Nucomm has won a patent for transmitting digital signals over analog microwave links. The Hackettstown, N.J., microwave link specialist developed the technology in response to the needs of a Kansas TV station that couldn“t afford new digital links.
KAKE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Wichita, Kans., owned by Gray Television, would have had to spend more than $1 million replacing 26 analog repeater links. Nucomm“s patent, “Digital Transmission of Broadcast Signals, including HDTV signals, over a Microwave Analog Link,” No. 7,359,450, covers the company“s Analog Coder line of products.
Analog Coders allow standard- and hi-def digital signals to be transmitted over existing analog microwave links at up to 30 Mbps, along with several analog subcarriers, according to Nucomm. The system comprises two, 1 RU boxes for each end of the transmission link.
