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US 10,951,334 B2Granted
Broadcast relaying via cooperative multi-channel transmission
AssigneeSinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
InventorsMichael John Simon, Louis Herbert Libin
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Abstract
Systems and methods for relaying in broadcast single-frequency networks are disclosed herein. A single-frequency network can be formed in part using transmitters that receive data via a cooperative relay channel instead of a station-to-transmitter link. In some embodiments, a second channel may use a portion of its transmission time to relay the information to the single-frequency network transmitter using time-division multiplexing. In other embodiments, a second channel may encode the relayed information on a second layer using layer-division multiplexing.
Claims19
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a first apparatus of a first Single Frequency Network (SFN) from a second SFN and on a first broadcast channel associated with a first frequency band, a signal comprising a first layer and a second layer;
- forming a first layer estimate by processing the received signal;
- forming an interference-free signal by subtracting the first layer estimate from the received signal;
- forming a second layer estimate by processing the interference-free signal;
- forming a first robust frame by encoding the second layer estimate;
- wirelessly broadcasting, to a receiver device, the first robust frame on a second broadcast channel different from the first broadcast channel, wherein the second broadcast channel is associated with a second frequency band different from the first frequency band;
- and
- wirelessly broadcasting, by a second apparatus of the first SFN coupled to a gateway device using a station-to-transmitter link, a second robust frame over the second broadcast channel to the receiver device, wherein the first and second robust frames are coherent signals.
5 more elements
A Single Frequency Network (SFN), comprising:
- a first apparatus, comprising:
- a first antenna tuned to a first broadcast channel associated with a first frequency band;
- a second antenna tuned to a second broadcast channel associated with a second frequency band different from the first frequency band;
- and
- a first processor coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna, the first processor configured to:
- receive, from the first antenna, a signal received from a second SFN, the signal comprising a first layer and a second layer;
- form a first layer estimate by processing the received signal;
- form an interference-free signal by subtracting the first layer estimate from the received signal;
- form a second layer estimate by processing the interference-free signal;
- form a first robust frame by encoding the second layer estimate;
- and
- transmit the first robust frame to the second antenna for wireless broadcasting to a receiver device over the second broadcast channel different from the first broadcast channel;
- and
- a second apparatus coupled to a gateway device using a station-to-transmitter link, the second apparatus comprising:
- a second processor configured to cause transmission of a second robust frame over the second broadcast channel to the receiver device, wherein the first and second robust frames are coherent signals.
12 more elements
A Single Frequency Network (SFN), comprising:
- a first apparatus coupled to a gateway device using a station-to-transmitter link, the first apparatus comprising:
- an antenna tuned to a first broadcast channel associated with a first frequency band;
- a first processor coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna, the first processor configured to:
- receive, on the station-to-transmitter link, a signal comprising first data and second data;
- form a first layer by processing the first data;
- form a second layer by processing the second data;
- form a first frame by adding the first layer to the second layer;
- and
- wirelessly broadcast, using the antenna and to a receiver device, the first frame on the first broadcast channel associated with the first frequency band,
- wherein the first data comprises a television signal for transmission on the first broadcast channel;
- and
- wherein the second data comprises a second television signal for transmission in a second SFN on a second broadcast channel different from the first broadcast channel, wherein the second broadcast channel is associated with a second frequency band different from the first frequency band;
- and
- a second apparatus comprising a second processor configured to:
- cause reception of a second frame from the second SFN;
- generate a third frame based on the second frame;
- and
- cause transmission of the third frame to the receiver device, wherein the first and third frames are coherent signals.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.