Rohde & Schwarz And Qualcomm Demo First End-To-End Live 5G Broadcast Streaming To Smartphones

Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies have joined forces to showcase 5G Broadcast with a full end-to-end live streaming demonstration at Mobile World Congress 2022.

In a live demonstration delivering content to smartphone devices, and showcasing Broadcast/Multicast capabilities over 5G, content provided by Cellnex Telecom will be re-transmitted using a 5G Broadcast signal over-the-air in Barcelona, giving show attendees a firsthand look at an advanced live mobile experience.

5G Broadcast offers network operators and broadcasters opportunities to create exciting consumer experiences across a range of new and existing business areas. All of this while enabling high spectral efficiency and reduced costs.

To bring this live demonstration together, Rohde & Schwarz provided its end-to-end 3GPP compliant solution, comprising a 5G Broadcast enabled R&S TLU9 transmitter, supported by a Spinner filter, and the Broadcast Service and Control Center (BSCC2.0) acting as a core network.

During the demonstration a live signal will be transmitted over-the-airwaves inside the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, from the Rohde & Schwarz booth, using sectorized antenna systems supplied by Cellnex, to a smartphone form-factor test device from Qualcomm Technologies.

The 5G Broadcast solution is built on the 3GPP Rel-16 feature-set, operating in a Receive-Only Mode (ROM), Free-To-Air (FTA) and without the need for a SIM card (SIM-free reception). The 5G Broadcast dedicated mode will be demonstrated with a standalone broadcast High Power High Tower (HPHT) infrastructure while operating within the UHF band.

“Having the right network will be key to develop 5G Broadcast services,” said Ramon Salat, Commercial Broadcast Director of Cellnex Spain. “Cellnex has the right combination of high and low towers to provide a good coverage for population and territory,” adds Ramon.

“5G Broadcast opens up an exciting new world for the mobile communication ecosystem, bringing with it unrivaled user experience, new revenue opportunities and innovative service models,” commented Manfred Reitmeier, Vice President Broadcasting and Amplifier Systems at Rohde & Schwarz. “We are proud to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies and Cellnex to bring a live experience that gives MWC2022 attendees a taste of what is now possible – and we are only just scratching the surface of the potential with 5G.”

“This is a unique showcase of the delivery of digital TV content over 3GPP standardized technology,” said Lorenzo Casaccia, Vice President of Technical Standards & Intellectual Property, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We are proud to have collaborated with Cellnex and Rohde & Schwarz teams to bring this demo to life. Our new 5G R&D technology demonstration at Mobile World Congress proves this isn’t just possible, it’s here today on the show floor for all to experience and, perhaps most importantly, without the need for additional chipsets.”

The contents included in the 5G Broadcast transmission included the Spanish public broadcaster Radio Televisión Española news channel, “Canal 24h,” the main RTVE channel “La1” and the Radio Nacional de España regional radio channel, “Radio 4.” The content is encoded using encoders provided by the Spanish manufacturer Cires21.

Broadcast/Multicast over 5G is not restricted to linear and live content distribution. For network operators and media content providers it offers a completely new range of business models for delivering content or data to large numbers of consumers and without affecting the regular cellular 5G mobile network. Venue and automotive sectors are particularly suitable for new consumer applications while the high power, high tower free-to-air/no-SIM offers emergency services and national authorities more secure ways to deliver public messages during natural disasters or emergencies. 

You might also like...

NAB Show 2024 BEIT Sessions Part 2: New Broadcast Technologies

The most tightly focused and fresh technical information for TV engineers at the NAB Show will be analyzed, discussed, and explained during the four days of BEIT sessions. It’s the best opportunity on Earth to learn from and question i…

Chris Brown Discusses The Themes Of The 2024 NAB Show

The Broadcast Bridge sat down with Chris Brown, executive vice president and managing director, NAB Global Connections and Events to discuss this year’s gathering April 13-17 (show floor open April 14-17) and how the industry looks to the show e…

NAB Show 2024 BEIT Sessions Part 1: ATSC 3.0 And TV RF

A full-time chief engineer in good relationships with manufacturer reps and an honest local dealer should spend most of their NAB Show time immersed in BEIT sessions. It’s an incredible opportunity to learn from and personally question indisputable industry e…

5G Broadcast: Part 6 - Technical Dive Into 5G Broadcast & New 3GPP Standards

Standards bodies and mobile technology developers are putting the finishing touches to 5G Multicast and Broadcast. These include enabling seamless switching between unicast and multicast, and equally transparent roaming for users as they move between mobile cells. There is also…

5G Broadcast: Part 5 - 5G Contribution & Remote Production

The main focus of this series is on the potential impact of 5G Broadcast on content delivery, here we take a look at how this might combine with 5G contribution to form a 5G transport ecosystem.