[opendtv] Re: The "real" problem with OFDM in the U.S.

  • From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 09:03:48 -0500

When we cannot share the same channel across the country (usually) then 
we must have boundaries.  And if we can't have very sharp boundaries 
then I guess we have to assume adjacent market areas can't use the same 
channel.

This sounds sort of like a map coloring problem.  I think it has finally 
been proven that any arbitrary map can be colored with only 4 different 
colors.  A simplified view of equal sized market areas with no political 
gerrymandering would then suggest that 3/4 of the spectrum then would be 
unusable because of adjacent areas, which seems like a waste.  I suppose 
that a carefully layed out grid of hexagons across the country could do 
it wasting only 2/3 of the spectrum but that still doesn't seem very 
good.  And of course I'm ignoring all those subtleties of population 
density, terrain, etc.

It's a thorny problem I hadn't really thought about much before.  Seems 
like there should be a better way.

How sharp can these boundaries be anyway?

- Tom


Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> At 5:09 PM -0500 3/19/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> 
>>KBoiling all of this down, I don't think the idea
>>of creating overly sharp signal boundaries makes
>>good sense. Again, metro Phila is enough to separate
>>signals between NYC and Balt VHF co-located stations.
>>Not at all bad. Since context matters in these
>>discussions, the proper context to put Craig's idea
>>into is to say that the alternative to this scheme
>>makes little sense. Even if this alternative has
>>some nice attributes.
> 
> 
> Nice try Bert. But you are pissing in the wind.
> 
> The reality is that we have a market based system and that it must 
> compete with other media in those markets. Media that are 
> increasingly targeted, with the ability to reach sub-markets, zoned 
> areas, and in the near future individual consumers.
> 
> There may well be room for a national service with national ads. I 
> encouraged you to come up with a plan for the VHF spectrum that would 
> do exactly that, but you ignored the challenge.
> 
> The easy way out is to do nothing. In that case broadcasting as we 
> know it will die in a decade.
> 
> Regards
> Craig
>  
>  
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