Key Technologies and Measurements for DTMB-A System

Digital terrestrial television multimedia broadcasting-advanced (DTMB-A), the new digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) system proposed by China, has been accepted by International Telecommunications Union as the international DTTB standard in July, 2015. By adopting several advanced technologies, such as near-capacity channel coding and modulation as well as improved frame structure, DTMB-A can provide faster system synchronization, higher receiving sensitivity, better performance against multipath effect, higher spectrum efficiency, and the flexibility for future extension, compared with its previous generation, DTMB system. This paper provides the technical analyses on the physical layer specifications of DTMB-A system in detail, together with the discussion on the key technologies adopted. Laboratory test and field trial results are also given which demonstrate that DTMB-A can offer excellent overall system performance for both fixed and mobile receptions under complicated terrestrial broadcasting conditions, and is capable of supporting multiple services with different quality of service requirements.