¸SFE Broadcast Tester
The compact signal generator for all digital and analog TV and audio broadcasting standards
Broadcast multistandard platform
◆
Realtime signal generation for digital
◆
and analog transmission standards
Wide frequency range with excellent
◆
signal quality
Integrated transport stream player
◆
and video/audio generator
Arbitrary waveform generator
◆
Ideal supplement to the high-end
◆
¸SFU broadcast test system
Integrated noise generator and BER
◆
tester
Compact cabinet with convenient
◆
graphical user interface
Version
01.00
July
2007
Front view of the ¸SFE
The ¸SFE is a multistandard capable
broadcast signal generator that supports
all common TV standards and a number of sound broadcasting standards.
Whether analog or digital terrestrial TV,
cable, satellite, and mobile TV, or digital
sound broadcasting – all these signals
can be modulated in realtime. For this
purpose, the ¸SFE combines a highquality RF modulator, a universal realtime coder, and baseband signal sources
in one instrument.
Owing to its modular concept, the
¸SFE can be optimally adapted to
the requirements at hand – for example,
with an integrated noise generator or
a BER tester. And also after purchase
the ¸SFE can be quickly and easily expanded to include new modulation
modes by installing software options.
The versatile baseband signal sources
for digital TV standards allow the
generation of test signals from
Rohde & Schwarz libraries as well as the
replay of proprietary transport streams.
For analog TV, the ¸SFE offers an
integrated video/audio test signal generator. Alternatively, the user can feed
transport streams as well as analog A/V
signals from external baseband generators. Irrespective of the realtime coders
used, it is possible to generate user defined modulation signals by means of
an optional arbitrary waveform generator and to replay waveform files of the
customer.
Although the ¸SFE has a compact design and does not require much
space, it offers the same convenient
graphical user interface as the high-end
¸SFU as well as extensive remote
control functions.
Applications
The multistandard capability and
the flexible option concept make the
¸SFE an extremely versatile instrument for many lab applications. However, due to its excellent price/performance ratio, the ¸SFE is also ideally
suited for service and quality assurance
applications. In addition, the optional
ARB generator in combination with the
compact design make the ¸SFE a
cost-efficient solution for production
applications.
2 ¸SFE Broadcas t Tester
Features
Broadcast multistandard platform
The ¸SFE broadcast tester is a
multistandard instrument that supports
all common broadcasting standards.
Whether analog or digital, terrestrial, satellite or cable, mobile TV or digital sound
broadcasting – all these standards can be
generated by using only one instrument.
Switching over between different standards is quick and easy – a press of a button is enough. Additional and future standards can be added as software update
at any time. Up to three standards can be
installed simultaneously.
Digital terrestrial TV standards
◆
DVB-T
–
The success of the European terrestrial standard DVB-T is continuing. More and more countries, also
outside Europe, are switching from
analog to digital TV and relying on
the DVB-T technology, which has
now been tried and tested many
times and allows high-quality
transmission of digital broadcasting signals.
ISDB-T
–
ISDB-T is a Japanese standard for
the digital terrestrial transmission
of video, audio, and data signals
by means of 13 segments. ISDB-T
with partial reception is for mobile
TV reception.
8VSB/ATSC
–
8VSB is a terrestrial DTV standard
from the USA with vestigial sideband modulation. At a bandwidth
of 6 MHz, a sideband is partially
suppressed in the spectrum.
DTMB (GB20600-2006)
–
GB20600-2006 is the official
Chinese standard for digital terrestrial TV. It combines the two former
competing proposed standards
DMB-T (multicarrier method) and
ADTB-T (single-carrier method).
Cable TV standards
◆
DVB-C
–
The ¸SFE supports all QAM
modulation modes defined in the
EN 300429 standard. Its powerful hardware is also able to cover
high-order QAM modulations that
have not yet been standardized.
J.83/B
–
J.83/B is an American cable transmission standard. The ¸SFE
also supports the enhanced J.83/B
standard with 1024QAM.
DVB-T/H
PAL B/G
Mobile TV standards
◆
DVB-H
–
In the ¸SFE, DVB-H and DVBT have been implemented in one
coder. This coder supports the following specific DVB-H functions:
the newly introduced 4k mode, use
of the TPS carriers for time slicing
signaling, the additional 5 MHz
channel bandwidth and required
symbol interleavers with native and
in-depth interleaving, as well as
MPE forward error correction (FEC).
Hierarchical coding is also possible.
DVB-S2
¸SFE Broadcas t Tester 3
T-DMB
–
T-DMB was developed in Korea
and is based on the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard
already introduced in Europe for
mobile sound broadcasting reception. The T-DMB/DAB coder in the
¸SFE supports both the Korean
and the European transmission
standards.
MediaFLOTM
–
MediaFLOTM is a proprietary transmission method that was developed by the American company
QUALCOMM and is currently used
in a nationwide network in the
USA. MediaFLOTM is an OFDM
method for channel bandwidths
of 5 MHz and 6 MHz which uses
QPSK and 16QAM for subcarrier
modulation. The data rates transmitted to the mobile receiver range
between 50 kbit/s and 1 Mbit/s.
ISDB-T 1-segment (partial reception)
–
With mobile ISDB-T in accordance
with ARIB B31 1.5, only one of altogether 13 available segments is
used for transmission. The remaining 12 segments can transmit TV
programs for stationary reception.
DMB-TH
–
DMB-TH is a proprietary standard
that has evolved from the Chinese
DMB-T system. It is also suitable
for mobile reception. In the meantime, DMB-T has been integrated
into DTMB (GB20600-2006), the
new Chinese standard for terrestrial TV.
Standards for satellite TV
◆
DVB-S, DVB-S/DSNG
–
DVB-S (EN 300421/EN 301210) was
introduced in 1994 as a satellite
transmission standard. DVB-S uses
QPSK modulation. It has established
itself as the world's most widely
used satellite transmission standard. DVB-S/DSNG also uses 8PSK
and 16QAM.
DVB-S2
–
DVB-S2 employs an innovative and
efficient channel coding method
that in addition to QPSK and 8PSK
is also used with the high-order
16APSK and 32APSK modulation modes. The method is very
robust, offers safe reception and
provides up to 30 % higher data
transmission rates than DVB-S. The
¸SFE supports the non-backward-compatible broadcast services (BS-NBCBS).
DirecTV
–
DirecTV (also DirecTV legacy
mode) is a proprietary standard
with encryption that is widely
used in America. Transmission is performed via a special
transport stream protocol with
130-byte packets. After conversion to 188 bytes, DirecTV transport
streams can be replayed with the
¸SFE baseband generator.
Analog TV standards
◆
The B/G, D/K, M/N, L, and I analog
standards with the PAL, NTSC, and
SECAM color transmission systems
are also supported. A video/audio
generator for the baseband signal
can be integrated, thus eliminating the need for an additional signal
generator.
Sound broadcasting standards
◆
DAB
–
Based on a COFDM transmission method, DAB was developed
for digital and high-quality audio
transmission to mobile receivers.
DRM (ARB waveform)
–
DRM is a COFDM method for digital transmission of sound broadcasting programs via shortwave.
ISDB-Tsb
–
ISDB-Tsb (sound broadcasting)
is an expansion of the Japanese
ISDB-T digital TV standard for
transmitting sound broadcasting
programs.
Open for future standards
◆
New transmission standards are
provided from Rohde & Schwarz as
software updates. These updates
can be installed on the ¸SFE and
enabled by keycode at any time. The
¸SFE can thus always be used
for the latest standards.
Key code entry for new options
4 ¸SFE Broadcas t Tester
Realtime signal generation for digital
and analog transmission standards
The generation of modulated signals for
various transmission standards in realtime is the key function of the ¸SFE
broadcast tester. For this purpose, the
¸SFE uses a universal coder that in
a similar form has already proven itself
in the high-end ¸SFU broadcast test
system.
Universal coder for realtime signal
◆
generation
The ¸SFE has a powerful universal hardware platform for baseband
signal processing. This platform provides the I and Q bit streams for the
broadband vector modulator. Switching over between the different transmission standards is performed by
reloading the firmware. Thus, a highly
accurate spectrum is produced for all
modulation modes.
Settable modulation parameters
◆
Depending on the selected transmission standard, different modulation
parameters such as constellation,
code rate, and FFT mode must be
defined. These parameters can be
varied irrespective of the transport
stream or A/V signal to be transmitted. All conceivable versions of a
standard can thus be tested. The
required signaling information for the
receiver is automatically adapted by
the realtime coder.
Additional modulation modes as soft-
◆
ware options
The various modulation modes for the
realtime coder of the ¸SFE have
been completely implemented as
firmware. This allows you to quickly
and easily add further transmission
standards. Many standards have
already been preinstalled and can be
enabled by entering a keycode.
DVB-H coding menu
Wide frequency range with excellent
signal quality
From IF, VHF and UHF up to the L band
– the ¸SFE covers the entire frequency range that is relevant for broadcasting applications. Despite its favorable price, the ¸SFE makes no compromise when it comes to signal quality.
Frequency range 100 kHz to 2.5 GHz
◆
The frequency can be set in 1 Hz
steps. Either the center frequency
or the channel number is entered,
which is especially useful in analog
TV.
Signal level –100 dBm to +15 dBm
◆
The signal level can be set in 0.1 dB
steps. The wear-free electronic atten-
uator permits a virtually unlimited
number of switching cycles with excellent reproducibility. This is a significant advantage, especially in production applications.
SSB phase noise at 300 MHz
◆
typ. <–115 dBc at 20 kHz
Advanced COFDM modulation methods place high requirements on the
stability and spectral purity of the oscillator signal. In this respect, the RF
synthesizer of the ¸SFE sets new
standards in its class. The ¸SFE
excels not only in terms of its low SSB
phase noise but also due to its low
broadband noise and good harmonic
suppression.
Typical phase noise at 300 MHz
¸SFE Broadcas t Tester 5
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