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ABSTRACT

The FCC recently modified its Part 15 rules governing unlicensed communication equipment in the 57GHz-64GHz band (known as the 60GHz band) opening the way for enhanced use of the unlicensed spectrum.

With its 7GHz of bandwidth, this band now promises to provide wireless broadband network connectivity over distances of up to one kilometer at data rates up to 10 Gb/s.

This enables low cost, point-to-point wireless contribution of uncompressed 4K video and high bandwidth IP data.

The “First Mile” and “Last Mile” of any broadband network is the most difficult and the most expensive to connect.

Broadcasters, sports leagues, news bureaus, government agencies and the military will have a short-range, back-haul wireless link connecting uncompressed 4K video and up to 10Gb/s data to the broadband video and IP networks.

The technology is ideal for sporting events, newsgathering, permanent building-to- building links, and stealthy military applications and more.

This paper will discuss the theoretical and commercial implementation challenges and advantages of 60GHz systems vs. 2- 5GHz/70/80/90GHz systems.

We will discuss and compare quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and phase shift keying (PSK) as applied to 60GHz transmission.

We will compare horn antennas and parabolic dish antennas for different applications. We will outline a practical implementation of a custom-built 60GHz wireless camera system for the NHL, discussing the technical and implementation challenges over traditional cable, fiber optic and wireless systems.

We will present an application for the NFL where a 60GHz wireless link transported uncompressed video 700 meters from a sports arena to a studio several blocks away. Lastly, we will show how the absorption of 60GHz RF by oxygen molecules makes 60GHz ideal for stealthy military applications.

INTRODUCTION

In this presentation we are going to look at some of the different challenges that 4K presents. If you are a broadcaster, you might be looking for a higher resolution. If you are a sports league, you might want a higher frame rate for instant replay.

We will touch on some of these subjects, and we’ll share with you some of our future developments in the area of 4K wireless video transmission.

What is the problem we are dealing with? Well, we have this higher resolution video that’s been thrown at us. Actually, there is not so much higher resolution video yet being produced, but there are many 4K displays out there.

The manufacturers of these displays have been doing well with their marketing, pushing 4K, getting people to buy a 4K display at their local Costco, but there is not a lot of 4K content out there yet.

Usually we see this the other way around, or the content lags behind the displays just a small amount. In this case, the consumer side is strongly leading the technology.

There is also a divergence in the way the video is described. High definition in the past was described in terms of resolution, by the number of lines, 720p, 1080, and such. 4K now is describing the number of pixels horizontally instead of the number of lines vertically.

I think the marketing people at some of these display manufacturers have taken hold of that, and the terminology has now changed.

4K is not the whole picture, some of these scan rates are above 4,000 pixels horizontally, some are a little less. We have different aspects ratios, some are for television, others are for cinema.

1080p is a quarter of the size of a UHD or a 4K image, so we have to deal with 4 times the number of pixels, 4 times the bandwidth, and 4 times the throughput. This adds to the challenges we face, whether it is through a coaxial distribution, fiber optics distribution, or wireless distribution.

What we are going to concentrate on is the wireless challenges with the distribution of 4K. In the future, we will talk about 4K development in the area of fiber optics, 4K development in the areas of IP encoding and decoding, but today we are concentrating on wireless.

60GHz WIRELESS HISTORY

VidOvation is known for 60 GHz Wireless Video and Ethernet. We do have systems that use other frequencies, but we are known as the people who built a wireless video transmission and camera system for inside the goals of the National Hockey League.

This is our 4th season in operation with 60 GHz Uncompressed Wireless Video in a compact camera system, but we do other technologies as well. We do licensed bands and unlicensed bands.

We are going to concentrate on higher frequency, 60 Gigahertz and above. The higher frequencies lend themselves to higher bandwidth, higher throughput, which is what we are looking for.

As I mentioned, 60 GHz today gives us the ability for a 1080i59.94, 60 or 720p59.94, 60 or a 1.5 Gigabit per Second HD-SDI signal. This is commonplace for us; we do this all day long, 1.5 Gigabit per Second video, or 1.25 Gigabit per Second bi-directional Gigabit Ethernet.