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World Broadcasting Unions Digital Radio User Manual

Grundig digital radio user's manual
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Summary of Contents for World Broadcasting Unions Digital Radio

  • Page 3 The purpose of the Digital Radio Guide is to help engineers and managers in the radio broadcast community understand various aspects of digital radio systems that are available in 2006. The guide covers those systems used for transmission in different media, but not in the production chain.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    HD Radio System Technical Design Overview... 46 4.4.4 Core Services ... 47 4.4.5 HD Radio Subsystems... 50 4.4.6 Receiver Systems... 52 4.4.7 Features Common to North American Digital Radio Systems... 53 4.4.8 Infrastructure Requirements ... 56 SSUES RELATED TO ERRESTRIAL 4.5.1 Spectrum Availability... 58 4.5.2 The Implications of Simulcasting...
  • Page 6 Swedish Radio multichannel audio distribution... 87 6.11 UMMARY AND ONCLUSIONS 6.12 MPORTANT ADIO SOME SOURCES FOR THE DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE... 91 APPENDIX A THE EUREKA 147 SYSTEM - SYSTEM DESCRIPTION... 94 APPENDIX B RELEVANT WORLD WIDE WEBSITES... 110 APPENDIX C GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS... 112 ...

  • Page 7: Introduction

    This updated Digital Radio Guide focuses primarily on the various digital radio systems in operation today and their associated standards. The guide visits not only terrestrially based digital system but also overviews the services now available via satellite radio.

  • Page 8: What Is Digital Radio

    AM and FM broadcasting systems, new receivers will be needed. In basic form, digital radio is an application of the technology in which sound is processed and transmitted as a stream of binary digits. The principle of using digital technology for...
  • Page 9 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE SYSTEM Eureka 147 (ITU-R Digital System A) DRM - Digital Radio Mondiale ETSI ES 201 980 V1.2.2 (2003-4) International consortium DRM - Digital Radio Mondiale HD Radio (iBiquity Digital) (FCC Docket 99-325, NRSC-5 Standard) in the HF and MF Bands...

  • Page 10: Why Digital Radio

    CD. By comparison, many AM (in particular) and FM services offer poor audio quality. • The data capability of digital radio can be used directly or, with some modification, for other related broadcasting activities such as Internet radio. WHY DIGITAL RADIO?

  • Page 11: Terrestrial Transmission Systems

    In the consumer radio receiver, the DRM system will provide the capability to receive digital radio (sound, program related data, other data, and still pictures) in all the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz. It can function in an independent manner, but, as stated above, will more likely be part of a more comprehensive receiver –...

  • Page 12: Brief Description Of The Drm System

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE The combination of these techniques results in high quality sound in a narrow channel with robust reception in an intended coverage area with relatively low transmission power. In addition, source coding schemes using lower bit rates than that used with AAC/SBR are included for lesser levels of audio quality if the AAC/SBR quality level is not desired by a broadcaster.
  • Page 13 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE TERRESTRIAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS - DRM The energy dispersal provides an ordering of the bits that reduces the possibility of unwanted regularity in the transmitted signal. The channel encoder adds redundant bits as a means for error protection and...
  • Page 14 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE • MDI – Multiplex Distribution Interface: commands from the DRM multiplexer to the DRM Modulator. • MCI – Modulator Control Interface: covers the remote signalling of commands and setups to the modulator and transmitter equipment. • SDI – Service Distribution Interface: commands from the studio and other sources to the DRM Multiplexer.
  • Page 15 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE super framing stream demux Extensive tests on these codecs at the sampling rates and resulting “bandwidths” have determined that AAC and especially AAC with SBR produce a perceived audio quality to listeners that is effectively the equivalent of monophonic FM in a 9 or 10 kHz channel.
  • Page 16 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE TERRESTRIAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS - DRM FAC provides information on the signal bandwidth and other such parameters, and is also used to allow service selection information for fast scanning. The SDC gives information to a receiver on how to decode the MSC, how to find alternative sources of the same data, and gives attributes to the services within the multiplex.

  • Page 17: Transmitter Considerations

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE QAM is used for the modulation that is impressed upon the subcarriers to convey the information. Two primary QAM constellations are used: 64-QAM and 16-QAM. The former provides the highest audio quality, but is less robust than the latter. In addition, a 4-QAM (QPSK) signal, which is very robust, is used for some of the signalling (but not for the MSC).

  • Page 18: Drm

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Extensive field tests have verified these performance statements. Selecting, demodulating and decoding of a DRM system signal at a receiver A receiver must be able to detect which particular DRM system mode is being transmitted to handle it properly. This is done by way of the use of many of the field entries within the FAC and SDC.

  • Page 19: Dab - Eureka 147

    European companies on the world market. It supports the competitiveness of European companies through international collaboration, in creating links and networks of innovation. The 147th Eureka technical project was to develop a digital radio system, hence Eureka 147.
  • Page 20 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE TERRESTRIAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS - DAB Many ancillary aspects of the Eureka 147 system, such as multimedia delivery, distribution interfaces and user interactivity are also formally defined in ETSI standards. Eureka 147 can be implemented for a range of applications such as wide area or local delivery of audio and data services for mobile, portable and fixed reception.

  • Page 21: Dab Development Worldwide As Of 2006

    4.2.3 DAB Development Worldwide as of 2006 More than 40 countries have legislated for the integration of DAB Digital Radio in Europe and Worldwide. Outside Europe the key areas of development are found in Canada, the Asia-Pacific Region and South Africa.
  • Page 22 Toulouse and Nantes, broadcasting six stations in each of its service areas. Germany Germany is among the leading European proponents of DAB Digital Radio with a large local and regional network. Current figures put coverage in Germany at 78 per cent of the population, rising to 85 per cent by the end of 2005. Germany is the...
  • Page 23 Spain enjoys a strong commitment to DAB Digital Radio, with the current 52 per cent population coverage expected to rise to 80 per cent by 2006. DAB Digital Radio in Spain began with pilot stations in 1998 and today is a mix of public and commercial broadcasting, with 18 stations transmitting digitally.
  • Page 24 90 transmitters. Further transmitters are planned to expand the network towards 90 per cent coverage. Mid- 2005 saw nearly 150 DAB digital radio products in the market with today’s figures far in excess of this. The range of DAB radios includes portables, hand- helds, boom boxes, clock radios, micro systems, home cinema and in-car products.

  • Page 25: Infrastructure Requirements

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Table 4.1. Eureka 147 Main System Features Single Frequency Network (SFN) capability Flexible audio bit rate Data services Programme Associated Data (PAD) Facilitates Conditional Access Service Information Operating frequency range 4.2.4 Infrastructure Requirements Eureka 147 is a wideband technology requiring services to be multiplexed before transmission.
  • Page 26 This system has been successfully standardised within ITU and ETSI and is now being implemented in the commercial market. Future listeners will be interested in all services provided by digital radio, hence radio sets should enable the users to receive any digital radio service without concern for the transmission system.

  • Page 27: Future Developments Of Dab

    As DAB, DVB-T is, technically speaking, sufficiently flexible to allow for delivery to portable and mobile receivers. Challenges with implementing DVB-T for digital radio centre on the need for good mobile and portable reception and its large bandwidth usage. DVB-T is not optimised for mobile reception and no mobile or portable hand held receivers are as yet available.
  • Page 28 The electronic programme guide (EPG) designed for BT Movio and standardized by ETSI proved quite successful. DAB-IP enables DAB digital radio to share multiplex capacity with mobile TV and therefore allows TV operators to benefit from the considerable DAB spectrum and infrastructure investments that have been made across Europe.
  • Page 29 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE DAB. Notwithstanding the results of such a study, it should be remembered that the ultimate choice may not necessarily be taken on purely the technical grounds. The history teaches us that not always the best technology wins, as the business interests may sometimes be more important (e.g., VHS versus...
  • Page 30 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE New receivers which appear on the market with the new codec will also be backwards compatible with the existing DAB-MPEG Audio Layer II in operation today for DAB services. The main features for the new audio codec are described by WorldDAB as: •...

  • Page 31: Types Of Receivers

    Coding v2 (HE AAC v2) toolbox - chosen to best suit the DAB system environment - is used. Some additional tool specifications have been applied to optimise performance for the broadcast environment of DAB digital radio. More details can be found on the WorldDAB websites at www.worldDAB.com.
  • Page 32 Manufacturers have been quick to realise the potential of DAB Digital Radio on the move and no less than eight companies are currently making a range of products to suit all tastes and pockets.
  • Page 33 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Table 4.2: List of manufacturers and their DAB products Receiver Manufacturer Acoustic Solutions Alba Radios Limited Albrecht Alpine Arcam Arion Technology Audionet Bang & Olufsen Blaupunkt Bush Digital Cambridge Audio Clarion Crown Cymbol ELANsat Eltax Ltd Ferguson...
  • Page 34 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Receiver Manufacturer Nevada Onkvo Opel Orbit Panasonic Perstel Philips Pioneer Proline PURE Digital Restek REVO Digital Roadstar Roberts Samsung Sangean Sanyo Sharp Siemens VDO Automotive Sony Steepletone TAGMcLaren TEAC Technisat Terratec Trinloc VDO Dayton The above list is not exhaustive; new products continuously come onto the market.

  • Page 35: Japan's Digital Radio Broadcasting (Isdb-Tsb)

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Japan's Digital Radio Broadcasting (ISDB-TSB) 4.3.1 Overview ISDB-TSB (Integrated Broadcasting) system was developed for terrestrial Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB) and was included in the ITU-R Recommendation BS.1114-3 in 2004. The system specification was developed by the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) in October 1998.
  • Page 36 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE from the consideration of cross-media communications. Introduction of charged broadcasting depends on the result after the feasibility is examined. Multiplexing System MPEG-2 system has been adopted, therefore various digital contents such as sound, text, still picture, moving picture and data can be transmitted simultaneously.
  • Page 37 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.4: ISDB-TSB and full-band ISDB-T transmission ISDB-T transmission Sound Sound / Data / Data ISDB-T Receiver (Single-/triple-segment) Hierarchical transmission and partial reception In the triple-segment transmission, both one layer transmission and hierarchical transmission can be achieved. There are two layers of A and B in the hierarchical transmission.
  • Page 38 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.5: Example diagram of hierarchical transmission Connected transmission Efficient transmission Connected transmission is defined as a transmission of multiple segments (e.g., multiple programs) from the same transmitter with no guard band. In addition, the channels of independent broadcasters can be transmitted together without guard bands from the same transmitter as long as the frequency and bit synchronisation are kept the same between the channels.
  • Page 39 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.6: Example of connected transmission (three TS’s) OFDM Frame OFDM Frame Adaptation OFDM Frame Adaptation Figure 4.7: CP carrier in an ordinary transmission (a) 1-segment format Figure 4.8: CP carrier in connected transmission Parameter restrictions in connected transmission The same mode should be applied for all segments.
  • Page 40 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Transmission capacities The transmission capacities of the single-segment and the triple-segment are shown in Table 4.3 and 4.4 respectively. the single-segment transmission (Segment BW=6/14MHz) Carrier Modulation Convolutional Code DQPSK QPSK 16QAM 64QAM Table 4.4: Information bit rates for the triple-segment transmission*...

  • Page 41: Characteristics

    Terrestrial TV broadcasting will be discontinued in July 2011. However, in the case of radio, existing AM, FM, and SW analog services are expected to continue, thus digital radio is being positioned as an opportunity to provide more channels. Consortium At present, digital radio broadcasting is operated by a consortium where corporations interested in digital radio broadcasting have participated.

  • Page 42: Overview Of Services

    Trial receivers include PC-card receivers that have an antenna on the top of a PCMCIA card, portable receivers (1-segment only) for the DRP, and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) receivers where a digital radio adapter is mounted. Receivers expected In addition to the above mentioned trial receiver types, the following types of receivers can be expected: •...

  • Page 43: Outlook For The Future

    Such experiments also include download service of music titles that were broadcast. 4.3.6 Outlook for the Future At present, digital radio broadcast experiments for practical application are underway through providing different contents of services and operation forms. The following subjects must be handled successfully for the spread and development of digital radio broadcasting: •...

  • Page 44: Ibiquity Hd Radio System

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE iBiquity HD Radio System The HD Radio system developed by US-based iBiquity Digital was designed for regions where limited spectrum prevents the allocation of new frequencies for digital broadcasting. The HD Radio system allows broadcasters to simultaneously transmit an analogue and digital signal without the need for additional spectrum for the digital signal.

  • Page 45: Hd Radio Standards Activity

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE 4.4.1 HD Radio Standards Activity Both the AM and FM HD Radio systems have received international endorsements as well as endorsements in the United States. The AM HD Radio system is included in Recommendation ITU-R BS.1514-1, adopted October 2002 where it is classified as the “IBOC DSB System.”...

  • Page 46: Hd Radio System Technical Design Overview

    AM and FM simultaneously with new, higher-quality and more robust digital signals, allowing broadcasters and their listeners to convert from analog to digital radio while maintaining each station’s current frequency allocation.

  • Page 47: Core Services

    The Main Program Service (MPS) is a direct extension of traditional analog radio. MPS allows the transmission of existing analog radio-programming in both analog and digital formats. This allows for a smooth transition from analog to digital radio. Radio receivers that are not HD Radio enabled can continue to receive the traditional analog radio signal, while HD Radio receivers can receive both digital and analog signals via the same frequency band.
  • Page 48 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Waveforms and Spectra The HD Radio system provides a flexible means of transitioning to a digital broadcast system by providing three new waveform types: Hybrid, Extended Hybrid, and All Digital. The Hybrid and Extended Hybrid types retain the analogue FM signal, while the All Digital type does not.
  • Page 49 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE additional spectrum, allocated to the inner edge of each primary sideband, is termed the primary extended sideband. See Figure 4.10. FM All Digital Waveform The greatest system enhancements are realized with the All Digital waveform, in which the analogue signal is removed and the bandwidth of the primary digital sidebands is fully extended as in the Extended Hybrid waveform.

  • Page 50: Hd Radio Subsystems

    Figure 4.12: Hybrid AM HD Radio system spectrum allotment 4.4.5 HD Radio Subsystems A basic block diagram representation of the system is shown in Figure 4.13. It represents the HD Radio digital radio system as three major subsystems: • Audio source coding and compression •...
  • Page 51 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.13: Functional Block Diagram of HD Radio System Audio Source Coding and Compression The Audio subsystem performs the source coding and compression of the sampled digitized Main Program Service (MPS) Audio program material. “Source coding and compression”...

  • Page 52: Receiver Systems

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE RF/Transmission System “RF/Transmission” refers to channel coding and modulation. The channel coder takes the multiplexed bit stream and applies coding and interleaving that can be used by the receiver to reconstruct the data from the received signal, which because of transmission impairments, may not accurately represent the transmitted signal.

  • Page 53: Features Common To North American Digital Radio Systems

    Sound quality of digital radio systems has improved dramatically in recent years with progressively lower bitrates being shown in various applications as achieving near CD quality. Rates well below 96 kbps are routinely utilized in digital radio systems in operation in North America and meeting with wide customer acceptance.
  • Page 54 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE HD Radio system have also been shown to be multipath-free even in challenging propagation conditions. Frequency Response It is difficult to evaluate the exact frequency response of a codec, because it will change dynamically depending on the available bit rate and the difficulty of encoding the instantaneous audio material.
  • Page 55 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE -0.5 -1.5 -2.5 -3.5 Source: Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 46, No. 3, March 1998, p. 164. Where the signal quality refers to the Subjective Difference Grade ITU scale (ITU-R BS.562) as follows: 0 = Imperceptible...

  • Page 56: Infrastructure Requirements

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE 4.4.8 Infrastructure Requirements At this writing, approximately 250 HD Radio stations have commenced operations in the United States with an additional 300 stations currently licensed to commence operations in the coming year. Consumer receivers went on sale in early 2004 and considerable work has been done on implementation options that may significantly reduce installation costs at many stations.
  • Page 57 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Deployment Status Current deployment statistics for the HD Radio System in the United States are shown below. Figure 4.17: Deployment status of HD Radio in the United States as of February 2005 570 Licensees 140 Markets 46 Top 50 Markets...

  • Page 58: Issues Related To Terrestrial Systems

    In the US, the government has approved HD Radio as a way to alleviate the need for new spectrum to implement terrestrial digital radio. The constraints and uncertainties that cloud the issue of frequency allocations for new digital terrestrial services in the VHF and L-Bands are not such a problem for AM digital developments.
  • Page 59 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE services within the planning area. These include airborne military services and television services in the VHF bands as well as fixed and aeronautical telemetry in the L-Band. Overall, there were sufficient allotments made in the Wiesbaden plan for the initial needs of DAB, but looking ahead, additional frequency allocations will be needed in Europe.
  • Page 60 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.19: T-DAB coverages in Band III The number of coverages can be estimated by analyzing the coverage maps taking into consideration, when relevant, the overlapping areas between allotments or assignment areas. The table below shows the estimated number of coverages (distinguishing between nationwide coverage and partial coverage) for the CEPT counties.
  • Page 61 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.20: Estimation of the channel usage in Band III for T-DAB (RPC4: suitable for mobile reception; RPC5: suitable for portable indoor reception) Figure 4.20 shows that T-DAB mobile reception (RPC4) represents the major proportion of the T-DAB requirements and that channels 11 and 12 are the most used for T-DAB.

  • Page 62: The Implications Of Simulcasting

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Figure 4.21: End of the transition period In summary, the full potential of the new digital plans will not be available until the analogue switch off. In terms of propagation performance at L-Band using T-DAB, concern about the efficiency of the 1.5 GHz Band has been largely removed as a result of extensive...

  • Page 63: Coverage

    The audio quality achievable with simulcasting remains to be established. DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) Two types of simulcast are present in the DRM design. The first is confined to a 9 or 10 kHz channel.
  • Page 64 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE TERRESTRIAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS - ISSUES (SFN’s) to a greater or lesser extent and make it easier to extend coverage. Provided that a broadcast on the same frequency from a different transmitter, or a reflected transmission from the main transmitter, arrive at the receive antenna within the system’s guard interval, the reflected signal will combine in a constructive way to reinforce reception.

  • Page 65: Satellite Transmission

    (one transparent and one with on-board processing). The aim is to provide digital radio and ancillary services to audiences in the footprints of these satellites using ITU-R Digital System D. As the names imply, the continental zones to be served by these satellites are Africa, Asia and Central and South America.
  • Page 66 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE WorldSpace has successfully launched several public benefit services including: • General Distance Education (e.g. CLASS) • Specialised Medical Practitioner Education • Science Promotion • Health Awareness • Empowerment (Women and Girls, Business, etc.) Satellite DSB can also be used to provide a reliable emergency and disaster warning broadcast system.
  • Page 67 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE SATELLITE TRANSMISSION - WORLDSPACE Broadcasters using the service are able to uplink their programmes from either centralised hubs or via individual feeder links located in any of the uplink footprints of the 3 satellites. Whilst this ease of access for broadcasters is a plus feature, the low power single channel uplink with its large footprint could be vulnerable to jamming.

  • Page 68: Receiver Systems

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Subsequently WorldSpace developed a hybrid satellite and terrestrial repeater system designated as ITU-R System Dh to provide reliable reception in vehicles. This system has other enhancements including time diversity. This system has also been utilised by XM Satellite Radio to provide DARS services in the US (refer to Section 5.2).

  • Page 69: Sirius Satellite Radio / Xm Satellite Radio

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE SIRIUS Satellite Radio / XM Satellite Radio These two US-based organisations have implemented and are operating satellite radio systems providing a variety of mobile/fixed services throughout the 48 contiguous states, in Canada and offshore. regulatory approvals can be obtained.

  • Page 70: Sirius Overview

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE reduces the need for terrestrial repeaters and lowers the probability of outages from blockage and foliage attenuation. Currently, Sirius employs approximately 100 repeater sites and XM approximately 800. 5.2.1 Sirius Overview The first Sirius spacecraft was launched on July 1, 2000. Exactly five months later, on December 1, the third spacecraft was launched, completing the three satellite S DARS (Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service) constellation.
  • Page 71 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE SATELLITE TRANSMISSION - SIRIUS / XM Figure 5.3. Sirius SDARS Delivery System Sirius SDARS Delivery System The Sirius constellation consists of three satellites in inclined, elliptical geosynchronous orbits whose planes are 120° apart, as shown following. The satellite orbital elements are given in the accompanying table, and the satellites’...
  • Page 72 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Each satellite follows the other around the ground track in following picture with 8-hour separation. The perigee in the southern hemisphere is 24,500 km, which is above the Van Allen belt, and the apogee in the northern hemisphere is 47,100 km.
  • Page 73 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE SATELLITE TRANSMISSION - SIRIUS / XM Figure 5.5. Sirius Ground Track The decision to use inclined, elliptical orbits rather than geostationary orbits for Sirius was made approximately one year into the design and manufacturing phase of the project. At the same time, modifications were made to the payload requirements, affecting spacecraft configuration and support subsystems.

  • Page 74: Deployment Status

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Changes Made For Sirius Inclined Elliptical Orbits Parameter Dry Mass RF power (operating) DC power – EOL Solar Array Battery Control System Control Modes TX Antenna RX Antenna Solar array Battery TT&C Launch Vehicle The launch of the Sirius Satellite Radio constellation marks the first use of satellites for Digital Audio Radio Service broadcasting in the United States.

  • Page 75: Mobile Broadcasting Corp. And Tu Media Corp. - Itu-R System E

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Mobile Broadcasting Corp. and TU Media Corp. – ITU-R System E Mobile Broadcasting Corporation is a commercial organisation based in Tokyo, Japan and TU Media Corporation is a commercial organization based in Seoul, Korea. Although they have one geostationary satellite in common, each of them can use its own...

  • Page 76: Internet Radio (Ir)

    Traditionally, audio programmes have been available via dedicated terrestrial networks broadcasting to radio receivers. Typically, they have operated on AM and FM platforms, with the more recent addition of digital radio-frequency spectrum, including DAB, DRM and IBOC. This paradigm is about to change.

  • Page 77: Internet Radio Peculiarities

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE The study identified the following reasons why people listen to Internet radio, as opposed to off-air radio: To listen to audio not available elsewhere To control/choose the music played Fewer commercials Greater variety of music Clearer signal than over-the-air radio Less DJ chatter Because it is "new"...

  • Page 78: Internet Radio As A Complement To Established Radio Services

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Internet Radio as a complement to established radio services Since 1995, most traditional broadcasters have set up websites in order to provide complementary information for their listeners and viewers. The websites can provide a variety of textual and pictorial on-line services, as well as on-demand audio or audio/video clips associated with news events and live (continuous) reproduction of existing radio and television programmes.

  • Page 79: Internet-Only Stations: Ir Portals And Music Portals

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE to seven days before. One example is the BBC Radio Player. This on-demand service allows users to time-shift broadcasts and frees them from the constraint of adhering to station schedules. On-demand transfers control to the listeners: they can create their own schedule of programmes.
  • Page 80 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE The streaming system architecture comprises four elements: capture and encoding, serving, distribution and delivery and media player. Capture and encoding takes the source audio from the microphone and exports it into a compressed (encoded) computer file. These files are stored on a content server which controls the real-time delivery of the stream.
  • Page 81 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE WiMAX WiMAX is a new IP-based communications technology based on the IEEE 802.16- 2004 standard, which will provide broadband wireless access to portable devices like laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones. WiMAX will complement fixed DSL and WiFi networks by providing mobility and portability. It will offer seamless hand-over between WiMAX, WiFi and mobile 2G/3G networks.

  • Page 82: Internet Radio Terminals And Playback Devices

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Podcasting Podcasting is a way to 'subscribe' to radio programmes and have them delivered to your personal computer. (narrow)casting. It combines blogging with audio files that can be played on your PC or MP3 player. It involves a “push” of specially encoded multimedia content to subscribed PCs via RSS 2.0 protocol.

  • Page 83: Internet Radio's Relation With The Traditional Radio

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE An interesting example of a PC audio player is the BBC Radio Player which is a PC application that allows Internet users to download BBC radio programmes via a programme guide for up to 7 days after broadcast. BBC is now in the process of trialling an Integrated Media Player (iMP) which will allow for both radio and television programme downloads but, due to copyright restrictions, only to the UK territory.

  • Page 84: Measuring Audience

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE In order to promote their Internet services, broadcasters must communicate the all important web addresses to listeners. It is not the aim of this paper to explore marketing techniques, but suffice to say that broadcasters can achieve this in a variety of ways: during live programmes;...
  • Page 85 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE 1,006,579 hours of listening. In addition to duration of listening, Arbitron also publishes demographic highlights such as the peak listening day, peak listening time, geography, age and gender categories, etc. While such statistical evidence is very useful, it does little to help media service providers and webcasters who need much more detailed insight into user behaviour.

  • Page 86: Case Studies

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Some additional specific media-related parameters are those related to media players, quality delivered and user behaviour, as follows: • Which Media Player (Audio/Video/Graphics)? • Which speed (bandwidth) for a combination of audio and video programme? • Start-up time •...

  • Page 87: Swedish Radio Multichannel Audio Distribution

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Virgin Radio has been available on the net for nearly a decade. In 1996, Virgin was the first station in Europe to broadcast 24 hours online, initially using Real Player. Nowadays, Virgin has four radio stations, which are available online in a variety of different formats and speeds.

  • Page 88: Some Important Radio Portals

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE The main assets of Internet Radio are its global reach, interactivity and personalisation. While today the users need a computer device and a broadband connection to access Internet radio stations, in future they will be able to enjoy it on a number of portable wireless devices.
  • Page 89 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE INTERNET RADIO Access Pass for $3.65 a month gives better audio sound, although it is difficult to sift through the stations for VIP members-only. Radio VH1 www.vh1.com/radio Radio VH1 has more than 70 stations plus music news, including scrolling ticker. Within each station is a description of the music, the line up of musical acts and the DJs.
  • Page 90 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE INTERNET RADIO streams in 148 countries. There are drop down menus to search for stations. Users do not need to register to listen to music. The only thing missing is links to Internet-only stations. SHOUTcast http://www.shoutcast.com SHOUTcast is Nullsoft's Free Winamp-based distributed streaming audio system. It is a...

  • Page 91: Some Sources For The Digital Radio Guide

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Some Sources for the Digital Radio Guide • “Digital Radio in the United States: technologies, markets and recent developments,” Richard L. Anglin, paper presented at the conference on ‘Digital and the future of radio and audio’ (May 1997).
  • Page 92 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE • Soulodre,G. A.; Grusec, T.; Lavoie, M.; and Thibault, L. (1998)., Subjective Evaluation of State-of-the-Art Two-Channel Audio Codecs., Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol. 46, no. 3, Mar., pp. 164-177. • “DAB Ensembles Worldwide”. http://www.wohnort.demon.co.uk/DABIT/index.html •...
  • Page 93 TR 102 154: Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Implementation guidelines for the use of MPEG-2 Systems, Video and Audio in Contribution and Primary Distribution Applications • http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/sep03/09-12NTLBroadcastPR.asp • Des DeCean: Challenges facing broadcasters with the introduction of digital radio, Australian Broadcasting Summit, February 2003 SOURCES...

  • Page 94: Appendix Athe Eureka 147 System - System Description

    Major System Features Like almost all digital radio systems, Eureka 147 uses standard audio compression techniques and COFDM. As Eureka 147 was the first standardised digital radio system, the audio compression techniques used in all Eureka 147 implementations are now somewhat dated.
  • Page 95 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Modes of Operation Eureka 147 provides four transmission mode options that allow for a wide range of transmission frequencies, between 30 and 3000 MHz, and network configurations. For the nominal frequency ranges, the transmission modes have been designed to provide good mobile reception by...
  • Page 96 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE APPENDIX A: EUREKA 147 Data Services Each audio program contains PAD with a variable capacity (minimum 667 bps, up to 65 kbps) which is used to convey information together with the sound program. Typical examples of PAD applications are dynamic range control information, a dynamic label to display program titles or lyrics, speech/music indication and text with graphic features.
  • Page 97 Further listening tests were performed in 1995, as part of the US Electronic Industries Association’s (EIA) evaluation of digital radio systems. A range of audio coding systems were tested including MPEG 1 Layer II at 224 and 192 kbps (joint stereo modes). The findings of this work indicate the MPEG 1 Layer II codec at 224 kbps is capable of meeting the basic audio quality criteria specified by the ITU R.
  • Page 98 For Australia, there is a further complication if VHF Band III is used for digital radio. In this scenario, adoption of the Canadian channel plan would result in a ”mixed” frequency table arrangement (e.g., use of the CEPT channel plan at VHF Band III and the Canadian channel plan...
  • Page 99 VHF Band I. L-Band (1452-1492 MHz) L-Band can be used for both terrestrial and satellite digital radio services. L Band may be used to provide the following types of coverage, assuming average terrain conditions: •...
  • Page 100 L Band for their Eureka 147 services. In the US, S Band has been used for terrestrial digital radio repeaters and GSM phones have been implemented at 1800 MHz and can provide adequate indoor reception.
  • Page 101 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE APPENDIX A: EUREKA 147 In MOT, the "table of contents" function is handled by the MOT Directory Object and its operation is illustrated below: If we replace the file animals/lion with a new file called animals/tiger, the carousel would then...
  • Page 102 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE APPENDIX A: EUREKA 147 If the length of the text to be displayed is longer than 64 characters, the text can be incremental or scrolling. Broadcast Website BWS is a local interactive service; the user selects information already received by a browser.
  • Page 103 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE events). Additionally programmes and events can be linked together into groups (e.g. for grouping programmes together into serials or series). EPG will be useful to promote new programmes and to attract new listeners. It is also enable for future technologies such as Personal Media Recording (DAB equivalent of PVR).
  • Page 104 DRM Forum have agreed to cooperate in defining a generic physical USB interface for all digital radio receivers. Furthermore, a generic low level driver interface based on Digital Command Set for Receivers (DRCS) specification will be developed, taking into account of copy protection and digital rights management issues.
  • Page 105 (copyright, EPG, etc). In September 2003 RadioScape which specialises in digital radio software launched a new module called RS200L. One of the features of this module is the inclusion of Rewind Radio that enables about ten minutes of audio to be stored on chip RAM.
  • Page 106 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE contents regularly. There is no need for return link to the service provider. This "audio anytime" system is particularly attractive for in-car applications. IP datacasting in DAB The DAB system is capable of carrying IP packets (datagrams) using IP/UDP protocol.
  • Page 107 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE TPEG can be transported within the DAB system in the Transparent Data Channel (TDC) in a stream-like format; bytes come out in the same order they go in. TPEG data to be carried in three modes: packet mode, stream mode and X-PAD. Nevertheless, this approach which is specified in the present version of the DAB standard, involves several problems in terms of reception reliability and interpretation.
  • Page 108 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Number Title Definition and use of RDS-ODA EN 302 077 V1.1.1 Electromagnetic compatibility and Radio spectrum Matters (ERM); Harmonised EN for Terrestrial Digital Audio Broadcast (TDAB) equipment used in the sound broadcasting service. ES 201 735 Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB); Internet Protocol Datagram Tunnelling ES 201 736 V1.1.1...
  • Page 109 International Telecommunications Recommendations relating to Eureka 147 and digital radio in particular. The “DSB Handbook - Terrestrial and satellite DSB to vehicular, portable and fixed receivers in the VHF/UHF bands” is an aggregation of ITU input documents and data. Relevant recommendations are in Table A.5.

  • Page 110: Appendix Brelevant World Wide Websites

    Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Financial Times (Media and Telecoms.) Ibiquity (HD Radio) International Telecommunications Union Lucent Technologies (Lucent Digital Radio) National Association of Broadcasters (US) National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters US (NASB) National Radio Systems Committee US (NRSC) National Transcommunications Ltd.
  • Page 111 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) World Radio Network WorldDAB WorldSpace Radio XM Satellite Radio APPENDIX B: WEBSITES www.worldbroadcastingunions.org www.wrn.org www.worlddab.org www.worldspace.com www.xm.com...

  • Page 112: Appendix Cglossary Of Acronyms

    DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE APPENDIX C Glossary of Acronyms Advanced Audio Coding Advanced Application Services Astra Digital Radio Amplitude Modulation Advanced Programming Interface Asynchronous Transfer Mode British Broadcasting Corporation Bit Error Rate Binary digit Bitrate Rate of flow of bits per second...
  • Page 113 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Digital Radio Broadcasting DRDB Digital Radio Development Bureau Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Promotion Double Side Band Digital Subscriber Line Digital Satellite Radio Direct to Home Digital Theatre System Digital Terrestrial Television Digital Video Broadcasting DVB-H Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld DVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting –...
  • Page 114 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IFPI International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Integrated Media Player Internet Protocol ISDB-TSB Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting – Terrestrial for Sound Broadcasting International Telecommunications Union ITU-R ITU Radiocommunications Sector IBAC...
  • Page 115 DIGITAL RADIO GUIDE Peer-to-Peer Networking Programme Associated Data PC card A plug in card for a Personal Computer, which allows it to receive DAB. Personal Digital Assistant Portable Network Graphics Point of Failure Programme Type Codes Personal Versatile Recorder Quadrature Amplitude Modulation...
  • Page 116 Belgian Public Service Broadcaster W(A)RC World (Administrative) Radio Conference WiFi Wireless technology brand (coined by WiFi Alliance) WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access Windows Media Audio WorldDAB Organisation for promoting digital radio (DAB) based on the Eureka 147 system. APPENDIX C: ACRONYMS...
  • Page 117 Further, the inclusion of references and links to particular items in the Digital Radio Guide are not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered on these outside references, or the organization sponsoring them.

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