Space-time equalization for DVB-T in single frequency networks

The use of single frequency networks (SFN) for digital video broadcasting terrestrial services (DVB-T) yields severe intersymbol interference (ISI) caused by the mutual interference between the adjacent transmitters as well as the local scattering of each transmitted signal. The optimal mitigation of such ISI requires either equalization with an extraordinary number of taps or the use of multicarrier modulation with a very large block size. In this paper, we propose to exploit multiple receiving antennas in order to separate, than to optimally combine the signals coming from different transmitters. This approach allows to reduce the block size and/or the computation burden. However, it yields performance losses compared to the optimal processing. These losses depend on the space-time diversity and are tested in this paper for rural type propagation environments.