Broadcast Positioning System
lastmod 2025-04-14created 2025-04-141 edits
Broadcast Positioning System (BPS)
About
- BPS is a broadcast-based positioning system that can replace GPS, using ATSC 3.0 signals to provide highly accurate timing
- GPS and BPS achieve precise synchronization within 10 ns, a new attempt that uses broadcast infrastructure
- Since timing accuracy matters in many fields such as power grids, telecommunications, and broadcasting, it is drawing attention as an alternative to GPS
- BPS is being introduced experimentally at some TV stations in the US, and may expand into a key feature of ATSC 3.0 in the future
- Through Intel's TGPIO feature, precise time synchronization is becoming possible even on consumer motherboards
A new timing technology found at a broadcast trade show
- Visited the NAB Show to learn about time synchronization technologies used in broadcasting and live production
- Found a demo booth comparing a PPS (Pulse Per Second) GPS signal with a TV broadcast signal
- That broadcast signal was BPS (Broadcast Positioning System), based on ATSC 3.0, showing a time error within 10 ns of GPS
- Unfamiliar at first, but some presenters and experts who knew about BPS were introducing it on site
What is BPS?
- BPS is an experimental standard that uses broadcast signals to provide accurate time synchronization
- Based on ATSC 3.0 signals; about 1,700 stations in the US could potentially upgrade
- Currently operated experimentally at only a handful of stations
- As an alternative to GPS, it could serve as an important backup for telecommunications, media, power grids, and more
- GPS signals are vulnerable to attacks such as jamming, whereas broadcast-based BPS uses terrestrial infrastructure and is expected to act as a complement
The link between ATSC 3.0 and BPS
- ATSC 3.0 is a new IP-based broadcast standard, airing in some cities under the name 'NEXTGEN TV'
- BPS is an approach that uses this ATSC 3.0 structure to try to deliver accurate time information
- Still in the testing phase so far, but wider applications are being explored
Example of time synchronization in hardware
- At the ASUS booth, found a consumer motherboard based on an Intel CPU with built-in PPS in/out
- This feature ties into an Intel technology called TGPIO (Time-Aware GPIO), enabling precise timing control