CINCINNATI—GatesAir has introduced a new cost-efficient ATSC 3.0-ready platform that prepares its low-power TV transmission products for NextGen TV opportunities on the near horizon. The new platform, to be introduced at NAB Show 2025, is based on a high-efficiency modulator that provides the processing power required to optimize ATSC 3.0 power in GatesAir’s low-power UHF transmitters, including the award-winning PMTX-1 outdoor transmitter systems.
GatesAir developed the modulator based on new field-programmable integrated circuits (FPGA) that enabled a cost-efficient ATSC 3.0 solution across their entire low-power UHF product line, which also includes Maxiva UATK Ultra-Compact transmitter solutions and Maxiva UATK-OP high-efficiency UHF air-cooled DTV transmitters. The modulator’s software-defined architecture, based on GatesAir’s award-winning Maxiva XTE exciter for medium-to-high power transmitters, provides the added value of offering a field-upgradeable path from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0 broadcasting.
Now shipping, the availability of ATSC 3.0 modulation in all three Maxiva low-power UHF lines is ideal timing as more consultants begin working with broadcasters on ATSC 3.0 network planning designs, the company said. While most NextGen TV broadcasts today are delivered through lighthouse configurations that allow several broadcasters to share infrastructure and bandwidth from a central location, the next generation of ATSC 3.0 deployments will include more single-frequency network (SFN) designs that leverage multiple synchronized low-power transmitters across a broadcast market.
GatesAir’s low-power products are ideal for SFN designs that require several different transmitter designs, including Maxiva UATK Ultra-Compact and PMTX-1-UK outdoor transmitter systems that can be configured as low-power transmitters, translators/transposers, or gap fillers. This is especially true of the PMTX-1-UK, which can be mounted to a pole, tower structure or building structure in virtually any location thanks to its weatherproof enclosure, minimal circuitry and maintenance free architecture.
“Our new ATSC 3.0 platform offers the exacting technology required to effectively fill in gaps and extend market coverage in single-frequency networks and other ATSC3.0 network configurations,” said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “Importantly, it extends the possibility of affordable ATSC 3.0 broadcasting across virtually all television budgets, including those operating in smaller markets or at lower power levels.”
The modulator is also viable for ISDB-Tb DTV systems — a benefit for Brazilian broadcasters who anticipate a transition to ATSC 3.0 in the recent approval of the Brazilian government, according to GateAir. Same as the ability to transition from ATSC 1.0, GatesAir’s software-defined solution enables a transition from ISDB-T to ATSC 3.0 – or from any other analog or digital TV standard.
GatesAir will demonstration the 1RU modulator and its ATSC 3.0 software within Maxiva low-power UHF transmitters at NAB Show 2025, taking place April 6-9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. GatesAir exhibits at booth W2720 in the West Hall.
