DVB-RCT: A STANDARD FOR INTERACTIVE DVB-T

Gerard FARIA Harris Broadcast Communication, France Fabio SCALISE ST Microelectronics, Italy ABSTRACT Interactive Digital TV services are considered nowadays as the key element to introduce digital TV services and to encourage customers to invest in new digital TV appliances. Some time ago, the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) forum, which already produced a harmonised family of technical standards [1,2,3], decided to engage the work of defining return channels using the same medium than the broadcast downstream one. Thus, the cable and the satellite medium have been endowed with their dedicated return channel [4,5]. The last product of this work is called DVB-RCT (Return Channel Terrestrial) [6] and is intended to provide standard specification for interactivity in the UHF/VHF bands. Using the newly defined DVB-RCT standard as a companion of the world-wide proven, recognised and adopted Terrestrial DVB system [3], DVB-T is no longer limited to unidirectional broadcast, it can become a true Terrestrial Wireless Interactive system. The DVB-RCT technical subgroup performed a tremendous work to define the physical layer (RCT-PHY), the Medium Access Control layer (RCT-MAC) and the RF Implementation Guidelines. As a result, the DVB-RCT standard makes use of a Multiple Access OFDM arrangement, to constitute a high bandwidth Wireless Interactive Terrestrial Digital TV system. Officially approved by the DVB forum in April 2001, it will be soon published as an ETSI European standard (EN 301 958). Two European Research projects (WITNESS and IM4DTTV Integrated Modem for Digital Terrestrial TV) have been set up to support the roll-out of DVB-RCT through extensive field trials and the design of an integrated VLSI solution for the user terminal. Thus, fast and costeffective integration of the DVB-RCT standard in the Terrestrial Digital TV set-top boxes are expected. Following a presentation of the DVB-RCT technical specifications, the two projects dealing with the future of the DVB-RCT standard are presented in this paper. INTRODUCTION Following the selection of the most efficient Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) standard, the broadcasters are evaluating several business models able to ensure a successful deployment of the Digital Terrestrial TV system. Surveys have been conducted amongst TV viewers to ascertain their vision and expectations of digital TV. If the increase of the available programmes (with a maximum of 30) constitutes a major will, the expectations for new services and new thematic programmes constitute the main requirements. Interactivity with new and stimulating content came out top, time and time again. It is now clear that the business model based on Interactive Services is the most coherent in regard to the public expectations and therefore, it can provide additional revenues to the broadcasters. The DVB Consortium, aware of this preference, now provides Terrestrial broadcasters additional features in the DVB-T portfolio to implement such interactive services; thus opening a new era for the Terrestrial delivery platform. DVB-RCT constitutes that definitive asset. WHAT IS DVB-RCT? The transition from Analog to Digital broadcasting is today the main topic of interest in the area of TV industry; new standards have appeared for satellite (DVB-S) [1], for terrestrial (DVB-T) [2] and for cable (DVB-C) [3] broadcasting. Those standards are currently being implemented in various countries, not only in Europe, but also around the world. In parallel some new services are booming in interest among the users, e.g. e-mail and Internet and some others are seen as going to boom shortly, e.g. e-commerce and Tele-banking.

A general consensus agrees that the main and unique feature that will make Digital TV really appealing to the end users is the provision of interactivity on top of the digital pure broadcasting TV service. This is mostly true for Digital Terrestrial TV, where the user do not want to spend more money for a pure digital TV broadcasting service, comparing to the existing analogue one. Therefore, the availability of a high bandwidth, high performance return channel is mandatory to achieve good success for Digital Terrestrial TV deployment. That is the purpose of DVB-RCT as a companion to the DVB-T broadcasting standard. ETSI - EN 301 958 - DVB-RCT: A NEW STANDARD IS BORN After nearly one and half year of work, the DVB-RCT technical subgroup issued the final DVB-RCT specifications for Approval in March 2001. The DVB Technical Module and the DVB Steering Board have approved them in April 2001; the new specifications are planned to become the EN 301 958 ETSI standard before the end of the year. In the light of the initial DVB commercial requirements for this new standard (especially the ones concerning the portable and even mobile receivers system suitability), the DVB-RCT group decided to offer a flexible system, able to match all the forecasted deployment scenarios of the Terrestrial Digital TV system. The major characteristics of this new DVB-RCT standard are commented in the following paragraphs. ON THE WAY TO INTERACTIVE TV Some new services and features have been recently offered to TV viewers, with no need of return channel back from the user to the Service Provider: Data carrousel or Electronic Programmes Guides (EPG) are examples of such Enhanced TV services which implement a rough type of Local Interactivity. However, real T-Commerce services require full interactivity, implying data and commands exchange between the users & the Service Providers. The long connection time needed by existing solutions for return channel based on telecom networks (PSTN, ISDN or GSM) and the very limited bandwidth, limits considerably the category of possible interactive services and the interest from users. Pay-per-view is an example of services, which can cope with such long latency connection time. However, to implement real bandwidth demanding interactive service (e.g. internet) or new services having a strong & real-time relationship with the TV programmes (e.g. interactive advertising, Tele-voting, Tele-quiz, etc.) a low latency, high-bandwidth return channel technology is mandatory. DVB-RCT is THE response that offers a wireless interaction channel for these real-time Interactive Digital Terrestrial Television Services: ! DVB-RCT is spectrum efficient, low cost, and powerful and provides a flexible Wireless Multiple Access based on well-known OFDM technique that is well suited for transmission in the terrestrial channel. ! DVB-RCT can serve large cells, up to 65kms radius, providing a typical bit-rate capacity of several kilobits per second, for each TV viewer, even at the edge of the coverage area. Typically, these large cells closely match the downstream coverage area of the Digital Television broadcast signal. ! DVB-RCT can handle very large peaks in traffic, as it has been specifically designed to process up to 20,000 short interactions per second in Tele-polling Mode, this in each sector of each cell. ! DVB-RCT can be employed with smaller cells, to constitute denser networks of up to 3.5km radius cells, providing to the user a bit-rate capacity of up to several Megabits per second per user. ! DVB-RCT does not require access to spectrum on a primary basis; the system has been designed to use any gaps or under-utilised spectrum anywhere in Bands III, IV and V without interfering with the primary analogue and digital broadcasting services. ! DVB-RCT is able to serve portable devices; bringing interactivity everywhere the Terrestrial Digital broadcast signal is receivable, ! DVB-RCT can be used around the world, which uses the different DVB-T system: 6, 7 or 8 MHz channels, ! DVB-RCT does not require more than 0,5W rms transmission power from the User Terminal or Set Top Box to the base station.

DVB-RCT: THE SYSTEM PRINCIPLES The interactive system consists of a forward interaction channel (downstream) conveyed to the user via a DVB-T compliant terrestrial broadcast network, and a return interaction channel based on a Wireless VHF/UHF transmission (upstream) of the same type. A typical DVB-RCT system is illustrated in the Figure 1. The downstream transmission from the Base Station to the Terminals (RCTT) provides also synchronisation and information to all RCTTs. That allows RCTTs to synchronously access the network and then to transmit upstream-synchronised information to the Base Station.
Programs & Data to User Broadcaster Core Network Set Top Box Broadcast Interface Module Interactive Interface Module Interactive Service Provider Interactive Network Adapter Terrestrial Return Channel from User to Broadcaster f Set Top Unit Home User

Figure 1 DVB-RCT system architecture

The DVB-RCT system is governed by the following rules: " Modulation scheme is OFDM for both downstream (fully DVB-T compliant) and upstream; therefore, several parallel carriers are available in the upstream to be allocated to different users in different time slots for transmitting their data and commands back to the Base Station. " Each authorised RCTT transmits one or several low bit rate modulated carriers towards the Base Station, " The carriers are frequency-locked and power ranged and the timing of the modulation is synchronised by the Base Station. " On the Base Station side, the Upstream signal is demodulated, using a FFT process, just like the one performed in a DVB-T receiver. The DVB-RCT standard specification [6] defines and covers the two basic layers (Physical & MAC) needed for an interactive session; both layers are presented briefly hereafter. DVB-RCT: THE PHYSICAL LAYER To allow access by multiple users, the VHF/UHF return channel is partitioned both in the frequency and time domains, using Frequency Division Multiplex (FDM) and Time Division Multiplex (TDM). This grid of timefrequency slots can be equipped with carriers, from any RCTT. Each available carrier is allocated to a certain user for a defined time slot (burst); multiple slot allocation is possible (both on the same carrier and onto different parallel carriers) to cope with bandwidth peak demands. The bandwidth requests are typically bursty in such type of applications; this implies that a permanent allocation of a certain carrier to a certain user would be not efficient at all, thus leading to waste of bandwidth. Therefore, the Base Station will control the allocation policy in order to serve a large number of users in parallel and to make an efficient usage of the available spectrum. BASIC PARTITIONING To avoid inter-carrier and inter-symbols interference, two types of sub-carrier shaping are provided: " Nyquist shaping: uses in-time Nyquist filtering on each carrier, to provide immunity against both intercarrier and inter-symbol interference, as well as immunity against jammers. This configuration is particularly suited for large cells, where users can be located well far away one from the others and from the Base Station; misalignments in frequency could lead a user terminal transmitting on one carrier to pollute other users transmitting onto neighbouring carriers. When using Nyquist shaping, carrier spectra ar disjointed and misalignments have limited effects onto other users [8].

"

Rectangular shaping: makes use of an orthogonal arrangement of the carriers and of a Guard Interval, inserted between modulated symbols, to provide immunity against inter-carrier and inter-symbol interference, as well as combating multipath propagation effects. This is the typical shaping used in DVB-T standard as well and makes use of orthogonal carriers, whose specra are allowed to overlap; however, the orthogonality conditions among carriers allows for correct demodulation and separation of each transmitted data. Such scheme is more sensitive to misalignments and is well suited for small cells in dense networks.

This organisation of the different carriers is depicted in Figure 2.

Nyquist shaping

time

Rectangular shaping

time

frequency

frequency

Figure 2 DVB-RCT RF channel organisation

TRANSMISSION MODES DVB-RCT standard provides six transmissions modes [6] characterised by a dedicated combination of the maximum number of carriers offered and their inter-carrier distance. The three DVB-RCT inter-carrier spacing values are defined in Table 1. Carrier Spacing (CS) and symbol duration CS1 CS2 CS3 ~ 1 KHz ~ 2 KHz ~ 4 KHz symbol duration of ~ 1 000 s symbol duration of ~ symbol duration of ~ 500 s 250 s

Table 1: DVB-RCT approximate targeted inter-carrier spacing for 8 MHz channel The inter-carrier distance governs the robustness of the system in regard to the possible synchronisation misalignment of any RCTT. Each value implies a given maximum transmission cell size, and a given resistance to the Doppler shift experienced when the RCTT is in motion. The DVB-RCT final bandwidth is a function of the number of carriers used (1K or 2K) and of the Carrier Spacing defined; it can be roughly 1 MHz, 2MHz or 4 MHz. Each combination has a specific trade-off between frequency diversity and time diversity, and then between coverage range and portability capability. In addition to that, Band Segmentation can be used to determine the final bandwidth of a specific return channel segment. The elementary segment for return channel is 1 MHz; this greatly eases the problem of access to the spectrum (this is the main problem when trying to re-use UHF/VHF bands, that are highly congested in some countries due to analog services, taboo channels and other interference).

Basically, the concept is that any 1MHz segment of spectrum can be used; it is not necessary to allocate an entire 8 MHz channel (or 7/6 MHz outside Europe) to establish a DVB-RCT service. This is particularly important as long as analogue terrestrial transmissions will continue. A key commercial advantage of this Band Segmentation is that different Interactive TV Service Providers can be assigned their own 1MHz of spectrum and can thereby remain independent of one another. TRANSMISSION FRAMES The collection of physical slots (time partition of each available carrier), which constitutes the basic bandwidth partitioning, is organised to carry suitable data and commands to implement special protocol functions related to the various activities of the RCTTs in the system (i.e.: synchronisation, ranging, data transmission). This can be accomplished through two alternative types of transmission frames TF1 & TF2 [6]: " " Using TF1, a range of complete OFDM symbols is used for each dedicated activity, Using TF2, no specialisation of OFDM symbol is used, instead, every OFDM symbols is divided in subchannels (i.e.: a set of sub-carriers), then each sub-channel is granted for a dedicated activity,

In short, Transmission Frame 1 organises the channel in the Time domain whilst Transmission Frame 2 organises it in the Frequency domain. According to these definitions, the transmission frames provide a repetitive structure, made up of a set of timefrequency slots, in which Null Symbol, Ranging Symbols, Data Symbols and Pilot Symbols (for Channel Estimation purposes at base Station) are embedded to provide resources for synchronisation, ranging and data transmission. TF1 is, in general, more suited for large cells, where TF2 is optimised for small cells with higher bandwidth. Transmission frame 1 (TF1) The first type of transmission frame (TF1) carries three categories of symbols: " " " One Null Symbol: during which no transmission occur to allow the Base Station to detect jammers, Several Ranging symbols to allow the RCTT to request access to the DVB-RCT channel, Several User Symbols during which several RCTTs transmit their data bursts using the Bursts Structures.

Figure 3 depicts the organisation of TF1 frame in the time domain.

Time Transmission Frame Type 1

Frequency

Ranging Symbols

User Symbols carrying or BS1 or BS2 (not simultaneously)

Null Symbol

Ranging Carrier

User Symbols

Figure 3 TF1 Time domain organisation In the User part of TF1, either Rectangular shaping or Nyquist shaping is used, whilst in the ranging part only the Rectangular shaping is used. Transmission frame 2 (TF2) The second type of transmission frame (TF2) carries only general-purpose symbols. Nevertheless, in the timedomain, groups of six symbols are organised to make sub-channels synchronised (i.e.: they start at the same

instant). Then, eight consecutive groups implement a field for Ranging. Accordingly, the sub-channels occurring during that period can be dedicated either for Ranging functions or to carry the RCTTs data bursts; this is accomplished through a dedicated data structure for the elementary burst, i.e. the Bursts Structure. Three Burst Structures are defined in DVB-RCT, as described later in this paper. Figure 4 depicts the organisation of TF2 frame in the time domain. Note that in Figure 4, the Burst Structures are symbolised regarding their duration and not regarding their occupancy in the frequency domain.
Time Transmission Frame Type 2 User Symbols carrying one Burst Structure 2 Null Symbols

Frequency

User Symbols carrying eight Burst Structure 3

Null Symbol

Ranging Symbol

User Symbols

Ranging Sub-Channel

User Sub-Channel

Figure 4 TF2 - Time Domain organisation TF2 frame makes only use of the Rectangular shaping. TFs organisation in the frequency domain Previous figures depict the organisation of TFs in the time domain; however, as any OFDM system, a dedicated organisation is needed in the frequemcy domain as well. Among the available carriers, the 2K mode uses only 1712 carriers and the 1K mode offers 842 carriers, for carrying information. This is depicted in Figure 5:

DVB-RCT channel bandwidth

Guard Band DC carrier (not used) Guard Band

1K mode

91 Unused sub-carriers

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 8 5 0 0 8 5 1 0 8 5 2 0 8 5 3 0 8 5 4 0 8 5 5 0 8 5 6 0 8 5 7 0 8 5 8 0 8 5 9 0 8 6 0 0 8 6 1 0 8 6 2

8 8 8 8 8 8 3 3 3 3 4 4 6 7 8 9 0 1 1 7 0 6 1 7 0 7 1 7 0 8 1 7 0 9 1 7 1 0 1 7 1 1

91 Unused sub-carriers

2K mode

168 Unused sub-carriers

168 Unused sub-carriers

Figure 5 TFs organisation in the frequency domain

The unused carriers, located on each edge of the channel, provide a guard band to protect adjacent channels. Both Transmission frames provide these guard bands and this carrier organisation.

BURST STRUCTURES Each RCTT transmits bursts of data based on an integer number of ATM cells. Whatever the protection coding rate and the physical modulation, the data bursts are made up of 144 modulated symbols, which constitute the data payload. Among this data payload, a collection of Pilot Data are spread to allow coherent demodulation in the Base Station. DVB-RCT defines three Burst Structures BS1, BS2 and BS3, having their own characteristics, in regard to the partitioning, among the time-frequency axes, of the data bursts and the pilots. The three Bursts Structures [6], as illustrated in Figure 6, constitute various trade-off between burst duration and frequency diversity they provide. Shorter burst duration is more robust against interference but requires more than one carrier to be allocated in parallel to a single user for a single bandwidth request. "
Frequency Time

BS1: 1carrier

BS2: 4 carriers

Burst Structure 1 carries its payload on consecutive symbols, using only one carrier, Burst Structure 2 spread its payload over 4 carriers, Burst Structure 3 spread its payload over 29 carriers,

BS3: 29 carriers

Identical payload : - 144 data modulated symbols - 36 pilot modulated symbols

" "

Figure 6 Illustration of the Burst Structures

Accordingly, each Burst Structure provides dedicated characteristic in regard to its robustness, then to the radius of the cell it cover. Due to the limitation of the transmission power, each Burst Structure has its own maximum coverage distance, as represented on the Figure 7.
100 km

10 km

1 km

BS3 0,1km 0 4 8 12 OTP power dBm 16

BS2

BS1

20

24

Figure 7 Burst Structure Coverage

BITRATE CAPACITY The bit-rate capacity of the DVB-RCT channel depends on the transmission mode (i.e.: carrier spacing implies the duration of the modulated symbol) and on the robustness of the chosen coded modulation (i.e.: modulation constellation & coding rate). Then, in relation with the modulation/coding rate, the RCTT will be able to exchange with the Base Station in a

range of distance depending on the power it uses. For instance, using 64QAM, 3/4 modulation (highest bitrate, lowest curve), BS3 could be used from 0,6 km to 1.5 km from the Base Station. Conversely, using BS1, the strongest protection 4QAM, 1/2 (lowest bitrate, highest curve) and the range of power, the RCTT could perform exchanges with the Base Station in a range of 30 km to 60 km. Figure 8 shows the range of available bit-rate when using BS1 or BS2 and the Rectangular shaping [6]. Values are given for the three modes (i.e.: carrier spacing) as a function of the coded modulation. Small variations represented in each case come from the four possible durations of the Guard Interval (1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 of the useful symbol duration) in the case of Rectangular Shaping.
1 6 K bps

1 4 K bps

1 2 K bps

1 0 K bps

8 Kbps

6 Kbps

4 Kbps

2 Kbps

0 Kbps

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

1 /2

3 /4

4QAM

16Q AM

64Q AM

4QAM

16Q AM

64Q AM

4QAM

16Q AM

64Q AM

Figure 8 Bitrate per Carrier

Globally, in typical applications, the DVB-RCT system offers a net bit-rate per carrier ranging from 0,6 Kbps to 15 Kbps. When all carriers are used, the Base Station is able to collect up to 1 Mbbs to 26 Mbps of user data in the DVB-RCT channel. Obviously the most robust modes offer the lowest bit-rate, over a large radius cell whilst the weakest modes offer the largest bit-rate over a small radius cell. In addition to these structural definitions, the DVB-RCT standard provides several innovative features, as described hereafter. DYNAMICALLY-ASSIGNABLE ADAPTIVE MODULATION DVB-RCT supports within the same cell the simultaneous use of different types of modulation from 4QAM (1/2 rate) to 64 QAM (3/4 rate). This feature called Dynamically-assignable Adaptive Modulation enables the Service Provider to control the level of interference from a given cell into neighbouring co-channel cells while, at the same time making maximum use of the allocated spectrum. For instance, the most robust form of modulation (e.g. 4QAM 1/2 rate) can be assigned to users near the outer boundary of the cell allowing them to use the minimum possible amount of power to transmit back to the Base Station. Conversely, users nearer to the center of the cell can be assigned less robust modulation (e.g.: 64QAM, 3/4), at the expense of more power, to transmit back to the Base Station. Even the users, close to the center of a cell, will use more power to enjoy higher data throughput, as they are further away from other cells, they will cause less interference into the other co-channel cells.

TURBO OR CONCATENATED CODING Channel Coding is a key element to define the performances of a transmission system; in particular, transmission in the wireless environment suffers from impairments due to several issues (e.g. multipath, frequency selective fading, etc.). All these elements contribute to produce a high error rate (BER) that has to be dealt with to provide a reliable system. For instance, DVB-T standard adopted a concatenated channel-coding scheme based on Convolutional Codes and Reed-Solomon Codes separated by an interleaver. However, alternative schemes have been proposed in the last years, based on iterative decoding algorithms (such as Turbo Codes) that allow, in some cases, for an improvement of BER for a given C/N level. DVB-RCT authorises the usage of both Concatenated Coding and Turbo Coding (alternatively); this choice can give a further reduction in the required C/N ratio of 1.5dB or more. As a result, some Modulation Modes of DVB-RCT require a C/N of only 4dB. Such feature is very important for network planning, because, for a given transmitting power level, a larger cell radius can be achieved. Vice versa, for a given network topology (i.e. cell radius and transmitter placement), the transmitting power can be decreased; that means, less interference and less pollution. The constituent codes for the Turbo Encoder block are depicted in Figure 9. It uses a Double Binary Circular Recursive Systematic Convolutional (DB-CRSC) code. A dedicated puncturing law is used to generate rate and codes.

Systematic part

A B Permutation (k/2) N=k/2 couples of data 2

S1

S2

S3

codeword

Y1 or 2 puncturing

Y Redundancy part Figure 9 Constituent Code for Turbo Coding in DVB-RCT Alternatively, a Concatenated Coding scheme is possible; the data shall first enter a RS(63,55,t=4) encoder and are then passed to a tail biting Convolutional Encoder. The coding produced in the first stage, although based upon the systematic RS(63,55,t=4), can be varied by the number of parity symbols sent. Less parity symbols can be used, by deleting some of the parity symbols from the end of the block at the transmission side (in the RCTT) and then using erasures at the receiver side (in the Base Station). The Convolutional Encoder has constraint length 9 and uses mother codes: G1=561oct for X and G1=753oct for Y. Both constituent codes in the concatenation can be punctured to generate a total puncturing rate for the concatenation of, again, and . TIME INTERLEAVING Time Interleaving, performed through adequate data mapping onto the Bursts Structures, can give at least an additional 5dB improvement against the Impulsive Interference (the actual figure depends on the repetition rate of the interference). This ensures that the coverage area of the Multiple Access OFDM signals can be designed to closely match the service area of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting, thus dramatically reducing the need for new installations. A Pseudo Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) is used to build a Random Interleaver. POWER RANGING DVB-RCT uses a Power Ranging system, similar to the one used in Cellular phones, to ensure that the lowest power is used by the RCT Terminals at all times. This provides a powerful feature to reduce interference and to increase spectrum efficiency of the system. As a conclusion, from the technical point of view, DVB-RCT is built around the most recent developments in algorithms and techniques for digital transmission and it constitutes the first system in the world using Multiple Access OFDM technique to provide a Wireless Interactive Terrestrial channel.

DVB-RCT: THE MAC LAYER The DVB-RCT MAC layer [6] is built over the physical layer to provide a reliable and shared transmission link between the RCTTs and the Base Station. The MAC layer implements all the functions needed to allow the Base Station to optimise the repartition, among RCTTs, of the bi-dimensional data bursts (i.e. in time & frequency) onto the physical layer. The main issue here is to control efficiently the contention access to the return channel in order to allocate the available bandwidth (i.e. the carriers) to the largest number of contending users and to handle their various traffic types (depending on the supported application). DVB-RCT has defined a MAC layer with the objective to re-use as much as possible of the MAC specification designed for the cable return channel [4]. At a certain extent, DVB-RCT MAC layer can be considered as a superset of the Cable MAC layer. Accordingly, this could provide an easy way to use the Cable MAC to control the RCT Physical layer (RCTPHY) or, better, a subset of it. In this specific scenario (that is meant as an extension of the DVB-RCT specification), it would be possible to introduce DVB-RCT boxes using the cable infrastructure, then to insure a smooth transition from cable to terrestrial. It will be also possible to enlarge the cable system capabilities, giving to it a wireless system to cover the last mile to the users. Such scenario is seen as very attractive to speed-up the rollout of DVB-RCT system and a dedicated annex to the DVB-RCT specification is currently under finalisation by the DVB-RCT group. DVB-RCT: DEPLOYMENT SCENARIOS The DVB-RCT group performed a deep analysis of the possible deployment scenarios to cope with constraints derived from the existing broadcasting allocation and frequency planning in various countries. Real life scenarios can be derived from these basic examples reported hereafter. " One omni directional DVB-RCT channel:

The basic configuration is to use one single DVB-RCT upstream channel to cover the whole DVB-T downstream cell, as illustrated in Figure 10. Such scenario is suited for a limited number of users per cell, because all traffic has to be managed by one single upstream/downstream channel. This can be applied to the service introductory phase, a small urban cell or a large rural cell. " Several omnidirectional DVB-RCT channels:

To increase the collection capacity inside a single DVB-T downstream cell (more bit-rate to the users), several DVB-RCT upstream channels can be implemented on the same area, using different DVB-RCT frequencies. This is illustrated in the Figure 11.

Cell 1 using RF 1

Cell 3 using RF 3 Cell 2 using RF 2 Cell 1 using RF 1

Figure 10 One RCT upstream in one DVB-T cell " Sectorisation

Figure 11 Several RCT upstream in one DVB-T cell

To further increase the upstream capacity, it is possible to sectorise the upstream cell. It can be also considered to protect against jammers and to prevent interference in the coverage area.

For instance, if an upstream channel is not available for use within the complete DVB-T cell coverage, it is possible to configure the cell with several upstream channels each covering a sector of the cell. In the Figure 12, the frequency C1 is not available on the whole covering area, as polluted by jammers. In that sector, a C3 frequency is used instead. Other sector could be created using a C2 frequency. Finally, to increase bit-rate available in some sectors (i.e.: the ones with more population) several upstream channels, using additional frequencies, could coexist as it has been illustrated in Figure 11.

C1.3 C1.2 C2 C1 jammer C2 C3 C1.1

Figure 12 Sectoring DVB-RCT cells in one DVB-T DVB-RCT has been designed with a lot of flexibility, to cover several deployment scenarios to reduce and cope with RF spectrum congestion. Several features, including RF engineering (i.e.: antennas sectorisation), large and flexible collection of operational modes (i.e. cell radius, adaptive modulation, code robustness, etc.) have been incorporated to provide the best system configuration even in the (highly) congested UHF/VHF bands. COSTS OF DVB-RCT The overall costs of the DVB-RCT system is made up of the User Terminal Costs and the Base Station Costs. There is also, of course, the cost of the backhaul linking network from the Base Stations to Service Providers main hub although this is normally already in place for any existing broadcasting network. The reason why DVB-RCT is so cost effective is that a single low-cost receiving system (DVB-RCT Receiver and MAC Machine) at the Base Station can process up to 20,000 short interactions per second. For instance, in the 2K mode, 59 interactions from different subscribers can be processed at a rate up to 600 every second! According to complexity estimation performed by the members of the DVB-RCT group, DVBRCT can be deployed for a small fraction of the cost of any competing system for example PSTN, XDSL, GSM or UMTS. Such cost includes user terminal cost (for an integrated VLSI solution in mass production), network cost per user (Base Station cost and network installation cost). Thanks to the fact that the same terrestrial network is used for both broadcasting and return channel, the cost has been estimated in a few percents more than conventional pure broadcasting terrestrial Set-top Boxes. Furthermore, the ability of the system to cope with different scenarios allows for tuning the investment to the real ramp of number of users (no big initial investment for a new network), thus minimizing investment risks.

DVB-RCT: TWO RESEARCH PROGRAMMES DVB-RCT largely benefits from the experience established by the European-funded research project iTTi (interactive Terrestrial TV integration 1997-1999), where a first solution for terrestrial interactivity was developed and demonstrated. Both field experimentation and public demonstrations have been performed by iTTi consortium and have been already reported [8]. Two new projects have recently been set up to support DVB-RCT implementation: WITNESS (Wireless Interactive Terrestrial Network System and Service) and IM4DTTV (Integrated Modem fo(u)r Digital Terrestrial TV) which are briefly presented hereafter. IST WITNESS PROJET WITNESS (2000-2002) [9] aims to upgrade, test, and validate equipment and planning algorithms to aid in the standardisation of digital terrestrial TV return channel (DVB-RCT). WITNESS main mission is to validate the operation of a Terrestrial Return Channel service by deploying up-graded interactive wireless terminals in the two test sites of Ireland (Dublin) and France (Rennes); then to develop spectrum planning and frequency usage recommendations for Terrestrial TV services. MEDEA+ IM4DTTV PROJET IM4DTTV project (2001-2003) [10], aims at validating DVB-RCT specification, developing a prototype VLSI solution for the DVB-RCT terminal, as well as to support all necessary investigations and tests needed to assess the DVB-RCT specification towards the ETSI standardisation process. IM4DTTV will provide a 1G-silicon solution and a complete hardware validation platform covering all aspects of the DVB-RCT system, including both user terminal side (i.e.: RCTT) and broadcast side (i.e.: Base Station). Main objectives are the following: " To add seamless interaction capabilities to the DVB Digital Terrestrial TV system (DVB-T), providing fast access from the TV set to Internet, Interactive TV applications, E-commerce and, concretely, to implement the new DVB-RCT standard for the first time ever. To design and manufacture low-cost integrated interactive terminals for DVB-RCT technology by making use of dedicated silicon solution (both BB and RF parts) designed and developed within the project itself. To test and validate in realistic conditions the integrated prototype platform. IM4DTTV consortium comprises, among others, some world-wide leading silicon manufacturers (Philips, STMicroelectronics), Set-top Box manufacturers (Philips), head-end equipment manufacturers (Thomcast, ITIS). Two European broadcasters (France Telecom and RTE) will allow the consortium to test the system in the real environment. Canal+ Technologies will support software development for DVB-RCT set-top boxes.

" " "

The DVB-RCT standard has been presented for the first time to the public during NAB2001 Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas in April 2001. A White Paper [7] has been also distributed to the visitors of DVB booth gathering very high interest. CONCLUSIONS This paper has highlighted the work performed by DVB to provide terrestrial broadcasters with a flexible wireless return channel for interactive DVB-T Services. More than a technical standard, DVB-RCT will become soon a commercial reality. Regulation policies remain to be addressed in regard to the use of the UHF/VHF bands for Interactive DTV service. The issue is already in the agenda of forthcoming meetings of ITU-T, EBU and other similar bodies and will be dealt with in the next months. Even if works remains, from now, the DVB-RCT constitutes a real asset for a successful deployment of the interactive terrestrial digital TV worldwide.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors would like to thank their colleagues and partners of the WITNESS and IM4DDTV European Projects, as well as the members of the DVB-RCT Technical Working Group of the DVB Forum, who contributed to the discussions, analysis and finalisation of the DVB-RCT standard presented here.

SUMMARY OF DVB-RCT PHYSICAL PARAMETERS

Downstream Channel (DS) Return Interaction Channel Forward Interaction Channel (US) OFDM Carrier set OFDM Carrier spacing (CS) Transmission modes Carrier shaping Guard Interval Transmission Frames Data randomization Modulation Encoding rates Useful data payload per burst Channel codes Interleaving Burst Structures Frequency hopping Medium Access Schemes Net Bit rate /carrier (range) Maximum nb carrier per user Service range Channelisation OFDM, ETS 300 744 (DVB-T) compliant Multiple Access OFDM (MA-OFDM) Embedded in DS, compliant with ETS 300 744 (DVB-T) 1024 (1K), 2048 (2K) ~1KHz, ~2KHz, ~4KHz 6 modes (as combination of 3 CS and 2 Carrier set) Nyquist, Rectangular 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 (for Rectangular shaping only) TF1, TF2 14 15 PRBS with polynomial: 1+X +x QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM , 18, 27, 36, 54, 81 bytes (1 burst = 144 modulated symbols) Turbo or concatenated (Reed-Solomon + Convolutional) 3 10 Random Interleaver PRBS with polynomial: 1+X +x BS1, BS2, BS3 for BS1 only (optional) MAS1, MAS2, MAS3 (as combinations of BS and TF) 0.6 Kbps 15 Kbps (depending on the mode) No limit (in the case of Rectangular Shaping) Up to 65 km (cell radius) 6, 7, 8 MHz channels are supported

PROTOCOLS incorporated in DVB-RCT

Medium Access Control (MAC) Access options Security Specifications mostly derived from EN 200 800 Fixed rate access, Contention access, Reservation access Supported (derived from EN 200 800)

REFERENCES
[1] DVB Project, ETSI: Digital Broadcasting System for Television, Sound and Data Services; Framing Structure, Channel Coding and Modulation for 11/12 GHz Satellite Services - EN 300 421 DVB-S standard, 1993 [2] DVB Project, ETSI: Digital Broadcasting System for Television, Sound and Data Services; Framing Structure, Channel Coding and Modulation for Digital Terrestrial Television - ETS 300 744 DVB-T standard, 1996 [3] DVB Project, ETSI: Digital Broadcasting System for Television, Sound and Data Services; Framing Structure, Channel Coding and Modulation for Cable Systems - EN 300 429 DVB-C standard, 1993 [4] DVB Project, DVB Interaction Channel for Cable Distribution Systems EN 200 800 DVB-RCC standard, 2000 [5] DVB Project, DVB Interaction Channel for Satellite Distribution Systems ETS xxx xxx DVB-RCS standard, 2000 [6] DVB Project, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Interaction channel for Digital Terrestrial Television (DVB-RCT) incorporating Multiple Access OFDM, DVB-TM document TM2361r3, March 2001 and ETSI, EN 301 958 DVB-RCT standard, 2001 [7] DVB-RCT group, Scalise F., Branagan P, Sofer E, Faria G, MacAvock P, White paper on DVB-RCT, NAB 2001, April 01, Las Vegas (USA) [8] F.Scalise et. Alt. A New Solution for Wireless Interactive TV Based on DVB-T Standard and SFDMA Technique, Proceedings of SMPTE 1999 Conference, Sydney Australia, July 1999 [9] see at : www.wireless-interactive.org [10] see at: www.medea.org

Gerard FARIA Harris Broadcast Communications

Fabio SCALISE STMicroelectronics

(gfaria@harris.com)

(fabio.scalise@st.com)