Tuning into a Digital TV physical channel and starting decoding it requires changing a set of parameters, in order to control the tuner, the demodulator, the Linear Low-noise Amplifier (LNA) and to set the antenna subsystem via Satellite Equipment Control (SEC), on satellite systems. The actual parameters are specific to each particular digital TV standards, and may change as the digital TV specs evolves. In the past, the strategy used was to have a union with the parameters needed to tune for DVB-S, DVB-C, DVB-T and ATSC delivery systems grouped there. The problem is that, as the second generation standards appeared, those structs were not big enough to contain the additional parameters. Also, the union didn't have any space left to be expanded without breaking userspace. So, the decision was to deprecate the legacy union/struct based approach, in favor of a properties set approach. NOTE: on Linux DVB API version 3, setting a frontend were done via struct dvb_frontend_parameters. This got replaced on version 5 (also called "S2API", as this API were added originally_enabled to provide support for DVB-S2), because the old API has a very limited support to new standards and new hardware. This section describes the new and recommended way to set the frontend, with suppports all digital TV delivery systems. Example: with the properties based approach, in order to set the tuner to a DVB-C channel at 651 kHz, modulated with 256-QAM, FEC 3/4 and symbol rate of 5.217 Mbauds, those properties should be sent to FE_SET_PROPERTY ioctl: &DTV-DELIVERY-SYSTEM; = SYS_DVBC_ANNEX_A &DTV-FREQUENCY; = 651000000 &DTV-MODULATION; = QAM_256 &DTV-INVERSION; = INVERSION_AUTO &DTV-SYMBOL-RATE; = 5217000 &DTV-INNER-FEC; = FEC_3_4 &DTV-TUNE; The code that would do the above is: #include <stdio.h> #include <fcntl.h> #include <sys/ioctl.h> #include <linux/dvb/frontend.h> static struct dtv_property props[] = { { .cmd = DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM, .u.data = SYS_DVBC_ANNEX_A }, { .cmd = DTV_FREQUENCY, .u.data = 651000000 }, { .cmd = DTV_MODULATION, .u.data = QAM_256 }, { .cmd = DTV_INVERSION, .u.data = INVERSION_AUTO }, { .cmd = DTV_SYMBOL_RATE, .u.data = 5217000 }, { .cmd = DTV_INNER_FEC, .u.data = FEC_3_4 }, { .cmd = DTV_TUNE } }; static struct dtv_properties dtv_prop = { .num = 6, .props = props }; int main(void) { int fd = open("/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0", O_RDWR); if (!fd) { perror ("open"); return -1; } if (ioctl(fd, FE_SET_PROPERTY, &dtv_prop) == -1) { perror("ioctl"); return -1; } printf("Frontend set\n"); return 0; } NOTE: While it is possible to directly call the Kernel code like the above example, it is strongly recommended to use libdvbv5, as it provides abstraction to work with the supported digital TV standards and provides methods for usual operations like program scanning and to read/write channel descriptor files.

struct dtv_stats { __u8 scale; /* enum fecap_scale_params type */ union { __u64 uvalue; /* for counters and relative scales */ __s64 svalue; /* for 1/1000 dB measures */ }; } __packed;

#define MAX_DTV_STATS 4 struct dtv_fe_stats { __u8 len; &dtv-stats; stat[MAX_DTV_STATS]; } __packed;

/* Reserved fields should be set to 0 */ struct dtv_property { __u32 cmd; __u32 reserved[3]; union { __u32 data; &dtv-fe-stats; st; struct { __u8 data[32]; __u32 len; __u32 reserved1[3]; void *reserved2; } buffer; } u; int result; } __attribute__ ((packed)); /* num of properties cannot exceed DTV_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS per ioctl */ #define DTV_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS 64

struct dtv_properties { __u32 num; &dtv-property; *props; };

On FE_GET_PROPERTY and FE_SET_PROPERTY, the actual action is determined by the dtv_property cmd/data pairs. With one single ioctl, is possible to get/set up to 64 properties. The actual meaning of each property is described on the next sections. The available frontend property types are shown on the next section.

Used internally. A GET/SET operation for it won't change or return anything.

Interpret the cache of data, build either a traditional frontend tunerequest so we can pass validation in the FE_SET_FRONTEND ioctl.

Reset a cache of data specific to the frontend here. This does not effect hardware.

Central frequency of the channel. Notes: 1)For satellite delivery systems, it is measured in kHz. For the other ones, it is measured in Hz. 2)For ISDB-T, the channels are usually transmitted with an offset of 143kHz. E.g. a valid frequency could be 474143 kHz. The stepping is bound to the bandwidth of the channel which is 6MHz. 3)As in ISDB-Tsb the channel consists of only one or three segments the frequency step is 429kHz, 3*429 respectively. As for ISDB-T the central frequency of the channel is expected.

Specifies the frontend modulation type for delivery systems that supports more than one modulation type. The modulation can be one of the types defined by &fe-modulation;.

Most of the digital TV standards currently offers more than one possible modulation (sometimes called as "constellation" on some standards). This enum contains the values used by the Kernel. Please note that not all modulations are supported by a given standard. &cs-def; ID Description QPSK QPSK modulation QAM_16 16-QAM modulation QAM_32 32-QAM modulation QAM_64 64-QAM modulation QAM_128 128-QAM modulation QAM_256 256-QAM modulation QAM_AUTO Autodetect QAM modulation VSB_8 8-VSB modulation VSB_16 16-VSB modulation PSK_8 8-PSK modulation APSK_16 16-APSK modulation APSK_32 32-APSK modulation DQPSK DQPSK modulation QAM_4_NR 4-QAM-NR modulation

Bandwidth for the channel, in HZ. Possible values: 1712000, 5000000, 6000000, 7000000, 8000000, 10000000. Notes: 1) For ISDB-T it should be always 6000000Hz (6MHz) 2) For ISDB-Tsb it can vary depending on the number of connected segments 3) Bandwidth doesn't apply for DVB-C transmissions, as the bandwidth for DVB-C depends on the symbol rate 4) Bandwidth in ISDB-T is fixed (6MHz) or can be easily derived from other parameters (DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_IDX, DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_COUNT). 5) DVB-T supports 6, 7 and 8MHz. 6) In addition, DVB-T2 supports 1.172, 5 and 10MHz.

Specifies if the frontend should do spectral inversion or not.

This parameter indicates if spectral inversion should be presumed or not. In the automatic setting (INVERSION_AUTO) the hardware will try to figure out the correct setting by itself. If the hardware doesn't support, the DVB core will try to lock at the carrier first with inversion off. If it fails, it will try to enable inversion. &cs-def; ID Description INVERSION_OFF Don't do spectral band inversion. INVERSION_ON Do spectral band inversion. INVERSION_AUTO Autodetect spectral band inversion.

Currently not implemented.

Digital TV symbol rate, in bauds (symbols/second). Used on cable standards.

Used cable/satellite transmissions. The acceptable values are:

&cs-def; ID Description FEC_NONE No Forward Error Correction Code FEC_AUTO Autodetect Error Correction Code FEC_1_2 Forward Error Correction Code 1/2 FEC_2_3 Forward Error Correction Code 2/3 FEC_3_4 Forward Error Correction Code 3/4 FEC_4_5 Forward Error Correction Code 4/5 FEC_5_6 Forward Error Correction Code 5/6 FEC_6_7 Forward Error Correction Code 6/7 FEC_7_8 Forward Error Correction Code 7/8 FEC_8_9 Forward Error Correction Code 8/9 FEC_9_10 Forward Error Correction Code 9/10 FEC_2_5 Forward Error Correction Code 2/5 FEC_3_5 Forward Error Correction Code 3/5

The voltage is usually used with non-DiSEqC capable LNBs to switch the polarzation (horizontal/vertical). When using DiSEqC epuipment this voltage has to be switched consistently to the DiSEqC commands as described in the DiSEqC spec. &cs-def; ID Description SEC_VOLTAGE_13 Set DC voltage level to 13V SEC_VOLTAGE_18 Set DC voltage level to 18V SEC_VOLTAGE_OFF Don't send any voltage to the antenna

Currently not used.

Sets DVB-S2 pilot

&cs-def; ID Description PILOT_ON Pilot tones enabled PILOT_OFF Pilot tones disabled PILOT_AUTO Autodetect pilot tones

Sets DVB-S2 rolloff

&cs-def; ID Description ROLLOFF_35 Roloff factor: α=35% ROLLOFF_20 Roloff factor: α=20% ROLLOFF_25 Roloff factor: α=25% ROLLOFF_AUTO Auto-detect the roloff factor.

Currently not implemented.

Currently not implemented.

Currently not implemented.

Specifies the type of Delivery system

Possible values: &cs-def; ID Description SYS_UNDEFINED Undefined standard. Generally, indicates an error SYS_DVBC_ANNEX_A Cable TV: DVB-C following ITU-T J.83 Annex A spec SYS_DVBC_ANNEX_B Cable TV: DVB-C following ITU-T J.83 Annex B spec (ClearQAM) SYS_DVBC_ANNEX_C Cable TV: DVB-C following ITU-T J.83 Annex C spec SYS_ISDBC Cable TV: ISDB-C (no drivers yet) SYS_DVBT Terrestral TV: DVB-T SYS_DVBT2 Terrestral TV: DVB-T2 SYS_ISDBT Terrestral TV: ISDB-T SYS_ATSC Terrestral TV: ATSC SYS_ATSCMH Terrestral TV (mobile): ATSC-M/H SYS_DTMB Terrestrial TV: DTMB SYS_DVBS Satellite TV: DVB-S SYS_DVBS2 Satellite TV: DVB-S2 SYS_TURBO Satellite TV: DVB-S Turbo SYS_ISDBS Satellite TV: ISDB-S SYS_DAB Digital audio: DAB (not fully supported) SYS_DSS Satellite TV:"DSS (not fully supported) SYS_CMMB Terrestral TV (mobile):CMMB (not fully supported) SYS_DVBH Terrestral TV (mobile): DVB-H (standard deprecated)

If DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is '0' this bit-field represents whether the channel is in partial reception mode or not. If '1' DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_* values are assigned to the center segment and DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_SEGMENT_COUNT has to be '1'. If in addition DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is '1' DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION represents whether this ISDB-Tsb channel is consisting of one segment and layer or three segments and two layers. Possible values: 0, 1, -1 (AUTO)

This field represents whether the other DTV_ISDBT_*-parameters are referring to an ISDB-T and an ISDB-Tsb channel. (See also DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION). Possible values: 0, 1, -1 (AUTO)

This field only applies if DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is '1'. (Note of the author: This might not be the correct description of the SUBCHANNEL-ID in all details, but it is my understanding of the technical background needed to program a device) An ISDB-Tsb channel (1 or 3 segments) can be broadcasted alone or in a set of connected ISDB-Tsb channels. In this set of channels every channel can be received independently. The number of connected ISDB-Tsb segment can vary, e.g. depending on the frequency spectrum bandwidth available. Example: Assume 8 ISDB-Tsb connected segments are broadcasted. The broadcaster has several possibilities to put those channels in the air: Assuming a normal 13-segment ISDB-T spectrum he can align the 8 segments from position 1-8 to 5-13 or anything in between. The underlying layer of segments are subchannels: each segment is consisting of several subchannels with a predefined IDs. A sub-channel is used to help the demodulator to synchronize on the channel. An ISDB-T channel is always centered over all sub-channels. As for the example above, in ISDB-Tsb it is no longer as simple as that. The DTV_ISDBT_SB_SUBCHANNEL_ID parameter is used to give the sub-channel ID of the segment to be demodulated. Possible values: 0 .. 41, -1 (AUTO)

This field only applies if DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is '1'. DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_IDX gives the index of the segment to be demodulated for an ISDB-Tsb channel where several of them are transmitted in the connected manner. Possible values: 0 .. DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_COUNT - 1 Note: This value cannot be determined by an automatic channel search.

This field only applies if DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is '1'. DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_COUNT gives the total count of connected ISDB-Tsb channels. Possible values: 1 .. 13 Note: This value cannot be determined by an automatic channel search.

ISDB-T channels can be coded hierarchically. As opposed to DVB-T in ISDB-T hierarchical layers can be decoded simultaneously. For that reason a ISDB-T demodulator has 3 Viterbi and 3 Reed-Solomon decoders. ISDB-T has 3 hierarchical layers which each can use a part of the available segments. The total number of segments over all layers has to 13 in ISDB-T. There are 3 parameter sets, for Layers A, B and C.

Hierarchical reception in ISDB-T is achieved by enabling or disabling layers in the decoding process. Setting all bits of DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED to '1' forces all layers (if applicable) to be demodulated. This is the default. If the channel is in the partial reception mode (DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION = 1) the central segment can be decoded independently of the other 12 segments. In that mode layer A has to have a SEGMENT_COUNT of 1. In ISDB-Tsb only layer A is used, it can be 1 or 3 in ISDB-Tsb according to DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION. SEGMENT_COUNT must be filled accordingly. Possible values: 0x1, 0x2, 0x4 (|-able) DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED[0:0] - layer A DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED[1:1] - layer B DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED[2:2] - layer C DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED[31:3] unused

Possible values: FEC_AUTO, FEC_1_2, FEC_2_3, FEC_3_4, FEC_5_6, FEC_7_8

Possible values: QAM_AUTO, QPSK, QAM_16, QAM_64, DQPSK Note: If layer C is DQPSK layer B has to be DQPSK. If layer B is DQPSK and DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION=0 layer has to be DQPSK.

Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, -1 (AUTO) Note: Truth table for DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING and DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION and LAYER*_SEGMENT_COUNT PR SB Layer A width Layer B width Layer C width total width 0 0 1 .. 13 1 .. 13 1 .. 13 13 1 0 1 1 .. 13 1 .. 13 13 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 13

Valid values: 0, 1, 2, 4, -1 (AUTO) when DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING is active, value 8 is also valid. Note: The real time interleaving length depends on the mode (fft-size). The values here are referring to what can be found in the TMCC-structure, as shown in the table below. DTV_ISDBT_LAYER*_TIME_INTERLEAVING Mode 1 (2K FFT) Mode 2 (4K FFT) Mode 3 (8K FFT) 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 1 2 8 4 2 4 16 8 4

Version number of the FIC (Fast Information Channel) signaling data. FIC is used for relaying information to allow rapid service acquisition by the receiver. Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 30, 31

Parade identification number A parade is a collection of up to eight MH groups, conveying one or two ensembles. Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 126, 127

Number of MH groups per MH subframe for a designated parade. Possible values: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Total number of MH groups including all MH groups belonging to all MH parades in one MH subframe. Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 30, 31

Start group number. Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 14, 15

Parade repetition cycle. Possible values: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Reed Solomon (RS) frame mode. Possible values are: &cs-def; ID Description ATSCMH_RSFRAME_PRI_ONLY Single Frame: There is only a primary RS Frame for all Group Regions. ATSCMH_RSFRAME_PRI_SEC Dual Frame: There are two separate RS Frames: Primary RS Frame for Group Region A and B and Secondary RS Frame for Group Region C and D.

Reed Solomon(RS) frame ensemble. Possible values are: &cs-def; ID Description ATSCMH_RSFRAME_ENS_PRI Primary Ensemble. AATSCMH_RSFRAME_PRI_SEC Secondary Ensemble. AATSCMH_RSFRAME_RES Reserved. Shouldn't be used.

Reed Solomon (RS) code mode (primary). Possible values are: &cs-def; ID Description ATSCMH_RSCODE_211_187 Reed Solomon code (211,187). ATSCMH_RSCODE_223_187 Reed Solomon code (223,187). ATSCMH_RSCODE_235_187 Reed Solomon code (235,187). ATSCMH_RSCODE_RES Reserved. Shouldn't be used.

Reed Solomon (RS) code mode (secondary). Possible values are the same as documented on &atscmh-rs-code-mode;:

Series Concatenated Convolutional Code Block Mode. Possible values are: &cs-def; ID Description ATSCMH_SCCC_BLK_SEP Separate SCCC: the SCCC outer code mode shall be set independently for each Group Region (A, B, C, D) ATSCMH_SCCC_BLK_COMB Combined SCCC: all four Regions shall have the same SCCC outer code mode. ATSCMH_SCCC_BLK_RES Reserved. Shouldn't be used.

Series Concatenated Convolutional Code Rate. Possible values are: &cs-def; ID Description ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_HLF The outer code rate of a SCCC Block is 1/2 rate. ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_QTR The outer code rate of a SCCC Block is 1/4 rate. ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_RES to be documented.

Series Concatenated Convolutional Code Rate. Possible values are the same as documented on &atscmh-sccc-code-mode;.

Series Concatenated Convolutional Code Rate. Possible values are the same as documented on &atscmh-sccc-code-mode;.

Series Concatenated Convolutional Code Rate. Possible values are the same as documented on &atscmh-sccc-code-mode;.

Returns the major/minor version of the DVB API

Used on terrestrial transmissions. The acceptable values are the ones described at &fe-transmit-mode-t;.

Used on terrestrial transmissions. The acceptable values are the ones described at &fe-transmit-mode-t;.

Possible values are:

&cs-def; ID Description GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO Autodetect the guard interval GUARD_INTERVAL_1_128 Guard interval 1/128 GUARD_INTERVAL_1_32 Guard interval 1/32 GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16 Guard interval 1/16 GUARD_INTERVAL_1_8 Guard interval 1/8 GUARD_INTERVAL_1_4 Guard interval 1/4 GUARD_INTERVAL_19_128 Guard interval 19/128 GUARD_INTERVAL_19_256 Guard interval 19/256 GUARD_INTERVAL_PN420 PN length 420 (1/4) GUARD_INTERVAL_PN595 PN length 595 (1/6) GUARD_INTERVAL_PN945 PN length 945 (1/9) Notes: 1) If DTV_GUARD_INTERVAL is set the GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO the hardware will try to find the correct guard interval (if capable) and will use TMCC to fill in the missing parameters. 2) Intervals 1/128, 19/128 and 19/256 are used only for DVB-T2 at present 3) DTMB specifies PN420, PN595 and PN945.

Specifies the number of carriers used by the standard. This is used only on OFTM-based standards, e. g. DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T, DTMB

&cs-def; ID Description TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO Autodetect transmission mode. The hardware will try to find the correct FFT-size (if capable) to fill in the missing parameters. TRANSMISSION_MODE_1K Transmission mode 1K TRANSMISSION_MODE_2K Transmission mode 2K TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K Transmission mode 8K TRANSMISSION_MODE_4K Transmission mode 4K TRANSMISSION_MODE_16K Transmission mode 16K TRANSMISSION_MODE_32K Transmission mode 32K TRANSMISSION_MODE_C1 Single Carrier (C=1) transmission mode (DTMB) TRANSMISSION_MODE_C3780 Multi Carrier (C=3780) transmission mode (DTMB) Notes: 1) ISDB-T supports three carrier/symbol-size: 8K, 4K, 2K. It is called 'mode' in the standard: Mode 1 is 2K, mode 2 is 4K, mode 3 is 8K 2) If DTV_TRANSMISSION_MODE is set the TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO the hardware will try to find the correct FFT-size (if capable) and will use TMCC to fill in the missing parameters. 3) DVB-T specifies 2K and 8K as valid sizes. 4) DVB-T2 specifies 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K and 32K. 5) DTMB specifies C1 and C3780.

Frontend hierarchy

&cs-def; ID Description HIERARCHY_NONE No hierarchy HIERARCHY_AUTO Autodetect hierarchy (if supported) HIERARCHY_1 Hierarchy 1 HIERARCHY_2 Hierarchy 2 HIERARCHY_4 Hierarchy 4

DVB-S2, DVB-T2 and ISDB-S support the transmission of several streams on a single transport stream. This property enables the DVB driver to handle substream filtering, when supported by the hardware. By default, substream filtering is disabled. For DVB-S2 and DVB-T2, the valid substream id range is from 0 to 255. For ISDB, the valid substream id range is from 1 to 65535. To disable it, you should use the special macro NO_STREAM_ID_FILTER. Note: any value outside the id range also disables filtering.

Obsolete, replaced with DTV_STREAM_ID.

A Multi standard frontend needs to advertise the delivery systems provided. Applications need to enumerate the provided delivery systems, before using any other operation with the frontend. Prior to it's introduction, FE_GET_INFO was used to determine a frontend type. A frontend which provides more than a single delivery system, FE_GET_INFO doesn't help much. Applications which intends to use a multistandard frontend must enumerate the delivery systems associated with it, rather than trying to use FE_GET_INFO. In the case of a legacy frontend, the result is just the same as with FE_GET_INFO, but in a more structured format

Time interleaving to be used. Currently, used only on DTMB. &cs-def; ID Description INTERLEAVING_NONE No interleaving. INTERLEAVING_AUTO Auto-detect interleaving. INTERLEAVING_240 Interleaving of 240 symbols. INTERLEAVING_720 Interleaving of 720 symbols.

Low-noise amplifier. Hardware might offer controllable LNA which can be set manually using that parameter. Usually LNA could be found only from terrestrial devices if at all. Possible values: 0, 1, LNA_AUTO 0, LNA off 1, LNA on use the special macro LNA_AUTO to set LNA auto

The values are returned via dtv_property.stat. If the property is supported, dtv_property.stat.len is bigger than zero. For most delivery systems, dtv_property.stat.len will be 1 if the stats is supported, and the properties will return a single value for each parameter. It should be noted, however, that new OFDM delivery systems like ISDB can use different modulation types for each group of carriers. On such standards, up to 3 groups of statistics can be provided, and dtv_property.stat.len is updated to reflect the "global" metrics, plus one metric per each carrier group (called "layer" on ISDB). So, in order to be consistent with other delivery systems, the first value at dtv_property.stat.dtv_stats array refers to the global metric. The other elements of the array represent each layer, starting from layer A(index 1), layer B (index 2) and so on. The number of filled elements are stored at dtv_property.stat.len. Each element of the dtv_property.stat.dtv_stats array consists on two elements: svalue or uvalue, where svalue is for signed values of the measure (dB measures) and uvalue is for unsigned values (counters, relative scale) scale - Scale for the value. It can be: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - The parameter is supported by the frontend, but it was not possible to collect it (could be a transitory or permanent condition) FE_SCALE_DECIBEL - parameter is a signed value, measured in 1/1000 dB FE_SCALE_RELATIVE - parameter is a unsigned value, where 0 means 0% and 65535 means 100%. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - parameter is a unsigned value that counts the occurrence of an event, like bit error, block error, or lapsed time.

Indicates the signal strength level at the analog part of the tuner or of the demod. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_DECIBEL - signal strength is in 0.001 dBm units, power measured in miliwatts. This value is generally negative. FE_SCALE_RELATIVE - The frontend provides a 0% to 100% measurement for power (actually, 0 to 65535).

Indicates the Signal to Noise ratio for the main carrier. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_DECIBEL - Signal/Noise ratio is in 0.001 dB units. FE_SCALE_RELATIVE - The frontend provides a 0% to 100% measurement for Signal/Noise (actually, 0 to 65535).

Measures the number of bit errors before the forward error correction (FEC) on the inner coding block (before Viterbi, LDPC or other inner code). This measure is taken during the same interval as DTV_STAT_PRE_TOTAL_BIT_COUNT. In order to get the BER (Bit Error Rate) measurement, it should be divided by DTV_STAT_PRE_TOTAL_BIT_COUNT. This measurement is monotonically increased, as the frontend gets more bit count measurements. The frontend may reset it when a channel/transponder is tuned. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of error bits counted before the inner coding.

Measures the amount of bits received before the inner code block, during the same period as DTV_STAT_PRE_ERROR_BIT_COUNT measurement was taken. It should be noted that this measurement can be smaller than the total amount of bits on the transport stream, as the frontend may need to manually restart the measurement, losing some data between each measurement interval. This measurement is monotonically increased, as the frontend gets more bit count measurements. The frontend may reset it when a channel/transponder is tuned. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of bits counted while measuring DTV_STAT_PRE_ERROR_BIT_COUNT.

Measures the number of bit errors after the forward error correction (FEC) done by inner code block (after Viterbi, LDPC or other inner code). This measure is taken during the same interval as DTV_STAT_POST_TOTAL_BIT_COUNT. In order to get the BER (Bit Error Rate) measurement, it should be divided by DTV_STAT_POST_TOTAL_BIT_COUNT. This measurement is monotonically increased, as the frontend gets more bit count measurements. The frontend may reset it when a channel/transponder is tuned. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of error bits counted after the inner coding.

Measures the amount of bits received after the inner coding, during the same period as DTV_STAT_POST_ERROR_BIT_COUNT measurement was taken. It should be noted that this measurement can be smaller than the total amount of bits on the transport stream, as the frontend may need to manually restart the measurement, losing some data between each measurement interval. This measurement is monotonically increased, as the frontend gets more bit count measurements. The frontend may reset it when a channel/transponder is tuned. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of bits counted while measuring DTV_STAT_POST_ERROR_BIT_COUNT.

Measures the number of block errors after the outer forward error correction coding (after Reed-Solomon or other outer code). This measurement is monotonically increased, as the frontend gets more bit count measurements. The frontend may reset it when a channel/transponder is tuned. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of error blocks counted after the outer coding.

Measures the total number of blocks received during the same period as DTV_STAT_ERROR_BLOCK_COUNT measurement was taken. It can be used to calculate the PER indicator, by dividing DTV_STAT_ERROR_BLOCK_COUNT by DTV-STAT-TOTAL-BLOCK-COUNT. Possible scales for this metric are: FE_SCALE_NOT_AVAILABLE - it failed to measure it, or the measurement was not complete yet. FE_SCALE_COUNTER - Number of blocks counted while measuring DTV_STAT_ERROR_BLOCK_COUNT.

The following parameters are valid for DVB-T: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ DTV_INVERSION DTV_CODE_RATE_HP DTV_CODE_RATE_LP DTV_GUARD_INTERVAL DTV_TRANSMISSION_MODE DTV_HIERARCHY DTV_LNA In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

DVB-T2 support is currently in the early stages of development, so expect that this section maygrow and become more detailed with time. The following parameters are valid for DVB-T2: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ DTV_INVERSION DTV_CODE_RATE_HP DTV_CODE_RATE_LP DTV_GUARD_INTERVAL DTV_TRANSMISSION_MODE DTV_HIERARCHY DTV_STREAM_ID DTV_LNA In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

This ISDB-T/ISDB-Tsb API extension should reflect all information needed to tune any ISDB-T/ISDB-Tsb hardware. Of course it is possible that some very sophisticated devices won't need certain parameters to tune. The information given here should help application writers to know how to handle ISDB-T and ISDB-Tsb hardware using the Linux DVB-API. The details given here about ISDB-T and ISDB-Tsb are just enough to basically show the dependencies between the needed parameter values, but surely some information is left out. For more detailed information see the following documents: ARIB STD-B31 - "Transmission System for Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting" and ARIB TR-B14 - "Operational Guidelines for Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting". In order to understand the ISDB specific parameters, one has to have some knowledge the channel structure in ISDB-T and ISDB-Tsb. I.e. it has to be known to the reader that an ISDB-T channel consists of 13 segments, that it can have up to 3 layer sharing those segments, and things like that. The following parameters are valid for ISDB-T: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ DTV_INVERSION DTV_GUARD_INTERVAL DTV_TRANSMISSION_MODE DTV_ISDBT_LAYER_ENABLED DTV_ISDBT_PARTIAL_RECEPTION DTV_ISDBT_SOUND_BROADCASTING DTV_ISDBT_SB_SUBCHANNEL_ID DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_IDX DTV_ISDBT_SB_SEGMENT_COUNT DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_FEC DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_MODULATION DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_SEGMENT_COUNT DTV_ISDBT_LAYERA_TIME_INTERLEAVING DTV_ISDBT_LAYERB_FEC DTV_ISDBT_LAYERB_MODULATION DTV_ISDBT_LAYERB_SEGMENT_COUNT DTV_ISDBT_LAYERB_TIME_INTERLEAVING DTV_ISDBT_LAYERC_FEC DTV_ISDBT_LAYERC_MODULATION DTV_ISDBT_LAYERC_SEGMENT_COUNT DTV_ISDBT_LAYERC_TIME_INTERLEAVING In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The following parameters are valid for ATSC: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The following parameters are valid for ATSC-MH: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ DTV_ATSCMH_FIC_VER DTV_ATSCMH_PARADE_ID DTV_ATSCMH_NOG DTV_ATSCMH_TNOG DTV_ATSCMH_SGN DTV_ATSCMH_PRC DTV_ATSCMH_RS_FRAME_MODE DTV_ATSCMH_RS_FRAME_ENSEMBLE DTV_ATSCMH_RS_CODE_MODE_PRI DTV_ATSCMH_RS_CODE_MODE_SEC DTV_ATSCMH_SCCC_BLOCK_MODE DTV_ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_MODE_A DTV_ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_MODE_B DTV_ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_MODE_C DTV_ATSCMH_SCCC_CODE_MODE_D In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The following parameters are valid for DTMB: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_BANDWIDTH_HZ DTV_INVERSION DTV_INNER_FEC DTV_GUARD_INTERVAL DTV_TRANSMISSION_MODE DTV_INTERLEAVING DTV_LNA In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The DVB-C Annex-A is the widely used cable standard. Transmission uses QAM modulation. The DVB-C Annex-C is optimized for 6MHz, and is used in Japan. It supports a subset of the Annex A modulation types, and a roll-off of 0.13, instead of 0.15 The following parameters are valid for DVB-C Annex A/C: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_INVERSION DTV_SYMBOL_RATE DTV_INNER_FEC DTV_LNA In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The DVB-C Annex-B is only used on a few Countries like the United States. The following parameters are valid for DVB-C Annex B: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_MODULATION DTV_INVERSION DTV_LNA In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

The following parameters are valid for DVB-S: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_INVERSION DTV_SYMBOL_RATE DTV_INNER_FEC DTV_VOLTAGE DTV_TONE In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid. Future implementations might add those two missing parameters: DTV_DISEQC_MASTER DTV_DISEQC_SLAVE_REPLY

In addition to all parameters valid for DVB-S, DVB-S2 supports the following parameters: DTV_MODULATION DTV_PILOT DTV_ROLLOFF DTV_STREAM_ID In addition, the DTV QoS statistics are also valid.

In addition to all parameters valid for DVB-S, turbo code supports the following parameters: DTV_MODULATION

The following parameters are valid for ISDB-S: DTV_API_VERSION DTV_DELIVERY_SYSTEM DTV_TUNE DTV_CLEAR DTV_FREQUENCY DTV_INVERSION DTV_SYMBOL_RATE DTV_INNER_FEC DTV_VOLTAGE DTV_STREAM_ID