Broadcast signal transmission apparatus using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding, and method using same

Abstract

A broadcast signal transmission apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a first RF subframe signal generation unit for generating at least one first RF signal; a second RF subframe signal generation unit for generating at least one second RF signal; a first RF unit for generating, on the basis of at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal, at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to a first RF channel from among the first RF channel and a second RF channel, which are channel-bonded; and a second RF unit for generating, on the basis of at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal, at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel.

Description

Broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding and method using the same

[0001] The present invention relates to a channel bonding technology for a broadcasting system, and more particularly, to a broadcasting signal transmission / reception system that simultaneously supports channel bonding technology and MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology.

[0002] To address the growing demand for ultra-high-definition broadcasting services, efficient use of frequency resources, and the integration of services requiring diverse regions and reception environments, technologies and standards for next-generation terrestrial broadcasting systems have recently been introduced. However, the growing demand for higher resolutions, hyper-realistic media such as AR (Artificial Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality), and additional data for enhanced user experiences, coupled with the lack of idle frequency resources due to the simultaneous provision of existing broadcasting services, necessitates further improvements in the transmission rates of terrestrial broadcasting systems.

[0003] The latest terrestrial digital broadcasting standards, such as ATSC 3.0, attempt to overcome the transmission capacity limitations of a single broadcast frequency by applying multiple antenna technologies such as MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) or the limitations of a single channel by applying channel bonding technology. Multiple antenna technology secures spatial physical resources by using two or more antennas for transmission, reception, or both, while channel bonding combines two or more unit channels and treats them as a single channel. Therefore, both technologies can be seen as methods to overcome the limitations of the transmission capacity of generally provided terrestrial broadcasting, and can be applied to service ultra-high definition images exceeding 4K resolution or multiple 4K resolution images.

[0004] Korean Patent Publication Nos. 10-2023-0130517 and 10-2023-0130532 propose a structure for combining MIMO technology and channel bonding technology for transmitting / receiving broadcast signals.

[0005] However, the above-mentioned published patents are completely silent on the time interleaver memory requirements when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are used together, even though the required time interleaver memory must be properly considered.

[0006] Therefore, when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are combined, there is an urgent need for a new technology that can perform appropriate time interleaving.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to enable proper time interleaving when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are used together.

[0008] In addition, an object of the present invention is to enable efficient broadcast signal transmission / reception operations by appropriately setting the total memory requirements required for time interleavers when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are used together.

[0009] In addition, it is an object of the present invention to efficiently set MIMO precoding parameters when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are combined.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, a broadcast signal transmission device according to the present invention comprises: a first RF subframe signal generation unit for generating at least one first RF signal; a second RF subframe signal generation unit for generating at least one second RF signal; a first RF unit for generating at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to a first RF channel among a first RF channel and a second RF channel that are channel bonded based on at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal; and a second RF unit for generating at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal.

[0011] At this time, the at least one first RF signal may be a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), and the at least one second RF signal may be a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO.

[0012] At this time, the first RF signals and the second RF signals can be generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding.

[0013] At this time, the at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, the at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, and the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0014] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0015] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0016] At this time, when the channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0017] At this time, when the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the MIMO physical layer pipe may not be channel bonded with the SISO physical layer pipe.

[0018] In addition, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of generating at least one first RF signal and at least one second RF signal; and generating at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded based on at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal, and generating at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal.

[0019] At this time, the at least one first RF signal may be a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), and the at least one second RF signal may be a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO.

[0020] At this time, the first RF signals and the second RF signals can be generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding.

[0021] At this time, the at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, the at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, and the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0022] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0023] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0024] At this time, when the channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0025] At this time, when the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the MIMO physical layer pipe may not be channel bonded with the SISO physical layer pipe.

[0026] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of receiving at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to a first RF channel and at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel among a first RF channel and a second RF channel that are channel bonded; and the step of restoring a data stream based on at least one of the at least one first RF transmission signal and the at least one second RF transmission signal.

[0027] At this time, the at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, the at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, and the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0028] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0029] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0030] According to the present invention, when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are used together, appropriate time interleaving can be performed.

[0031] In addition, the present invention can enable efficient broadcast signal transmission / reception operations by appropriately setting the total memory requirements required for time interleavers when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are used together.

[0032] In addition, the present invention can efficiently set MIMO precoding parameters when MIMO technology and channel bonding technology are combined.

[0033] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0034] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the MIMO precoding unit illustrated in Fig. 1.

[0035] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the first cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the second cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0037] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal generation method for generating a broadcast signal when the channel bonding mode according to one embodiment of the present invention is an SNR averaging mode.

[0039] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0041] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when plain channel bonding is applied.

[0042] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied.

[0043] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied.

[0044] Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0045] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a first example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0048] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a second example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0049] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a third example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0050] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a fourth example of time interleaver memory limitations when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0051] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a first example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0052] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a second example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0053] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a third example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0054] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0055] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0056] Figure 24 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0057] Figure 25 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] Figure 26 is a block diagram showing a computer system configuration according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Herein, repetitive descriptions, well-known functions that may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, and detailed descriptions of configurations are omitted. The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully explain the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity.

[0060] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0061] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0062] Referring to FIG. 1, a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input formatting unit (110), a stream distributor (120), a first BICM unit (131), a second BICM unit (132), a first MIMO precoding unit (141), a second MIMO precoding unit (142), a first cell exchanger (151), a second cell exchanger (152), framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164), waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174), and antenna units (181, 182).

[0063] The structure and operation of each component illustrated in Fig. 1 are disclosed in detail in Korean Patent Publication Nos. 10-2023-0130517 and 10-2023-0130532, etc.

[0064] The input formatting unit (110) generates packetized data (baseband packets) in units of processing blocks of the transmission system. At this time, the transmission system can classify packets to which the same BICM (Bit Interleaved Coded Modulation) and transmission signal generation parameters are applied and define them as the same PLP (Physical Layer Pipe).

[0065] The stream distributor (120) separates the input bit stream into two different channels (RF 1, RF 2).

[0066] That is, baseband packets, which are packetized data in units of processing blocks of a transmission system that uses channel bonding, are generated through the input formatting unit (110) and the stream distributor (120). At this time, the stream distributor (120) can cooperate with the function of the input formatting unit of the transmission system to which channel bonding is not applied to separate the bit string entering the input formatting unit (110) so that it is transmitted to two different channels. Through this, two different baseband packet strings are input to the first BICM unit (131) and the second BICM unit (132), which are BICM blocks located in the signal generation path of RF 1 and BICM blocks located in the signal generation path of RF 2.

[0067] The two data columns packetized into block units are processed in the first BICM unit (131) and the second BICM unit (132), respectively.

[0068] The first BICM unit (131) and the second BICM unit (132) may each include an FEC (Forward Error Correction) unit, a BIL (Bit Interleaver) unit, and a MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) MAP (mapping) unit. At this time, the FEC unit may apply channel coding to baseband packets to generate FEC frames, which are groups of bits. At this time, the channel coding may be a single-structure method, or may be a method composed of multiple stages, such as inner and outer coding. At this time, the BIL unit may perform bit interleaving on the FEC frames output from the FEC unit. At this time, the MIMO MAP unit may generate data cells for transmitting output to each of the multiple antennas with respect to the output bit string of the BIL unit. To this end, the MIMO MAP unit can be composed of two sub-blocks: a demultiplexer unit and a bit-to-IQ mapping unit. At this time, the demultiplexer unit can group input bit streams according to the modulation order and the number of multiple antennas in order to convert them into data cells. At this time, the bit stream corresponding to each group can be different depending on the modulation order and the number of multiple antennas. The bit-to-IQ mapping unit maps the output of the demultiplexer unit to constellations corresponding to groups of bits corresponding to each antenna output, and generates data cells corresponding to each antenna output. In one embodiment, even-numbered bit groups (or vectors) can be mapped to data cells for the first antenna (ANTENNA 1), and odd-numbered bit groups (or vectors) can be mapped to data cells for the second antenna (ANTENNA 2). At this time, grouping of each bit in the MIMO MAP section or constellation mapping of bits using this can be performed using various methods not illustrated.

[0069] The first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) may correspond to a first polarization and a second polarization, respectively. That is, the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) may correspond to a first polarization, and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) may correspond to a second polarization. For example, the first polarization may be vertical polarization, and the second polarization may be horizontal polarization.

[0070] Here, polarization can be the orientation of the electric field vector of a radiated electromagnetic wave with respect to the horizon as seen from the antenna. In other words, polarization can describe the orientation of the wave emitted from. This orientation can be planar or circular.

[0071] Hereinafter, the first antenna may be replaced with the first polarization, and the second antenna may be replaced with the second polarization.

[0072] Groups of two different data cells are input to the MIMO precoding units (141, 142).

[0073] The MIMO precoding units (141, 142) can each perform signal processing for spatial multiplexing and can adjust the first polarization signal and the second polarization signal in units of OFDM cells (constellation symbols).

[0074] At this time, the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) may include a streaming combiner, an IQ polarization interleaving unit, and a phase hopping unit, respectively. At this time, the stream combiner may combine two data cells inputted and output them. At this time, the IQ polarization interleaving unit may exchange the quadrature components of the two data cells inputted and output them. At this time, the phase hopping unit may change the phase of the data cells inputted and output them. At this time, all three sub-blocks may be activated and operated, all may be deactivated and operated, or only some of the blocks may be activated and operated. In addition, each sub-block may output a different signal or the same signal depending on the channel coding rate and modulation order applied to the data cells inputted to each sub-block. The MIMO precoding units (141, 142) illustrated in FIG. 1 can output two data cells to be output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2).

[0075] The first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) illustrated in FIG. 1 can be activated / deactivated, respectively, depending on the channel bonding mode. When the first cell exchanger (151) is deactivated, the input and output of the first cell exchanger (151) can be the same without exchange. When the second cell exchanger (152) is deactivated, the input and output of the second cell exchanger (152) can be the same without exchange.

[0076] For example, when the first cell exchanger (151) is deactivated, the data cell corresponding to the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the first cell exchanger (151) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (161) that generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 1, and the data cell corresponding to the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (163) that generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 2. And, when the second cell exchanger (152) is deactivated, the data cell corresponding to the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the second cell exchanger (152) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (162) which generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 1, and the data cell corresponding to the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (164) which generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 2.

[0077] When the first cell exchanger (151) is activated, the first cell exchanger (151) can exchange data between channels (RF 1, RF 2), so that baseband packets and FEC blocks to be transmitted can be transmitted through both RF channels (RF 1, RF 2). When the second cell exchanger (152) is activated, the second cell exchanger (152) can exchange data between channels (RF 1, RF 2), so that baseband packets and FEC blocks to be transmitted can be transmitted through both RF channels (RF 1, RF 2). However, even when the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) are activated, cell exchange can be performed only for some inputs (e.g., odd-numbered inputs).

[0078] In this way, when channel bonding (SNR averaging channel bonding) using crossover between channels of data cells is applied, the first cell exchanger (151) and / or the second cell exchanger (152) are activated.

[0079] At this time, when a channel bonding technology using multi-antenna technology and channel-to-channel crossing is applied in combination, the activated cell exchanger operates by considering both multi-antenna and channel.

[0080] For example, the first cell exchanger (151) can output the input data as is without crossing if the data cell output order pair corresponding to each of the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) is an even number. At this time, the second cell exchanger (152) can output the input data as is without crossing if the data cell output order pair corresponding to each of the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) is an even number. The first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and second antenna (ANTENNA 2) data cell order pair corresponding to RF 1 from the output of the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) can be output through the RF 1 antenna unit (181) via the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) and waveform generators (171, 172) of RF 1, and the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and second antenna (ANTENNA 2) data cell order pair corresponding to RF 2 can be output through the RF 2 antenna unit (182) via the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and waveform generators (173, 174) of RF 2.

[0081] On the other hand, if the data cell output order pair corresponding to each of the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) of the MIMO precoding unit (141) corresponding to the RF 1 transmission signal generation path and the data cell output order pair corresponding to each of the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) of the MIMO precoding unit (142) corresponding to the RF 2 transmission signal generation path are odd-numbered, the data cell output order pair corresponding to RF 1 is output through the RF 2 antenna unit (182) via the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and waveform generators (173, 174) corresponding to the transmission signal generation path corresponding to RF 2 before the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152), and the data cell output corresponding to RF 2 is output The ordered pair can be output through the RF 1 antenna unit (181) via the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) and waveform generators (171, 172) corresponding to the transmission signal generation path corresponding to RF 1.

[0082] That is, when it is an even-numbered data cell order pair, the data cell corresponding to the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the first cell exchanger (151) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (161) which generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 1, and the data cell corresponding to the first antenna in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (163) which generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 2. At this time, the data cell corresponding to the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the second cell exchanger (152) may be output to the framing & interleaving unit (162) that generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 1, and the data cell corresponding to the second antenna in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) may be output to the framing & interleaving unit (164) that generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 2.

[0083] In addition, when it is an odd-numbered data cell order pair, the data cell corresponding to the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the first cell exchanger (151) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (163) that generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 2, and the data cell corresponding to the first antenna in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) is output to the framing & interleaving unit (161) that generates a signal output through the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) corresponding to RF 1. At this time, the data cell corresponding to the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (141) input to the second cell exchanger (152) may be output to the framing & interleaving unit (164) that generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 2, and the data cell corresponding to the second antenna in the output of the MIMO precoding unit (142) may be output to the framing & interleaving unit (162) that generates a signal output through the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) corresponding to RF 1.

[0084] At this time, the input of the first cell exchanger (151) is a precoded first polarization input pair (s 2i,1 , s 2i,2 )(i is an integer greater than or equal to 0), and the input of the second cell exchanger (152) may be a precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) may be. At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) may be a MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s 2i,1 , s 2i,2 )(i is an integer greater than or equal to 0) to perform a cell exchange to obtain the first exchange output pair (g 2i,1 , g 2i,2 ) and the second cell exchanger (152) generates a MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2) to perform a cell exchange on the second exchange output pair (g 2i+1,1 , g 2i+1,2 ) can be created.

[0085] At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) can output the precoded first polarization input pair as the first exchange output pair if the precoded first polarization input pair is an even number (i is 0 or an even number), and the second cell exchanger (152) can output the precoded second polarization input pair as the second exchange output pair if the precoded second polarization input pair is an even number (i is 0 or an even number). At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) can output the first exchange output pair by crossing the first precoded polarization input pair when the first precoded polarization input pair is odd (i is odd), and the second cell exchanger (152) can output the second exchange output pair by crossing the second precoded polarization input pair when the second precoded polarization input pair is odd (i is odd).

[0086] At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) each correspond to a cell exchange matrix, and the cell exchange matrix corresponding to the first cell exchanger (151) and the cell exchange matrix corresponding to the second cell exchanger (152) may be the same.

[0087] At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) operate based on at least one of a channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF and a channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF, respectively, and the channel bonding format field may indicate one of a plain channel bonding mode and an SNR averaging channel bonding mode with 2 bits. At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) may confirm that the channel bonding format field corresponding to the first RF and the channel bonding format field corresponding to the second RF are the same, and may operate based on the 2-bit channel bonding format field that is set to be the same.

[0088] At this time, the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF and the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF may be set to be the same. Depending on the embodiment, the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF and the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF may be set to be different from each other.

[0089] At this time, the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) may be activated when the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied. At this time, when the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied, the MIMO precoding unit (141) and the MIMO precoding unit (142) may correspond to the same MIMO setting. That is, when the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied, the MIMO setting of the MIMO precoding unit (141) and the MIMO setting of the MIMO precoding unit (142) may be the same.

[0090] When the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied, the MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s2i,1 , s 2i,2 )'s first input (s) 2i,1 ) and MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 )'s first input (s) 2i+1,1 ) and a MIMO setup that generates a MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s 2i,1 , s 2i,2 ) second input (s) 2i,2 ) and MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) second input (s) 2i+1,2 ) can be the same MIMO settings.

[0091] At this time, the MIMO setting may correspond to the first field (L1D_plp_mimo_stream_combining), the second field (L1D_plp_mimo_IQ_interleaving), and the third field (L1D_plp_mimo_PH) corresponding to MIMO precoding. At this time, the first field, the second field, and the third field may all be 1-bit fields. At this time, the first field may be a field corresponding to activation / deactivation of the stream combining unit of FIG. 2, which will be described later, the second field may be a field corresponding to activation / deactivation of the IQ polarization interleaving unit, and the third field may be a field corresponding to activation / deactivation of the phase hopping unit. At this time, the first field (L1D_plp_mimo_stream_combining), the second field (L1D_plp_mimo_IQ_interleaving), and the third field (L1D_plp_mimo_PH) corresponding to MIMO precoding can be transmitted to the receiver as L1-Detail signaling. At this time, the first field (L1D_plp_mimo_stream_combining), the second field (L1D_plp_mimo_IQ_interleaving), and the third field (L1D_plp_mimo_PH) corresponding to MIMO precoding can be set to 1 when activated and to 0 when deactivated, respectively.

[0092] The first RF section (191) is the first output (g) of the first exchange output pair. 2i,1 ) and the first output (g) of the second exchange output pair 2i+1,1 ) is used to generate first RF MIMO signals corresponding to the first RF (Radio Frequency). At this time, the first RF unit (191) may include framing & interleaving units (161, 162), waveform generators (171, 172), and an antenna unit (181).

[0093] The second RF section (192) is the second output (g) of the first cell exchanger. 2i,2 ) and the second output (g) of the second cell exchanger 2i+1,2 ) to generate second RF MIMO signals corresponding to the second RF. At this time, the second RF unit (192) may include framing & interleaving units (163, 164), waveform generators (173, 174), and an antenna unit (182).

[0094] The first RF unit (191) and the second RF unit (192) can form a signal generation unit.

[0095] The framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164) illustrated in FIG. 1 can each generate a signal corresponding to a frame to be transmitted via an antenna using data cells input as input. At this time, the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164) may or may not activate and perform time interleaving for each input data cell. At this time, the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164) may each perform framing for configuring a preamble symbol and a subframe for each data cell. At this time, the preamble symbol may not include a data cell. At this time, frequency interleaving may or may not be activated and applied.

[0096] At this time, the time interleavers corresponding to the first exchange output pair and the second exchange output pair can correspond to a total memory requirement that is twice the total memory requirement for MIMO applied to a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) applied to a single RF channel.

[0097] The grouped data cells, which are the outputs of the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164), are input to the waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174). At this time, the waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174) may each perform an IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) after pilot insertion and insert a guard interval symbol. In addition, the waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174) may each generate a bootstrap symbol and output it by positioning it at the very beginning of the transmission frame. At this time, each of the waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174) may activate and apply the MISO (Multiple-Input Single-Output) signal processing function or may deactivate and not apply it.

[0098] Using the broadcast signal transmitter exemplified in Figure 1, one can enjoy the increased transmission rate within a single frequency achieved by multiple antennas, and utilize multiple single frequencies as if they were a single frequency. Furthermore, in addition to the multiplexing effect achieved through multiple antennas, additional channel multiplexing effects can be achieved by crossing multiple broadcast channels. Therefore, the present invention overcomes the limitations of existing broadcast transmission methods, enabling the provision of hyper-realistic media services and the full utilization of scarce frequency resources.

[0099] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the MIMO precoding unit illustrated in Fig. 1.

[0100] Referring to FIG. 2, the MIMO precoding unit (141 or 142) illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a stream combining unit (210), an IQ polarization interleaving unit (220), and a phase hopping unit (230).

[0101] The stream combining unit (210) can combine two data cells coming in as input and output them.

[0102] The IQ polarization interleaving unit (220) can output the quadrature components of two data cells input by exchanging them with each other.

[0103] The phase hopping unit (230) can change the phase of data cells coming in as input and output them.

[0104] At this time, the stream combining unit (210), the IQ polarization interleaving unit (220), and the phase hopping unit (230) may all be activated, all may be deactivated, or only some of them may be activated and operate. In addition, depending on the channel coding rate and modulation order applied to the data cells input to each of the stream combining unit (210), the IQ polarization interleaving unit (220), and the phase hopping unit (230), the stream combining unit (210), the IQ polarization interleaving unit (220), and the phase hopping unit (230) may output different signals or the same signals, respectively.

[0105] The first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) illustrated in FIG. 1 may exist independently and operate independently for the first antenna / first polarization and the second antenna / second polarization, respectively, or may operate identically for simplicity of implementation.

[0106] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the first cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0107] Referring to FIG. 3, the first cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s 2i,1 , s 2i,2 )(i is an integer greater than or equal to 0) to perform a cell exchange to obtain the first exchange output pair (g 2i,1 , g 2i,2 ) is created.

[0108] The first polarization input pair (s) 2i,1 , s 2i,2 ) may be cells corresponding to RF channel 1 and RF channel 2 transmitted to the first polarization / first antenna.

[0109] First exchange output pair (g 2i,1 , g 2i,2 ) may be cells corresponding to RF channel 1 and RF channel 2 transmitted to the first polarization / first antenna.

[0110] At this time, the first exchange output pair (g 2i,1 , g 2i,2 ) may be output cells output to time interleavers of RF 1 and RF 2 via the first antenna / first polarization, and may be provided to time interleavers corresponding to the framing & interleaving units illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0111] When SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, the first cell exchanger may be applied for the first antenna / first polarization.

[0112] At this time, as in the following mathematical expression 1, the cell exchange matrix defined for the first antenna / first polarization is index i (i = 0 ... ┕N cells / 2┙ -1) must be multiplied by the vector including both cells for each input path at index i.

[0113] [Mathematical Formula 1]

[0114]

[0115] In the above mathematical expression 1, the input cells s input to the cell exchanger 2i,1 and s 2i,2 are associated with RF channels RF 1 and RF 2 respectively. Output cells g output from the cell exchanger 2i,1 and g 2i,2 are associated with RF 1 and RF 2 respectively.

[0116] In FIG. 3, TI represents a time interleaver, Tx1 represents a first antenna or a first polarization, and Tx2 represents a second antenna or a second polarization.

[0117] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the second cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0118] Referring to FIG. 4, the second cell exchanger illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 )(i is an integer greater than or equal to 0) to perform a cell exchange to obtain the second exchange output pair (g 2i+1,1 , g 2i+1,2 ) is created.

[0119] Second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) may be cells corresponding to RF channel 1 and RF channel 2 transmitted to the second polarization / second antenna.

[0120] Second exchange output pair (g 2i+1,1 , g 2i+1,2 ) may be cells corresponding to RF channel 1 and RF channel 2 transmitted to the second polarization / second antenna.

[0121] At this time, the second exchange output pair (g 2i+1,1 , g 2i+1,2) may be output cells output to time interleavers of RF 1 and RF 2 via the second antenna / second polarization, and may be provided to time interleavers corresponding to the framing & interleaving units illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0122] When SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, a second cell exchanger may be applied for the second antenna / second polarization.

[0123] At this time, as in the following mathematical expression 2, the cell exchange matrix defined for the second antenna / second polarization is index i (i = 0 ... ┕N cells / 2┙ -1) must be multiplied by the vector including both cells for each input path at index i.

[0124] [Equation 2]

[0125]

[0126] In the above mathematical expression 2, the input cells s input to the cell exchanger 2i+1,1 and s 2i+1,2 are associated with RF channels RF 1 and RF 2 respectively. Output cells g output from the cell exchanger 2i+1,1 and g 2i+1,2 are associated with RF 1 and RF 2 respectively.

[0127] In Fig. 4, TI represents a time interleaver, Tx1 represents a first antenna or a first polarization, and Tx2 represents a second antenna or a second polarization.

[0128] The first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) illustrated in Fig. 1 may both be activated, both may be deactivated, or only one of them may be activated.

[0129] Therefore, when channel bonding technology and MIMO technology are applied together, the receiver must obtain information on whether the first cell exchanger (151) and the second cell exchanger (152) of the transmitter are activated.

[0130] In particular, the preamble of an ATSC 3.0 broadcast signal frame may include L1-detail signaling fields as L1 signaling information, and the L1-detail signaling fields may include a 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field.

[0131] For example, the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field can be set as shown in Table 1 below.

[0132] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding10Reserved for future use11Reserved for future use

[0133] In the example described in Table 1, plane channel bonding may refer to a channel bonding mode in which the cell exchange unit is deactivated and no cell exchange occurs, and SNR averaging channel bonding may refer to a channel bonding mode in which the cell exchange unit is activated and cell exchange occurs.

[0134] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0135] Referring to FIG. 5, a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input formatting unit (110), a stream distributor (120), a first BICM unit (131), a second BICM unit (132), a first MIMO precoding unit (141), a second MIMO precoding unit (142), a first cell exchanger (151), a second cell exchanger (152), framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164), waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174), antenna units (181, 182), and an L1 (Layer 1) signaling generator (510).

[0136] Among the components illustrated in FIG. 5, components other than the L1 signaling generator (510) have already been sufficiently explained in the description through FIG. 1, so a repeated explanation will be omitted.

[0137] Since the broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a first cell exchanger (151) and a second cell exchanger (152), information on whether these two components are activated must be transmitted to the receiver.

[0138] Accordingly, information regarding whether the first cell exchanger (151) is activated and information regarding whether the second cell exchanger (152) is activated are provided to the L1 signaling generator (510).

[0139] The L1 signaling generator (510) receives information regarding whether the first cell exchanger (151) is activated and information regarding whether the second cell exchanger (152) is activated, and generates L1 signaling information for RF 1 and L1 signaling information for RF 2 based on the information. At this time, the L1 signaling information for RF 1 may be provided to the framing & interleaving units (161, 162), and the L1 signaling information for RF 2 may be provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0140] At this time, the L1 signaling information for RF 1 and the L1 signaling information for RF 2 may include a channel bonding format field. At this time, the channel bonding format field may be an L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field.

[0141] At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the L1 signaling information for RF 1 and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the L1 signaling information for RF 2 may be set to be the same. At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the L1 signaling information for RF 1 and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the L1 signaling information for RF 2 may be set to be different from each other.

[0142] At this time, the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164) can generate a preamble based on the L1 signaling information provided from the L1 signaling generator (510). At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) can be set to be identical to the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164). At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) may be set differently from the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0143] At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) can be set in the same manner as Table 1 above, and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) can also be set in the same manner as Table 1 above. At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) can be set to be identical to the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0144] If the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field is set in the same manner as Table 1, and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) is set to be identical to the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164), both the first cell exchanger and the second cell exchanger of the broadcast signal transmission device may be deactivated or both may be activated.

[0145] To cover the case where only one of the first cell exchanger and the second cell exchanger is disabled, a 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 2 below may be used.

[0146] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding for both antenna 1 and 210SNR averaged channel bonding for antenna 1 only(Plain channel bonding for antenna 2)11SNR averaged channel bonding for antenna 2 only(Plain channel bonding for antenna 1)

[0147] When the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as described in Table 2 is used, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) may be set identically to the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164). That is, in this case, for Physical Layer Pipes (PLPs) to which both channel bonding technology and MIMO technology are applied, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field may be set identically for both RF 1 and RF 2.

[0148] At this time, if L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format is set to 01, 10, or 11, the modulation chains for RF 1 and RF 2 can have the same BICM configuration.

[0149] Table 3 below may be for a case where the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) is set differently from the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0150] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding for antenna 2 only(Plain channel bonding for antenna 1)0100SNR averaged channel bonding for antenna 1 only(Plain channel bonding for antenna 2)0101SNR averaged channel bonding for both antenna 1 and 20010N / A0011N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0151] That is, in the example of Table 3, L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for RF 1 and L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for RF 2 can be assigned differently. In this case, L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for RF 1 and L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for RF 2 can be used in combination.

[0152] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal generation method for generating a broadcast signal when the channel bonding mode according to one embodiment of the present invention is an SNR averaging mode.

[0153] Referring to FIG. 6, a broadcast signal generation method for generating a broadcast signal when a channel bonding mode according to an embodiment of the present invention is an SNR averaging mode, comprises a MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) precoded first polarization input pair (s2i,1 , s 2i,2 )(i is an integer greater than or equal to 0) to perform a cell exchange for the first exchange output pair (g 2i,1 , g 2i,2 ) is created (S610).

[0154] In addition, a broadcast signal generation method for generating a broadcast signal when the channel bonding mode according to one embodiment of the present invention is an SNR averaging mode, comprises a MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) to perform a cell exchange for the second exchange output pair (g 2i+1,1 , g 2i+1,2 ) is created (S620).

[0155] At this time, the first exchange output pair may be set to be identical to the precoded first polarization input pair when the precoded first polarization input pair is an even number (i is 0 or even), and the second exchange output pair may be set to be identical to the precoded second polarization input pair when the precoded second polarization input pair is an even number (i is 0 or even).

[0156] At this time, the first exchange output pair may be set by crossing the first precoded polarization input pair when the first precoded polarization input pair is odd (i is odd), and the second exchange output pair may be set by crossing the second precoded polarization input pair when the second precoded polarization input pair is odd (i is odd).

[0157] At this time, step (S610) and step (S620) each correspond to a cell exchange matrix, and the cell exchange matrix corresponding to step (S610) and the cell exchange matrix corresponding to step (S620) may be the same.

[0158] At this time, step (S610) and step (S620) operate based on at least one of a channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF and a channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF, respectively, and the channel bonding format field can indicate one of a plain channel bonding mode and an SNR averaging channel bonding mode with 2 bits.

[0159] At this time, the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF and the channel bonding format field included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF may be set to be the same.

[0160] At this time, the time interleavers corresponding to the first exchange output pair and the second exchange output pair can correspond to a total memory requirement that is twice the total memory requirement for MIMO applied to a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) applied to a single RF channel.

[0161] At this time, when the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied, the MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s 2i,1 , s 2i,2 )'s first input (s) 2i,1 ) and the MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 )'s first input (s) 2i+1,1 ) and the MIMO setting (same MIMO setting) that generates the first polarization input pair (s) of the MIMO precoded 2i,1 , s 2i,2 ) second input (s) 2i,2 ) and the MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) second input (s)2i+1,2 ) can be the same MIMO settings.

[0162] In addition, a broadcast signal generation method for generating a broadcast signal when the channel bonding mode according to one embodiment of the present invention is an SNR averaging mode generates first RF MIMO signals and second RF MIMO signals transmitted through a first antenna unit and a second antenna unit using the first exchange output pair and the second exchange output pair (S630).

[0163] At this time, the first RF MIMO signals may correspond to the first RF, and the second RF MIMO signals may correspond to the second RF.

[0164] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0165] Referring to FIG. 7, a broadcast signal receiving method according to an embodiment of the present invention receives first RF MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) signals corresponding to a first RF and second RF MIMO signals corresponding to a second RF using a first polarization and a second polarization (S710).

[0166] At this time, the time interleavers corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can correspond to a total memory requirement that is twice the total memory requirement for MIMO applied to a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) applied to a single RF channel.

[0167] At this time, the MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s) corresponding to the first polarization 2i,1 , s 2i,2 )'s first input (s) 2i,1) and a MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s) corresponding to the second polarization 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 )'s first input (s) 2i+1,1 ) and a MIMO precoded first polarization input pair (s) corresponding to the first polarization. 2i,1 , s 2i,2 ) second input (s) 2i,2 ) and a MIMO precoded second polarization input pair (s) corresponding to the second polarization 2i+1,1 , s 2i+1,2 ) second input (s) 2i+1,2 ) can be the same when SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied.

[0168] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention restores a first preamble and a second preamble using the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals (S710).

[0169] At this time, the first preamble and the second preamble may include the same L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field. That is, the channel bonding format field corresponding to the first preamble (included in L1 signaling for the first RF) and the channel bonding format field corresponding to the second preamble (included in L1 signaling for the second RF) may be set identically.

[0170] At this time, the first preamble and the second preamble may include different L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format fields.

[0171] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention performs a reverse process of cell exchange based on a channel bonding format field corresponding to the first preamble and the second preamble (S730).

[0172] A transmission method that generates a transmission signal through a single transmission chain (through a transmission signal generation process similar to single-antenna transmission) without applying the MIMO method for spatial multiplexing can be referred to as a Non-MIMO method. In this case, the Non-MIMO method may include SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) and MISO (Multiple-Input Single-Output) transmission. In the following, Non-MIMO and SISO may be used interchangeably. In other words, SISO may be a concept that includes MISO.

[0173] The two RF channels to which channel bonding is applied may be referred to as a first RF channel and a second RF channel. At this time, at least one physical layer pipe included in a transmission frame transmitted through the first RF channel and at least one physical layer pipe included in a transmission frame transmitted through the second RF channel may be in a channel bonding relationship.

[0174] Although the examples in which all channel-bonded RF channels transmit MIMO signals through FIGS. 1 to 7 have been described, the MIMO method may be applied to one of the channel-bonded RF channels and the Non-MIMO (SISO) method may be applied to the other. In this case, when the Non-MIMO and MIMO RF channels are channel-bonded, the specific operations of the transmitter / receiver may vary depending on whether cell exchange is activated / deactivated and the combination of polarizations to which cell exchange is applied.

[0175] When RF channels of the Non-MIMO mode and the MIMO mode are channel bonded, i) plain channel bonding may be applied to the Non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream so that cell exchange may not be performed, ii) SNR averaging may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream, but a cell exchange may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the stream of the first polarization of the second RF channel, and the stream of the second polarization of the second RF channel may be output without cell exchange, iii) SNR averaging may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream, but a cell exchange may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the stream of the second polarization of the second RF channel, and the stream of the first polarization of the second RF channel may be output without cell exchange, and iv) SNR averaging may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream. However, cell exchange may be applied between the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel, the stream of the first polarization of the second RF channel, and the stream of the second polarization of the second RF channel, so that data cells of the three streams may be exchanged. In this case, some operation modes, such as the operation mode of iv), may not be considered, especially in cases where cell exchange between the three streams is not easy.

[0176] For convenience of explanation, the channel through which the Non-MIMO stream is transmitted is described as the first RF channel and the channel through which the MIMO stream is transmitted is described as the second RF channel. However, depending on the embodiment, the Non-MIMO stream may be transmitted through the second RF channel and the MIMO stream may be transmitted through the first RF channel.

[0177] The four operating modes of i), ii), iii) and iv) described above may be signaled from the transmitter to the receiver via signaling information, or the operating modes of the transmitter / receiver may be specified so that the system operates in a fixed mode.

[0178] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0179] Referring to FIG. 8, a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input formatting unit (110), a stream distributor (120), a SISO signal generation unit (831), a second BICM unit (132), a second MIMO precoding unit (142), a cell exchanger (850), framing & interleaving units (163, 164, 861), and waveform generators (173, 174, 871).

[0180] Among the components illustrated in FIG. 8, the input formatting unit (110), the stream distributor (120), the second BICM unit (132), the second MIMO precoding unit (142), the framing & interleaving units (163, 164), and the waveform generators (173, 174) have already been sufficiently explained in the explanation through FIG. 1, so a repeated explanation will be omitted. At this time, although the MIMO demultiplexer and the constellation mapping unit of the second BICM unit (132) are illustrated separately in FIG. 8, these correspond to the MIMO MAP unit illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0181] The output of the input formatting unit (110) is separated into two streams through the stream distributor (120) and then input to the SISO signal generation unit (831) and the second BICM unit (132), respectively.

[0182] The SISO signal generation unit (831) generates a SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) signal. That is, the SISO signal generation unit (831) can perform BICM signal processing of a Non-MIMO signal (SISO signal) to be transmitted through the first RF channel.

[0183] At this time, the SISO signal generation unit (831) may include an FEC (Forward Error Correction) unit, a BIL (Bit Interleaver) unit, and a MAP (Mapping) unit. At this time, the FEC unit may apply channel coding to baseband packets to generate FEC frames, which are groups of bits. At this time, the channel coding may be a single-structure method, or may be a method composed of multiple stages, such as inner and outer coding. At this time, the BIL unit may perform bit interleaving on the FEC frames output from the FEC unit. At this time, the symbol MAP unit maps the output bits of the BIL unit to constellations corresponding to groups of bits corresponding to antenna outputs, and generates data cells (constellation signal stream) corresponding to the antenna outputs. As a result, the constellation signal stream output from the SISO signal generation unit (831) corresponds to the SISO signal.

[0184] The second BICM unit (132) corresponds to a MIMO signal generation unit and generates MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) signals. That is, the second BICM unit (132) can perform BICM and MIMO mapping signal processing of MIMO signals to be transmitted to the second RF channel.

[0185] At this time, the two constellation signal streams output from the second BICM unit (132) correspond to MIMO signals. At this time, the two constellation signal streams correspond to the first polarization and the second polarization, respectively.

[0186] At this time, the two constellation signal streams output from the second BICM unit (132) are converted by the MIMO precoding process in the second MIMO precoding unit (142). At this time, the second MIMO precoding unit (142) outputs two output streams.

[0187] The cell exchanger (850) can be activated or deactivated depending on the channel bonding mode. In this case, when the cell exchanger (850) is deactivated, the input and output of the cell exchanger (850) can be identical without crossing.

[0188] When the cell exchanger (850) is activated, at least one of the two output streams of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) and the output stream of the SISO signal generation unit (831) are exchanged cell-by-cell in the cell exchanger (850). At this time, the cell exchanger (850) can apply cell exchange between the output stream of the SISO signal generation unit (831) and the stream of the first polarization of the second MIMO precoding unit (142). At this time, the cell exchanger (850) can apply cell exchange between the output stream of the SISO signal generation unit (831) and the stream of the second polarization of the second MIMO precoding unit (142).

[0189] The output of the cell exchanger (850) is one Non-MIMO stream and two MIMO streams, and the two MIMO streams correspond to the first polarization and the second polarization, respectively.

[0190] The Non-MIMO stream output through the cell exchanger (850) passes through the framing & interleaving unit (861) and the waveform generator (871) of the first RF channel and is output as a first RF SISO signal. At this time, the framing & interleaving unit (861) and the waveform generator (871) may form a first RF unit (881). At this time, the first RF unit (881) may generate a first RF SISO signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded based on the SISO signal. The framing & interleaving unit (861) corresponds to each of the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164) described in FIG. 1, and the waveform generator (871) corresponds to each of the waveform generators (171, 172, 173, 174) described in FIG. 1.

[0191] The two MIMO streams output through the cell exchanger (850) are output as second RF MIMO signals through the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and waveform generators (173, 174) of the second RF channel. At this time, the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and the waveform generators (173, 174) may form a second RF unit (882). At this time, the second RF unit (882) may generate second RF MIMO signals corresponding to the second RF channel based on the MIMO signals. At this time, the second RF MIMO signals may correspond to the first polarization and the second polarization of the second RF channel, respectively.

[0192] The first antenna (ANTENNA 1) and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) may correspond to a first polarization and a second polarization, respectively. That is, the first antenna (ANTENNA 1) may correspond to a first polarization, and the second antenna (ANTENNA 2) may correspond to a second polarization. For example, the first polarization may be vertical polarization, and the second polarization may be horizontal polarization.

[0193] At this time, at least one of the first preamble corresponding to the first RF channel and the second preamble corresponding to the second RF channel may include a channel bonding format field corresponding to the channel bonding.

[0194] At this time, the channel bonding format field can indicate either a plain channel bonding mode or an SNR averaging channel bonding mode with 2 bits.

[0195] At this time, the physical layer pipe (PLP) (MIMO physical layer pipe) corresponding to the second RF MIMO signals and the physical layer pipe (SISO physical layer pipe) corresponding to the first RF SISO signal may be channel bonded only in the plain channel bonding mode and may not be channel bonded in the SNR averaging channel bonding mode.

[0196] At this time, the channel bonding format field may be set to “00” and may not be set to “01”.

[0197] At this time, the channel bonding format field included in the first preamble and the channel bonding format field included in the second preamble may be set identically.

[0198] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0199] At this time, the MIMO settings may include not only the MIMO precoding settings but also whether or not MIMO is applied. That is, when the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is applied, MIMO may not be applied to the second RF channel when SISO is applied to the first RF channel.

[0200] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe (MIMO physical layer pipe) corresponding to the MIMO signals may not be channel bonded with the physical layer pipe (SISO physical layer pipe) corresponding to the SISO signal.

[0201] Depending on the embodiment, the order of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) and the cell switch (850) illustrated in FIG. 8 may be changed.

[0202] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when plain channel bonding is applied.

[0203] Referring to FIG. 9, it can be seen that the cell exchanger (850) illustrated in FIG. 8 is omitted when plain channel bonding is applied.

[0204] At this time, no cell exchange occurs between the non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream. At this time, the modulation mode of the first RF channel and the modulation mode of the second RF channel can be independently determined.

[0205] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied.

[0206] Referring to FIG. 10, when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, cell exchange is performed between the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization (ANTENNA 1) stream of the second RF channel by the cell exchanger (1050).

[0207] That is, for the stream corresponding to the first polarization (ANTENNA 1) among the Non-MIMO stream (SISO signal) of the first RF channel and the MIMO streams (MIMO signals) of the second RF channel, data cells having even indices are output as is. For the stream corresponding to the first polarization (ANTENNA 1) among the Non-MIMO stream (SISO signal) of the first RF channel and the MIMO streams (MIMO signals) of the second RF channel, data cells having odd indices are output by exchanging the first RF channel and the second RF channel. That is, among the data cells having odd indices, the data cells corresponding to the output of the SISO signal generation unit (831) of the first RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (163) corresponding to the first polarization (ANTENNA 1) of the second RF channel, and the data cells corresponding to the output of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) of the second RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (861) of the first RF channel. At this time, the stream corresponding to the second polarization (ANTENNA 2) among the outputs of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) of the second RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (164) corresponding to the second polarization of the second RF channel without crossing.

[0208] In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the constellation mapping order and coding rate of the first RF channel may be the same as the constellation mapping order and coding rate of the second RF channel.

[0209] Depending on the embodiment, the order of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) and the cell switch (1050) illustrated in FIG. 10 may be changed.

[0210] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 8 when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied.

[0211] Referring to FIG. 11, when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, cell exchange is performed between the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the second polarization (ANTENNA 2) stream of the second RF channel by the cell exchanger (1150).

[0212] That is, for the stream corresponding to the second polarization (ANTENNA 2) among the Non-MIMO stream (SISO signal) of the first RF channel and the MIMO streams (MIMO signals) of the second RF channel, data cells having even indices are output as is. For the stream corresponding to the second polarization (ANTENNA 2) among the Non-MIMO stream (SISO signal) of the first RF channel and the MIMO streams (MIMO signals) of the second RF channel, data cells having odd indices are output by exchanging the first RF channel and the second RF channel. That is, among the data cells having odd indices, the data cells corresponding to the output of the SISO signal generation unit (831) of the first RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (164) corresponding to the second polarization (ANTENNA 2) of the second RF channel, and the data cells corresponding to the output of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) of the second RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (861) of the first RF channel. At this time, the stream corresponding to the first polarization (ANTENNA 1) among the outputs of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) of the second RF channel can be input to the framing & interleaving unit (163) corresponding to the first polarization of the second RF channel without crossing.

[0213] In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, the constellation mapping order and coding rate of the first RF channel may be the same as the constellation mapping order and coding rate of the second RF channel.

[0214] Depending on the embodiment, the order of the second MIMO precoding unit (142) and the cell switch (1150) illustrated in FIG. 11 may be changed.

[0215] Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing another example of a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding.

[0216] Referring to FIG. 12, a broadcast signal transmission device using multiple transmission antennas and channel bonding according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input formatting unit (110), a stream distributor (120), a SISO signal generation unit (831), a second BICM unit (132), a second MIMO precoding unit (142), a cell exchanger (850), framing & interleaving units (163, 164, 861), waveform generators (173, 174, 871), and an L1 (Layer 1) signaling generator (1210).

[0217] Among the components illustrated in FIG. 12, components other than the L1 signaling generator (1210) have already been sufficiently explained in the description through FIG. 8, so a repeated explanation will be omitted.

[0218] Since the broadcast signal transmission device illustrated in FIG. 12 includes a cell exchanger (850), information on whether this component is activated and / or information on cell exchange operation must be transmitted to the receiver.

[0219] That is, a receiver receiving a signal from a broadcast signal transmitting device as illustrated in FIG. 12 must obtain information about whether a cell exchanger (850) is activated in order to demodulate the received signal, and which of the first polarization stream and the second polarization stream of the second RF channel (RF 2) the activated cell exchanger (850) will be exchanged with.

[0220] Accordingly, information regarding whether the cell exchanger (850) is activated and / or information regarding cell exchange operation is provided to the L1 signaling generator (1210).

[0221] The L1 signaling generator (1210) receives information regarding whether the cell exchanger (850) is activated and / or information regarding a cell exchange operation, and based on the information, generates L1 signaling information for a first RF channel (RF 1) and L1 signaling information for a second RF channel (RF 2). At this time, the L1 signaling information for the first RF channel (RF 1) may be provided to the framing & interleaving unit (861), and the L1 signaling information for the second RF channel (RF 2) may be provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0222] At this time, the L1 signaling information for RF 1 and the L1 signaling information for RF 2 may include a channel bonding format field. At this time, the channel bonding format field may be an L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field.

[0223] At this time, the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF channel (RF 1) and the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF channel (RF 2) may be set to be the same. At this time, the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) included in the L1 signaling information for the first RF channel (RF 1) and the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) included in the L1 signaling information for the second RF channel (RF 2) may be set to be different from each other.

[0224] At this time, the framing & interleaving units (861, 163, 164) can generate a preamble based on the L1 signaling information provided from the L1 signaling generator (1210). At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving unit (861) can be set to be the same as the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164). At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving unit (861) can also be set differently from the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0225] At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving unit (861) can be set in the same manner as Table 1 above, and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) can also be set in the same manner as Table 1 above. At this time, the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving unit (861) can be set to be identical to the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164).

[0226] If the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field is set in the same manner as Table 1, and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving unit (861) is set to be the same as the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field included in the preamble generated by the framing & interleaving units (163, 164), the cell exchanger of the broadcast signal transmission device can be deactivated or activated.

[0227] In the example in Table 1, the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) is allocated 2 bits, but only two of the four available values ​​are used.

[0228] Information regarding the activation of the cell exchanger (850) and / or information regarding cell exchange operations must be transmitted to the receiver via L1 signaling. At this time, the reserved values ​​of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format shown in Table 1 may be utilized.

[0229] In order to signal information about whether a cell exchanger is activated and / or information about a cell exchange operation in the transmitter structure illustrated in FIG. 12, the channel bonding format field (L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format) of the first RF channel and the second RF channel may be used for each of the channel-bonded physical layer pipes, and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for the first RF channel and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format for the second RF channel may be set to be identical.

[0230] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 4 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived with only one piece of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format information.

[0231] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream10SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream11reserved

[0232] At this time, the same L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format value can be assigned to both the first RF channel and the second RF channel for the channel-bonded physical layer pipes.

[0233] At this time, if the syntax table of Table 4 is used and 00 is assigned to L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format, the cell exchanger (850) in the example shown in FIG. 12 may be omitted.

[0234] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 5 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived using only one piece of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format information.

[0235] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream10SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream11SNR averaged channel bonding among non-MIMO stream, MIMO polarization 1 stream, and MIMO polarization 2 stream

[0236] In the example of Table 5, when 11 is assigned to L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format, cell exchange may be applied to the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization stream and the second polarization stream of the second RF channel, and data cell exchange may occur between the three streams.

[0237] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 6 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived using only one piece of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format information.

[0238] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream10reserved11reserved

[0239] In the example of Table 6, it can be seen that when SNR averaging channel bonding is used, only the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization stream of the second RF channel can be cell-switched.

[0240] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 7 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived using only one piece of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format information.

[0241] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream10reserved11reserved

[0242] In the example of Table 7, it can be seen that when SNR averaging channel bonding is used, only the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel and the second polarization stream of the second RF channel can be cell-switched.

[0243] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 8 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived using only one piece of L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format information.

[0244] ValueMeaning00Plain channel bonding01SNR averaged channel bonding among non-MIMO stream, MIMO polarization 1 stream, and MIMO polarization 2 stream10reserved11reserved

[0245] In the example of Table 8, it can be seen that when SNR averaging channel bonding is used, the Non-MIMO stream of the first RF channel, the first polarization stream of the second RF channel, and the second polarization stream of the second RF channel can be cell-switched.

[0246] The first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded can each transmit a preamble signal, and the L1 signaling information included in the preamble of the first RF channel and the L1 signaling information included in the preamble of the second RF channel may be the same or different.

[0247] Therefore, by combining the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format of the L1 signaling information included in the preamble of the first RF channel and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format of the L1 signaling information included in the preamble of the second RF channel, information on whether the cell switch is activated and / or information on the cell switching operation can be derived. That is, in this case, the receiver must check both the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format included in the preamble of the first RF channel and the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format included in the preamble of the second RF channel.

[0248] At this time, L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format included in the preamble of the first RF channel and L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format included in the preamble of the second RF channel may be set to different values.

[0249] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 9 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived by combining two L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values.

[0250] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream0010SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream0011SNR averaged channel bonding among non-MIMO stream, MIMO polarization 1 stream, and MIMO polarization 2 stream0100N / A0101N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0251] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 10 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived by combining two L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values.

[0252] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream0010SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream0011N / A0100N / A0101N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0253] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 11 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived by combining two L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values.

[0254] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 1 stream0010N / A0011N / A0100N / A0101N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0255] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 12 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived by combining two L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values.

[0256] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding between non-MIMO stream and MIMO polarization 2 stream0010N / A0011N / A0100N / A0101N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0257] At this time, by using the 2-bit L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format field as shown in Table 13 below, information on whether the cell exchanger is activated and / or information on the cell exchange operation can be derived by combining two L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values.

[0258] ValueMeaningL1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 1: L1D_rf_id = 0)L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format(RF 2: L1D_rf_id = 1)0000Fully plain channel bonding0001SNR averaged channel bonding among non-MIMO stream, MIMO polarization 1 stream, and MIMO polarization 2 stream0010N / A0011N / A0100N / A0101N / A0110N / A0111N / A1000N / A1001N / A1010N / A1011N / A1100N / A1101N / A1110N / A1111N / A

[0259] The order of the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format values ​​and meanings in Tables 1 to 13 described above may change.

[0260] In some embodiments, when a broadcast signal transmission device having the structure illustrated in FIG. 12 is used to perform channel bonding between a non-MIMO signal and a MIMO signal, the use of cell switching may be disallowed. That is, when channel bonding is performed between a non-MIMO signal and a MIMO signal, the use of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode may be disallowed. This may mean that, when multiple antenna transmission and SNR averaging channel bonding are used together, the same MIMO settings (parameters) must be applied to the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are coupled together.

[0261] When channel bonding is applied with multi-antenna transmission, the receiver can derive information from L1 signaling information about whether the physical layer pipe received on each RF channel or the subframe containing that physical layer pipe uses MIMO.

[0262] Therefore, it is possible to derive whether the physical layer pipes combined through channel bonding are a combination of non-MIMO and MIMO or a combination of MIMO and MIMO.

[0263] By combining this derived information with the L1D_plp_channel_bonding_format (and L1D_rf_id, if required) values, we can accurately determine the operating mode of channel bonding used with multi-antenna transmission.

[0264] In particular, when a broadcast signal transmission device having the structure illustrated in FIG. 12 is used, there may be difficulties in performing cell exchange evenly since there are a total of three related transmission streams. For example, it may be avoided that only a specific antenna stream utilizes cell exchange. That is, when the first polarization stream or the second polarization stream among the non-MIMO stream and the MIMO stream is cell-exchanged, one stream to which cell exchange is not applied is generated, so the actual effect of SNR averaging may not be significant.

[0265] Considering this, the use of SNR averaging may be prohibited when channel bonding is performed between non-MIMO and MIMO streams. This may mean that when multi-antenna transmission and SNR averaging channel bonding are used together, the same MIMO parameter(s) must be applied to the first and second RF channels being channel bonded.

[0266] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0267] Referring to FIG. 13, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention generates a SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) signal (S1310).

[0268] In addition, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention generates MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) signals (S1320).

[0269] In addition, a broadcast signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention generates a first RF SISO signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded based on the SISO signal (S1330).

[0270] At this time, at least one of the first preamble corresponding to the first RF channel and the second preamble corresponding to the second RF channel may include a channel bonding format field corresponding to the channel bonding.

[0271] In addition, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention generates second RF MIMO signals corresponding to the second RF channel based on the MIMO signals (S1340).

[0272] At this time, the channel bonding format field can indicate either a plain channel bonding mode or an SNR averaging channel bonding mode with 2 bits.

[0273] At this time, the physical layer pipe (PLP) corresponding to the second RF MIMO signals and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF SISO signal may be channel bonded only in the plain channel bonding mode and may not be channel bonded in the SNR averaging channel bonding mode.

[0274] At this time, the channel bonding format field may be set to “00” and may not be set to “01”.

[0275] At this time, the channel bonding format field included in the first preamble and the channel bonding format field included in the second preamble may be set identically.

[0276] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0277] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the MIMO signals may not be channel bonded with the physical layer pipe corresponding to the SISO signal.

[0278] Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0279] Referring to FIG. 14, a broadcast signal receiving method according to an embodiment of the present invention receives a first RF SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) signal corresponding to the first RF channel and a second RF MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) signal corresponding to the second RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded (S1410).

[0280] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention restores a preamble using at least one of the first RF SISO signal and the second RF MIMO signals (S1420).

[0281] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention performs a reverse process of channel bonding corresponding to a channel bonding format field included in the preamble (S1430).

[0282] At this time, the channel bonding format field can indicate either a plain channel bonding mode or an SNR averaging channel bonding mode with 2 bits.

[0283] At this time, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF MIMO signals and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF SISO signal may be channel bonded only in the plain channel bonding mode and may not be channel bonded in the SNR averaging channel bonding mode.

[0284] At this time, the channel bonding format field may be set to “00” and may not be set to “01”.

[0285] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0286] At this time, when channel bonding of the SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF MIMO signals may not be channel bonded with the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF SISO signal.

[0287] In a broadcast signal transmission / reception system that applies both channel bonding and MIMO technologies, appropriately determining the time interleaving memory is a very important issue that greatly affects system performance.

[0288] When using channel bonding alone, twice as much time interleaver memory can be used as when a single transmission chain is used.

[0289] When using MIMO alone, each polarization (antenna) can have the same time interleaver memory requirements as a single transmit chain. Therefore, MIMO with two polarizations can utilize twice as much time interleaver memory as a single transmit chain.

[0290] At this time, the size of the time interleaver memory must include all necessary parts, i.e., the convolutional time interleaver in CTI (Convolutional Time Interleaving) mode, and the cell interleaver, twisted block interleaver, and convolutional delay line interleaver in HTI (Hybrid Time Interleaving) mode.

[0291] At this time, the time interleaver memory limitation applied to a single transmission chain-based system that does not apply channel bonding or MIMO is 2, except for extended interleaving mode. 19 It can be a dog cell. At this time, for extended interleaving mode, 2 20 Time interleaver memory limitations of dog cells may apply.

[0292] That is, for a single transmission chain-based system, the maximum time interleaver memory size that can be allocated to one complete delivered product (the default complete delivered product) is 2, except for extended interleaving mode. 19 can be limited to a single cell. At this time, for extended interleaving mode, the maximum time interleaver memory size that can be allocated to one complete delivered product (the default complete delivered product) is 2 20 It may be limited to dog cells.

[0293] Extended interleaving mode is a mode defined by the ATSC 3.0 standard to increase the time interleaving depth. In the ATSC 3.0 standard, the extended interleaving mode can be signaled by the L1D_plp_TI_extended_interleaving field. In this case, the L1D_plp_TI_extended_interleaving field can be set to 1 to indicate that the extended interleaving mode is used, and set to 0 to indicate that the extended interleaving mode is not used. When the extended interleaving mode is applied, there may be restrictions, such as requiring only QPSK to be used.

[0294] When considering MIMO transmission according to ATSC 3.0 standard, the maximum time interleaver memory size that can be allocated to one complete delivered product (except for extended interleaving mode) is 2 for each polarization (antenna) stream. 19 may be limited to a single cell. At this time, for extended interleaving mode, the maximum time interleaver memory size that can be allocated to one complete delivered product is 2 for each polarization (antenna) stream. 20 It may be limited to dog cells.

[0295] Therefore, when MIMO transmission is considered, the maximum aggregated time interleaver memory size for two polarization (antenna) streams is 2, except for extended interleaving mode. 20 Limited to 2 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, 21 It may be limited to dog cells.

[0296] The two RF channels to which channel bonding is applied may be referred to as a first RF channel and a second RF channel. At this time, at least one physical layer pipe included in a transmission frame transmitted through the first RF channel and at least one physical layer pipe included in a transmission frame transmitted through the second RF channel may be in a channel bonding relationship.

[0297] When the transmitters of the structures of FIGS. 1 and 5 described above are used, both the first RF channel and the second RF channel transmit signals of the MIMO method, and when the transmitters of the structures of FIGS. 8 to 12 described above are used, one of the first RF channel and the second RF channel applies the MIMO method, and the other applies the Non-MIMO method. In this case, the case where the channel through which the Non-MIMO stream is transmitted is the first RF channel and the channel through which the MIMO stream is transmitted is the second RF channel is mainly used as an example, but conversely, the MIMO stream may be transmitted through the first RF channel and the Non-MIMO stream may be transmitted through the second RF channel.

[0298] In the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5, the cell exchangers (151, 152) can be deactivated, and when the cell exchangers (151, 152) are deactivated, the output of the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) can be directly input to the framing & interleaving units (161, 162, 163, 164).

[0299] Depending on the embodiment, the positions of the cell exchangers (151, 152) and the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) may be exchanged. That is, MIMO precoding may be performed based on the output of the cell exchangers (151, 152).

[0300] The first RF subframe signal generation unit generates at least one first RF signal.

[0301] The second RF subframe signal generation unit generates at least one second RF signal.

[0302] In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 5, the outputs of the cell exchangers (151, 152) may correspond to at least one first RF signal and at least one second RF signal. That is, in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the at least one first RF signal is a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), and the at least one second RF signal is a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO. At this time, the first RF signals and the second RF signals may be generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding. At this time, the first RF signals may be one of two outputs of the cell exchanger (151) and one of two outputs of the cell exchanger (152), and the second RF signals may be the other of two outputs of the cell exchanger (151) and the other of two outputs of the cell exchanger (152). That is, the inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) may correspond to the first RF signals, and the inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) may correspond to the second RF signals. At this time, at least some of the cell exchangers (151, 152) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and other some of the cell exchangers (151, 152) may correspond to the second RF subframe signal generation unit. At this time, when cell exchange is not performed (when the cell exchangers (151, 152) are deactivated), the first BICM unit (131) and the first MIMO precoding unit (132) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and the second BICM unit (132) and the second MIMO precoding unit (142) may correspond to the second RF subframe signal generation unit. That is, the components that generate inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and the components that generate inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) may correspond to the second subframe signal generation unit.

[0303] In the examples of FIGS. 8 to 12, the outputs of the cell exchanger (850) may correspond to at least one first RF signal and at least one second RF signal. That is, in the examples shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, the at least one first RF signal may be a first RF signal corresponding to Non-MIMO, and the at least one second RF signal may be second RF signals corresponding to MIMO. In this case, the first RF signal may be one of three outputs of the cell exchanger (850), and the second RF signals may be the remaining two of the three outputs of the cell exchanger (850). That is, the input provided to the framing & interleaving unit (861) may correspond to the first RF signal, and the inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) may correspond to the second RF signals. At this time, at least a part of the cell exchanger (850) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and another part of the cell exchanger (850) may correspond to the second RF subframe signal generation unit. At this time, when cell exchange is not performed (when the cell exchanger (850) is deactivated), the SISO signal generation unit (831) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and the second BICM unit (132) and the second MIMO precoding unit (142) may correspond to the second RF subframe signal generation unit. That is, the components that generate the inputs provided to the framing & interleaving unit (861) may correspond to the first RF subframe signal generation unit, and the components that generate the inputs provided to the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) may correspond to the second subframe signal generation unit.

[0304] The first RF unit generates at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the channel bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel, based on at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal.

[0305] The second RF unit generates at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal.

[0306] In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 5, the framing & interleaving units (161, 162) and the waveform generators (171, 172) may correspond to the first RF unit, and the framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and the two waveform generators (173, 174) may correspond to the second RF unit. That is, in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the at least one first RF transmission signal may be a first RF MIMO signal, and the at least one second RF transmission signal may be a second RF MIMO signal. In this case, the first RF MIMO signals may correspond to outputs of the waveform generators (171, 172), and the second RF MIMO signals may correspond to outputs of the waveform generators (173, 174). At this time, the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0307] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0308] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0309] At this time, when the channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0310] At this time, when the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the MIMO physical layer pipe may not be channel bonded with the SISO physical layer pipe.

[0311] In the examples of FIGS. 8 to 12, the first RF unit (881) includes a framing & interleaving unit (861) and a waveform generator (871), and the second RF unit (882) includes framing & interleaving units (163, 164) and waveform generators (173, 174). That is, in the examples shown in FIGS. 8 to 12, the at least one first RF transmission signal may be a first RF SISO signal, and the at least one second RF transmission signal may be second RF MIMO signals. In this case, the first RF SISO signal may correspond to an output of the waveform generator (872), and the second RF MIMO signals may correspond to outputs of the waveform generators (173, 174).

[0312] When the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used, four methods can be used due to time interleaver memory constraints.

[0313] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a first example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0314] Referring to FIG. 15, the memory usage for the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the first RF channel and the second RF channel are combined to form the time interleaver memory size, except for the extended interleaving mode. 21 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode (EIM), the time interleaver memory size is 2. 22 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0315] When channel bonding technology and MIMO technology are used together, as in the example illustrated in FIG. 15, by limiting the time interleaver memory size to all polarizations of all channel-bonded channels, it is possible to allocate a large amount of time interleaver memory for a specific RF channel or a specific polarization stream and a small amount of time interleaver memory for another RF channel or another polarization stream, thereby enabling flexible and efficient memory use.

[0316] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a second example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0317] Referring to FIG. 16, the memory usage for each of the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the first RF channel and the second RF channel is individually combined into the time interleaver memory size, except for the extended interleaving mode. 19 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 20You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0318] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a third example of a time interleaver memory limitation when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0319] Referring to FIG. 17, the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of each of the first RF channel and the second RF channel are integrated, and the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 20 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 21 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0320] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a fourth example of time interleaver memory limitations when the transmitting device illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 is used.

[0321] Referring to FIG. 18, for the integration of the first polarization transmission stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel and the integration of the second polarization transmission stream of the first RF channel and the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel, the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 20 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 21 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0322] The examples of FIGS. 15 and 18 and the examples of FIGS. 16 and 17 are distinguished based on whether the amount of time interleaver memory allocated to each of the first RF channel and the second RF channel is limited or whether the channel bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel are integrated to set an upper limit on the time interleaver memory.

[0323] At this time, in the case of plain channel bonding, the first RF channel signal and the second RF channel signal can have different time interleaver parameters.

[0324] At this time, the polarization streams of MIMO may be required to share the same time interleaver mode.

[0325] At this time, the first RF channel and the second RF channel may exhibit different propagation characteristics, and due to different fading characteristics, one channel may have to spread its signal components over a longer time unit than the other channel.

[0326] Time interleaving is an operation to exchange / distribute bit signals that are related to encoding over a certain time unit in preparation for cases where signal quality deteriorates in a specific continuous time interval, increasing the possibility of errors in continuous bit signals.

[0327] That is, different time interleaving depths may be required between the two channel bonded channels, and the system may support this.

[0328] At this time, if an upper limit of the time interleaver memory is set for each of the first RF channel and the second RF channel, inefficiency may occur in the use of the time interleaver memory capacity given to the devices.

[0329] For example, PLP (Physical Layer Pipe) 0 and PLP1 can be transmitted through a first RF channel, PLP2 and PLP3 can be transmitted through a second RF channel, PLP0 and PLP2 can be channel bonded, and PLP1 and PLP3 can be channel bonded. In this case, PLP0, PLP1, PLP2, and PLP3 can form a single Complete Delivered Product (CDP).

[0330] Except for the extended interleaving mode, if the time interleaver memory upper limit is set for each of the first and second RF channels, 2 is set for PLP0. 20 -2 16 Allocate 2 cells to PLP1 19 Allocate 2 cells to PLP2 16 Allocate 2 cells to PLP3 19 It is impossible to allocate the cells of a dog. Therefore, some of the memory space of the secured time interleaver memory capacity is left unused and as idle space.

[0331] On the other hand, if a limit is placed on the sum of the time interleaver memory allocated to the first RF channel and the second RF channel, as in the examples of FIG. 15 or FIG. 18, memory allocation as in the example above is possible, and efficient operation of the time interleaver memory capacity is possible.

[0332] The ATSC 3.0 standard considers situations where multiple related service data streams constitute a single product. This product is called a Complete Delivered Product (CDP), and a Complete Delivered Product may include multiple Physical Layer Pipes (PLPs).

[0333] Examples of FIGS. 16 and 17 may be considered when the ATSC 3.0 channel bonding system supports distributed channel bonding where the first RF channel transmission and the second RF channel transmission are from different transmitters.

[0334] At this time, the transmitter of the first RF channel and the transmitter of the second RF channel may each be capable of generating only one channel stream at a time. That is, a single transmitter may not be able to generate the entire channel bonding signal.

[0335] At this time, the transmitter of the first RF channel and the transmitter of the second RF channel each have 2 memories for performing the time interleaving function of the MIMO signal, except for the extended interleaving mode. 20 Cells, 2 for extended interleaving mode 21 It can have as many cells as there are. In this case, the case where additional constraints are placed on each MIMO polarization stream within each RF channel corresponds to the example of Fig. 16, and the case where only the integrated time interleaver memory is considered for each RF channel without constraints on each MIMO polarization stream corresponds to the example of Fig. 18.

[0336] Therefore, in a distributed channel bonding system, it may be impossible to dynamically distribute memory to the time interleaver functions of the first RF channel stream and the second RF channel stream under the integrated upper bound.

[0337] When one of the transmitters illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used, five methods can be used due to time interleaver memory constraints.

[0338] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a first example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0339] Referring to FIG. 19, the memory usage for the Non-MIMO (SISO) stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel are all integrated, and the time interleaver memory size is integrated 3x2, except for the extended interleaving mode. 19 Limited to 3x2 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 3x2. 20 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0340] When channel bonding technology and MIMO technology are used together, as in the example illustrated in FIG. 19, by limiting the time interleaver memory size to all polarizations of all channel-bonded channels, it is possible to allocate a large amount of time interleaver memory for a specific RF channel or a specific polarization stream and a small amount of time interleaver memory for another RF channel or another polarization stream, thereby enabling flexible and efficient memory use.

[0341] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a second example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0342] Referring to FIG. 20, the memory usage for each of the Non-MIMO (SISO) stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel are all individually calculated, except for the extended interleaving mode, and the time interleaver memory size is integrated into 2. 19 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 20 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0343] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a third example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0344] Referring to Figure 21, for the Non-MIMO (SISO) stream of the first RF channel, the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 19 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 20 It can be seen that the time interleaver memory size is limited to 2 cells. At this time, the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel are integrated, except for the extended interleaving mode. 20 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 21 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0345] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a fourth example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0346] Referring to FIG. 22, for the integration of the Non-MIMO (SISO) stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel, the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 20 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 21It can be seen that the time interleaver memory size is limited to 2 cells. At this time, for the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel, the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 19 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 20 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0347] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a fifth example of a time interleaver memory limitation when one of the transmitting devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used.

[0348] Referring to FIG. 23, the memory usage for the Non-MIMO (SISO) stream of the first RF channel and the first polarization transmission stream and the second polarization transmission stream of the second RF channel are all integrated, and the time interleaver memory size is integrated 2 except for the extended interleaving mode. 21 Limited to 10 cells, and for extended interleaving mode, the time interleaver memory size is 2 22 You can see that it is limited to dog cells.

[0349] In the example illustrated in Fig. 19, the upper limit of the memory can be determined by considering that there are a total of three Non-MIMO transmission chains and MIMO transmission chains, and therefore a total of three included time interleaving functions.

[0350] In the example illustrated in FIG. 23, even if the Non-MIMO transmission chain has one time interleaving function, a receiver capable of receiving a combined transmission signal of channel bonding technology and MIMO technology can determine a memory condition so as to use all available memory by considering that the signal currently being received may have been transmitted from a transmitter of the example illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5, even if it was transmitted from one of the transmitters illustrated in FIG. 8 to FIG. 12.

[0351] The examples illustrated in FIG. 15 and FIG. 19 can be seen as corresponding to the same concept in that they both integrate channel bonding channels and polarizations to limit the time interleaver memory size.

[0352] The examples illustrated in FIG. 16 and FIG. 20 can be seen as corresponding to the same concept in that they limit the time interleaver memory size for individual polarization streams within each channel.

[0353] The examples illustrated in FIG. 17 and FIG. 21 can be seen as corresponding to the same concept in that they limit the time interleaver memory size for the integration of polarization streams within each channel.

[0354] The examples illustrated in FIG. 18 and FIG. 22 can be seen as corresponding to the same concept in that they limit the time interleaver memory size for integration of the first RF channel and second RF channel streams by polarization.

[0355] The examples illustrated in FIG. 15 and FIG. 23 can be seen as corresponding to the same concept in that they both integrate channel bonding channels and polarizations to limit the time interleaver memory size.

[0356] When the broadcast signal transmission device of any one of the examples of FIGS. 1, 5, 8 to 12 operates in SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the channel-bonded signal streams may have to share the same MIMO settings (parameters).

[0357] Channel bonding uses two RF channels for a single service, and the receiver must receive and combine both signal streams transmitted on the first RF channel and the second RF channel to restore the service.

[0358] Therefore, the transmission time delay between the physical layer pipe of the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe of the second RF channel, which are coupled to each other through channel bonding, becomes a factor that interferes with reception. In other words, the transmission time delay between the physical layer pipe of the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe of the second RF channel, which are coupled to each other through channel bonding, should be avoided.

[0359] In particular, when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, transmission synchronization between the two physical layer pipes to be channel-bonded functions as a more important factor. When SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, the cell exchange function is activated, and the cell exchange function performs the exchange of data cells. In order to reduce the burden on the receiver that must perform the reverse process of the process, transmission simultaneity between the first RF channel and the second RF channel must be provided. Therefore, when SNR averaging channel bonding is applied, the cell rate between the first RF channel transmission and the second RF channel transmission may need to be set to the same.

[0360] In the example illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5, the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) can independently determine their operation modes according to L1 signaling information inserted into the preamble signal of the first RF channel and the preamble signal of the second RF channel, respectively.

[0361] As described above, the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 may each include components similar to those in the example of FIG. 2.

[0362] That is, whether the stream combining unit (210), the IQ polarization interleaving unit (220), and the phase hopping unit (230) of each of the MIMO precoding units (141, 142) illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5 are activated can be indicated by L1D_plp_mimo_stream_combining, L1D_plp_mimo_IQ_interleaving, and L1D_plp_mimo_PH of the L1-Detail signaling field. At this time, the stream combining operation can perform a process of performing a rotation transformation on a sequence pair of the first polarization constellation signal and the second polarization constellation signal, and at this time, the rotation angle can be determined according to the ModCod (combination of constellation and encoding) of the modulation signal.

[0363] At this time, the first RF channel signal and the second RF channel signal may be defined with the same OFDM waveform parameters, the same physical layer pipe scheduling, the same ModCod combination, the same number of FEC blocks per subframe, and the same time interleaver parameter configuration.

[0364] This is to ensure framing synchronization between the first RF channel and the second RF channel, and may be to reduce the complexity of performing the reverse process of cell exchange at the receiver.

[0365] However, if the combination of the detailed function block(s) activated in the MIMO precoding unit (141) and the combination of the detailed function block(s) activated in the MIMO precoding unit (142) are different from each other, framing synchronization between the first RF channel and the second RF channel may not be guaranteed.

[0366] For example, if the stream combining unit and phase hopping unit are activated in the first RF channel, while all detailed functional blocks are deactivated in the second RF channel, the modulation process of the second RF channel will require fewer operations than the modulation process of the first RF channel. This means that the signal generation of the first RF channel may be delayed compared to the signal generation of the second RF channel.

[0367] In order to prevent such a problem, when the broadcast signal transmission device of the example of FIG. 1 or FIG. 5 operates in SNR averaging channel bonding mode, it may be required that the channel-bonded streams use the same combination of MIMO parameter(s) (MIMO setting). By using the same combination of MIMO parameter(s) in this way, the number of detailed functional blocks and their operations that pass through MIMO precoding of each RF channel are the same, so that framing synchronization support between RF channels can be facilitated. At this time, the MIMO parameter(s) may be parameter(s) that determine whether the stream combining unit is activated, whether the IQ polarization interleaving unit is activated, and whether the phase hopping unit is activated.

[0368] The MIMO precoding unit (142) of any one of the examples of FIGS. 8 to 12 may also include the components illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0369] In the examples illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12, the second RF channel signal generation process may require more MIMO demultiplexers, stream combiners, IQ polarization interleaving units, and phase hopping units than the first RF channel signal generation process. This means that the MIMO modulation process of the second RF channel may involve more operations than the non-MIMO modulation process of the first RF channel and may involve longer delays in the signal processing process. Therefore, the broadcast signal transmission devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 may have limitations in framing synchronization between the channel-bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel due to structural factors.

[0370] Furthermore, when cell switching is applied to only one of the MIMO transmission chains of the second RF channel, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, synchronization between the first and second RF channels, as well as synchronization between the first and second polarizations of the second RF channel, may not be guaranteed. This may result in an increase in the complexity of a receiver that receives a broadcast transmission signal in which channel bonding technology and MIMO technology are combined.

[0371] In order to prevent such a problem, when the broadcast signal transmission device of any one of the examples of FIGS. 8 to 12 operates in SNR averaging channel bonding mode, it may be required that the channel-bonded streams use the same combination of MIMO parameter(s) (MIMO setting). At this time, the MIMO parameter(s) may be parameter(s) that determine whether MIMO modulation is applied, whether the stream combiner is activated, whether the IQ polarization interleaving unit is activated, and whether the phase hopping unit is activated. That is, the MIMO parameter(s) may include L1B_first_sub_mimo, L1D_mimo, etc. regarding whether MIMO modulation is applied, L1D_plp_mimo_stream_combining, etc. regarding whether the stream combiner is activated, L1D_plp_mimo_IQ_interleaving, etc. regarding whether the IQ polarization interleaving unit is activated, and L1D_plp_mimo_PH, etc. regarding whether the phase hopping unit is activated.

[0372] In particular, when one of the broadcast signal transmission devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used, it is impossible to set the application of MIMO modulation to the first RF channel and the second RF channel to be the same, considering that Non-MIMO is applied to the first RF channel. Consequently, when one of the broadcast signal transmission devices illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 is used, application of SNR averaging channel bonding may be prohibited. As a result, the cell exchanger (850) of FIGS. 8 and 12, the cell exchanger (1050) of FIG. 10, and the cell exchanger (1150) of FIG. 11 may all have to be deactivated, and only the example of FIG. 9 may be usable.

[0373] Consequently, when a broadcast signal transmission device that combines channel bonding and MIMO operates in SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the channel-bonded signal streams may be required to share the same MIMO parameter(s). In this case, the application of SNR averaging channel bonding may be prohibited for a broadcast signal transmission device that channel-bonds non-MIMO signals and MIMO signals.

[0374] Figure 24 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0375] Referring to FIG. 24, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention generates at least one first RF signal and at least one second RF signal (S2410).

[0376] At this time, the at least one first RF signal may be a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), and the at least one second RF signal may be a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO.

[0377] At this time, the first RF signals and the second RF signals can be generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding.

[0378] In addition, a broadcast signal transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention generates at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the channel-bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel based on at least a part of the at least one first RF signal, and generates at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a part of the at least one second RF signal (S2420).

[0379] At this time, the at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, the at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, and the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0380] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0381] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0382] At this time, when the channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, the physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and the physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel can use the same MIMO setting.

[0383] At this time, when the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, the MIMO physical layer pipe may not be channel bonded with the SISO physical layer pipe.

[0384] Figure 25 is a flowchart illustrating a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0385] Referring to FIG. 25, a broadcast signal receiving method according to an embodiment of the present invention receives at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel and at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded (S2510).

[0386] At this time, the at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, the at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, and the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals can be generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

[0387] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

[0388] At this time, the total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals may be twice the total memory requirement of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times the total memory requirement of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

[0389] In addition, a broadcast signal receiving method according to one embodiment of the present invention restores a data stream based on at least one of the at least one first RF transmission signal and the at least one second RF transmission signal (S2520).

[0390] Figure 26 is a block diagram showing a computer system configuration according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0391] The broadcast signal transmitting device, the broadcast signal receiving device and the individual components constituting these devices according to the embodiment can be implemented in a computer system (2600).

[0392] The computer system (2600) may include one or more processors (2610), memory (2630), user interface input devices (2640), user interface output devices (2650), and storage (2660) that communicate with each other via a bus (2620). The computer system (2600) may further include a network interface (2670) connected to a network (2680). The processor (2610) may be a central processing unit or a semiconductor device that executes programs or processing instructions stored in the memory (2630) or storage (2660). The memory (2630) and storage (2660) may be storage media that include at least one of a volatile medium, a nonvolatile medium, a removable medium, a non-removable medium, a communication medium, or an information transmission medium. For example, the memory (2630) may include a ROM (2631) or a RAM (2632).

[0393] At this time, at least one program can be recorded in the memory (2630).

[0394] At this time, the processor (2610) can execute the program. At this time, the program can perform each step illustrated in FIG. 6, each step illustrated in FIG. 7, each step illustrated in FIG. 13, each step illustrated in FIG. 14, each step illustrated in FIG. 24, or each step illustrated in FIG. 25.

[0395]

[0396] As described above, the broadcast signal transmission device, method, and broadcast signal reception method according to the present invention are not limited to the configurations and methods of the embodiments described above, but the embodiments may be configured by selectively combining all or part of the embodiments so that various modifications can be made.

Claims

1. A first RF subframe signal generation unit generating at least one first RF signal; A second RF subframe signal generation unit for generating at least one second RF signal; A first RF unit generating at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the channel bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal; and A broadcast signal transmission device comprising a second RF unit for generating at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal.

2. In claim 1, The at least one first RF signal is a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), A broadcast signal transmitting device, wherein at least one of the second RF signals is a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO.

3. In claim 2, The above first RF signals and the above second RF signals A broadcast signal transmitting device generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding.

4. In claim 2, wherein said at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, and said at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, A broadcast signal transmission device, wherein the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals are generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

5. In claim 4, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A broadcast signal transmission device, wherein the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel is proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

6. In claim 5, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A broadcast signal transmission device having a total memory requirement that is twice that of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times that of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

7. In claim 1, When the above channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, A broadcast signal transmission device, wherein a physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and a physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel use the same MIMO setting.

8. In claim 7, When the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, A MIMO physical layer pipe is a broadcast signal transmission device that is not channel bonded with a SISO physical layer pipe.

9. A step of generating at least one first RF signal and at least one second RF signal; and A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, comprising the steps of generating at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel among the channel-bonded first RF channel and the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one first RF signal, and generating at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel based on at least a portion of the at least one second RF signal.

10. In claim 9, The at least one first RF signal is a first RF signal corresponding to MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, wherein at least one of the second RF signals is a second RF signal corresponding to MIMO.

11. In claim 10, The above first RF signals and the above second RF signals A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, which is generated based on a cell switching process performed after MIMO precoding.

12. In claim 10, wherein said at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, and said at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, wherein the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals are generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

13. In claim 12, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, wherein the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel is proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

14. In claim 13, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, wherein the total memory requirement is twice that of MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times that of SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

15. In claim 9, When the above channel bonding corresponds to the SNR averaging channel bonding mode, A method for transmitting a broadcast signal, wherein a physical layer pipe corresponding to the first RF channel and a physical layer pipe corresponding to the second RF channel use the same MIMO setting.

16. In claim 15, When the above SNR averaging channel bonding mode is used, MIMO physical layer pipe is a broadcast signal transmission method that is not channel bonded with SISO physical layer pipe.

17. A step of receiving at least one first RF transmission signal corresponding to the first RF channel and at least one second RF transmission signal corresponding to the second RF channel among the first RF channel and the second RF channel that are channel bonded; and A step of restoring a data stream based on at least one of the at least one first RF transmission signal and the at least one second RF transmission signal. A method for receiving a broadcast signal including:

18. In claim 17, wherein said at least one first RF transmission signal is a first RF MIMO signal, and said at least one second RF transmission signal is a second RF MIMO signal, A method for receiving a broadcast signal, wherein the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals are generated corresponding to two parallel time interleavers.

19. In claim 18, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A method for receiving a broadcast signal, wherein the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel is proportional to the number of combined RF channels compared to the memory required for MIMO transmission within a single RF channel.

20. In claim 19, The total memory requirement corresponding to the first RF MIMO signals and the second RF MIMO signals is A method for receiving a broadcast signal, wherein the total memory requirement is twice that of a MIMO transmission within a single RF channel and four times that of a SISO (Single-Input Single-Output) transmission within a single RF channel.

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