Last July, the FCC approved temporary experimental authorization to WWOO-LD in Westmoreland, NH (Boston market) to transmit a 5G Broadcast modulated signal on UHF TV channel 28. It was the first TV station to receive FCC permission to test 3GPP standard 5G modulation of a TV transmitter in the US. The temporary six-month 5G Broadcast test authorization expired 8 months ago. The first US 5G Broadcast tests included iPaws Emergency Alerts; First Responder Emergency Alerts; Stable and reliable delivery of video files; Deployment of multiple test mobile phones. The program content source was France 24 in English. The experiments were a success.

New US 5G Broadcast Experiments This Fall

New, FCC-authorized 5G Broadcast experimental testing called Proof-of-Concept 2, is planned for late Fall 2024. The new tests will use two UHF LPTV stations on adjacent channels with overlapping contours, broadcasting the same France 24 English content feed. The results will affirm how adjacent channel interference problems are handled by the 3GPP standard in a moving receiver scenario. Tests will also reveal how seamlessly a 5G Broadcast cell phone hands-off live simulcast TV content reception while moving between different transmitter sites on different channels.

WWOO-LD will transmit the live France 24 feed using worldwide 3GPP standard 5G Broadcast on UHF Channel 28 as before. WWOO-LD will deploy a Distributed Transmission System (DTS) to test first responder solutions on a localized basis. This is the first field test of DTS. There are plenty of unique reception scenarios to try and test with FCC authorization. These technology experiments will push 5G TV in the US to its next stage.

Transmitting 5G Broadcast

5G Broadcasting is a TV signal modulated by a worldwide 3GPP standard 5G TV-modulated exciter. The only difference between an ATSC DTV transmitter and a 5G Broadcast transmitter is the exciter modulation. Everything else is RF amplification and radiation. Some exciters provide an external modulator input, but many don’t. Some TV transmitter manufacturers are looking into adding the 3GPP 5G TV modulation standard to their exciters. Surely, money and patents are involved and being negotiated, and business plans are being discussed. Meanwhile, broadcasters are awaiting the results and impact of the 5G Broadcast Proof-of-Concept 2 tests.

WWOO-LD, WTXX-LD and WYJH-LD are using exciters with an external input generated by an ATEME 5G TV modulator. The original WWOO-LD 5G Broadcast system used a standard Rohde & Schwarz TV transmitter with the special Ateme 5G Broadcast encoder. WWOO-LD also used an Alive Telecom antenna. Qualcomm Technologies Inc provided four, special 5GTV smartphone prototypes and a software-defined receiver (SDR) for mobile field tests.

Further experiments are planned this year for WWOO-LD Channel 28, WTXX-LD, Channel 29 in Hartford, CT, and WYJH-LD, Channel 27 in Danbury, CT. All three stations are installing new TRedess TV transmitters for the tests. TRedess TV exciters provide an external modulation input. All three stations will modulate their transmitters with 3GPP 5G Broadcast generated by the ATEME encoder from the same was France 24 English video feed.

From a technical perspective, the mission is to field test the handoff on a mobile phone from one channel to a different one from a separate transmitter. This will be tested from a vehicle between the transmitters’ contours as well as from a stationary receiver picking up the stronger signal and locking onto it. It will use the same four prototype 5G Broadcast cellphones for field testing. The tests are intended to demonstrate redundancy for Emergency Alert and First Responder platform solutions should one of the 5G Broadcast signals fail.

The 5G Broadcast Collective

A worldwide Association of broadcasters, developers, and manufacturers who are deploying or considering deploying 5G Broadcasting have formed the 5G Broadcast Collective. Its stated mission is ‘to unite the ecosystem of 5G Broadcasters for the benefit of all’. Chairman/CEO of the 5G Broadcast Collective, Frank Copsidas said “Because 5G Broadcasting is in the worldwide 3GPP standards, it is only appropriate for the 5G Broadcasting world to work together to roll out this new platform for the best and highest use of the broadcast spectrum, primarily with Direct to Mobile and Emergency Alerting.” Copsidas is tied to all three LPTV stations in the upcoming Proof-of-Concept 2 tests. He thinks 5G TV will be ready to launch in 2025. The 5G Broadcast Collective will be at IBC 2024 in stand 14.B17 in the new Content Everywhere Hall.

The challenges of bringing 5G Broadcast to widespread adoption in the USA are many, and like so many other fledgling broadcast technologies, the development of 5G Broadcast is inevitably underpinned by a commercial consortium of vested interests alongside legislative bodies and standards organizations, so the ambition of the collective seems worthy of some support.

5G Broadcast Experiments In India

As we chart the progress of 5G Broadcast in the US it helps to see it in context of global progress, where things are several years further along the road.

An approach based on 5G Broadcast that will allow users to watch live TV channels on their smartphones without an internet connection is known as Direct 2 Mobile (D2M). The technology is currently being tested primarily in India and also in Europe. Initial D2M pilot testing with serious governmental support began last year in India. This year, trials are being held in 19 Indian cities to check how direct-to-mobile broadcasting can be launched at a larger scale. Essentially, D2M technology functions like a personal portable FM radio. It doesn't need the internet or a SIM.

The D2M network is being tested in the 526-582 MHz band and transmitted separately from TV towers which are also broadcasting the station's FCC-assigned DTV channel. D2M can also be used to reinforce broadcast coverage at local stadiums, allowing fans to watch instant replays as they are broadcast, without the usual IP streaming video latency.

D2M also includes a public alert remit, and could become ‘targeted TV’ to broadcast citizen-centric information directly to individuals, issue localized emergency warnings, and provide disaster management help, while being used to broadcast live content and other entertainment to mobile phones. In broadcast TV engineering terminology, 5G Broadcast is a virtual SFN.

D2M delivers content to viewers without taxing cellular network bandwidth because it is one-to-all, just like radio and TV broadcasting have always been.

European 5G Broadcast Testing

During 2024 The Broadcast Bridge has published a series of six articles on 5G Broadcast, exploring the technology, testing and roll out around the world. Across the series you will find information about various proof of concept and field trials exploring a fairly wide range of use cases. Development is advanced in a number of European countries with national broadcaster and government support. One significant difference in Europe is the emergence of a proposed, but as yet not fully developed, High Tower High Power overlay model where 5G Broadcast could be used in symbiosis with cellphone streaming delivery, with a controlled hand-off between cellular multicast/unicast stream delivery and 5G Broadcast in high traffic areas or for high traffic events.

The Elephant In The Room

A common thread worldwide is that field trials have been done using prototype cell phone devices, mostly provided by Qualcomm. For 5G Broadcast to become a viable commercial proposition, cellphone manufacturers need to implement support for the technology in consumer devices.