COFDM

A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

A brief history of COFDM - 1

OFDM grew out of Multi Carrier Modulation (MCM)
Military HF radio (late 1950s) Divides stream into several parallel bit streams Bit streams used to modulate several carriers

OFDM - A special form of MCM

Patent issued in the US in 1970 (number 3,488445) submitted by R.W. Chang in 1966

Time domain signals used to ensure subcarrier orthogonality

Major contribution by Shannon in defining waveforms in Euclidean space, allowing definitions of orthogonality No need for steep band pass filters Sub-carrier spectra allowed to overlap Need for real time FFTs

Popular in the 1980s and used for digital audio broadcasting (DAB)
OFDM + QPSK modulation

A brief history of COFDM - 2

Various associated bodies
1992 DVB (Digital Video Broadcast - voluntary group of 200 companies) 9 DVB-S, DVB-C in 1994 and DVB-T in early 1997 dTTb (digtial Terrestrial Television broadcast project) 9 Demonstrator to show the feasibility of a commercial receiver DVBird (Digital Video Broadcast integrated receiver decoder) 9 Technical specifications needed and partitioning of electronic functions DTG (UK based Digital Terrestrial Group, set up in 1995 to make a working broadcast solution for the UK to meet Government plans) 9 First commercial broadcasts in late 1998 with simulcast and later OnDigital services.

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

What is COFDM ?
C - Coded O - Orthogonal F - Frequency D - Division M - Multiplex

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)

Data signals s1(t)
Carrier modulation fc1

S1(f) Output signal

s2(t)

Carrier modulation fc2

S2(f)

Sn(f)

Transimitter

G(t)

:
sn(t)
Carrier modulation fcn

Transmitter architecture

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex) - Modulation

Code NRZ 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

ASK

FSK
Quadrature (QAM) phase shift uses a /2 phase shift. phase shift is shown here

PSK

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)

FCn
Frequency 6817 or 1705 frequencies

FC5 FC4 FC3 FC2 FC1

Useful data

Continuous frequency transmissions G(t)

Tu Tu 1/(Fc1 - Fc2)

Guard interval

Time

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)

G(t)

time

n data symbols over time period T

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)

BPFc1
G(t)

Carrier demod Carrier demod

s1(t)

BPFc2

s2(t)

:
BPFcn Carrier demod
sn(t)

Receiver architecture BPF = Band pass filter

FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)

s1(t)
Carrier modulation fc1

S1(f) Output signal

s2(t)

Carrier modulation fc2

S2(f)

Sn(f)

Transimitter

G(t)

:
sn(t)
Carrier modulation fcn

IDFT
s(t i ) =
2W N

Transmitter architecture

 S(f k)ej2f t /N f =1
k i k

BPFc1
G(t)

Carrier demod Carrier demod

s1(t)

BPFc2

s2(t)

:
BPFcn Carrier demod
sn(t)

DFT

S(f k ) =

T N

Receiver architecture BPF = Band pass filter

 s(t i )ej2f t /N t =1
k i i

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

DVB-T framing structure

Fixed number of carriers used
9 Allows receiver to lock onto signal 9 Keeps constant power levels 9 '2K' system in UK (1705 carriers) 9 '8K' also an option (6817 carriers)

Carrier types
9 Data carriers - 2,4 or 6 bits per symbol, per carrier 9 TPS carriers - Transmission information 9 Pilot carriers -Channel estimation at receiver, Tx at boosted power levels Continual - 177 in '8K' mode, 45 in '2K' always in same position within symbol Scattered - 524 in '8K' mode, 121 in '2K' pseudo random within symbol

Modulation used
9 Increases number of bits that can be transmitted 9 Eg each carrier transports 4 bits for QAM-16

DVB-T framing structure

Single frequency carrier.
One of 6817 (8k) or 1705 (2k) discrete modulation carriers. Either: Data (6048 or 1 512)
Continual pilot (177 or 45) Scattered pilot (524 0r 131) TPS carrier (68 or 17)

OFDM symbol (frequency domain)

....

6817 carriers (8K) 1705 carriers (2K)

DVB-T framing structure

OFDM super frame OFDM symbol (time domain)

4 x OFDM frames

Ts
Guard interval Useful data

t
OFDM frame

Tu

Tf

....

67

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

MPEG-2 Transport stream input

188 188 188

COFDM functional blocks

Randomisation* Outer coding* (R/S bytes added)
RS
204 204

Outer interleaving* (Forney)

PRBS

Inner coding*

Bit and symbol interleaving

....011001010001.... |||||||........||||||||
|||||||........||||||||

Amplitude/phase mapping

|||||||........|||||||| R

|||||||........||||||||

|||||||........||||||||

Pilots and TPS addition

...... ...... ...... ......

Time shift and Inverse FFT combination Guard interval insertion

GI

Analogue conversion

Filtering

Upconversion

Transmission

R |||||||........|||||||| I |||||||........||||||||

IFFT

FIR

DAC

|||||......||||||

|||||......||||||

* Same as DVB-S

DVB transport stream

PROGRAMS

PCR_1 TELETEXT_1

PCR_2 TELETEXT_2 VIDEO_2 AUDIO_2

PCR_3 TELETEXT_3 VIDEO_3 AUDIO_3

PCR_4 TELETEXT_4 VIDEO_4 AUDIO_4

ES

VIDEO_1 AUDIO_1

TP

TP1_1

TP1_2

TP1_3

TP2_1

TP2_2

TP2_3

TP3_1

TP3_2

TP3_3

TP4_1

TP4_2

TP4_3

TRANSPORT MUX TRANSPORT STREAM

TP1_1 TP2_1 TP1_2 TP4_1 TP3_1 TP2_2 TP2_3 TP1_3 TP4_2

Data scrambling
Pseudo Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) Energy dispersal to ensure adequate binary transitions
1 1 0 2 0 3 1 4 0 5 1 6 0 7 1 8 0 9 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
Initialisation sequence

11 12 13 14 15

Randomized data output Enable (1) Data input

Error correction
Error prone environment hence small packets (188 bytes) with additional error correction data (16 bytes)
Known as Forward Error Correction (FEC) Also known as channel coding Two main parts: Outer coding for burst errors (Reed - Solomon and Forney) Inner coding (Convolution coding)
QEF Channel

BER < 10-10

Transmitter FEC Receiver FEC

Data

Data

Energy dispersal

Outer coding (RS)

Forney Interleaving

Inner coding (Convolution)

Outer coding
Reed Solomon
Operates over individual packets Corrects up to 8 erroneous bytes per packet Non correctable flag for > 8 byte errors Bandwidth overhead is 8%

Forney convolution interleaving

Increases efficiency of the RS coding Spreads errors over a greater area

Inner coding
Convolution coding
2 identical streams produced from outer coded stream Output stream formed from combination of these new streams Not all simultaneous bits taken - hence rate defined (DVB-T code rates: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8)

Puncture rate impact on data rate

Puncture rate of 3/4 means 1 out of 4 bits is removed Data rate becomes: (1/2)*(4/3) = 2/3 of original (ie code rate is 2/3)

No puncturing data rate is halved since convolution encoder produces two identical streams

Every 4th bit removed

Bit and Symbol Interleaving

Bite-wise interleaving
Inner coder has two output streams Bit wise interleaver produces 2, 4 or 6 streams for QPSK, 16-QAM and 64-QAM respectively

Symbol interleaving
The 2, 4 or 6 bit words are mapped onto the OFDM carriers 1512 for 2k mode or 6048 for 8K mode

Amplitude and Phase Mapping (example)

12 phases / 3 amplitudes 2 amplitudes appear on 4 phases 1 amplitude appears on 8 phases
I

16-QAM

Pilots and TPS addition

Pilots
Continual pilots 9 Always in the same place within the OFDM symbol 9 45 in 2k mode, 177 in 8k mode 9 Transmitted at increased power levels 9 Used to estimate the channel characteristics and therefore make corrections Scattered pilots 9 Located as a pre-defined pattern such that there is an equal number per symbol 9 131 in 2K mode, 524 in 8k mode 9 Transmitted at increased power levels 9 Used in conjunction with continual pilots to estimate the channel distortion

Pilots and TPS addition

TPS (Transmission Parameter Signalling)
Type of modulation used Hierarchy information Guard interval Inner code rates Transmission mode (ie 2k or 8k) Frame number within a super frame (ie 0 to 3) DPSK (Differential Phase Shift Keying) modulation used due to robustness

IFFT, time shift and combination

IDFT at transmitter, DFT at receiver
FFT actually used (computational algorithm) for summing operation FFTs must be powers of 2, hence 2k or 8k modes Much faster that normal DFT Eg if 8k point DFT takes 670 ms then the FFT takes .53 ms
N2
N 2

log N

Complex to real conversion

Q (real) and I (Imaginary) are added, sampled and output

Guard Interval Insertion

Replication of end of symbol placed at beginning

Main signal

Useful symbol Copy of end of symbol

Also means receiver can identify start of symbol using a correlation function

Final stages - Transmission

D/A conversion Filtering Upconversion and transmission
Video luminance carrier FM sound carrier NICAM COFDM carrier 7.61 MHz Video picture information

Analogue transmission

Digital transmission

f
518 MHz 519.25 MHz 526 MHz 530 MHz +/- 1/6 Mhz (Centre) CH28

CH27

Example: UK transmission in channel 28

MPEG-2 Transport stream input

188 188 188

COFDM functional blocks

Randomisation* Outer coding* (R/S bytes added)
RS
204 204

Outer interleaving* (Forney)

PRBS

Inner coding*

Bit and symbol interleaving

....011001010001.... |||||||........||||||||
|||||||........||||||||

Amplitude/phase mapping

|||||||........|||||||| R

|||||||........||||||||

|||||||........||||||||

Pilots and TPS addition

...... ...... ...... ......

Time shift and Inverse FFT combination Guard interval insertion

GI

Analogue conversion

Filtering

Upconversion

Transmission

R |||||||........|||||||| I |||||||........||||||||

IFFT

FIR

DAC

|||||......||||||

|||||......||||||

* Same as DVB-S

What is COFDM ?
C - Coded O - Orthogonal F - Frequency D - Division M - Multiplex

Orthogonality
Definition possible due to signals being described as vectors Spacing between carriers is minimised
Results close to theoretical maximum are achieved (f 1/) Expensive in analogue FDM due to costly band pass filters
1/T

fk

fk+1

fk+2

fk+3

fk+4

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

Countering against echoes and reflections

Repetition of signal to counter echoes
Echoes caused by Moving receiver Moving transmitter Reflection from moving or static objects Single Frequency Networks (SFNs)
COFDM transmitter
Reflected signal Direct signal

Building Set top box

Distant signal Direct signal

Set top box COFDM transmitter 1 COFDM transmitter 2

Countering against echoes and reflections

Echo length is easily calculated
Assuming 2k Mode with Guard interval 1/32 1/32 of the symbol transmits in 7 us Maximum delay = 7 us Distance = 3 x 108 m/s x 7 us Distance = 2.1 km
Guard interval

Useful data

Main signal

Max. delay
Guard interval

Useful data

Delayed signal

COFDM
A brief history COFDM principles DVB-T framing structure COFDM transmission sequence Countering against echoes and reflections DVB-T variable parameters

DVB-T variable parameters

Carrier mode: 2k or 8k Type of modulation: QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM Guard Interval: 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/64 Inner code rate: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 Hierarchical modes Selection of transmission bandwidth (6/7/8 MHz)

DVB-T variable parameters

Useful data rate (M bits / sec)
Modulation Code rate
1/2 2/3

Guard interval 1/4

4.98 6.64 7.46 8.29 8.71 9.95 13.27 14.93 16.59 17.42 14.93 19.91 22.39 24.88 26.13

1/8
5.53 7.37 8.29 9.22 9.68 11.06 14.75 16.59 18.43 19.35 16.59 22.12 24.88 27.65 29.03

1/16
5.85 7.81 8.78 9.76 10.25 11.71 15.61 17.56 19.52 20.49 17.56 23.42 26.35 29.27 30.74

1/32
6.03 8.04 9.05 10.05 10.56 12.06 16.09 18.10 20.11 21.11 18.10 24.13 27.14 30.16 31.67

QPSK

3/4 5/6 7/8 1/2 2/3

16-QAM

3/4 5/6 7/8 1/2

64-QAM

2/3 3/4 5/6 7/8

DVB-T variable parameters

Significance of mode and guard interval
8k system allows good reception with long multi-path echoes 8k system is therefore suitable for single frequency networks (SFNs) 2k system more suited to multi frequency or single transmitter networks A larger guard interval implies a lower bit-rate efficiency The guard interval value is therefore a trade-off between bit-rate and network tolerance to echoes and reflections

DVB-T hierarchy coding

I
64 QAM constellation

Low priority carriers

DVB-T hierarchy coding

I

In poor S/N ratio conditions 16 64-QAM constellation points can be demodulated as one QPSK constellation point

High priority carriers

DVB-T hierarchy coding

Transmission of the same or different data for:
Same or different program can be transmitted in HD and SD + greater error recovery Poor reception areas can view SD if HD not possible

Transmission of different resolutions / characteristics:

Reception by different cost receivers (high end, low end, mobile, portable)

Other data can be transmitted related to the program