[opendtv] FCC Kiboshes OFDM Experimental License Request

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:47:42 -0600

Too bad this wasn't a legitimate experimental license they were requesting. It 
would be very interesting to see another round of comparison tests, at least to 
me. As far as I can tell, the only reason for denial of the request was that it 
wasn't seen as a legitimate one, for experimental purposes.

Bert

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http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/113708

FCC Kiboshes OFDM Experimental License Request
02.14.2011.

WASHINGTON: An experimental license for a new system for mobile DTV 
transmission was denied by the FCC. The license was sought by WatchTV, a 
Portland, Ore., low-power TV concern headed by Greg Herman, also president of 
SpectrumEvolution.org, a coalition advocating for the new hybrid DTV/broadband 
delivery system. The denial was based both on the technology and a proposal to 
move four analog LPTV signals to digital multicast tiers on different 
frequencies.

"This is to inform you that the above-captioned request for modification is 
denied," the FCC's Media Bureau chief, William Lake, wrote in the determination 
addressed to Herman. "Although your submission is styled as a request for an 
experimental authorization, the request is a very unusual one. The proposal 
contemplates that analog TV service from four stations would cease and their 
programming would be transmitted from a different digital TV station on a 
multicast basis. The request contains no analysis of the potential impact on 
consumers; it merely assumes that virtually all viewers who previously received 
the analog signals will be able to receive the multicast digital signal."

Low-power TV stations and translators were not subject to the June 2009 
digital-transition deadline. A date for LPTVs remains pending. Lake goes on to 
say WatchTV proposes to convert the four analog stations to "a different 
technology previously implemented in China, intended to support what is 
described as broadband service. That technology is inconsistent with the 
existing ATSC standard for transmission of digital television in the United 
States."

SpectrumEvolution.org, and by extension, WatchTV, is promoting the use of 
orthogonal frequency division multiplexing for delivering mobile DTV and 
broadband over the air. The group was seeking an experimental license in the 
Portland market to test its technology, which couples OFDM and receivers using 
a Chinese standard, Converged Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting. Co-OFDM was a 
competitor for transmitting regular DTV in the United States before 8-vestigial 
sideband won out.

"This commission supports innovation and technological experimentation. 
However, we are also mindful to ensure that experiments not undermine our 
rules," Lake wrote. "An experimental license is not to be used to introduce a 
new service that does not comply with our rules, as this request appears to 
contemplate.

"Although the proposal itself is silent about the number of participants in the 
experiment, it is our understanding from the applicant's counsel that the 
applicant hopes that thousands will participate. In addition, you, as the 
applicant's CEO, have been quoted as saying that, 'If the technology works as 
well as anticipated, deployment can start within a year, with widespread 
penetration, including rural areas, faster than any other technology."

Lake says the request appears to be more appropriate as a developmental 
license, which would require a petition for making an exception to current FCC 
rules regarding 8-VSB, the DTV standard developed by the Advanced Television 
Systems Committee. Any such rulemaking would likely need to be accompanied by a 
similar standards process, he said.

"In short, the information submitted with the request is not persuasive that 
the proposal is truly for a technical experiment," Lake wrote in the denial 
dated Feb. 10. "It does not describe except in the most general of terms what 
tests, if any, will be performed. The commission generally looks favorably on 
experiments designed to examine technical issues. We cannot, however, authorize 
an experiment that appears designed to establish a new service that is not 
currently permitted under commission rules."

SpectrumEvolution.org emerged last November when it announced demonstrating the 
OFDM-CMMB technology for the FCC. Seven video content streams were said to be 
fed to 12 different CMMB-based receivers, from cell phones to dedicated 
handheld devices made by Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG and Sony-Ericsson. CMMB 
America is a member of SpectrumEvolution.org, which says "tens of millions" of 
CBBM devices are deployed around the world. The company is a division of Hong 
Kong-based CMMB Vision, which makes printed circuit boards for CMMB devices.

Aside from promoting the use of OFDM and CMMB, the group's aim is to preserve 
broadcast TV spectrum. It recently announced that it engaged Washington, D.C. 
firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough to carry its water on Capitol Hill. The 
firm's senior policy advisor and a former Congressman, Ron Klink was named 
point man for the group.

-- Deborah D. McAdams
 
 
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