Matti Puputti

Soft handover in terrestrial broadcast networks

The 3rd generation mobile cellular communication systems will provide high-capacity bandwidth, enabling rich media and even TV services to be accessible via mobile handheld devices. For the reception of such services, seamless mobility is a must rather than an option. Alternatively, Digital Television standards, particularly data broadcasting in Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T), can be used for the delivery and reception of similar services. However, the current DVB-T standard lacks adequate methods that enable seamless mobility. In cellular delivery systems, this can be achieved by so-called soft handovers. time slicing is a recent enhancement proposed for the new - still being developed - Digital Video Broadcasting for handheld (DVB-H) standard, which together with DVB-T enables a feasible solution for soft handover to be implemented. This paper considers how time slicing can be utilized in implementing soft handover in a DVB-H receiver. An algorithm for soft handover is proposed and evaluated.