Mobile Field Test Results for Advanced Terrestrial Broadcasting in Japan

Research into a next generation terrestrial broadcasting system is underway in Japan. As part of that effort, an advanced terrestrial broadcasting system (Advanced ISDB-T) based on frequency division multiplexing (FDM) as used in ISDB-T has been created and performance measured by simulation and laboratory experiments. In this paper we report on the results of field tests undertaken in a multipath rich environment around Tokyo to confirm mobile reception characteristics, focusing on 4-diversity vehicular reception using commercially available flat-film antennas. The effect of time interleaving depth on mobile reception is examined, and it was found that while the use of time interleaving was beneficial, increasing the time interleaving depth only produced marginal benefits. From the field test results for various modulation and constellation combinations it was found that 16QAM7/16 and 64QAM9/16 could be received without error by a prototype receiver even at highway speeds.