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GatesAir Strengthens Leadership in Liquid-Cooled Transmitter Efficiency at IBC2017
Global leader in over-the-air broadcast innovation prepares international debut of Maxiva™ ULXTE, the industry’s first native IP-enabled liquid-cooled UHF transmitter, with market-leading efficiency and power gains
Cincinnati, OH, August 07, 2017
As the global digital TV transition moves forward, GatesAir continues to advance the possibilities of power and efficiency in UHF transmission. At the forthcoming IBC2017 show, GatesAir will unveil the latest market-leading innovations behind its Maxiva ULXTE transmitters that improve overall system efficiency, while increasing transmitter power levels by up to 20 percent.
The Maxiva ULXTE is GatesAir’s new cutting-edge product family of liquid-cooled, IP-enabled UHF TV transmitters. Introduced at the 2017 NAB Show in April, IBC represents the ULXTE’s international debut. GatesAir will demonstrate the ULXTE at Stand 8.C30, emphasizing its exceptional RF performance, and ability to sharply reduce costs associated with operational expense and maintenance.
The ULXTE incorporates the latest LDMOS RF devices, which are responsible for the efficiency and power gains. GatesAir has raised overall ULXTE transmitter efficiency up to 45 percent, and improved transmitter power by 20 percent. The latter offers a significant operational benefit by allowing broadcasters to get more power out of a smaller transmitter, substantially improving cost per watt.
The ULXTE also integrates GatesAir’s latest-generation Maxiva XTE exciter. Featuring a software-defined modulator, the XTE includes native IP inputs and eliminates the need to retrofit transmitters with additional gear to enable network connectivity for DVB-T2, DVB-T2 Lite, DVB-T, ISDB-T, ATSC 3.0 and other standards, giving broadcasters an out-of-the-box solution to simplify the input and output of multimedia services via a local- or wide-area IP network. The XTE-driven modulation reduces costs and power consumption by lowering DC power requirements at the amplification stage, while improving signal quality parameters.
Maintenance is streamlined in several ways, including a lightweight footprint that, unlike competitive transmitters, enables true single-engineer maintenance. The minimal array of power blocks inside the transmitter, along with the industry’s lightest PA modules (11 kilograms versus 20 to 30 kilograms), also reduce overall size and weight of the transmitter while improving efficiency and power-density per square meter. Simplified labor extends to the layered, redundant control architecture. As each block offers a completely independent power source, the transmitter remains on the air at near full power should any single power supply or PA module be removed, unlike competitive transmitters that typically use larger PA modules and yield a much greater reduction in RF power.
On the RF performance side, GatesAir’s RTAC™ (real-time adaptive correction) software strengthens signal correction at the amplification stage to optimize performance and regulatory compliance. RTAC software dynamically, and continuously, adjusts modulation error ratio (MER) and shoulder levels to optimize performance. These adjustments minimize unwanted RF above and below the channel that affect signal integrity, and minimizes non-linear distortions and artifacts that come with poor MER and shoulder performance.
“The ULXTE brings the exceptional RF performance and signal strength and quality to broadcasters who want the additional cost-savings that liquid-cooling offers inside the RF plant, particularly in climates that would require very high cooling loads for air-cooled transmitters,” said Rich Redmond, chief product officer, GatesAir. “These enhancements, along with a reduced burden in system maintenance and monitoring, further enhance reliability and lower total cost of ownership across large transmitter networks.”
The Maxiva™ ULXTE liquid transmitter joins the Maxiva UAXTE air-cooled transmitter to give broadcasters two design options with market-leading RF performance and the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership. The ULXTE is available in power levels from 1.2kW to 150kW on all modulations, while the UAXTE is available in power levels from 20W to 20kW on all modulations. GatesAir will also exhibit the Maxiva UAXTE, which offers many of the same technologies including the XTE exciter and RTAC software, at IBC.
About GatesAir
GatesAir, Inc. provides complete solutions for over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, leveraging wireless spectrum to maximize performance for multichannel, mission-critical services. Powering over-the-air networks worldwide with unparalleled reliability for nearly 100 years, GatesAir’s turnkey solutions enable broadcasters to create, transport and transmit radio and TV content. With customers in more than 185 countries, the company leads the industry in innovation and design breakthroughs, improving efficiency and reducing total cost of ownership. Visit www.gatesair.com for more information, like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gatesair, and follow us on Twitter at @GatesAir.
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