FLO Forum Further Opens FLO Standard with Repeater Specs

The FLO Forum, a group of nearly 90 global wireless industry leaders supporting FLO (Forward Link-Only) technology for mobile multimedia broadcast, announced the completion of the FLO Repeater Minimum Performance Specification, marking another significant step in the open standardization of FLO technology.

The new specification has been submitted to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TR-47.1 subcommittee. Following normal TIA standardization review and comment procedures, and when approved, the specification will be published as TIA-1132 Minimum Performance Specification for Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia Multicast Forward Link Only Repeaters.

The proposed standard specifies a minimum set of test and performance characteristics to ensure that a FLO repeater can provide service in any network that meets the compatibility requirements previously outlined by the FLO Air Interface Specification, published as TIA-1099 in July 2006.

The standard thus ensures that any FLO repeater is able to receive and transmit waveforms containing multicast service information that can be received by any FLO device.

The FLO Repeater Minimum Performance Specification was developed and approved by the FLO Forum’s Test & Certification Committee, comprising FLO Forum members from around the globe. Korea’s SOLiD Technologies Inc. and France’s TeamCast both played a pivotal role in the development of the specification, while Spain’s Mier Communicaciones provided infrastructure to verify the specification in laboratory testing.

“Repeaters are of particular importance in a mobile broadcast environment, where they are subjected to rigorous demands, such as providing live TV services on the move in urban areas,” said Yong Hoon Kang, Team Manager of the Global Business Division of SOLiD Technologies. “As such, this new specification is a vital stage in both the ongoing open standardisation of FLO technology and providing end users with the best service possible.”