DFEC: Dynamic Forward Error Control for DVB-H

DVB-H is a terrestrial digital TV standard that allows user to move freely when receiving signals. Additional Reed-Solomon codes are also included as an option to cope with higher channel error rate in mobile environment. However, it is designed with fix-valued link layer parameters, such as coding rates and error rates. In mobile networks, channel conditions change from time to time, thus code rates that behave well in one case may become inadequate in another. On the other hand, to implement static and highly protective codes results in low throughput. In this paper, we propose dynamic forward error control scheme (DFEC) that adapts to varying channel conditions. Depending on the content carried, DFEC provides different schemes for more efficient utilization of channel capacities. Simulations show that it achieves a better throughput, which could also translate to more power saving for the system