A Study on Channel Bonding for Advanced ISDB-T

We are currently developing Advanced Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (Advanced ISDB-T) system toward the next generation of digital terrestrial television broadcasting. Advanced ISDB-T can provide a fixed reception service and a mobile reception service simultaneously. Furthermore, a channel bonding (CB) scheme that uses multiple radio frequency (RF) signals is useful to expand the transmission capacity as an optional function of Advanced ISDB-T. For example, CB scheme in Advanced ISDB-T enables to provide a flexible service such that an ultra-high definition (UHD) service can use the CB and HD service in a single channel. In this paper, we study the application of a CB scheme for Advanced ISDB-T, which has two division modes: division of the data stream in the transport layer and that in the physical layer. We evaluated the transmission performances using computer simulations and laboratory tests. Furthermore, the feasibilities of the CB transmissions were verified by a laboratory test using a prototype equipment.