Loss-free handover for IP datacast over DVB-H networks

Mobility is a very important requirement for handheld broadcast reception terminals. It has to be ensured that a service can be continued without interruption when the user moves from one location to another. With digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H), such soft handovers are possible even with only one receiver front-end. In this paper it is considered how the off-times between the transmission bursts which are a feature of DVB-Hs can be used to perform those handovers. Limitations are described. A technology called "phase shifting" is proposed. This proposal was submitted to the IP datacast over DVB-H call for technologies and has been preliminary accepted in the DVB project to be added to the specification.