DVB Steering Board Approves New Spec For Carrier ID

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), caused by operational errors at the uplink, has a major impact in the Quality of Service for satellite operators and their customers.
However, these days may be numbered now that the DVB Steering Board has approved the new specification for Carrier ID. The specification was ratified at the 73rd Meeting of the DVB Steering Board and will now be submitted to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) for formal standardization. A Carrier ID BlueBook will be published shortly.
Carrier ID will enable operators and users to quickly identify interfering carriers and respond to RFI, to reduce the duration of each event, improve Quality of Service and reduce operating costs. Also in the longer term, the new specification will lower the number of RFI events and release bandwidth being used to overcome current and ongoing RFI events. The DVB standard for Carrier ID will enable the industry to produce interoperable equipment and will ensure an ongoing development and improvement of Carrier ID technology in a standardized manner.
The system includes the MAC address of the equipment and the Carrier ID format version, which will allow for future extensions and improvements. Additional information can optionally be transmitted, configurable and editable by the user, which contains information such as Uplinker name, contact phone number, etc., to help in the RFI identification. A common database will be created, accessible by all satellite operators and possibly other authorized entities. The database will contain all of the Carrier ID codes and the name and contact details of the respective uplink operator.
"Carrier ID will be of particular benefit where there are RFI problems related to occasional use satellite transmissions and temporary feeder links, often caused by failed equipment or by an improperly configured system due to human error," said Peter Siebert, Executive Director, DVB.
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