Predicting ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Coverage

The new ATSC 3.0 physical layer will provide broadcasters with new transmission capabilities. Broadcasters will have options as they adjust their future broadcast coverage to best suit local terrain and future populations. Broadcasters will have the option to provide fill-in transmitters to cover previously unserved or under-served areas and populations. Broadcasters will also have the option to use single frequency networks to serve their viewers. In order to estimate and illustrate these new capabilities coverage mapping tools are used to create broadcast coverage maps and to develop an estimate of future served populations. Four U.S. broadcast markets were selected as examples to illustrate the potential future coverage of ATSC 3.0. The four markets-Washington, DC, USA, San Francisco, CA, USA, Atlanta, GA, USA, and Des Moines, IA, USA-were selected as markets with very different terrains and population distributions. Various example coverage maps were created to illustrate performances of individual transmitters and all transmission systems in combination. These examples will be presented as a work-in-progress to illustrate some of the future capabilities of ATSC 3.0.