Managing the HD Transition Requirements for ENG Microwave

Michael Payne

The migration from standard-definition (SDTV) to high-definition (HDTV) program content in news, sports, and special events coverage has forced broadcast news and field-production managers to find transmission technology that can support higher bit rates for HD-ENG transport streams, with the same signal margins, in the new 12 MHz-channel plan of the 2-GHz BAS or the existing 7-GHz band. This paper examines terrestrial microwave radio transmission techniques that allow contribution bit rates in excess of 80 Mbits/sec in field production applications. It describes the tradeoffs in radio performance associated with specific applications in regard to bit rate versus bandwidth versus carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) threshold, and how they relate to maximum microwave path distances.

Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
2160-2492
Published
2006-11
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J16130