The German BK network: An overview in pictures
Munich, June 2005 The main elements of a typical German CATV network Most of the network elements are located in the network level 3
master head-end head-end hub street amplifier home connect. In-house (“BKVtSt”) (“üBK”) (“bBK”) (“VrP”) point (“HÜP”) network
1 / metropolitain area or per 1 / city 1 / part of city Amplifies signal 1 / home Coax distribution several cities Local channels are added or per town approx. every Approx. 8 million network inside Content is received from satellite Amplifies and distributes Amplifies and 320m HÜPs in Germany houses TV signal is formed and distributed to signal to hubs distributes signal End of level 3 Approx. 27million head-ends into coax distribution network households that network (main streets) Start of level 4 are reachable by inhouse network cable networks
Satellite
Amplifier * Up-link radio station
head-end Coax- or fibre Hub TV-tower (“üBK”) network („bBK“) Coax line network Home TV-Studio + master head-end (Vk-Netz) (A-, B-, C- und D- connection Lines) point (HÜP)
Network level 1 Network level 2 Network level 3 Network (TV studios) (Regional distribution network) (Local distribution network, level 4 approx. 500,000 km of coax cable) (In-House network)
*Radio links are currently being replaced by optical fiber connections Source: Solon Seite 1 In a coax cable, frequencies between 5MHz and approx. 1000MHz (=1GHz) can be transmitted
Currently, in a standard, non-upgraded network, TV and radio signals are being broadcasted between 47MHz and 470MHz in the framework of the PAL standard The spectrum is organized in „bands“, like „SU“ (special lower band), „SO“ (special upper band) or the hyperband In order to extend the spectrum beyond the standard limit of 470MHz, the network has to be upgraded: - To extend the spectrum until 606MHz, an exchchange of street amplifiers has to be performed - To extend the spectrum until 862MHz, some of passive splitters and buried taps have to be exchanged To enable interactivity (e.g. high speed internet, telephony), amplifiers modules for two-way transmission of signals have to be added, i.e. street amplifiers cabinets have to be modified
Down stream D A A D A/D D D A FM A A Bd65 I SUBd III SO HyperbandHyperband Band IV Band V 5 10 Radio 3047 65 80 108 111 174 230 300 302 470 606 862 f [MHz] Up stream Currently used spectrum (in non-upgraded networks) A Analog channels (PAL)
Only if network upgraded D Digital channels (QAM) Netw ork monitoring/management (Upgraded part: data / Digital TV)
Source: Solon Seite 2 Frequency spectrum and channel allocation
Frequency spectrum of CATV signal Channel allocation of CATV signal (Example: Munich)
Band Kanal Frequ . [MHz] A / D Beispiel Kanalbelegung München 11/2004
47 Band I-II 47 - 68 Band I-II dI Bd K02 47 - 54 Analog (PAL) NEUN LIVE A
Every TV channel is 65 K03 54 - 61 Analog (PAL) TV 5 (franz.) Analogue 7MHz and 8MHz K04 61 - 68 Analog (PAL) TRT-Intern. (türk.) 65 wide, respectively*. UKW 88 - 108 UKW UKW Radiokanäle Digital 80 SU / USB 111 - 174 Unteres Sonderband S02 111 - 118 Digital TV Kabel Digital Program of Kabel Deutschland Radio
An analogue TV FM S03 118 - 125 Digital TV Kabel Digital Program of Kabel Deutschland S04 125 - 132 Analog (PAL) ORF 2 - Salzburg channel transmits S05 132 - 139 Analog (PAL) TELE 5 108 S06 139 - 146 Analog (PAL) AFK Ferns. München / AG Behinderte / cityinfo tv one PAL program. S07 146 - 153 Analog (PAL) TV München S08 153 - 160 Analog (PAL) RTL 2 111 S09 160 - 167 Analog (PAL) Home Shopping Europe A digital TV channel D S10 167 - 174 Analog (PAL) Bayern Journal / RTL SU transmits 8-12 Band III 174 - 230 Band III A K05 174 - 181 Analog (PAL) ARD (BR) digital programs K06 181 - 188 Analog (PAL) Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen 174 K07 188 - 195 Analog (PAL) ProSieben („streams“) K08 195 - 202 Analog (PAL) Bayern Journal / SAT.1 K09 202 - 209 Analog (PAL) KABEL 1
dIIIBd K10 209 - 216 Analog (PAL) Kinderkanal / MTV2 -The Pop Channel A K11 216 - 223 Analog (PAL) DSF (dt. Sportfernsehen) K12 223 - 230 Analog (PAL) n-tv
SO / OSB 230 - 300 Oberes Sonderband S11 230 - 237 Analog (PAL) MTV CENTRAL 230 S12 237 - 244 Analog (PAL) VOX S13 244 - 251 Analog (PAL) Bay. Fernsehen - Altbayern+Schwaben S14 251 - 258 Analog (PAL) EUROSPORT / VIVA PLUS S15 258 - 265 Analog (PAL) VIVA S16 265 - 272 Analog (PAL) 3sat
SO S17 272 - 279 Analog (PAL) WDR FERNSEHEN A S18 279 - 286 Analog (PAL) Super RTL S19 286 - 293 Analog (PAL) Phoenix S20 293 - 300 Analog (PAL) euronews
Hyperband 302 - 446 Hyperband 300 S21 302 - 310 Digital (*) BR-alpha S22 310 - 318 Digital (*) NDR Nordmagazin S23 318 - 326 Digital (*) CNN Intern. (engl.) 302 S24 326 - 334 Digital (*) N24 S25 334 - 342 Digital (*) NBC (engl.) / arte
A S26 342 - 350 Digital Kabel Digital Program of Kabel Deutschland S27 350 - 358 Digital Premiere 1 Hyperband
Hyperband S28 358 - 366 Digital Premiere 2 S29 366 - 374 Digital Premiere 3 S30 374 - 382 Digital Premiere 4 S31 382 - 390 Digital Premiere 5 S32 390 - 398 Digital ZDF.vision
D S33 398 - 406 Digital International (Nutzung durch NE3) S34 406 - 414 Digital ARD digital S35 414 - 422 Digital (*) HOT / QVC S36 422 - 430 Digital ARD digital S37 430 - 438 Digital International (Nutzung durch NE3) S38 438 - 446 Digital Kabel Digital Program of Kabel Deutschland S39 446 - 454 Digital frei S40 454 - 462 Digital frei 470 S41 462 - 470 Digital Kabel Digital Program of Kabel Deutschland f [MHz] * Currentl y used for tr ansmission of analogue channel s
* 7 MHz: 47-300MHz; 8MHz: above 300MHz Source: KDG, Solon Seite 3 The master head-end at the Munich TV tower
Satellit
The master head-end on the TV Tower, Verstärker 155m above ground:
Verteiler station Koaxialkabelnetz Satellite antennas receiving the („bBK“) (A -, B -, C -und D - Linien) signals NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4 Cables from antennas to the equipment of the master head-end The master head-end: processing the signals and “packaging” them Cable to amplifier node Amplifier node
Coax line
The head-end in the basement of the TV tower Amplification of signals, Cables to hubs, leaving the head-end Cable to DIAMANT system in the tower (leaving to other, more distant hubs)
Source: Solon Seite 4 Satellite antennas receive the TV signals
Satellit
Verstärker
Verteiler Location: master head-end (TV tower) station Koaxialkabelnetz („bBK“) (A -, B -, C -und D - Linien) NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Demodulation into TV- Amplifiying and channels transmitting to the Forming the final* signal by head-end multiplexing the channels
Signals („SAT-ZF“)
* Except some local TV channels that are added later (at local head-end) Source: Solon Seite 5 The head-end (“üBK”) serves an entire city
Satellit
Incoming coax-cable Verstärker (from master head-end at Verteiler station Koaxialkabelnetz roof/platform of TV tower) („bBK“) (A -, B -, C -und D - Linien) NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Outgoing cables to hubs (coax cables and optical fibre lines)
Source: Solon Seite 6 The hub serves parts of a city
Satellit
NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Outgoing cables, Incoming cables following down from head-end the streets
Source: Solon Seite 7 Cables leaving the hub to follow down the streets
Satellit Hub Cables inside hub facility
NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Duct entry on pavement
Duct with cables
Source: Solon Seite 8 An amplifier street cabinet: The signal in coax cables has to be amplified approx. every 300m
Satellit
NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Inside a cabinet: metal box ….
… with amplifier modules
Incoming signal Outgoing signal
Source: Solon Seite 9 A typical in-house (NE4) network serving 12 appartments
Satellit NE3 NE4
1 Home NE4 in-house network connection 2 Amplifier point (“HÜP”) 3 Splitter NE 1 NE 2 NE 3 NE 4
Cables to appartments (in-house wiring, here: star topology)
3 Number and type of modules depends on characteristics of in-house network Equipment of different suppliers is 2 being used
1
Cable from street
Source: Solon Seite 10 Annotations
This information intends to provide an overview of the structure of a typical German BK network and its elements Some of the complex infrastructure and network technology is illustrated in a simplified way Pictures in this document are examples for typical configurations The document is based on various data sources. The pictures show typical network elements of a German level 3 network During recent months, networks have partly been optimized with respect to the structure of the network level 2. The general structure shown in this document however still remains unchanged
Seite 11 Contact
Dr. Philipp Geiger
Solon Management Consulting GmbH & Co. KG Residenzstraße 10 80333 Munich Germany
Tel. +49 - 89 - 2103 88 - 0 Fax. +49 - 89 - 2103 88 - 44 Mail: [email protected] Web: www.solon.de
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