information (e.g. program information, subtitles, etc) making a total of 1125 lines.
With 720 line HD standards there are an additional 30 lines, making a total of 750
lines.
The aspect ratio for all HD is 16 x 9 widescreen.

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Defining HD
The Broadcasters have defined HD in terms of program acquisition and the medium
with which it is shot.
In broadcasters terms, the following qualifies as true HD

35mm/Super 35mm
HDCamSR, HDD5, HDCam, DVCProHD, Varicam
The following does not qualify as HD

16mm/Super16mm
Up-converted Digibeta (or any other up-converted SD)
720 line standards (other than Varicam!!)
Contribution and Distribution

The larger size of the HD signal places increased demands on Contribution and
Distribution. This increases the cost, with either an increased demand on spectrum, or
a reduction in the overall number of services available; neither option is very popular.
In recent years the concentration by Broadcasters has been on increasing choice, with
an increase in the number of channels available, and the introduction of interactive
services.
Broadcasters have been concentrating more on quantity than quality.
Introducing HD reverses this trend.
Latency
The problems of latency only increase with the very much larger size of the HD signal
and the increased demands made on compression.

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Compression
Compression systems input raw digital data, which in the case of standard definition
television is 270 Mbit, and reduces it down to a manageable size by removing redundant
and duplicated information (1.5 - 120 Mbit/s for MPEG).
Size - Does size matter? Yes, the smaller the signal the better
Myth Bit rate is equivalent to quality? No, it is all to do with process
Compression as used by RF Central
MPEG 2
MPEG 2 was primarily designed to provide the most efficient transport for the
terrestrial distribution of digital television to the home. Most non-MPEG
compression is based on Intraframe, and struggles to achieve reasonable quality
at bit rates of much less that 20 Mbit/s. MPEG however is much more efficient, it is
one of the most efficient of the coding systems in terms of quality-to-bit rate ratio,
and achieves bit rates in single figures.
The benefits of MPEG 2 compression
Highly efficient in terms of quality-to-bit rate ratio
Scalable 1.5 - 120 Mbit/s, with many 'Level' and 'Profile' options
Level relates to the source format
Profile relates to coding process or complexity
There are two features of MPEG that are of particular interest to RF Central.
Most Robust RF
MPEG is capable of excellent results at bit rates as low as 6 Mbit/s, i.e. with a
compression ratio of approximately 50:1 or only 2% of the original remaining!
6 Mbit/s enables the use of the particularly robust QPSK modulation. This,
together with the benefit of rate Forward Error Correction, can operate within a
single COFDM ensemble, and therefore a standard 8 MHz RF channel.
The result is high quality, extremely robust RF transmission, with delay options of
between as low as one frame (33 ms). This is ideal for radio cameras and mobile
links in difficult and harsh environments.
Best Quality
MPEG in the range 18-24 Mbit/s gives top end quality and, by using 64QAM, can
operate within a single COFDM ensemble and occupy a standard 8 MHz RF
channel. This is ideal for point-to-point links where link budgets are under control,
and where the inherent delay of up to 6 frames (200 ms) can be tolerated.
See Appendix One for typical MPEG 2 compression modes
For more detailed information on MPEG 2 See Section Two

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Modulation
Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM)
COFDM modulation has been chosen for our Digital Links and is based on the
European Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) specification.
This has been chosen due to its resilience to multipath, in fact multipath can even
enhance the overall performance of the received signal. It is these properties of
COFDM that makes it particularly suitable for applications like wireless cameras and
mobile vision links.
COFDM spreads the digital information over a large number of carriers, 2000
or 8000.
C stands for Coding, and COFDM uses complex Forward Error Correction
Coding to improve ruggedness
O stands for Orthogonal and relates to the relationship between the carriers,
enabling them to be separated out and demodulated perfectly in the receiver.
FDM stands for Frequency Division Multiplex, used in COFDM
The terrestrial digital standard is referred to as: DVB-T
There are similar standards for satellite distribution: DVB-S
and for cable distribution: DVB-C
There is a new standard for handheld devices DVB-H
DVB-T COFDM is available in 2000(2k) and 8000(8k) carrier versions
Delay, with Frequency Interleaving as used in DVB-T 4-5 ms
Scaleable options, Variable payload (See Appendix Two)
Maximum payload (64 QAM, 7/8 FEC, 1/32 guard) 31.67 Mbit/s
Output Bandwidth 7.61 MHz
Channel spacing, normally 8 MHz
Channel spacing also available 7 & 6 MHz
See Section Three for more detailed information on COFDM
Types of modulation
Modulation Bandwidth ratio (bits/Hz) C/N for threshold
Analog FM 0.5 (Hz/Hz) -70

PSK 0.833 -92
QPSK 1.66 -92
16 QAM 3.33 -86
64 QAM 5.00 -80
256 QAM 6.66 -74
The improved threshold of QPSK over analogue is: 22dB
This is equivalent to increasing the transmitter power by: 160x
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Forward Error Correction (FEC)
Forward Error Correction Coding is a process which improves ruggedness at the
expense of bit rate or pay load of the transmission system.
It is normally quoted in the form: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8.
So for example:
Net payload: 6Mbit/s @ 3/4 FEC, requires a gross payload capacity of 9Mbit/s
6Mbit/s @ 1/2 FEC, requires a gross payload capacity of 12Mbit/s
Link Budget Calculation

Received signal = Tx power + Antenna Gains' Path Loss (all in dBs)
FD 75
P = 20 log or D = 10P/20 x
75 F
Where: P is Path Loss in dBs

F is the Frequency in MHz
D is the Path Length or Distance in meters
Double the power +3dB
Double size/elements of antenna +3dB
Double diameter of dish antenna +6dB
Double the distance -6dB
Double the frequency -6dB
Example 1:
A Radio Camera,
2.5GHz, 6 Mbit/s MPEG, QPSK1/2 FEC, omni to omni over one mile
100 mW Transmitter output power +20dBm

Tx omni 3dB +3
Rx omni 3dB +3
Clear path attenuation 1 mile @ 2.5GHz -104
Received signal -78
Threshold -92
Therefore threshold margin +14dB

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Example 2:
A Radio Link
2.5GHz, 6 Mbit/s MPEG, QPSK1/2 FEC, 20dB Antennas over 25 miles
10W Transmitter output power +40dBm

Tx 20dB helix +20
Rx antenna, say +20
Clear path attenuation 25 miles @ 2.5GHz -132
Received signal -52
Threshold -92
Therefore threshold margin +40dB!!!!

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Radio Frequency stages
RF Central is reaping the benefits of years of digital development work and attention to
detail, and nowhere is this more apparent than in all the RF stages, with all new, state of
the art digital products.
RF & IF amps; Up & Down Converters

These MUST be linear to convey digital signals without degradation, and particularly
when operating with the higher order modulations like 64 QAM. RF Central has
developed a completely new range of amplifiers and converters, all designed to work
harmoniously together and to match in the most efficient way.
Power Amplifiers
Likewise, power amplifiers MUST be linear and RF Central amplifiers have a range of
high performance linear power amplifiers capable of operating with QPSK, 16 QAM,
and 64 QAM.
Antennas
Antennas do not have to be redesigned to convey digital signals, although the antenna
requirements for the efficient transmission of digital signals are quite different from
those for analog transmission. It is therefore vital that antennas are designed to ensure
the maximum transfer of energy, individually optimized to the requirements of specific
digital transmission applications.
Transmitters
Link budgets in the digital domain are considerably better than the equivalent analog
link (typically +20dB) and so transmitter power can be significantly reduced. This is a
particular benefit for radio cameras by reducing battery consumption, reduced heat
dissipation, and greatly improved safety margins.
Receivers
RF Central LNAs have extremely low noise factor, AND RF Central receivers achieve
theoretical performance. Digital channel filtering gives outstanding rejection to random
and adjacent channel interference. Overall Receiver performance and AGC dynamic
range are the best in the market.

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RF Central's unique position
RF Central has an extensive range of high performance RF amplifiers, Up/Down
converters, PAs, to integrate into their digital products.
RF Central: The cleaner option

RF Central transmitters achieve 40dB shoulders and can operate on adjacent
channels.
RF Central: The high performance option

Receivers achieve theoretical performance (i.e. -92dB threshold @ QPSK) and
therefore avoid the need for diversity under most conditions.
RF Central: The most efficient option

Efficient transfer of power achieved by state of the art antenna design, and low power
output, means reduced battery consumption and longer duration, reduced weight, and
reduced heat dissipation.
RF Central: The most flexible option

RF Central design is based on unique modular construction, which enables equipment
to be tailored to need. It also gives very valuable and easily implemented upgrade
routes as technology advances.
With RF Central you have ALL the options

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Section Two
MPEG compression
Summary
Compression systems input raw digital data, which in the case of standard definition
television is 270 Mbit, and reduces it down to a manageable size by removing
redundant and duplicated information (1.5 - 120 Mbit/s for MPEG).
MPEG is one of the most efficient of the coding systems in terms of quality-to-bit rate
ratio because it incorporates both spatial and temporal compression.
Psycho visual redundancy

MPEG exploits the limitations of the human eye to resolve detail within a picture
(spatial resolution), and to track moving objects (temporal resolution).
MPEG is highly asymmetrical
MPEG was primarily designed to provide point to multipoint distribution, and therefore
the majority of the decision-making and processing occurs in the encoder. The
encoder then passes on all the necessary information to the decoder to enable it to
perform its task and reconstruct the signal data stream.
It is interesting to note that MPEG standards specify the decoding process and not the
encoding process.
Spatial redundancy
Redundant information exists within each picture, and therefore values for adjacent
pixels can be the same or relate to each other. Rather than present each pixel as a
discrete value, MPEG, like other compression systems, employs techniques to
reproduce the information in a more efficient way.
Temporal redundancy
Likewise, redundant information exists across frames, with the similar information
repeated, or moved to a new position on successive frames. MPEG, unlike other
compression systems, tackles both static repetition and motion redundancy and
reproduces the information in a more efficient way.
It is because MPEG exploits both spatial and temporal redundancy, that it achieves
such high levels of compression.
Levels and Profiles
MPEG defines the input resolution as a Level, and does not reduce this further. Sharp
filtering to limit resolution to design values, and the introduction of noise reduction
before encoding, reduces the amount of processing necessary, and improves overall
efficiency.
The full MPEG coding process is extremely complex, and a number of options or
Profiles are available.

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Background
MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) an international working group started work in
1988 defining standards for the digital compression of video and audio. It followed on
from JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) which designed standards for still
images.
MPEG 1
This was the first MPEG to be implemented (1993) and was targeted at the consumer
market.
Properties:
o 1.5 Mbit/s (1.15 Mbit/s for picture only)
o Fixed bit rate
o Progressive scanning
o VHS quality
o Resolution 360 pixels x 260 lines, 30 Hz (1/4 SD Television)
o DCT + motion compensation with I, P, & B frames
o Stereo audio at 192 Kbits
o Applications: CD-ROM, Interactive CD (CDi), computers.
MPEG 2
MPEG 2 was implemented in 1995, primarily to provide the most efficient transport for
the terrestrial distribution of digital television to the home, although it has moved on
and now supports a wide range of standards from VHS Quality to High Definition.
MPEG incorporates highly sophisticated motion compensation, and as such is the
most efficient of the coding systems in terms of quality-to-bit rate ratio.
Extended Range
Primarily designed for television distribution (4 8 Mbit/s).
Now covers VHS quality to full HD television (1.5 120 Mbit/s).
Properties:
o Backward compatible with MPEG 1
o 1.5 - 120 Mbit/s
o Variable bit rate
o Interlaced scanning
o Quality scalable
o Covers Consumer/Distribution/Contribution/Studio/HD standards
o DCT + motion compensation with I, P, & B frames
o Audio: 2 channel + Dolby surround sound
(fixed & variable rate coding up to 1Mbit/s)

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How does MPEG work the process
Psycho visual redundancy
The human eye has limited spatial and temporal resolution and therefore savings
can be made by removing unnecessary information.
Spatial limitations occur in:
Fine detail
Detail near object edges
Noise at higher frequencies
Chroma noise
Temporal limitations occur in:
Detail during movement
Detail at shot changes
Spatial Redundancy
Redundant information exists within each picture
MPEG uses a process called Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) to assess how pixels
relate to reach other, and represent the change as a coefficient.
DCT operates on blocks of the picture, 8 pixels x 8 lines.
The distribution is non-uniform for blocks from naturally occurring pictures and therefore
spatial redundancy exists.
DCT uses 2D orthogonal transform to produce coefficients which represent the horizontal
& vertical spatial frequencies of the original picture block.
The DC coefficient corresponds to the average brightness of the block, and zero
horizontal and vertical frequencies.
The transform concentrates signal energy into relatively fewer coefficients, with a
concentration of lower frequency coefficients, and many of the coefficients at near-zero.
DCT does not itself reduce the number of bits required to reproduce a block, in fact it
increases, but it does produce a distribution of coefficient values with similar values
and hence enables the application of the following processes to be applied more
efficiently.
Quantization
Quantization is a process which reduces the number of levels that need to be
transmitted.
The numerical accuracy of the coefficients can be reduced while at the same time
preserving picture quality.
Small deviations around zero can be absorbed; in practice some are caused by noise and
suppressing them can give subjective improvements.
Complex weighting matrices are applied to limit the number of levels that need to be
defined e.g. High frequencies can be more coarsely quantized because the eye is less
sensitive to noise at higher frequencies.
The quantization process introduces noise which cannot be removed by the decoder.

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Run length coding
Run length coding exploits the fact that many of the coefficients are the
same value or zero.
Identifies a pixel, and then sends a number representing the number of pixels with
the same value.
Entropy coding
Entropy coding recognizes some code values occur more frequently than
others.
Those values occurring more frequently are allocated short codes, the rarer ones,
and allocated longer codes.
Variable length coding

Variable length coding exploits the fact that short runs of zeros are more
likely then long ones.
That small coefficients are more likely than large ones.
DCT coefficients are differentially coded before being VLC coded.
VLC allocates codes according to entropy coding principles.
More than one set of codes is applied to take account of special pictures.
Buffering and feedback

Buffering is introduced to smooth out variations and produce a constant bit
rate, necessary for fixed rate transmission systems.
The output of an MPEG coder can be freely varied, with the output bit rate
determining final picture quality.
Buffer overflow or underflow is monitored and feedback applied to the coding
process.
DCT quantization is made coarser or finer as a means of controlling the buffer
occupancy.

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Temporal Redundancy
MPEG achieves high levels of compression by exploiting temporal redundancy
techniques at two levels:
i) Simple temporal redundancy - where similar information is repeated across
frames in a similar position.
ii) Temporal redundancy based on motion estimation where similar
information is repeated across frames but has moved to a different position. The
process uses Macro blocks & Motion Vectors.
i) Inter-frame prediction based on simple temporal redundancy

Pictures often change little from one to the next and a reduction can be
achieved by comparing successive frames and then only sending
information based on the differences between them.
The encoder cannot relate Inter-frame predictions to source information because
this is not available to the encoder. Instead the encoder incorporates a decoder
and uses this as the comparator.
The prediction information is then encoded using DCT and VLC techniques
already described.
ii) Inter-frame prediction based on motion estimation & compensation

More sophisticated prediction recognizes that the position of blocks of
information may be shifted in space from one frame to the next.
Motion compensation then goes through a block-matching exercise, searching for
a near match within a defined search area.
The larger the search area the greater the range of movement that can be
accommodated, but increasing the search area vastly increases the processing
power necessary.
The new position of blocks is then represented as a Motion Vector, with relation to
the previous position on the frame.
The choice of search area size and algorithm is not specified, and is left to the
encoder designer
To minimize the bit rate needed to transmit Motion Vectors, they are differentially
coded with respect to previous Motion Vectors, and then Variable Length Coded.
Macro blocks
Macro blocks are a group of picture blocks, usually four, or 16 x 16 pixels
overall. These are then used to access movement of picture information
between frames.
A search is then made to determine if a similar block exists between one frame
and the next, within a prescribed search area.
The movement of a Macro block to a new position is then represented as a Motion
Vector.

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Motion vectors
Motion vectors describe the distance and direction of the movement of
Macro blocks from one picture to the next.
The process of accessing Motion Vectors consumes large amounts of computer
power, and the accuracy of the coding process is a key factor in the efficiency and
quality of the MPEG system.
Intra-frames and Inter-frames

MPEG produces three kinds of frames, Intra-frames and two different types of Inter-
frames.
Intra- frames or I-frames
I-frames are compressed frames which contain all the information
necessary to construct a whole picture.
They are used periodically to provide access points where decoding can begin.
Inter-frames. There are two kinds of Inter-frames, Predictive frames or P-frames,
and Bi-directional predictive frames or B- frames.
P-frames which carry only predictive information based on the difference between
the present frame and the previous one. They contain less data than I-Frames,
and cannot produce a whole picture without an I-frame.
B-frames which are generated by looking at the difference between the previous
frame and the next frame in the picture sequence. They are very efficient, offering
the highest degree of compression, but the process introduces considerable delay
(3 frames minimum). As with P-frames, they do contain less data than I-Frames,
Group of Pictures, (GOP)

The group of frames over which MPEG makes its assessment is referred to as a
GOP, and is typically 12 frames.
In this case: m = 3 (number of frames between I or P frames)
n = 12 (same as GOP)
I-frames, B-frames, and P-frames are arranged in a sequence to produce a GOP. A

typical 12-frame sequence would be as follows:
A GOP always commences with a refresher I-Frame, except for transmission where it
is played out ahead of the last two B-frames:

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Levels and Profiles
MPEG compression is defined in Profiles and Levels:
Profile relates to coding process or complexity, with MPEG there are six Profile options:
Simple 4:2:0 The simplest coding
Main 4:2:0 The Distribution standard
422 4:2:2 The Studio standard
SNR 4:2:0 Scalable Signal to Noise, by using additional layers
Spatial 4:2:0 Scalable Spatially, by using additional layers
High 4:2:0 & 4:2:2 Higher quality
Level relates to the source format, with MPEG there are four options, from VHS
quality, to full HDTV as follows:
Low 352 x 240 VHS quality (variable & fixed rate)
Main 720 x 480 SDTV
High-1440 1440 x 1152
High 1920 x 1152 HDTV
Blocking and Blockiness

This artifact can be caused by transmission problems, coding/decoding errors,
and results in blocks becoming visible.
These can be either 8 x 8 DCT blocks, or 16 x 16 macro blocks.
MPEG Audio
MPEG offers a comprehensive range of audio options:
MPEG 2 supports multichannel audio and Dolby surround sound (5.1).
Fixed & variable rate coding up to 1066 Kbits.
Layer I Up to 448 Kbits.
Layer II Up to 384 Kbits.
Layer III Up to 320 Kbits.
Backward compatible with MPEG 1.

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Section Three
COFDM modulation
Summary
Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) has been chosen
because of its tolerance to multipath. In fact, multipath enhances the overall
performance of the received signal. It is these properties that make COFDM ideal for
wireless cameras and mobile vision links.
COFDM spreads the digital information over a large number of carriers, 2000
or 8000.
C stands for Coding, and COFDM uses complex Forward Error Correction
Coding to improve ruggedness
O stands for Orthogonal and relates to the relationship between the carriers,
enabling them to be separated out and demodulated perfectly in the receiver.
FDM stands for Frequency Division Multiplex, used in COFDM
How does COFDM work?

Multiple Carriers
COFDM spreads the digital information over many narrow band carriers using
Frequency Division Multiplex & does not rely on the vulnerability of a single carrier.
DVB-T uses either 1,705 or 6,817 carriers (referred to as 2k & 8k respectively)
The bandwidth and the data rate on each of these carriers is reduced and therefore
the RF robustness is increased.
Digital TV broadcasting, use either the 2k or 8k modes. The 2k mode is currently
used in the UK, but the 8k mode is preferred in countries operating single-frequency
networks or where long-delay echoes are expected (see Guard Interval below).
Microwave Links and Radio Cameras, use the 2k mode as the norm. This is to
reduce the impact of differential Doppler shift and to be able to operate at higher
frequencies.
Orthogonal Carriers
The carriers are accurately spaced and orthogonal, which means they can be
generated and recovered without carrier specific filtering.
Indeed even though the spectra of adjacent carriers significantly overlap, each
carrier can be demodulated without any crosstalk from its neighbor.
The extremely complex process of modulating and demodulating thousands of carriers
is possible by using Fast Fourier Transform (FTT), for which algorithms exist. This
means inexpensive, large volume, modulators and demodulators using modern
integrated circuits can be achieved.

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Symbols
The active symbol period is the smallest sample of digital information accessed
by the receiver at any one time.
Each symbol has a duration of 224us (2k) or 896us (8k).
These modulation symbols are arranged to occur simultaneously on each carrier. The
number of bits carried in each symbol depends on the choice of modulation i.e.:
QPSK has 2 bits/symbol
16 QAM has 4 bits/symbol
64 QAM has 6 bits/symbol
Guard intervals
A guard interval is added to the beginning of each symbol to allow time for
echoes to settle before commencing the active symbol period.
For DVB-T guard intervals range from 1/32 to 1/4
It represents the ratio between the guard interval & the active symbol period.
It reduces the overall data capacity by the same proportion. Guard intervals will
prevent the receiver from being affected by interference, provided the duration of the
echoes does not exceed the guard band duration.
In 2k mode guard interval duration ranges from 7 to 56us
In 8k mode guard interval duration ranges from 28 to 224us
Hence the reason for the 8k mode becomes apparent, i.e. to allow a longer guard
interval, thus accommodating echoes up to four times longer than possible when using
2k mode.
Pilot Carriers
Within the COFDM carriers a number of pilot carriers are added. These contain known
symbol and timing information from which comprehensive channel equalization and
synchronization can be performed.
Forward Error-correction Coding (FEC)
The purpose of FEC is to improve the bit error rate (BER)
It increases the threshold of the receiver, and therefore improves recovery of the
data stream by the demodulator.
It is sometimes quoted in terms of the transmitter power increase in dBs,
necessary to achieve the same BER.
The way it works is to add some carefully designed redundant channel coding
information at the transmitter, which will provide the receiver with additional information
and redundancy to assist in the decision-making process. The greater the additional
information added the greater the resilience of the system.
FEC is represented as a fraction e.g. , where one bit of FEC information would be
added for each one bit of signal, giving a total of 2 bits of final gross output, in other
words, in this case the amount of error correction added reduces the overall system
capacity by 50%.
In its simplest form, and taking this example, the encoder would send each
symbol twice so that the decoder had two chances of recovering the
information.
In practice coding systems are not this straightforward and employ complex
mathematical computations to correct for errors.

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Convolutional Coding
In COFDM the data undergoes two separate FEC coding processes.
First an Inner Convolutional Coding is added.
This multiplies the signal with a pseudorandom sequence running faster than the
data, hence adding bits to the data stream for error protection.
Viterbi decoding
In the receiver the Inner coded signal then goes through process of Viterbi
decoding in which the receiver recognizes the pseudorandom sequence added
by the convolutional encoder.
The Viterbi decoder has the ability to recognize the distinctive pattern imposed on the
data by the sequence even in the presence of errors. In essence, the Viterbi decoder
passes the data through a buffer configured with templates shaped by the
pseudorandom sequence and attempts to find the best match between the incoming
data, with possible errors, and its templates. The Viterbi decoder outputs a decision
based on the best match found.
Hard decision decoding
The input to the Viterbi decoder has to decipher either 1 or 0.
It has to decide which side of a slicing level each demodulated data bit falls. However,
it does not take into account the effect any interference or noise will have on the signal
amplitude at the instance of decision-making. The Viterbi decoding process then just
finds the best match to the incoming data stream.
Soft decision decoding
Soft decision coding adds an analysis for the confidence of the template
matching process in the Viterbi decoder.
The soft decision Viterbi takes a measure of the confidence based on the history of a
large number of transmitted sequences thus building up the likelihood of selecting a 0
or a 1 value.
Read-Solomon coding and decoding

The BER following the Viterbi soft decision decoding is still too high and
therefore DVB-T includes a second stage or outer layer of error correction
using Reed Solomon.
Reed Solomon is a block coding structure, which sends blocks of bytes at a time,
adding extra bytes to the end of the block for error correction. The Reed Solomon
uses hard decisions but is able to reduce the BER substantially.

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Channel State Information (CSI)
Allows a level of confidence to be given to each of the multiple COFDM carriers.
Each carrier is assessed in many ways, for instance each of the carriers will have
different S/N ratios, e.g. a carrier which occurs in a notch in the frequency response
will comprise mostly of noise. It follows that carriers with a low S/N will have a low level
of confidence; conversely carriers with a high S/N will have high level of confidence.
Consider an extreme case of a 0dB (or a 100%) echo which knocks out 1 in 4 of the
carriers. It follows that the two adjacent carriers will be unaffected and the fourth
carrier will be boosted. From this it can be seen that the information from the nulled
carrier is unreliable and should be ignored, but that the information from the fourth
carrier is enhanced, will have improved SNR, and hence improved BER. Therefore by
careful use of FEC in choosing only the information on the three good carriers, the
performance is enhanced.
Many such factors are taken into consideration in order to assess the degradation and
the confidence of carriers over a period of time, and is then applied to each individual
carrier. This produces what is known as CSI.
Frequency Interleaving
If an echo is received with a rather shorter duration than the example above,
then it would put notches in the channel frequency response, and a number of
adjacent carriers will be affected. This would be a problem if the data was carried
sequentially on adjacent channels, however if the carrier data is spread out or
interleaved then FEC may well be able to recover the data.
Frequency Interleaving is used on both DVB-T and DAB.
Time Interleaving
As the echoes get longer i.e. in circumstances such as flat fades, Doppler shifts
or short term complete loss of signal, then most, or all, the carriers will be
affected for a period.
However if sequential data is spread over a number of carriers with respect to
time, then FEC may well be able to recover the data.
The longer buffers required to capture time interleaved information causes delay.
Time interleaving is not used in DVB-T, as it is primarily designed for distribution to
the home, with poor or set top receiving aerials and obstructed paths.
DAB does use time interleaving to improve mobile operations, car reception, etc;
and has a delay approaching one second.

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DVB-T Coding
In the DVB-T system:
First Reed-Solomon parity bit blocks are added, together with carrier frequency
interleaving. This is then this is followed by Convolutional coding.
In the receiver the signal goes through soft decision Viterbi decoding, and then
Reed-Solomon for parity checking.
(Turbo coding, a relatively recent innovation (1991), is a parallel-concatenated
convolutional coding technique, and claims some success, but is not used in DVB-T)
Overall DVB-T COFDM Parameters

Delay, with Frequency Interleaving (as DVB-T) 4-5 ms
Scaleable options, Variable Payload (See Appendix Two)
Maximum payload (64 QAM, 7/8 FEC, 1/32 guard) 31.67 Mbit/s
Selectable modulation options
Selectable FEC
Selectable guard bands
Output Bandwidth 7.61MHz
Channel spacing 8 MHz
(Options for 6 & 7 MHz by scaling clock; capacity reduced proportionally)

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Section Four
Diversity Reception with COFDM
Summary
Diversity Reception with COFDM
Diversity Reception is not new but Diversity Reception exploiting some of the unique
properties of COFDM offers very real and exciting opportunities.
Until now, Diversity Reception techniques selected from the two or more antennas or
receivers with the assumption that at least one of them would provide a clear
transmission path at any one time, and therefore a satisfactory output. In this case the
overall performance could never be better than the individual performance of each
antenna/receiver combination.
The COFDM process assesses the confidence of individual carries and produces
Channel State Information (CSI). Using this information the carriers are then combined in
a process known as Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) to produce a single input at the
soft decision Viterbi decoder. This process accepts those carriers which enhance the
overall COFDM signal and rejects those that detract. Using this technique, the overall
received signal can be better than any individual antenna/receiver combination. In fact
Diversity Reception with COFDM can produce a perfectly satisfactory output when this is
not possible from any of the individual antennas.
Benefits
Diversity Reception offers coverage from different zones of activity with seamless
change over.
Diversity Reception can improve the effective receiver performance by 6dB or
more! This equates to any one of the following:-
Improved ruggedness for any COFDM mode
Improved capacity, for the same ruggedness by increasing the mode of
modulation (e.g. 16QAM to 64QAM)
Up to twice the range
Reduced transmitter power by up to 75%
Diversity Reception reduces the effect of Doppler and therefore increases the
maximum usable speed.

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About Diversity Reception
Diversity reception is used to improve a transmission path by combining the outputs of
two or more antennas.
This can be done in a number of ways as follows:
1. Simple antenna Diversity
2. Carrier or receiver diversity
3. Packet Selection - Selection of the MPEG-TS packets
4. Maximum Ratio Combining in conjunction with COFDM
1 Simple antenna Diversity

Antenna diversity is a simple principle whereby two or more antennas are
positioned so that at any one time, at least one of them is able to provide a clear
transmission path. The outputs are then combined to produce continuous clear
transmission.
2 Carrier or Receiver Diversity

This is similar to above except the outputs of the antennas are first routed through
individual receivers. Then either the carriers or the receiver outputs are selected
on the basis of received signal level or AGC.
Receiver diversity has been used over the years and is well suited to line of sight
fixed links over water paths, for instance, to ensure that reflections do not cause
cancellation. The antennas are positioned so that cancellation on one occurs at a
different time from the other, and therefore continuous clear transmission can be
achieved.
Carrier or receiver diversity is not suited to non line of sight, mobile operations,
and radio cameras, where there are large and rapid changes in received signal
strength.
3 Packet Selection - Selection of the MPEG-TS packets

With packet selection the outputs from each antenna are demodulated to produce
separate MPEG transport streams. The MPEG packets are then assessed in the
error correction process and the best ones selected and passed on to the MPEG
decoder.
Packet selection produces good results, the switching is fast, and it can cope with
large and rapid variations, and is so much better for mobile operations than a
single RF channel or antenna/carrier/receiver Diversity.
4 Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) in conjunction with COFDM

COFDM as used for DVB-T
COFDM has been developed and used for DVB-T because of its unique properties
to operate in a multipath environment. Not only is it unaffected by receiving
reflected and multipath signals, the additional information contained in multipath
can be utilized, and multipath conditions can actually improve the S/N, and
enhance the overall performance of the received signal.

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Mobile Operations and Flat Fading
There is no doubt COFDM offers huge advantages over single carrier or analog
transmissions, even for mobile and Radio Camera operations, but the fading that
occurs when the transmitter, the receiver or both are moving, is different. The time
difference between the signals arriving at the antenna is smaller, and flat fading
occurs. This effects a significant proportion of the transmission bandwidth, and can
take out a complete blocks of carriers.
Time interleaving could help to improve flat fading but unfortunately time
interleaving causes intolerable delay.
Using Diversity with Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC).

If we consider a flat fade occurring at a particular antenna position, then if that
antenna is moved even a short distance away, the likelihood is that it will be free
from flat fading. This is the principle of Diversity with MRC.
COFDM has the ability to merge reflected and multipath signals and by using
channel equalization and CSI. This provides a level of confidence to be given to
individual carriers.
The output from each antenna is demodulated and all the carriers go through a
channel equalization process by using the pilot carriers and CSI information. This
gives a measure of the credibility and confidence of each of the carriers. From this
the carriers are combined in a process of Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC). Each
carrier is individually reconstructed with any the useful information from any of the
contributing carriers.
The trace shows how Antenna 1 and Antenna 2 have large nulls, whereas the sum
of the information using MRC results in a much better and more consistent signal.
The MRC signal is then passed on to the Viterbi and Read-Solomon error
decoders, before being demodulated.

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The Properties of Maximum Ration Combining (MRC) with COFDM Diversity.
Of the four types of diversity described, MRC with COFDM diversity is the most
complex and also the most effective. This is because all the useful information
from any of the antennas is utilized, and the output is better than any of the
individual antennas could achieve, furthermore it is possible to achieve a
satisfactory transmission when no output is possible from any of the contributing
antennas.
Mobile operations cause Doppler shifts which effect the orthoganality of COFDM
carriers and limits the maximum speed COFDM can be used. MRC with COFDM
reduces the effect of Doppler, and increases this speed.
Practical Mobile tests have shown that MRC with COFDM diversity gives very
effective improvements, equivalent to 6dB or more.
Also it is possible to first use MRC with COFDM diversity, and then to combine two
such outputs using Packet Selection.

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Appendix One
Example of MPEG Compression Modes
Modulation FEC Bit rate Profile Delay Comments

(Mbit/s) (frames)
64 QAM 18 422P@ML 6 Best Quality
64 QAM 18 SP@ML 1 Min Delay
16 QAM 12 MP@ML 6
16 QAM 12 SP@ML 1 Min Delay
QPSK 9 422P@ML 6
QPSK 9 SP@ML 1 Min Delay
QPSK 6 MP@ML 6 Most Robust
QPSK 6 SP@ML 1

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Appendix Two
Table of DVB-T non-hierarchical bit rates
Modulation Code rate Bit rate (Mbit/s)

FEC at each guard interval (symbol fraction)
QPSK 1/32 1/16 1/8 1/4
1/2 6.03 5.85 5.53 4.98
2/3 8.04 7.81 7.37 6.64
3/4 9.05 8.78 8.29 7.46
5/6 10.1 9.76 9.22 8.29
7/8 10.6 10.2 9.68 8.71
16-QAM 1/32 1/16 1/8 1/4

1/2 12.1 11.7 11.1 9.95
2/3 16.1 15.6 14.7 13.3
3/4 18.1 17.6 16.6 14.9
5/6 20.1 19.5 18.4 16.6
7/8 21.1 20.5 19.4 17.4
64-QAM 1/32 1/16 1/8 1/4

1/2 18.1 17.6 16.6 14.9
2/3 24.1 23.4 22.1 19.9
3/4 27.1 26.3 24.9 22.4
5/6 30.2 29.3 27.6 24.9
7/8 31.7 30.7 29.0 26.1
7MHz and 6MHz bandwidths also available. In which case above bit rates are reduced pro-rata.

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Appendix Three
Glossary
General Glossary
AC-3 Dolby AC-3 audio coding

ADC or A/D converter An Analog to Digital converter
AGC Automatic Gain Control
BER Bit Error Rate (BER) The ratio of bits lost, to total bits
Codec A coder/ decoder combination
Concatenation Concatenation is the name given to the linking of digital
systems and compressions in tandem.
DAC or D/A converter A Digital to Analog converter
Delay Delay is measured in frames or time.
One frame is 40 ms (for 50Hz field rate)
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IRD Integrated Receiver Decoder
ISO International Organization for Standardization
Modem A Modulator/ demodulator combination
MJD Modified Julian Date
UTC Universal Time, Co-ordinated
VBI Vertical Blanking Interval
VPS Video Program System
WSS Wide Screen Signaling

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MPEG Glossary
ASI Asynchronous Serial Interface
BAT Bouquet Association Table
BCD Binary Coded Decimal
bslbf bit string, left bit first
Blocking and Blockiness: An artifact caused by transmission problems,
coding/decoding errors, and results in visible blocks.
These can be DCT blocks, or macro blocks.
CA Conditional Access
CAT Conditional Access Table
CBR: Constant Bit Rate
CLUT Color Look-Up Table
CRU Cyclic Redundancy Table
DCT Blocks: The 8 x 8 pixel blocks used for DCT assessment.
Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT): This is the process that assess how pixels relate
to reach other and represents changes as a
coefficient.
DIT Discontinuity Table
Entropy coding: Recognizes some values occur more frequently than
others & allocates them a short code, the rarer ones
are allocated long codes.
EIT Event Information Table
EMM Entitlement Management Message
ES Elementary Stream
Group of Pictures, (GOP): The group of frames which MPEG makes its
assessment is referred to as a GOP
Inter-frames: There are two kinds of Inter-frames:
P-frames which carry only predictive information based on the difference between
the present frame and the previous one. They contain less data than I-Frames,
B-frames which are generated by looking at the difference between the previous
frame and the next frame in the picture sequence. As with P-frames, they do
contain less data than I-Frames, and cannot produce a whole picture without an I-
frame.
Intra- frames or I-frames: These are compressed frames which contain all the
information necessary to construct a whole picture. They are used
periodically to provide access points where decoding can begin.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group
Levels: This defines the input resolution.
LSB Least Significant Bit
Macro blocks: Group of DCT blocks, usually four, or 16 x 16 pixels
Used to access movement between frames.

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Motion Vectors: These describe the distance and direction of the
movement of Macro blocks from one picture to the
next.
MPEG: Moving Pictures Expert Group
MSB Most Significant Bit
NIT Network Information Table
PAT Program Association Table
PCR Program Clock Reference
PID Packet Identifier
PIL Program Identification Label
PMT Program Map Table
PSI Program Specific Information
Profiles: This defines the coding process or complexity.
Psycho visual redundancy: Results from limitations of the human eye to resolve
detail within a picture (spatial resolution), and to track
moving objects (temporal resolution).
PTS Packet Time Stamps
Quantization: Quantization reduces the number of levels that need to
be transmitted.
Run length coding: Exploits the fact many coefficients are the same value
or zero.
RST Running Status Table
Spatial redundancy: Redundant information that exists within each picture.
SDT Service Description Table
SI Service Information
SIT Selection Information Table
SMI Storage Media Information
ST Stuffing Table
TDT Time and Date Table
Temporal redundancy: Redundant information that exists across successive
frames:
Simple temporal redundancy - where similar information is repeated
across frames in a similar position.
Temporal redundancy based on motion estimation where similar
information is repeated across frames but has moved to a different position.
TOT Time Offset Table
TPS Transmission Parameter Signaling
TS Transport Stream
TSDT Transport Stream Description Table
VBR: Variable Bit Rate.
Variable length coding (VLC): Exploits the fact short runs of zeros occur more often
then long ones.

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COFDM Glossary
AFC Automatic Frequency Control
BER Bit Error Rate
CNR or C/N Carrier to Noise Ratio
COFDM Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
CPE Common Phase Error
CSI Channel State Information
DFT Discrete Fourier Transform
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting
DTT Digital Terrestrial Television
dTTb Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting
DVB-C Digital Video Broadcasting Cable
DVB-S Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite
DVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial
FEC Forward Error Coding
FDM Frequency Division Multiplex
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
LO Local Oscillator
MER Modulation Error Ratio
Modem A Modulator/ demodulator combination
MRC Maximum Ratio Combining
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QPSK Quaternary Phase Shift Key
RS Reed Solomon
SNR or S/N Signal to Noise Ratio
TDM Time Division Multiplex
UCE Uncorrectable Errors

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DIGITAL AWARENESS

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Digital information can be transmitted without degradation and reconstructed at its

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Bits and Bytes

Component Video & Standard Component Video

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Other standards commonly used

Sample (clock) frequency

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

For 8 bit coding: 216 Mbit/s (full rate)

Interlaced and Progressive scanning

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

The Widescreen television picture has a picture ratio, or aspect ratio, of 16

SD resolution 720 x 480 aspect ratio 4:3

A widescreen picture first has to be produced in a widescreen camera, one in which

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

4:3 pictures displayed on 16:9 televisions?

What difference does widescreen make to the transmission chain?

NB Widescreen or not. - It makes no difference to circuits or any part of the

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Some of the standards currently available:

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Some of the arguments:

What does High Definition mean today?

The Wow factor! HD looks terrific - once seen never forgotten.

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

In broadcasters terms, the following qualifies as true HD

The following does not qualify as HD

Contribution and Distribution

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Compression as used by RF Central

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Analog FM 0.5 (Hz/Hz) -70

Link Budget Calculation

Where: P is Path Loss in dBs

100 mW Transmitter output power +20dBm

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

10W Transmitter output power +40dBm

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

RF & IF amps; Up & Down Converters

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

RF Central: The cleaner option

RF Central: The high performance option

RF Central: The most efficient option

RF Central: The most flexible option

With RF Central you have ALL the options

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Psycho visual redundancy

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Variable length coding

Buffering and feedback

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

i) Inter-frame prediction based on simple temporal redundancy

ii) Inter-frame prediction based on motion estimation & compensation

99 Garden Parkway, Carlisle, PA 17013 Digital Awareness Version 1.4

Intra-frames and Inter-frames

Group of Pictures, (GOP)

I-frames, B-frames, and P-frames are arranged in a sequence to produce a GOP. A