Q 1 (a) who is a broadcast Engineer?

Broadcast Engineers were traditionally electrical engineers who specialized in

the broadcast sector which included radio and television broadcasting, as well as
audio and RF engineering.  Modern broadcast engineers will usually also possess
excellent computer engineering and IT skills as the sector increasingly integrates
computers into the traditional broadcasting mix

(b) What are the responsibilities of a broadcast engineer?

Broadcast Engineers operate, maintain, update and repair the hardware and systems
used for broadcasting across television, radio and online. The following are the key
responsibilities of broadcast Engineer

i. The installation of multimedia hardware, software and other digital

broadcast technology systems
ii. The setting up and operation of links between outside broadcasting (OB)
units and studios
iii. Vision mixing (editing programs live as they are being transmitted or
recorded)
iv. Testing and maintaining broadcast and transmission equipment
v. Quickly finding and repairing technical faults, with minimum disruption to
service.
vi. Setting up studio equipment for transmission and editing
vii. The design and set up of video and audio circuits

(c) What qualifications does a broadcast engineer have?

Broadcast engineer must qualify in the following fields

i. Broadcast engineering/technology
ii. Electrical engineering
iii. Electronic engineering
iv. Telecommunication engineering

(d) What knowledge and skills a broadcast engineer must have in the following
areas;
 1. Conventional video broadcast system

i. Audio/Video instrumentation measurement
ii. Baseband video – standard / high-definition
iii. Broadcast studio acoustics
iv. Television studios - broadcast video cameras and camera lenses
v. Production switcher (Video mixer)
vi. Audio mixer

2. Modern Information Technology

i. Video compression - DV25, MPEG, DVB or ATSC (or ISDB)
ii. Digital server playout technologies. - VDCP, Louth, Harris, control
protocols
iii. Broadcast automation
iv. Disk storage – RAID / NAS / SAN technologies.
v. Archives – Tape archives or grid storage technologies.
vi. Computer networking
vii. Operating systems – Microsoft Windows / macOS / Linux / RTOS
viii. Post production – video capture and non-linear editing systems (NLEs)

GROUP 1 ASSIGNMENTS

Q2 (a) Identify antenna systems and antenna types used in broadcasting systems

Antennas are the means for coupling the transmitter to the medium, in this case,
free space. An antenna is an electromagnetic radiator; it creates an electromagnetic
field that proceeds out from the transmitting antenna to the receiver’s antenna, which
then converts the electromagnetic wave into electrical signals that are applied to the
receiver’s input stages
 There are several different types of antennas in three broad categories: Omni-
directional, directional, and semi-directional.

– Omni-directional antennas propagate in all directions.

– Semi-directional antennas propagate in a constricted fashion, defined by a specific

angle.

– Directional antennas have a narrow “beam” that allows highly directional

propagation.

Types of Antennas

i. An isotropic antenna (isotropic radiator)

Is a hypothetical antenna that radiates equal signal power in all directions, often

compared to an incandescent lightbulb. Used as the base of comparison to calculate
the directionality or gain of real antennas. No real antenna can have an
isotropic radiation pattern.

ii. The dipole 

Is the prototypical antenna on which a large class of antennas are based on. A basic
dipole antenna consists of two conductors (usually metal rods or wires) arranged
symmetrically, with one side of the balanced feedline from the transmitter or receiver
attached to each.

iii. A monopole antenna 

Consists of a single conductor such as a metal rod, usually mounted over the
ground or an artificial conducting surface 

iv. Array antennas 

Consists of multiple simple antennas working together as a single compound

antenna eg Yagi-Uda tv antenna, Sector antenna etc

v. Aperture antennas
 Are the main type of directional antennas used at microwave frequencies and
above. They consist of a small dipole or loop feed antenna inside a three-dimensional
guiding structure large compared to a wavelength, with an aperture to emit the radio
waves. Eg parabolic, Mw horn antenna

(b) Explain antenna characteristics

i. Radiation Pattern

The main characteristics of antenna are the radiation pattern. The antenna
pattern is a graphical representation in three dimensions of the radiation of the
antenna as a function of angular direction. The pattern of most base station
antennas contains a main lobe and several minor lobes, termed side lobes.

Minor lobes, which are any lobes other than the main lobe in the pattern, which
includes side lobes and back lobes. They are generally undesirable since radiation in
the side lobes reduces power radiated in the desired direction.

Main lobe is the radiation lobe containing the direction of maximum

radiation.
 ii. Antenna Gain and efficiency

Antenna gain is a measure for antennas efficiency. Gain is the ratio of the
maximum radiation in a given direction to that of a reference antenna for equal
input power. Generally the reference antenna is an isotropic antenna.

Gain is measured generally in “decibels above isotropic (dBi)” or “decibels

above a dipole (dBd). An isotropic radiator is an ideal antenna which radiates
power with unit gain uniformly in all directions. dBi = dBd + 2.15. Antenna gain
depends on the mechanical size, the effective aperture area, the
frequency band and the antenna configuration.

Efficiency of a transmitting antenna is the ratio of power actually radiated (in

all directions) to the power absorbed by the antenna terminals.

iii. Directivity

The directivity of an antenna is a measure of how much it concentrates power

in a given direction. The directivity of the antenna is always taken with respect to a
known antenna, which is usually an isotropic radiator.

iv. Radiated Power and Radiation Intensity

All antennas produce waves that carry power in the far field. The time-average
radiated power density in the far field is

P = 1/2 [Re(E × H∗ )]

v. Polarization
The polarization of an antenna refers to the orientation of the electric field (E-
plane) of the radio wave with respect to the Earth's surface and is determined by the
physical structure of the antenna and by its orientation. A simple straight wire antenna
will have one polarization when mounted vertically, and a different polarization when
mounted horizontally.

vi. Bandwidth
The frequency range or bandwidth over which an antenna functions well can be
very wide (as in a log-periodic antenna) or narrow (as in a small loop antenna);
outside this range the antenna impedance becomes a poor match to the transmission
line and transmitter (or receiver). Use of the antenna well away from its design
frequency affects its radiation pattern, reducing its directive gain.

vii. Antenna Impedance

The last important quantity to consider is an antenna’s input impedance, since
an RF system (with its own impedance) needs to eventually interface to the antenna. It
wouldn’t be any good if the antenna couldn’t be impedance-matched to the rest of the
system since an impedance mismatch would produce reflection and hence result in
inefficient power transfer to/from the antenna.
In general, the antenna’s input impedance can be written as
ZA = RA + jXA

(c) What is the recent development in antenna systems used in broadcasting

systems?

Recent developments in antenna systems are,

i. Design and Frequency Band

The basic and common approach in designing antennas for body centric
communication is that antennas need to be compact in size. Size of antenna is directly
dependent on the frequency of the antenna, so size and frequency are interlinked with
each. Example antennas mounted on equipment like phones, radio sets have greatly
reduced in size.

ii. Fabrication Material

The material used in the fabrication of antennas holds a key role. Fabrication
material is also directly dependent of the design approaches, either the antenna will be
designed to directly implant on human body or it is to be placed on to some costume.

iii. Design Constraints

Antennas for body centric communication need to be small in size and power
efficient. Normal antennas and antennas operating near the human skin are different
because body movements, body temperature changes or if skin gets wet it affects the
antenna performance. Human tissues dielectric properties do also change with the
change in frequencies. Wearable antennas get affected by twisting and flexing.
Researchers also focus on maximizing the radiation intensity while trying to reduce
losses like dielectric loss, multipath loss.
 iv. Performance Analysis

High data rate is a basic design requirement in modern broadcasting system.

Antenna designing is up to high/max data transfer. Large Bandwidth.

(d) Design antenna system of your choice to be used in any broadcasting station
of your choice.

GROUP 2 ASSIGNMENTS

Q3 (a) what is sound?

Sound is a pressure wave which is created by a vibrating object. This vibrations set
particles in the surrounding medium (typical air) in vibrational motion, thus
transporting energy through the medium.

(b) Discuss sound wave properties and characteristics

Sound wave properties are amplitude, wavelength, frequency and speed of wave
  Amplitude

Is the maximum distance a medium vibrates from rest position. The amplitude of a

wave is measured as:

1. the height from the equilibrium point to the highest point of a crest or
2. the depth from the equilibrium point to the lowest point of a trough

 Wavelength

Is a distance covered by wave to complete one circle/ before it repeats itself.

Wavelength is defined as the distance from a particular height on the wave to the next
spot on the wave where it is at the same height and going in the same direction.
  Frequency

Is a measurement of how many cycles can happen in a certain amount of time,

cycles per second. Frequency is measured in Hertz.

T=Period (Time taken to complete one circle)

Sound wave characteristics are pitch, loudness and quality

 Pitch

Pitch is a characteristic of sound by which a correct note can be distinguished from a

grave or a flat note. We can identify a female and male voice without seeing
them. Pitch is the frequency of a sound as perceived by human ear.
A high frequency gives rise to a high pitch note and a low frequency produces a
low pitch note. A pure tone is the sound of only one frequency.

 Loudness

Loudness is a physiological sensation. It depends mainly on sound pressure but

also on the spectrum of the harmonics and the physical duration. The amplitude of a
sound wave determines its loudness or volume. A larger amplitude means a louder
sound, and a smaller amplitude means a softer sound.
 The loudness is a sensation of how strong a sound wave is at a place. It is always a
relative term and is a dimensionless quantity. Loudness is measured in decibel (dB). It is
given as:

L = log (I), here ‘I’ is the intensity

 Quality

Sound quality describes those characteristics of sound which allows the ear to
distinguish sounds which have the same pitch and loudness. A sound of good quality is
pleasant to listen

(c) How do sound waves propagate through the transmission medium?

Propagation of sound is the Transmission of Acoustic Energy through a

medium via a sound wave. Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure, which
propagates through compressible media such as air or water or solid. During their
propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted, or attenuated by the medium.

All media have three properties which affect the behavior of sound propagation:

1. A relationship between density and pressure. This relationship, affected by

temperature, determines the speed of sound within the medium.
2. The motion of the medium itself, e.g., wind. Independent of the motion of sound
through the medium, if the medium is moving, the sound is further transported.
3. The viscosity of the medium. This determines the rate at which sound is
attenuated. For many media, such as air or water, attenuation due to viscosity is
negligible.

Sound to be propagated from source to destination through any medium is likely to be

converted first into electromagnetic wave for transmission and reconverted back to
raw sound at the receiving end.

Types of sound/electromagnetic wave propagations

 Ground Wave Propagation

 Sky Wave Propagation

  Line-of-Sight Propagation

(d) Discus on sound sources and sound measurements

Sources of sounds includes:

 Living things

Animals and people make sounds with their vocal cords, their mouth and other body
parts. Vocal cords vibrates from air pressure, making sound. Insects rapidly rub their
legs, wings or other organs to make noise.

 Machines

In industries machines makes sound in ways similar to musical instruments. However

machines operate at higher speeds and with more power than instruments.

 Nature

Sound can be generated from falling water hitting beach, lightning and thunderstorm.
Wind (moving air) produces sound too.

Sound measurement

Sound energy is measured in decibels, dB, Ratio of sound pressure to the reference
pressure to something.

Son- a unit of perceived loudness equal to the loudness of 1000-Hz tone at 40dB
above threshold.

Hz, hertz, unit of sound frequency.

Sound intensity can be measured by instrument known as Sound level meter

GROUP 6 ASSIGNMENTS
Q7 (a) Describe digital audio broadcasting (DAB)

Digital audio broadcasting (DAB), also known as digital radio and high-
definition radio, is audio broadcasting in which analog audio is converted into
a digital signal and transmitted on an assigned channel in the AM or (more usually)
FM frequency range. DAB is said to offer compact disc (CD)- quality audio on the
FM (frequency modulation) broadcast band.

(b) Explain modulation techniques (types) used in DAB

DAB system uses differential QPSK modulation coupled with multi-carrier

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). This scheme meets the
exacting requirements of high bit rate digital broadcasting to mobile, portable and
fixed receivers, especially multipath environments.

Basic principle of this scheme is dividing the information to be transmitted into

large number of bit-streams, having low bit-rates individually, which are then used to
modulate individual orthogonal carriers.

Modulation is achieved by varying the phase of the basic functions depending

on the message symbols. In QPSK, modulation is symbol based, where one symbol
contains 2 bits.

(c) Explain advantages DAB has as compared to tradition AM, FM broadcast

systems

DAB has some advantages over traditional AM and FM but is not a better
broadcasting method by all accounts:

i. The sound quality is better than AM in most cases and FM in

some cases. (CD quality)
ii. It is less likely to be affected by interference than AM.
iii. It has the capacity to carry many more channels within a similar
amount of spectrum as the FM band occupies. (Spectral
Efficiency)
iv. DAB is a regulated broadcasting service so existing license
holders are protected by the very tightly regulated introduction of
new competition into the market. This is true for AM and FM
broadcasting also.
 v. Receiver features
– Easy tuning
– pause
vi. Lower transmitter power

(d) What are the applications of DAB, DAB+ and DMB?

i. Slideshow 

Slideshow makes it easy to enhance your digital radio broadcasts with visuals
using standard web image formats, and standard web publishing tools. Anything that
you can turn into a JPEG, PNG or APNG (Animated PNG) can be broadcast over
DAB and accurately triggered to appear in time with the audio.

ii. SPI - Service and Program Information 

Service and program Information (SPI) is designed to offer similar features for the
user as a television EPG but for radio and associated data services.  SPI allows you to
see what is coming up, set up recordings, and find on-demand content with detailed
information about the services and program such as station logos, presenters names
and guests.

iii. TMC / TPEG 

Traffic and Travel Information: In the late 90s, an increasing demand for more
accurate and timely Traffic and Travel Information (TTI) services were identified in
the European community. Requirements for more customer added value, also
covering the various modes of transport: Road traffic messages as well as bus and
train operations. Language independence was essential. RDS TMC was in the middle
of a successful rollout in various European countries, however showed also its
limitations due to the limited bandwidth of RDS. The implementation of DAB and
later on DMB offers a huge opportunity as a carrier for enhanced traffic and travel.

iv. Journaline

Journaline is a text-based data service. Its core functionality resembles that of an

electronic magazine or teletext on a TV set. The content can be presented if different
languages to assist people in emergency situations .
GROUP 5 ASSIGNMENTS

Q6 (a) Describe crossover network for loudspeakers

Audio crossovers are a type of electronic filter circuitry used in a range of

audio applications, to split up an audio signal into two or more frequency ranges, so
that the signals can be sent to drivers that are designed for different frequency ranges.

Crossovers are used in loudspeaker cabinets, power amplifiers in consumer

electronics.

Crossovers are used because most individual loudspeaker drivers are incapable

of covering the entire audio spectrum from low frequencies to high frequencies with
acceptable relative volume and absence of distortion.

(b) Explain means to choose a crossover

Crossover can be chosen based on the following.

i. Based on components

a. Passive

A passive crossover splits up an audio signal after it is amplified by a

single power amplifier, so that the amplified signal can be sent to two or
more driver types, each of which represent different frequency ranges.
These crossovers are made entirely of passive components and circuitry;
the term "passive" means that no additional power source is needed for
the circuitry

b. Active

An active crossover contains active components in its filters. In recent

years, the most commonly used active device is an op-amp; active
crossovers are operated at levels suited to power amplifier inputs in
contrast to passive crossovers which operate after the power amplifier's
output, at high current and in some cases high voltage. On the other
hand, all circuits with gain introduce noise, and such noise has a
 deleterious effect when introduced prior to the signal being amplified by
the power amplifiers

ii. Based on number of filter sections

Loudspeakers are often classified as "N-way", where N is the number of

drivers in the system. For instance, a speaker with a woofer and a tweeter is
2-way. An N-way speaker usually has an N-way crossover to divide the
signal among the drivers. A 2-way crossover consists of a low-pass and
a high-pass filter. A 3-way crossover is constructed as a combination
of low-pass, band-pass and high-pass filters (LPF, BPF and HPF
respectively)

iii. Based on filter order

Just as filters have different orders, so do crossovers, depending on the filter

slope they implement. The final acoustic slope may be completely
determined by the electrical filter or may be achieved by combining the
electrical filter's slope with the natural characteristics of the driver.

-First order, second order, third order, higher order and mixed order.

(c) (i) Design a four-way cross over network

GROUP 4 ASSIGNMENTS

Q5 (a) What is digital TV broadcasting?

Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals, including the

sound channel, using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier television
technology, analog television, in which the video and audio are carried by analog
signals. Is the transmission of television signals using digital rather than
conventional analog methods.

(b) Explain types of digital TV broadcasting

i. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) uses coded orthogonal frequency-division

multiplexing (OFDM) modulation and supports hierarchical transmission. This
standard has been adopted in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, total about 60
countries.

ii. Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) uses eight-level vestigial

sideband (8VSB) for terrestrial broadcasting. This standard has been adopted
by 6 countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Dominican
Republic and Honduras.

iii. Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) is a system designed to

provide good reception to fixed receivers and also portable or mobile receivers.
It utilizes OFDM and two-dimensional interleaving. It supports hierarchical
transmission of up to three layers and uses MPEG-2 video and Advanced
Audio Coding. This standard has been adopted in Japan and the Philippine.

iv. Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) adopts time-domain

synchronous (TDS) OFDM technology with a pseudo-random signal frame to
serve as the guard interval (GI) of the OFDM block and the training symbol.
The DTMB standard has been adopted in the People's Republic of China,
including Hong Kong and Macau.

v. Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) is a digital radio transmission

technology developed in South Korea as art of the national IT project for
sending multimedia such as Tv, radio and datacasting to mobile devices such as
mobile phones, laptops and GPS navigation systems.
(c) Discus modulation techniques used in each type of DTV broadcasting

i. Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)

Coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation is the

modulation scheme used by DVB. OFDM is a form of multicarrier modulation
scheme. An OFDM signal consists of a number of closely spaced modulated carriers.
When modulation of any form - voice, data, etc. is applied to a carrier, then sidebands
spread out either side.
Accordingly, OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is used for many
of the latest wide bandwidth and high data rate wireless systems including Wi-Fi,
cellular telecommunications and many more.
The fact that OFDM uses a large number of carriers, each carrying low bit rate data,
means that it is very resilient to selective fading, interference, and multipath effects, as
well providing a high degree of spectral efficiency

Key features of OFDM

The OFDM scheme differs from traditional FDM in the following interrelated ways:
 Multiple carriers (called subcarriers) carry the information stream.
 The subcarriers are orthogonal to each other.
 A guard interval is added to each symbol to minimize the channel delay
spread and inter symbol interference.
OFDM advantages

 Immunity to selective fading

 Resilience to interference
 Spectrum efficiency.
 Resilient to ISI
 Resilient to narrow-band effects
 Simpler channel equalisation

ii. Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) uses eight-level vestigial

sideband (8VSB). ATSC and 8VSB modulation is used primarily in North
America. The main ATSC standards for DTV are 8-VSB, which is used in the
transmission of video data, MPEG-2 for video signal compression, and Dolby
Digital for audio coding.

8VSB is an 8-level vestigial sideband modulation. In essence, it converts

a binary stream into an octal representation by amplitude-shift
keying a sinusoidal carrier to one of eight levels. 8VSB is capable of
transmitting three bits (23=8) per symbol; in ATSC, each symbol includes two
bits from the MPEG transport stream which are trellis modulated to produce a
three-bit figure.

iii. Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB)

It utilizes OFDM and two-dimensional interleaving. OFDM is discussed above.

iv. Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB)

The DTMB standard uses many advanced technologies to improve their

performance, for example, a pseudo-random noise code (PN) as a guard
interval that allows faster synchronization system and a more accurate channel
estimation, Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) for error correction, modulation
Time Domain Synchronization - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(TDS-OFDM) which allows the combination of broadcasting in SD, HD and
multimedia services, etc.
This system gives flexibility to the services offered to support the combination
of single-frequency networks (SFN) and multi-frequency networks (MFN). The
 different modes and parameters can be chosen depending on the type of service
and network's environment.

(d) (i) How are noise issues handled in DTV broadcasting?

Digital television signals must not interfere with each other, and they must
also coexist with analog television until it is phased out. There is a table that gives
allowable signal-to-noise and signal-to-interference ratios for various
interference scenarios. This table is a crucial regulatory tool for controlling the
placement and power levels of stations. Digital TV is more tolerant of
interference than analog TV, and this is the reason a smaller range of channels
can carry an all-digital set of television stations.

System Parameters EBU [9, 12] Japan & Brazil [36,

Canada [13] USA [5]
(protection ratios) ITU-mode M3 37]

+19.5 dB
C/N for AWGN Channel +15.19 dB +19.3 dB +19.2 dB
(16.5 dB)

Co-Channel DTV into Analog TV +33.8 dB +34.44 dB +34 ~ 37 dB +38 dB

Co-Channel Analog TV into DTV +7.2 dB +1.81 dB +4 Db +4 dB

+19.5 dB
Co-Channel DTV into DTV +15.27 dB +19 Db +19 dB
(16.5 dB)

Lower Adjacent Channel DTV into

−16 dB −17.43 dB −5 ~ −11 dB −6 dB
Analog TV

Upper Adjacent Channel DTV into

−12 dB −11.95 dB −1 ~ −10 −5 Db
Analog TV

Lower Adjacent Channel Analog TV

−48 dB −47.33 dB −34 ~ −37 dB −35 dB
into DTV
Upper Adjacent Channel Analog TV
−49 dB −48.71 dB −38 ~ −36 dB −37 dB
into DTV

Lower Adjacent Channel DTV into

−27 dB −28 dB −30 dB −28 dB
DTV

Upper Adjacent Channel DTV into

−27 dB −26 dB −30 dB −29 dB
DTV

(ii) Discus advantages and disadvantages of single frequency network (SNF) in

digital broadcasting

A single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where

several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the
same frequency channel. Analog AM and FM radio broadcast networks as well as
digital broadcast networks can operate in this manner.

Advantages of SNF

a. Excellent spectral efficiency

-low bandwidth consumption

b. Good power efficiency

-lower electric energy consumption

c. More homogeneous field strength distribution for portable and mobile

reception (DVB-H)

d. Suitable for indoor reception

Disadvantages of SNF

a. Network splitting for local content is difficult

b. Excellent synchronization required, extra cost

 c. Costly infrastructure of dense grid of transmitters needed to avoid self-
interference

d. New aerials often required on the user's side

GROUP 3 ASSIGNMENTS

Q4 (a) What is the main equipment that is needed in any broadcast studio?

Main equipment for any broadcast studio are:-

a. Transmission Equipment

b. Studio Equipment

Transmission Equipment includes: -

 Transmitter

Takes your broadcast message from your studio room, encodes it as sine waves
and transmits it as radio waves.

 Receiver

The receiver receives the broadcast message and decodes the radio sine waves
(simply put, a radio set).

 Antenna

For sending radio signals. Required one each for transmission and receiving of radio
waves.

 Transmission lines

Used to transfer radio signals from one location to another. (say from the studio to the
location of transmitter)

Production & Studio Equipment: -

Microphone.

For converting the sound waves into electrical energy.

Silent Microphone boom arms.

For holding and moving the microphone across.

CD players

Playing the music

Mixer

Allows the jockey to control various aspects of radio broadcast

Amplifiers

Low power signals to high power signals

Monitor Speakers.

To monitor the quality of broadcast

Speaker Mounts

To hold speakers

Computer automation software.

They are used for wide variety of purposes and have replaced several functions
previously managed by costly equipment

Rack Mount

Holds all the equipment.

(b) What are the types of studios?