Broadband Internet multimedia service return channel using DTV for rural and remote access.

The television system is in the process of migrating from an. analog to an all-digital system. This technology change provides for new opportunities for broadcasters in the provision of value added services. Thus, in addition to TV broadcast, Digital Television (DTV) may be used for the transfer of broadband data in order to accommodate the demand for Internet Multimedia Services especially in rural and remote areas. This provides a cost-effective solution for these areas where also, the spectrum is less congested. However, for this application to be realized, there will be a need for a terrestrial return channel. Our study looked at various wire-line and wireless techniques and found that the Digital Video Broadcast-Re turn Channel Terrestrial (DVB-RCT) system could satisfy the return channel requirements. This system has been designed to operate over a large coverage area, up to about 65 km from the main transmitter, has good multipath performance as well as the ability to adapt to different propagation conditions. CRC plans to conduct some experiments that will evaluate the performance of this system. This research will focus on throughput and range under static and portable conditions, as well as spectrum issues associated with diplexing, and further investigate any gains that may accrue by initialing a vertically polarized return channel.