6.

12 DIRECTBROADCASTSATELLITES (DBS)

satellite which sends

is a type of artificial
Direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) satellites.
users from geastationary
to subscribers, or end
signals directly
which uses direct-broadcast
is
The type of satellite television satellites known
/ satellite television (DBSTTV).
DBS TV is also favoured by
as direct-broadcast subscribers who are not sotisfied with the quality or
urban and suburban
conventional cable.
quantity programming available on
of TV
Signals are broadcast in digital format at microwave frequencies.
satellite
DBS is the descendant i.e. predecessor of direct-to-home (DTH)
Services.

6.12.1 Frequency Bands

DBS systems are used for transmitting television
and other program material via
satcllite directly to and businesses. Direct broadcasting satellite (DBS)
individual homes in a Ku band.
systems operate at microwave frequencies, portion of the
The sent 17.3-17.8-GHz uplink band and then it is
signal up to the satellite is in the
transmitted back down in the 12.2-12.7-GHz downlink band.
 a conventional TV set,
6.12.2 Working of a DBS System
a signal converter placed next to the TV set, and
sent up
DBS systems use a satcllite in geostationary orbit to receive lelevision signals a length of coaxial cable betwecn the dish and the converter.
back down to the surlacc.
from the Earnh's surfacc, amplit) them, and iransmit them
The dish microwave signals directly from the satellite. The converte
intercepts
of a Direct are shown in figure 6.6 that can be viewed on the TV recciver.
The working Broadcasting satellite sysiem produces output

Satellite
LLUOCLLU 6.12.4 HomeReception
The downlink up by a
signal is picked receive antenna locaed atop an
individual home or oflice; these antennas are usually in the fom of a parabolic
anlennas are sometimes used.
dish, but flat square phascd-array
be at the satellite, which is at a
The receive antenna may permanently pointed
Individual
ixed point in the sky, in a geostationary orbiL
reception
It is difficult to build receivers to operate at the microwave downlink
dish is to a
so the signal first passed
frequencies, from the antenna to the
on the antenna, thar shifts it
downconverter, usually mounted outdoors
3 Community reception
0.95-145-GHz band.

-This is then conducted by cable to tte receiver atop the television set.
signal
The receiver contains the channel selector, as well as a decoder to permit the

uSer to view authorized channels.

Stdolo an additional cable to the televisien set as illustrated in

The receiver is connected by
Fig. 6.7.
Uaink station

Q
Figure 66 Working of a DBS System
nlink
The steps taking place here are:
a terrestrial to earth)
First the telev ision signal may be relaycd from (ie. pertaining Uplink
Tink to the uplink station. Outor eleoctrvtics

a narrOw beam signal to the satellite in the

the uplink station transmits ier
Then. Receivins Indoor clectronics
14-GHz band. antenna
(descramble and channcl
in band.
The satellite retransmits the signal a wide beam in the 12-GHz frequency selotr)
Cable
w area will receive the
the individual receivars ithin the beam coverage
Now, all
satellite signal.

6.12.3 Components StanJard

o f u n a l o r n t t i o n t1o
A DBS subscriber installation consists of stercu unit

adish antenna two to three fed (60 1o 90 centimcters) in diameter Figure 6. Dinct bnsakusting
sutellite system
 The DTH providers give dish receivers for the viewers to receive
the signal
from the sateilitcs. There may be or multiple satellites that scnd the
one
at the same time. The reccivet receives the
signals
signal from them and is passed on
to the Set Top Box [5TB] receiver in the viewer's house.

he STB receiver the signal in a form suitable for the tclevision and
changes
then passes it on to the TV.

6.13.5 Advaatages of DTH Technology

The main advantages of DTH technology are,

t is equaly beneficial to everyone. As the process is wireless, this system can be

Used in all remote or urban areas.

H High quality audio and video which are cost efTective due to absence of mediators.
KjAImost 4000 channels can be viewed along with 2000 radio channels. Thus
world's entire information the
including news and entertainment is available to the
sybscribers at home.

WJAs there are no a

mediators, complaint can be directly expressed to the provider.
a
, (With single DTH service it is posible to use digital quality audio, video and also
high speed broadband.
6,14 DIGITAL AUDIOBROADCAST(DAB) KeoX
d hE
and cumbine
Digital audio broadcastingg (DAB) is also known as Digital Radio and High-
Definition Radio.

It is a digital radio technology for

broad casting radio stations, used in several
countries across Europe and Asia Pacific. As of 2006, approximalely 1,002
stalions worldwide broadcast in the DAB fomat. The DAB standard was
initiated as a European research project in the 1980s.

DAB reccivers have been avajlable in many counlries since the end of the

1990s.More than 20 counturies provide DAB transmissionsand in many

countries it is expected that DAB will gradually replace FM radio.

6.14.1 Working
Transmission

DAB is audio broadcasting in which analog audio is converted into a digital signal and
transmitted on an assigned channel in the AM or FM frequency range.
 There are to
main functions of the system in the iransmiting side:
a) the modulation system and

b) the audio digital encoding and compression system.

a) The modulation system

The other key to the operation of digital radio is the modulation system. The
modulation used is Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM). It is a
form of spread spectrum modulation that provides the robustness required to
prevent
rellections and other forms of interference from disrupting reception.

Carriers

The system uses about 1500 individual carriers that fill around 1.5 MHz of spectnm.
The cariers are spaced very close to one another. Interference between the cariers is
prevented by making the individual signals ornhogonal to each other

The audio data is then spead across the cariers so hat each carrier takes only a small
proportion ot the dala rale. This has the advantage that i1 interierence is encounieTed in one
area then sufficient data is received to reconstitute the required signal. Guard bands are also
introduced at the beginning of each symbol, and the combined effect is such that the system is
immune to delays consistent with signals 60 km further away than the primary
source
Ampiude

15
wwww..ww

dufam

ww.ww w

Freguenoy

Figure 6.10 Specirum of a Digital Radio Signal

Wih this level of immunity, the system can operate with other digital radio
ill effects. This means that it is
transmitters operaling on the same frequency without any a network the same
lo sel up a system where all the Iransmitters tor operate on
possible
frequency.

b) The encoding and compression system

The encoding and compression system is very important. For the system to be viable
the data rate has to be considerably reduced from that of a standard CD.
 . Sateilite Communication
The digital radio system the data rate down
adopted redures ta 128kbitsLse. Thus a
sis times reduction of the bit rate is achieved than a
inearly encoded signal.
To achieve these redurtions, the incoming audio signal is carefully
analyscd in the
following manner
It is found that the ear has a certaio
o beard. Additionally it a strong sound is
threshold of
hearing. Below this the signals are
present on one frequency, then weaker sounds
close to it may not be heard because the threshold of
6.11. By analysing the incoming audio and hearing is modified as shown in Fig.
only encoding those constituents that the ear will
bear, the significant reducions
by' reducings the audio bandwidth.
can be made. Further reductions in data rale can be achieved

Sound level

Threshold
01 heaning

Frequency
No sound present

Figure 6.11 Threshold

Reception of Hearing
Listeners must have a receiver equipped to handle DAB signals.
A DAB receiver includes a small display that provides infomation about the audio
content in much the same way that the menu screen provides an overview of programs in
digital television (DTV).
Some DAB stations provide up-to-the-minute news, sports, and weather headlines or
bulletins in a scrolled text format on the display. Using the DAB infomation, it may also be
possible to see what song is coming up next. -

6.14.2 Bands and modes

DAB uses a wide-bandwidth broadcast technology. The spectra allocated is in Band 1
(174-240 MH2) and L band (1,452-1,492 MHz), although the secheme allows for operalion
almost anywhere above 30 MHz.

DAB has a number of country specific transmission modes. For worldwide

aDABt receiver must support all the following 4 modes: operation,
Mode I for Band 1I1, Earth
Mode II for 1-Band, Earnh and satellite
 Sutellite Apglicstivns 645
Mode lll for frequencies below 3 GHz. Farth and satellite

Made IV for L-Band. Earth and satellite

6.14.3 Services Provided

Various different services provided by DAB include:

like main radio stations

()Primary services,
like additional sports commentanes
(i) Secondary services,
(ii) Data services

oElectronic Programme Guide (EPG)

as 'Bmadeast
Collections of HTIL pages and digital images (Known
Web Sites)
with audio broadcasts
Slideshows, which may be synchronised

Video

oJava Platform Applications

oIPtunnelling
o Other raw data

6.14.4 Advantages of DAB

Curent AM and FM terestrial broadeast techrology is well cstablished, compatikle,
over are:
and cheap to manufacture. Benefits of DAB analogue systems
over conventional analog transmission,
1) A digital signal offers several advantages
including:
. improved sound quality,

reduced fading and multipath effects,

enhanccd to weather, noise, and other interference, and
immunity
stations that can
base by increasing the nunmber of
expansion of the listener
a given frequency band.
broadcast within

a
than analoguc
DAB may offer more
radio programmes over specific spectrum
FM radio.
for mobile listening
more robust with regard to noise and multipath fading
is
3Y DAB
 i t requires less power than the more Iraditional iransmitters.

5) Improved features for users -DAB radios automatically tune to all the available
slations, offering a list for the user to select from.

More number of stations

Y Good Reception quality due to less noise and fading

8) Less unlicensed ("pirate") station interference

YVariable and less bandwidth
6.14.5 Disadyantages of DAB

1Audio Quality may be reduced as more stations are packed in the bandwidth than
recommended
Synchronizatinn.Sigat deay
3)F Poor Coverage when compared with the high population coverage provided by
FM.
due to the electronic circuitry
)More power requirements complexity of the