Low cost MPEG-2 multiplexing scheme for multimedia and digital TV distribution systems

After a short survey of the possibilities of digital television transmission, this paper discusses the requirements of a pure digital distribution system. The DVB-C system (digital video broadcasting, cable) is described as an example of a digital TV and multimedia system which is used to distribute MPEG-2 (moving picture experts group) transport streams. After that the basic structures of MPEG-2 transport stream are outlined. This is followed by a description of a low cost multiplexing scheme which has been developed and realized in FPGA (field programmable gate array) technology at the University of Wuppertal.