Bit Error Rate Evaluation of Digital Terrestrial TV Broadcast Based on Field Measurement in Urban Area

Considering the advantages of digital TV broadcasting, Analog Switch Off (ASO) has been carried out in total in many countries. However, until the beginning of 2019, ASO had not been fully implemented in Indonesia. This is certainly influenced by various parties ranging from the government as a regulator, TV stations as service providers, and the public as consumers. Research related to performance evaluation of digital TV broadcast especially DVB-T2 standards has been conducted in urban areas in several countries. But there is no research related to exploring the performance of terrestrial digital TV in urban, especially discuss the bit error rate of digital TV broadcasts using the DVB-T2 standard. To oversee the process of migrating analog TV broadcasts to digital TV broadcasts in Indonesia, we conducted a study of digital terrestrial TV broadcasts, in particular, the evaluation of BER and CNR in urban areas through the results of field measurements in Surabaya. We have measured a bit error rate of two TV stations that have carried out digital broadcasts using DVB-T2 standard in Surabaya, namely TV X and TV Y. Each TV station has a transmitter in Sambikerep sub-district for TV X and Sawahan sub-district for TV Y. Measurements were taken at 22 points in Surabaya as one of the representatives of urban areas for the fixed condition. The results of field measurements show that TV X and TV Y have not fully provided adequate broadcasts in the city of Surabaya. There are two blank spots in Kusuma Bangsa Street and Dr. Ir Soekarno Street. Unfortunately, the results of field measurements at Oso Wilangun recorded a bit error rate up to touch 9.9 × 10^-2. It means that of the 100 bits sent to have an error at the receiver of almost 10%. Oso Wilangon is the farthest measurement point of TV Y where the distance is around 10.28 km and this area is bordered by Gresik. But officially this area is still included in the city of Surabaya which should be within the coverage area of the TV Y. With this case, TV stations should improve their broadcasts, such as re-adjust the signal transmit power to cover the blank spot area.