LDM integration into 5G NR: Use cases and PHY performance analysis

The next generation mobile technology aims at revolutionizing the world of connectivity. 5G will support data rates in excess of several tons of megabytes per second, expand network coverage, and reduce latency. Among this new ecosystem, 5G could be essential in the media industry, such as broadcast network operators, broadcast service providers or content producers. Nevertheless, 5G spectral efficiency can be further enhanced with new signal processing algorithms that are being used in other terrestrial television standards. One of the most efficient broadcast standards, ATSC 3.0, adopted Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM) which can simultaneously deliver services with different robustness capabilities in a more efficient way than traditional orthogonal multiple access modes like Time/Frequency Division Multiplexing (TDM/FDM). This paper evaluates the integration of the ATSC 3.0 LDM mode into the 5G New Radio (NR) physical air interface. Different use cases are devised and a performance evaluation by means of physical layer simulations is carried out, where it is demonstrated the potential benefits of LDM with respect to TDM/FDM.