Speaker: Bill Mengel
Overview of RCA/Thomson's role in the development of the DirecTV Digital Satellite System in the 1990's. The system was totally digital and new, forming the basis for HDTV itself. It was developed as a response to an RFQ from Hughes to develop a commercial satellite based service. Bill's talk covers the wide variety of issues and hurdles beyond the technical development itself.
Bill was employed by RCA/Thomson for 40 years serving in operations, marketing, and engineering with several US patents. He is a Senior Life Member of IEEE.
Sponsored by John Peer
Program: DSS (Digital Satellite System) Development: The Rest of the Story
Speaker: Bill Mengel, former Director of Emerging Technologies (retired with patents) and much more, RCA/Thomson
Introduced By: John Peer
Attendance: NESC: 73; Zoom: 27
Guest(s): David Gretencord, Gene Eddy
Scribe: John Peer
Editor: Carl Warner
Talk’s Zoom recording found at: https://www.scientechclubvideos.org/zoom/11102025.mp4
DSS (Digital Satellite System) Development: The Rest of the Story
Our speaker today was Bill Mengel. Bill was with RCA/Thomson for 40 years serving in operations, marketing, and engineering. He holds several US patents and is a Senior Life Member of IEEE.
Satellite Industry Background
In 1945 Arther Clarke proposed the idea of global communication satellites. Prompted by the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the RCA Astro Division was founded, eventually launching 70 satellites for the Defense Department including the world’s first weather satellite, TIROS1. In 1975 RCA Americom pioneered geostationary satellites including SATCOMF1, which revolutionized Major Network broadcast distribution. In the 1980’s, eight orbital positions were allocated to the US, and the FCC allocated bandwidth for Direct Broadcast Systems. In 1990 Hughes Communications launched a project to create a TV satellite network.
Thomson (RCA) Proposal
Thomson assembled a team and made a proposal to Hughes in July of 1990 of a collaborative effort of SGS-Thomson, Sarnoff Labs, News Datacom, and News Gem Smart Card. This was accepted in Feb 1992 with Thomson as the overall system developer.
Development Challenges
Production was to start in Jan 94 despite major new technologies to be developed. MPEG 1, MPEG 2 (main level), and MPEG 2 (transport layer) were still under development. Major components, like compression IC’s (Integrated Circuits) and transport IC’s, had to be designed. Thomson was responsible for all signal processing:
- Uplink encoders, compression, decoders, software, integration
- Consumer premise equipment: outdoor unit, receiver decoder, installation/accessories
Thomson accepted the very tight two-year development cycle to be ready when the satellite launched in late 1993 as the satellite had a limited life.
Rollout
The satellite launched in Dec 1993 and the first private DSS demo was held at the Jan 1994 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The first public demonstration was at the summer CES Show in June 1994. The product was introduced in Jackson, Mississippi on June 17 and was sold out in 3 days. One million systems were delivered in the first ten months.
Recognition
By 2002, Thomson was recognized as the world leader in digital decoders and received 235 patents. Thomson also developed the first multi-platform capable of receiving both NTSC analog (standard tv) and Digital HDTV signals (DTC 100).
Thomson received a Scientific Development and Technical Achievement Emmy Award in 2002 recognizing Thomson’s pioneering efforts in developing the DSS system. It was through the collaborative effort and teamwork of over 200 engineers and others throughout the Thomson organization in management, sales and marketing, operations, and manufacturing, as well as engineering, that this was achieved.
The DSS was the first major deployment of a consumer product utilizing MPEG digital compression technology, which then led to the current standards for Digital HDTV.
Thanks to Bill for a very informative talk.
Bill Mengel
