Mobile television receivers: A free-to-air overview

In contrast to mobile television standards such as DVB-H and MediaFLO, the use of existing free-to-air broadcast television in mobile devices is an intriguing concept that has so far garnered little attention. Standards such as DVB-T and analog television broadcast are pervasive worldwide, and their use in mobile applications circumvents many of the deployment challenges facing DVB-H and the like. However, there are severe technical challenges in doing so: mobility, power consumption, antenna performance, and mixer harmonic rejection are just a few of the issues facing the use of free-to-air broadcast in mobile devices. In this article we address these issues, with particular focus on DVB-T digital and NTSC/PAL/SECAM analog broadcast standards.