MVDS: an outline of standards and planning considerations

The demand for television services is forever increasing. Unfortunately, the spectrum that is available at traditional UHF frequencies is not able to keep pace with this. New techniques are thus being deployed such as satellite and cable. One of the latest is the multipoint video distribution system (MVDS) which is an alternative delivery mechanism for terrestrial television. The MVDS is capable of delivering a greater number of channels than is currently possible with terrestrial services. The paper presents an overview of developments with regard to MVDS. The performance specifications that are required for the UK type approval of both analogue and digital MVDS transmit equipment are available from the Radiocommunications Agency. European standards for digital equipment have been written, which are fully compatible with the UK performance specifications. As such, there is a good basis for the development of equipment operating in the 40 GHz band. A number of UK manufacturers have seen the potential of MVDS systems and are currently manufacturing suitable equipment. Initial planning for the introduction of both analogue and digital MVDS services has been performed, and encouraging results have been obtained from the computer simulation of potential interference between MVDS cells