DVB-S2 benefits for military broadcast systems

The digital video broadcast - satellite, second generation (DVB-S2) protocol has been developed and standardized as an evolution of the digital video broadcast - satellite (DVB-S) waveform for European satellite broadcasting by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and is a candidate for use in US military systems that employ DVB-S. This paper describes the evolutionary efficiencies of DVB-S2 over DVB-S, increases in performance, capacity, and effectiveness, and draw some conclusions about how military broadcast systems could benefit from this waveform in the future. The global broadcast service, a DVB-based, one-way, high-capacity, Department of Defense (DoD) satellite system that is used for transfer of classified and unclassified video, imagery, and other information, is presented in a case study to illustrate the potential impacts of migrating a DVB-S based system to the DVB-S2 standard. The paper focuses on the technology and waveform efficiency of the DVB-S2 standard in military satellite communication (MILSATCOM) applications and provides a clear description of the status and authority of this evolving standard.