Saankhya Labs Receives FCC Certification For Its Broadcast Radio Head, Which Enables Convergence Of Broadcast And Mobile Networks

* Saankhya Labs, India’s 5G communication solutions disruptor, gets FCC (Federal Communications Commission of USA) Certification for its Broadcast Radio Head (BRH)

* BRH enables terrestrial broadcasters to directly broadcast content to mobile devices by providing uniform coverage indoors and outdoors.

* The BRH is a key part of Saankhya’s 5G Broadcast solution, a next-gen content delivery solution based on the convergence of broadcast and broadband networks which enables cellular operators to utilize the broadcast network for offloading especially live, mass media, and other content.

* BRH enables broadcasters to provide data services to various new applications and increase their revenues.

Saankhya Labs, India’s 5G communication solutions disruptor, today announced Federal Communication Commission, (FCC), USA certification for its Broadcast Radio Head (BRH). The BRH complies with FCC Title 47CFR part 27 and part 15. Saankhya Labs is the first Indian company with FCC certified outdoor wireless communication equipment. Apart from BRH, Saankhya also has other FCC certified products in its portfolio.

BRH is an innovative concept pioneered by Saankhya Labs for helping digital terrestrial broadcasters to increase their reach and market share. This is achieved by ‘Cellularizing’ the broadcast transmitters to provide ubiquitous coverage of broadcast signal for high quality content reception in mobile, automotive, and other portable devices.

Traditional broadcast transmitters use very high-power transmitters fitted on tall towers (a.k.a. High Power High tower – HPHT) to give coverage to a large area ranging across 10s of miles. However, these networks needed high-gain external antenna to get reliable reception indoors. BRH works on the concept of very low power and low tower transmission (a.k.a. Low Power Low Tower – LPLT), similar to the power levels of a cellular radio transmitter. By adopting the coverage pattern of cellular network, BRH’s can provide uniform coverage even indoors and in devices that do not have high gain external antenna.

With large number of people watching video on their mobile devices, the BRH will enable broadcasters to effectively target these consumers. Broadcasters can also monetize the broadcast by showing hyper-local advertisements and provide newer data services over their broadcast network.

The BRH can also be deployed as a part of 5G Broadcast solutions developed by Saankhya Labs. This solution is based on the convergence of Broadcast and mobile Broadband network, in which a mobile network operator can intelligently use the BRH network (that is co-located with mobile radios), to offload some of the high bandwidth consuming data traffic, such as video.

“We are thrilled to bring often disparate mobile and broadcast ecosystems together. Our BRH offering significantly benefits both ecosystems with a cost-effective solution for high-bandwidth data as well as expanded market access opportunities” said Parag Naik, CEO of Saankhya Labs.

By enabling ubiquitous coverage and delivering better quality of service (QoS), BRH enables broadcasters to maximize their spectrum and deliver data to various applications such as OTT and Linear video content to mobile phones, Firmware upgrade over the air (FOTA), infotainment, maps and GIS data for connected automotive use cases, plus other IoT applications.

The BRH supports Next-Gen Broadcast Standards like ATSC 1.0, ATSC 3.0, DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-T2-lite and FeMBMS. It has configurable bandwidths supporting 5, 6 and 8 MHz band schemes, achieving data rates that can exceed 50 Mbps.

Saankhya has already delivered FCC certified BRHs to a large US-based broadcaster.

Saankhya Labs, leveraging its broadcast expertise, has already developed a chipset which can be integrated into mobile devices to gain maximum benefits of this technology. A reference smartphone using this chipset has been developed in collaboration with Sinclair Broadcasting Group and its innovations group ONE Media 3.0 LLC, USA.   

Mark Aitken, SVP Sinclair Broadcast Group said “These combined technologies developed collaboratively bring robust and reliable broadcast capability direct to automotive, IoT, mobile and portable devices with extended reach and service areas. The deployment of a ‘celluarized’ broadcast infrastructure brings true broadcast into the 5G marketplace, providing new monetization opportunities.”

About Saankhya Labs

Saankhya Labs is a 5G disruptor with a breadth of wireless communication system expertise and a proven track record. Saankhya offers a wide range of communication products and solutions for 5G NR, Broadcast, and Satellite Communication applications. The products and solutions are based on its award-winning, patented Software Defined Radio SoC platform. With several International technology patents and unique 'chips-to-systems' expertise, Saankhya's solutions include the world’s first production SDR, next-gen open RAN Solutions for 5G networks, multi-standard direct to mobile broadcast solutions, and many other award-winning solutions.  Saankhya Labs is headquartered in Bangalore, India, and has a fully owned subsidiary in the US.