A Prototype VLSI Solution for Digital Terrestrial TV Receivers Conforming to the DVB-T Standard

F. Scalise, M. Balanza, N. Chauve, P. Combelles, P. Penard, C. Del Toso, D. Hepper, G. Masera, C. Hernandez, F. Nicolas, D. Le Goff, P. Robertson

This paper intends to give a thorough overview of the technical activities carried out within the DVBird project (digital video broadcasting integrated receiver decoder), in the framework of the European Programme ACTS (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services), sponsored by the European Commission. The project results achieved in the design of the digital front-end stage of a receiver conforming to the new “DVB-T” European standard for over-the-air TV broadcasting are highlighted. This DVB-T standard is based on the COFDM (coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) technique and is the result of the technical efforts dedicated to the definition of a digital terrestrial television system in past years in Europe. An optimized channel decoder architecture, taking advantage of the most recent VLSI technologies in order to achieve a cost-effective solution for the receiver (or set-top box), is proposed. This work is carried out to encourage early introduction of a digital terrestrial television service in Europe, expected by the beginning of 1998, while the demonstrator is planned for extensive field trials in the second half of 1997. The four-chip prototype is based on state-of-the-art complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) 0.5-µm, 3.3-V, 3-metal-layer very large scale integration (VLSI) technology. Moreover, a cooperative methodology has been implemented to validate the silicon and the demonstrator.

Print ISSN
Published
1997-11
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J17642