RFS Launches ATSC3.0 And 5G-TV Ready Antennas For Nextgen Broadcasting

The new solutions also support DTMB-A & Advanced ISDBT standards

Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), a global wireless and broadcast infrastructure specialist, today launches two new ranges of antennas, NGP and NGS series, particularly suited for Next Generation Broadcasting standards including ATSC3.0, 5G-TV, DTMB-A and Advanced ISDBT.

The NGP series serves broadcasters as they move to next generation broadcasting standards. They are based on RFS’s flagship PEP and PEPL solutions which serve multiple high-power master sites, including One World Trade Center, and are designed for smaller sites that operate at medium power levels. They take advantage of key RFS innovations, including Variable Polarization Technology (VPT), and provide a solution suited to small and medium sites. Alongside the smaller sites of traditional broadcasters, the MIMO capabilities of the solution will serve broadcasters adopting NextGen broadcasting to deliver non-traditional content such as datacasting. Finally, the reduced size, weight and cost allows this solution to also serve broadcasters deploying SFNs.

The NGS series antennas are also designed to support multi-channel Next Generation TV networks and are suitable for use as stand-alone antennas, or for use in single frequency networks (SFN's). The smaller antennas based on RFS’s proven SBB solution, makes equipment lighter for improved tower loading, as well as more economical. The antennas are able to work in conjunction with RFS’s Starpoint combiners and HELIFLEX to build a complete NextGen RF system while allowing broadcasters to overcome some of the CAPEX challenges of moving to a SFN architecture that requires a greater number of sites.

The solutions also work with RFS’s Antenna selection tool to ensure the best possible performance for every deployment. This equipment is already being trialed successfully in South Korea and for NextGen broadcasting trials in Brazil.

Nick Wymant, Global Product Manager – Broadcast at RFS commented, “Next Generation broadcasting will fundamentally change the landscape of broadcast equipment. Although there will still be a need of the very high-power solutions that RFS has been providing for over 40years, there is also a demand for smaller antennas to enable an SFN model that is better suited to delivering NextGen requirements. These solutions deliver this in a way that is commercially viable for broadcasters and will allow them to be on the front foot when it comes to delivering the anticipated functionality of NextGen TV.”