CINCINNATI—GatesAir will bring its 5G passthrough demo to IBC audiences once again as interest in the technology’s value for broadcast-to-mobile delivery grows. Debuted at IBC2024, the technology employs 5G modulation within its Maxiva XTE exciter to send live TV content to a smartphone across the 5G waveform.
The “5G passthrough” to mobile devices is achieved over UHF channels, effectively opening the door for broadcast’s highly efficient one-to-many model to make a difference with mobile TV delivery. Adopting the UHF frequency allows broadcasters to avoid using valuable mobile spectrum, while consumers can receive, decode and view content on the same mobile devices that they already use.
GatesAir’s provision of 5G delivery across the UHF channels not only guarantees 5G exclusivity for voice and mobile cellular use, but also gives broadcasters the ability to adopt 5G delivery without needing to replace their existing transmitters, the company said. The new modulation technique can be applied to GatesAir’s Maxiva ULXTE, UAXTE and OP Series of liquid-cooled and air-cooled UHF transmitters. Maxiva transmission products are built for standards-agnostic transmission, with the software-defined XTE exciter able to support all current digital and analog TV standards.
“Visitors to our booth last year were actively assessing the possibility that offloading broadcast content to UHF frequencies may become a reality within the next 5-10 years,” said Raymond Miklius, Vice President of Technology, GatesAir. “With more trials on the horizon, our purpose this year is to show broadcasters that we are actively prepared to assist when that time arrives, especially in Europe and parts of the Asia-Pacific region that are pursuing trials.”
GatesAir representatives will be available to discuss 5G as well as traditional terrestrial waveforms on stand 8.B75 at IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam.
