3GPP LTE eMBMS Release 14, also referred to as FeMBMS (Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) or EnTV (Enhanced TV), is the first mobile broadband technology standard to incorporate a transmission mode designed to deliver Terrestrial Broadcast services from conventional High Power High Tower (HPHT) broadcast infrastructure. With respect to the physical layer, the main improvements in FeMBMS are the support of larger inter-site distance for Single Frequency Networks (SFN) and the ability to allocate 100% of a carrier's resources to the broadcast payload, with self-contained signaling in the downlink. From the system architecture perspective, a receive-only mode enables free-to-air (FTA) reception with no need for an uplink or SIM card, thus receiving content without UE registration with a network. These functionalities are only available in the LTE Advanced Pro specifications as 5G New Radio (NR), standardized in 3GPP from Release 15, has so far focused entirely on unicast. This paper outlines a physical layer design for NR-MBMS, a system derived, with minor modifications, from the 5G-NR specifications, and suitable for the transmission of linear TV and radio services in either single-cell or SFN operation. The paper evaluates the NR-MBMS proposition and compares it to LTE-based FeMBMS in terms of flexibility, performance, capacity and coverage.

This work presents a potential solution for enabling the use of multicast in the 5G New Radio Release 17, called 5G NR Mixed Mode. The proposed multicast/broadcast mode follows one of the two approaches envisaged in 3GPP, which enables a dynamic and seamless switching between unicast and multicast, both in the downlink and the uplink. This paper also provides a performance evaluation of several IMT-2020 KPIs, including available data rate and spectral efficiency, user and control plane latencies, energy efficiency, mobility highlighting the potential advantages of this solution over unicast in relevant scenarios. Finally, other multipoint-based KPIs such as coverage or packet loss rate are also evaluated by means of system level simulations.

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Cardona Marcet, N. (2012). Statistical model of signal strength imbalance between RF channels in DTT network. Electronics Letters. 48(12):731-732. doi:10.1049Letters. 48(12):731-732. doi:10. /el.2012Letters. 48(12):731-732. doi:10. .1431. 1A statistical model of the signal strength imbalance between RF channels in a DTT network J. J. Giménez, D. Gozálvez, D. Gómez-Barquero and N. Cardona This letter proposes a model for the received signal strength imbalance between radio frequency (RF) channels in the UHF band. The model is fitted to field measurements carried out in the commercial DVB-T (Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting) network of Sweden. The analysis of the measurement data reveals large differences in the received signal strength between channels according to the reception scenario and the frequency spacing. The model presented in this letter is a valuable tool to investigate the potential network planning gains of time-frequency slicing (TFS), a technique that was described in the DVB-T2 standard and that will be included in the future DVB-NGH (Next Generation Handheld) standard for improved frequency diversity.Introduction: Digital terrestrial TV (DTT) operators usually make use of several radio frequency (RF) channels in the UHF band to broadcast services in a particular network. However, the received signal strength is not the same in all the RF channels, even with equal transmitted power (ERP), due to the frequency dependent characteristics of the transmitter site, the receiver, and the propagation channel [1]. One source of imbalance between RF channels comes from the irregularities in the antenna diagrams of the transmitting and receiving antennas on the horizontal plane, as these depend on azimuth, frequency and bandwidth. Moreover, the propagation attenuation is in general higher at the upper UHF channels compared with lower channels. A given received field strength at the antenna input will also result in a lower signal strength with higher frequencies even when the antenna gain is identical. For example, receiving at twice the RF frequency will decrease the signal level in 6 dB for the same propagation conditions and antenna gains. Due to the propagation channel (e.g. Rayleigh), there will be also a frequency-dependent signal strength variation with the position of the receiving antenna. This applies to both non line-of-sight and line-of-sight reception conditions, as in the latter case there will be a ground echo, which may amplify or attenuate the received signal depending on its received phase, which is frequency-dependent at the antenna input. All these sources will add to a very significant frequency-dependency of the received signal strength. The next generation mobile broadcasting standard DVB-NGH will incorporate Time-Frequency Slicing (TFS) as a technique to compensate for the signal imbalance between RF channels (both wanted and unwanted signal components) in the UHF band [2]. TFS increases the frequency diversity by spreading the services across multiple channels by means of time ...

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