CINCINNATI,September 4, 2014 — The IBC2014 show marks the first integrated demonstration by GatesAir of LTE Mobile Offload, a unique model for supplementing capacity for live TV and other popular video services for bandwidth-constrained mobile networks. The advanced model benefits both broadcast and mobile operators, maximizing spectrum use and cultivating new revenue models and business relationships; and reducing costs, expanding reach and preserving bandwidth.
Developed by the Technical University of Braunschweig’s Institute for Communications Technology, the emerging innovation leverages the traditional broadcast model’s efficient use of wireless spectrum for one-to-many delivery, supplementing the mobile network bandwidth and congestion challenges of deploying live TV and other video content across multiple peer-to-peer connections. Broadcasters benefit from a new way to increase viewership and monetize spectrum given the rapidly growing number of consumer mobile devices in use worldwide. In addition to overcoming previous barriers to HD video delivery over mobile devices, LTE Mobile Offload allows broadcasters to reach a highly nomadic viewing audience with existing standards and technology, while creating synergistic, revenue-generating partnerships with mobile network operators through spectrum leasing and other opportunities.
Mobile network operators benefit by offloading video content to High Tower High Power (HTHP) transmitters from GatesAir, ensuring a seamless user experience for consumers through optimal spectrum utilization. Since TV and video content is delivered “out of band,” network congestion is eliminated and services are optimized—without the costs of securing spectrum and building out new networks. This creates the dual benefit of satisfying consumers while saving costs and generating revenue, since the content is still technically delivered to subscribers over the mobile operator’s network.
Importantly, the groundbreaking initiative is developing at a time when UHF spectrum is in high demand for wireless broadband use worldwide. Once commercialized, broadcast network operators could leverage their existing spectrum to simultaneously deliver fixed and mobile services over the air. GatesAir is working with the Technical University of Braunschweig to commercialize the technology.
“LTE Mobile Offload represents a breakthrough opportunity for sharing wireless spectrum, and we see it as a natural progression of UHF broadcasting,” said Rich Redmond, chief product officer, GatesAir. “Broadcasters, network operators and mobile service providers can reap a common benefit with this model. The advanced architecture of LTE Mobile Offload boils down to spectrum efficiency and the lowest cost means of delivering video content to larger audiences. The use of wireless spectrum no longer has to be an either/or proposition. We are empowering our customers to take advantage of consumer trends and a quickly evolving market.”
LTE Mobile Offload is proven to work using the DVB-T2 broadcast standard today. DVB-T2 includes Future Extension Frames (FEFs), which support the delivery of non-DVB-T2 signals inside the data stream. This opens a lane inside the DVB-T2 standard to deliver the signal type (LTE-A+) that 3GPP-capable mobile devices can receive and play out as video. Similar possibilities exist for incorporation into ATSC 3.0 and other digital TV standards.
The GatesAir solution modulates the DVB-T2 and LTE-A+ signals, using a hybrid exciter platform and over-the-air transmitters to deliver simultaneous digital TV and LTE content to all devices from a broadcast tower. The LTE Mobile Offload demonstration at GatesAir’s IBC stand (8.B10, September 12-16, RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdam) will feature a complete technical overview of this unique advanced architecture.
About Technical University of Braunschweig
The Technical University of Braunschweig’s Institute for Communications Technology specializes in System Theory and Technology of Electronic Media; Mobile Radio Systems and Digital Signal Processing. A combination of teaching and research is performed in Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Industrial, Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Computer Sciences; Computer Systems Engineering; Media Studies and Mobility and Traffic Engineering. The Institute currently employs 65 professors and staff, including 35 research assistants, many of which are financed via cooperative contracts with third parties spanning the globe. http://www.ifn.ing.tu-bs.de/en/ifn/
About GatesAir
GatesAir, Inc. provides complete solutions for over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, leveraging wireless spectrum to maximize performance for multichannel, mission-critical services. Powering over-the-air networks worldwide with unparalleled reliability for nearly 100 years, GatesAir’s turnkey solutions enable broadcasters to create, transport and transmit radio and TV content. With customers in more than 185 countries, the company leads the industry in innovation and design breakthroughs, improving efficiency and reducing total cost of ownership. Visit www.gatesair.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter at @GatesAir.
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