The Role of the Broadcaster in Reducing Satellite Interference

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Case StudyRev A. Oct 11.

The Role of the Broadcaster in Reducing Satellite Interference By Dick Tauber, VP Transmission Systems & New Technology for the CNN News Group WBU-ISOG Chairman / Co-Chair RFI-EUI Interference has been a significant and growing problem in our industry over the last few years, with satellites becoming more and more laden and the problem outpacing what has been done to stop the inevitable interference that occurred. In fact, I personally became involved in the fight against interference during the late 90s as part of a World Broadcasting Union – International Satellite Operators Group (WBU-ISOG) meeting in Geneva. A representative from the EBU brought up the increasing trend of more and more interference affecting their broadcast and as a group we decided that we really needed to do something to stop it. Nevertheless, we were still a little unsure about what we could do. The Effect on Broadcasters There is no denying that satellite interference is a problem for all satellite broadcasters. Live feeds in particular are a problem, as there is no going back once a viewer has missed an important moment, such as a winning goal. Whether live or not, viewers simply won’t put up with the effects of interference on their viewing experience, and will either watch the programming on another channel, if available, or simply watch something else. In fact the exact scenario we are trying to avoid, I’m told, happened during the last soccer World Cup. We have to try and avoid this kind of thing happening again. Of course, we are always at risk of those determined to deliberately undermine transmissions at such events, usually for political ends only, a trend not easily averted, but it is not the biggest cause of interference. What Has Been Done? Up until now, very little, and certainly not enough has been done throughout the industry, but we are finally starting to gain traction. One of the biggest problems we had is a misunderstanding of the cause of interference. We simply didn’t believe it possible that we, as an industry, were the cause of our own problems. WBU-ISOG started out setting up the Rogue Carrier Working Group (RCWG) to combat deliberate attacks on satellites. In 2007 and 2008, in a bid to get to the crux of the problem, the former Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG, now sIRG), collected data from satellite operators to get a clearer picture of exactly what was happening and the results were astounding. It became apparent that in fact only 0.03% of interference was deliberate. Of the rest, half was caused by VSATs not working properly, and the other half by equipment failure and human error. Once we dug deeper into this and discovered these statistics, which naturally led to a shift of focus. In February 2011, there was a meeting of more than thirty broadcasters to discuss what broadcasters could be doing to help mitigate interference. The immediate result of that was the founding of a new group, Radio Frequency Interference – End Users Initiative (RFI-EUI). Our aim is to essentially give voice to customers, clients, and all end users of satellite capacity regarding radio frequency interference. We are working to involve broadcasters worldwide in the fight against interference, yet we are also composed of equipment manufacturers, industry groups, satellite system operators, and media companies across the globe. To me this is key, satellite interference cannot be solved by one group or one set of companies alone, we need to work together, both with other organisations, such as the Satellite Interference Reduction Group




(sIRG) and the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), as well as other companies involved right through the chain. And we are beginning to see the effect of this close collaboration and effort on the part of all involved. Setting Up The Groups Once setup, the first task for RFI-EUI was to establish working groups to focus on different areas of interference. Other organisations working to combat interference have their own working groups already, and it is very clear to all of us, that whilst we all have our specialist areas and focus, we need to work together to reach our goal, rather than doubling up on effort. We don’t just have broadcasters in our groups, we have a wide cross-section of the industry and we have representatives from all of the other groups. We certainly would welcome others, who want to try to get resolution on this problem. RFI-EUI decided on three groups: Carrier Identification (ID), Best Practices, Documentation and Technology, and Training and Certification. Carrier ID One of the major issues in the fight against satellite interference is the lack of carrier identification. If carriers are not identified when interference occurs, it is very difficult to determine where the problem has come from. Therefore, by introducing Carrier Identification, in the form of an embedded code containing critical information etc, across all transmissions, interference can be mitigated much more quickly, This will significantly reduce the time taken to track and correct those day-to-day interference issues that do crop up. As with everything relating to satellite interference, for carrier ID to be successful, it relies on the support of the entire industry. As broadcasters, our role is twofold. Firstly, we need to be lobbying the satellite operators to not only have the ability to handle carrier ID, but also get to the point where it is eventually a requirement. Eutelsat and SES have both announced that carrier ID will be integrated into transmission parameters for all SNG transmissions and new DVB broadcasts in time for the London Olympics. Now we, as the end users, should be lobbying SNG and truck operators to persuade them to follow suit, as well as other satellite companies. The other role for the broadcasters in the roll-out of carrier ID is to ensure that we are transmitting an ID with our company’s signals. This means ensuring our equipment is setup to handle this and that when we buy new equipment, we need to be asking the question of whether it has carrier ID technology integrated. An important milestone was reached at IBC, with six modem manufacturers working together to have a new carrier ID technology adopted as a specification by the DVB Forum. It has been accepted as a working topic and will now move to the next stage of the process. The system put forward has been developed by Comtech EF data, but the technology group will probably examine other alternatives before issuing a standard. The technology being included in the proposed specification contains the Carrier ID information within a separate spread spectrum carrier. It is visible to operators, without the need to interrupt the original feed, saving valuable airtime for broadcasters, when interference occurs, by enabling operators to identify and stop the interference quickly and effectively, since they can see the carrier ID of both signals. Best Practices, Documentation and Technology We also need to be working as an industry to establish best practices and to ensure everyone throughout the industry sees the benefit of doing things in a consistent and universally acceptable way. As an example, one thing we still have




problems with and have had for a few years, is auto-deploy systems. A few manufacturers, including ND SatCom, On-Call Communications and Sematron have taken great care and pride in ensuring that their systems would not function if the parameters are not followed correctly. This is very key in an auto-deploy system so that it only deploys when everything is exactly as it should be. Accuracy is the key word here, not time! By documenting best practices, it means that everyone can share and learn from those experiences that others put forward and we can move ahead as an industry together. There is new and innovative technology coming along, which can help drastically reduce interference, and the task now is to share that knowledge effectively. Training and Certification Training and Certification is another key area where we can drastically change the landscape of the satellite industry. Naturally, if equipment installers and operators don’t have the appropriate training, mistakes can occur all too easily and that’s when you get interference. We really need to get to a point whereby training is required and broadcasters and satellite operators only use certified installers and operators. This is also the case for SNG truck operators. Right now, they can simply turn up and use the satellite with no credentials, other than the driving licence they need to drive the truck. We urgently need a training and certification system to ensure their professional credentials. The Global VSAT Forum (GVF) already runs a whole host of great training courses for satellite equipment installers and operators and has had nearly 4,000 people from across the globe already undertake various courses and modules. Moving Forward We as an industry have made a number of important breakthroughs recently. The announcements from Eutelsat and SES should have the knock-on effect of encouraging other satellite operators to make similar steps. The DVB spec for the new carrier ID technology will enable manufacturers to ensure a standard approach and one that allows operators to mitigate interference, without interrupting the feed of those on the correct satellite space.. A number of challenges remain however. One is extending the geographic reach of our groups and initiatives, and helping those broadcasters, operators, and manufacturers not currently on board to put the necessary steps in place to work towards carrier ID, training and certification, and to become free of most interference in the long run. What is very clear is that to achieve our longterm goals, we need to work together as an industry. The RFI-EUI represents the broadcasters, but we established the group to work in concert and in conjunction with the satellite operators to identify, mitigate, and prevent – ultimately to stop –satellite interference.

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The Role of the Broadcaster in Reducing Satellite Interference