Physical Layer Framing for ATSC 3.0

An ATSC 3.0 physical layer frame consists of a bootstrap immediately followed by a preamble containing layer 1 control signaling and then one or more subframes carrying payload data. Subframes within a particular frame may be of the same or different types, with different subframe types being configured for different classes of receivers (e.g., mobile versus fixed). This paper focuses on the subframe structure, configuration, and contents, including subframe boundary symbols which carry additional pilots to assist with channel estimation at the receiver and cell multiplexing which maps physical layer pipe (PLP) payload data to physical layer resources within each subframe. Various methods for cell multiplexing multiple PLPs within a subframe are discussed and described, including time division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, time-frequency division multiplexing, and layered division multiplexing. Frequency interleaving, pilot insertion, and guard interval insertion are also covered, including a method of distributing extra samples to guard intervals in order to obtain frame lengths equal to an integer number of milliseconds.