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.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- receiving, on a broadcast channel, 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 robust frame by encoding the second layer estimate;
- and
- wirelessly broadcasting the robust frame.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a first antenna tuned to a first broadcast channel;
- a second antenna tuned to a second broadcast channel;
- and
- a processor coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna, the processor configured to:
- receive, from the first antenna, a 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 robust frame by encoding the second layer estimate;
- and
- transmit the robust frame to the second antenna for wireless transmission.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, on a station-to-transmitter link, a signal comprising first data and second data;
- forming a first layer by processing the first data;
- forming a second layer by processing the second data;
- forming a frame by adding the first layer to the second layer;
- and
- wirelessly broadcasting the frame on a first broadcast channel;
- 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 on a second broadcast channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.