Planning factors for fixed and portable DTTV reception

The transition plan from the analog (NTSC) to digital terrestrial television (DTTV) in the USA was based on a simplified version of the Longley-Rice service prediction algorithm, and a link budget that mimicked the traditional planning factors for NTSC. It is now clear that the service prediction and the link budget both have serious shortfalls. This paper provides the formalism required for the development of realistic link budget and service grades for fixed and portable DTTV reception.