The DVB is currently starting a Commercial Study Mission casting DVB’s Vision for Satellite Broadcasting, looking at the near- and long term, and going beyond classic geostationary satellite constellations, anticipating a successful bringing into use of future low earth orbiting payloads.

Rai-CRIT will participate in these activities, according to its leaderschip role and active participation in the DVB technical module dedicated to satellite transmissions, aiming at evaluating opportunities, times and methods for new standardisation activities.

WiB  (Wideband Reuse-1 Broadcasting) is a new system concept for DTT where potentially all frequencies within the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band are used on all transmitter  sites (i.e. reuse-1).

Rai is planning to extend DAB+ services to the most important Italian urban areas and to the motorways (including service continuity in tunnels). Radio service transmission inside tunnels requires methods such as the installation of radiating cables (“leaky-feeders”) along the tunnel ceiling. This approach is costly, thus leading RAI Research Center to investigate the feasibility of an alternative approach using direct RF irradiation by means of antennas positioned outside the tunnels (not far from the entrance) or internally.

This programme deals with the experimentation of new IP technologies (networks, protocols, standards, equipment) in the area of television production, and particularly for studio applications.

Born as an extension of second generation satellite broadcast standard DVB-S2, the DVB-S2X offers new configurations that provide improved performance in S2 scenarios (DTH, broadband and interactivity, DSNG, and professional applications, contribution and distribution TV), and extends the operating modes to cover new emerging segments such as mobile reception (airplanes, trains, ships, etc.). The new system, based on the excellent technologies of DVB-S2, introduces innovative elements at the modulation, resulting in a more extensive and granular operating range in terms of  signal-to-noise ratio, as well as an increased spectral efficiency thanks to new modulation schemes and spectrum roll-off values. With the DVB-S2X the “channel bonding” is now introduced: 2 or 3 transponder can be used simultaneously, in order to transmit very high capacity streams, enabling the broadcast of UHD bouquets.

The first satellite transmission of a HEVC encoded UHD-4k bouquet, using the new broadcasting standard DVB-S2X, has been carried out on 2014 at the Centre for Research and Technological Innovation Rai in Turin.