Field Trial of LTE eMBMS Network for TV Distribution: Experimental Results and Analysis

In recent years, the advances in mobile network technologies have revolutionized the paradigm how the users receive video and audio content. With the rise of smart phones and tablets having large screens, users have become more interested than anytime before in watching linear and non-linear TV programs on their mobile devices. This is because the users can fetch nowadays the content using their mobile devices at anytime and any place they are located. Facing this phenomenon, broadcasters are looking for new means to reach the users of digital natives that are interested in watching TV on their mobile devices. As most mobile devices are based on a global 3rd generation partnership project standard, the enhanced multimedia broadcast multicast system (eMBMS) of long term evolution (LTE) network is foreseen as one potential candidate for delivering broadcast services. In order to investigate the capability and limitations of today’s LTE eMBMS network, a field trial was carried out in Munich, Germany. This paper describes the setup of the field trial and presents a comprehensive analysis of the LTE eMBMS technology with respect to performance and future enhancements. The measurement data is compared against simulation models for field strength and path loss of each transmitter, eMBMS useful field strength and received power, and signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR). Moreover, the performance of cyclic prefix (CP) durations that are longer than the standardized values of 16.67 us and 33.33 us is evaluated using the calibrated simulation models. Results have shown that the simulation models can adequately predict the measurement data. Moreover, it is shown that a CP duration of 66.67 us provides a gain in SINR and achieves the best tradeoff in terms of maximum user velocity and performance in networks with limited inter-site distance.