Install, maintain and analyze ATSC Mobile DTV networks efficiently with the R&S®ETL TV analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz

jun 07, 2011 - Rohde & Schwarz is enhancing its R&S®ETL TV analyzer with a set of comprehensive functions developed for ATSC Mobile DTV (ATSC MDTV). The new capabilities make the R&S®ETL the first analyzer that can perform all required measurements for installing, commissioning and maintaining ATSC MDTV networks using a single instrument. Even broadcast drive tests are now possible. Moreover, the TV analyzer is an ideal solution for optimizing ATSC MDTV single-frequency networks (SFNs). Users will profit from its patented time-saving measurement method.

Some years ago, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) established a digital TV broadcasting standard for North America and South Korea. The ATSC MDTV extension to the standard allows digital television to be received on smartphones and other handhelds. Suitable networks are currently being set up by network operators as quickly as possible. To test these networks, TV transmitter manufacturers, network operators and regulatory authorities need T&M instruments such as the R&S®ETL. Using the R&S®ETL-K320 software option, the TV analyzer determines whether transmitters function in conformance with the ATSC MDTV specifications and whether network coverage is complete. For coverage measurements in the field, Rohde & Schwarz also offers the R&S BCDRIVE software. Data measured at a number of stations can be analyzed in detail and displayed in straightforward fashion using the software.

ATSC MDTV networks can also be set up as single-frequency networks. SFNs provide more stable broadcasting reception, since all transmitters in a network broadcast signals on only one frequency. Better coverage of the broadcast area is achieved with multiple powerful transmitters, each operating on a different frequency. To optimize SFNs, Rohde & Schwarz has developed and patented a unique measurement method: The R&S®ETL equipped with the R&S®ETL-K321 software option allows users to precisely determine the frequency offsets of all transmitters in a network with a single measurement. First, the R&S®ETL defines a reference transmitter. At a central point in the SFN, it then measures the frequency offset between the other transmitters and the reference. Users immediately get all the information they need to align the transmitters. This differs from today’s conventional methods, where each transmitter must first be measured individually on site before the transmitters can be aligned with each other in a subsequent step.