> RTL-SDR can be used to receive and decode DVB streams, but it
> couldn't catch the full streams due to the BW limitation of RTL
> device.
This is correct. The RTL chip performs the SDR function and has
limited SDR bandwidth.
> However, DVB-S/S2 card has been widely used in PC for
> receiving and decoding satellite TV streams with no bandwidth issues.
This is because they probably do not use an RTL chip, so they cannot be
used for SDR either. The RTL chip does not have bandwidth problems
when used for DVB reception either (with the hardware demodulator) it
is only the SDR function that has limited bandwidth.
> Since both RTL and DVB-S/S2 output transport (TS) layer streams, can
> we use the output from DVB-S/S2 card and further process this TS
> stream via SDR for the demodulation of this transport layer stream?
No, SDR involves processing the raw RF signal. Once you have a
transport stream this processing has already been done so you cannot do
SDR any more. It doesn't matter whether you use an RTL dongle or a
DVB-S/S2 card, once you have a transport stream it is too late to do
SDR.
> Work has been done via USRP to get the transport stream and then
> further process this TS stream via SDR for decoding.
No, this is not true. The USRP can use SDR to get the transport
stream, but once the transport stream is available the SDR is
finished. The rest of the processing is just normal software codecs
and has nothing to do with SDR.
> However, USRP is much more expensive. Can we simply substitute the
> USRP with DVB-S2 card (instead of solely using this card to power
> LNB) and then pass its transportation layer output to SDR for further
> processing, e.g. demodulation?
No, because the transport stream has *already* been demodulated.
Obtaining a transport stream is the *result* of SDR, once you have it
you cannot do further SDR because you already have your result.
> Is there a difference between the TS layer output stream from USRP
> and the TS layer output stream from DVB-S2 card so that we couldn't
> do DVB-S2 and SDR (DVB-SDR) in order to overcome the bandwidth
> problem related to RTL-SDR and lower the expenses of USRP-SDR?
No, because the transport stream is digital TV data, there is no
difference between USRP, DVB-S2, RTL, etc. They all demodulate the
signal and produce the same transport stream for whatever digital TV
channel you are demodulating. If you are not tuned to a DVB signal
then there is no transport stream present to decode.
There is no such thing as "DVB-SDR". SDR is completely unrelated to
DVB. The cheapest way we have discovered to perform SDR is by using an
undocumented mode hidden away in certain types of USB DVB-T receivers.
We're not using DVB-T or anything to do with TV at all, it's just that
these devices have a hidden SDR mode which we take advantage of.
Cheers,
Adam.