Link-layer FEC and cross-layer architecture for DVB-S2 transmission with QoS in railway scenarios

Digital Video Broadcasting via Satellite-Second Generation (DVB-S2) was originally designed for fixed terminals, but it has recently been adopted by the DVB Return Channel via Satellite for Mobile scenario (DVB-RCS +M) under the single-carrier-per-channel (SCPC) mode. For the purpose of adapting DVB-S2 for mobile reception, it has been agreed that, among others, forward error correction (FEC) at the link layer (LL) is a suitable means of achieving reliable reception in mobile environments. Prime candidates for LL-FEC had already been available schemes in the DVB family of standards: multiple-protocol encapsulation-FEC (MPE-FEC) and MPE interburst FEC (MPE-IFEC). Furthermore, different FEC codes may be applied within these schemes, i.e., Reed-Solomon (RS) or Raptor FEC codes. This paper introduces the integration of such schemes and codes on top of DVB-S2. In addition, we analyze the performance that can be achieved when applying these schemes with particular focus on two typical railway scenarios: 1) line of sight, together with the effect of railway power arches (LOS+PA), and 2) nonline of sight (nLOS). Both theoretical and simulation analyses reveal that LL-FEC can overcome typical fading effects in the railway scenario by selecting appropriate FEC codes and optimizing the coding parameters. We show that MPE-IFEC and extended MPE-FEC with Raptor codes-as finally specified in DVB-RCS+M-consistently show superior results over those of other LL-FEC for railway scenarios. We also indicate signaling updates to allow achievable performance. As for practical implementation, we propose two possible novel cross-layer architectures for unicast DVB-S2 to provide quality of service (QoS). The architectures allow the migration from traditional packet encapsulation based on Moving Picture Experts Group 2-Transport Streams (MPEG2-TS) to new schemes, such as generic stream encapsulation (GSE). © 2009 IEEE.