T-VIPS, the video contribution and distribution vendor based in Oslo, Norway, has announced that its TNS541 Seamless TS Monitoring Switch and CP560 DVB-T2 Gateway have been installed to provide seamless switching within the Arqiva DVB-T2/SFN digital terrestrial network. This network is used by UK free-to-air service Freeview as well as by a few pay TV operators. The phased rollout began in April 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in time for the London 2012 Olympics when almost the whole UK will be covered by Arqiva's second-generation DVB-T2 digital terrestrial network.
The network will support SFN operation at least at a regional level, which reduces the amount of spectrum needed but requires synchronizing transmitters to avoid destructive interference between neighbouring ones. To avoid the DVB-T2 modulators losing synchronization, the system involves the use of two independent CP560 DVB-T2 Gateways and a TNS541 Seamless TS Monitoring Switch. This prevents service outages caused by DVB-T2 modulator resynchronization, a process that typically takes time to complete. This resynchronization must be done on all modulators in a particular SFN region, so any issues can affect a large number of customers.
