Gospell GR-227: SDR Based Digital Broadcast Radio Adapter for Cars

GR-227 digital radio adaptor specifically designed for in-car use that simplifies digital radio on the road will be introduced at IBC by Gospell. GR-227 is a small, low-cost adaptor that acts as an aftermarket add-on to car stereos receiving high-quality digital broadcast programs and data application, and serving it to the car audio system over a USB cable. Based on software defined radio technology, GR-227 is compatible with both modes of the DRM standard, with its latest extended audio codec xHE-AAC. It also supports DAB and DAB+. GR-227 literally works with any kind of car stereos with a USB port.

price of the original Indian receiver slashed by 50%. 

Manufacturer of the Avion DRM digital receiver AV-1401, has slashed price of their DRM digital receiver by almost 50%.The upgraded model of Avion DRM receiver AV-DR-1401 with a new PCB design, enhanced sensitivity and improved FM signal is now avalable at Rs.6599 + Taxes. This price is for sale in India only.The screen benefits from a change of the front lens into crystal die giving an improvement to the big LCD window. The manufacturer has also upgraded the software for the Emergency Warning Functionality, so that it can be used when the receiver is in standby as well.Moreover, the receiver is now able to pick up weaker signals delivering those in better digital audio quality. Improvements have been done also on the antenna by providing a complete new design.Currently the new receiver can be bought by contacting the manufacturer at info@avionelectronics.in.

NXP Saturn series decodes 3 digital radio standards

The digital radio trend is picking up globally and an increasing number of car OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are now offering in-car digital radio systems to keep up with the pace. NXP Semiconductors has introduced its SAF360x series – also called Saturn, a multi-standard software-defined radio co-processor capable of decoding all three major digital terrestrial radio standards, including Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), HD Radio, and DAB/DAB+/T-DMB. The company says the series features maximum ratio combining for DAB and HD Radio, and scalability for single, dual, and triple tuner use cases. The SAF360x platform also replaces up to six chips with a single IC and reduces the footprint of the automotive digital radio application by more than 75 per cent for cost savings, according to the company.

"The SAF360x series—code-named 'Saturn'—is the culmination of more than a decade of developing in-car digital radio solutions and finally offers the all-in-one integration, true multi-standard support, and breakthrough reception performance that leading car infotainment system suppliers have been waiting for," said Torsten Lehmann, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Car Entertainment Solutions, NXP Semiconductors.

Car manufacturers are expected to go into production with the first digital radio systems based on the SAF360x this year.

By using software-defined radio, the SAF360x series—like its market-leading predecessor, the SAF356x—offers a cost-effective platform that allows the same hardware to be used to decode multiple standards. Currently supporting the three most popular digital terrestrial radio standards, the platform could also be used to support new digital radio standards that emerge in the future.

With the SAF360x, NXP is the first semiconductor supplier to offer support for in-vehicle DRM reception, offering a cost-effective solution for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers introducing in-car digital radio systems in emerging markets, including India, Russia, and Brazil. NXP has been involved in extensive field tests for DRM, which brings FM-quality audio in AM bands, including the first public "test drive" conducted last year with All India Radio (AIR) ahead of the nationwide rollout of DRM in India.

Delivering improved reception performance for DAB, DAB+ and T-DMB, which are gaining popularity in Europe, Korea and Australia, the SAF360x is the first automotive-quality chipset including two on-board high-performance DAB tuners and memory. With support for up to three tuner inputs, the chipset can be used for DAB, maximum ratio combining (MRC) and background scan or data services. Using advanced wideband technology and software algorithms available only from NXP, the SAF360x solution provides ultra-fast DAB scanning and sync time, enhanced tuner sensitivity, and seamless DAB-FM-DAB blending, delivering an impeccable audio experience without having to worry about losing reception.

For HD Radio systems, which are rapidly gaining popularity in the US and Mexico, the NXP SAF360x series also offers enhanced reception performance via MRC. The SAF360x can be used in various HD Radio use cases—with a single low-cost tuner or up to three high-end tuner inputs. With the availability of three tuners, the SAF360x can be used to support HD Radio diversity reception, with background scanning or data services decoded from a second station in parallel. As the third-generation automotive HD Radio solution from NXP, the SAF360x also benefits from NXP's long-standing collaboration with iBiquity, creators of HD Radio technology.

The new digital radio co-processors work with NXP's car radio and audio DSPs and AM/FM tuners. Together, they offer a scalable global analogue and digital radio solution for tuning and decoding a range of terrestrial radio standards.

DREAM DRM SOFWARE

Dream is a fully Open Source DRM30 and AM Software Radio with advanced features for both amateur and professional use. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux and can be used with any receiver supported by the Hamlib radio control libraries. It supports decoding of audio, text messages, EPG, AFS, BWS, Journaline and MOT Slide Show. It fully supports the RSCI for professional remote logging. Binaries and source code are available

Read more at  :-https://drm.sourceforge.io/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Software defined Radios

SDRs are used for radio communication based on software-defined wireless communication protocol. Instead of components (such as radio frequency amplifiers and mixers), these use software on embedded or computer systems.An SDR can be simply plugged into the USB port of a laptop or desktop computer. An external antenna is connected to the SDR. Length of the antenna depends on the distance between the computer and transmitting station.

Another aspect of DRM reception is suitable software. Some free and downloadable software to receive DRM transmissions are HDSDR, SDSharp and Dream.Configuring the SDR with suitable software for DRM reception can be tricky. Most manufacturers provide a quick start guide to help set up. For receiving a particular modulation (like AM, FM, DRM, SSB, USB or CW), a compatible program is run on the computer to control the receiver.

In SDR, some or all physical layers are software defined. The software determines the specifications of the radio. Any changes in the software changes the functions and performance of the radio. Selection of functions like modulation, demodulation, filtering and frequency can be done through software. Wireless system protocols are different for each country. However, SDR can be used anywhere in the world.

Digital Radio Mondiale to launch new module at debut MBT Hungary Conference

A new DRM module (W102) with integrated hard coded baseband decoder will be launched at MBT by Starwaves. The module will be suitable for applications such as consumer radios or aftermarket automotive solutions. The module contains a high-quality tuner frontend and audio DAC as well as a digital input for external audio sources e.g. from an external MCU to provide Bluetooth or USB audio. It measures only 40x40mm and covers all bands from LW, MW, SW to the FM Band (64-108 MHz) in DRM and analogue radio. All data services such as Journaline or MOT Slide Shows can be extracted from the data stream for further processing in the target device. The module can be ordered and will be available in the third quarter of 2019.

Read more at:- http://www.radioandmusic.com/biz/radio/international-radio/190521-digital-radio-mondiale-launch-new-module

Technology Updates for DRM

New digital radio chip targets smart devices and global markets Chorus 4 a single-chip solution, integrating four previously separate chips Frontier Silicon announces details of Chorus 4, its next generation digital radio chip. Chorus 4 is a single-chip solution, which integrates four previously separate chips to deliver significant cost and energy consumption savings.Chorus 4 is the fourth generation chip from Frontier Silicon. The chip is designed to encourage the continued advance of digital radio around the world by supporting all major global digital radio standards.Chorus 4 provides solutions for multiple devices, including consumer radios, the automotive aftermarket and, for the first time, smartphones and tablets.The company’s previous solutions have already powered over 20 million digital radios worldwide.

The key features and benefits of Chorus 4 are:

• Low cost, single chip solution: integration of RF front-end, baseband, application processor and DAC (“four chips in one”) delivers significant cost savings which enable high quality, entry-level price point digital radios
• Ultra-low power consumption - one month’s listening for 5-6 hours a day on a portable radio with four D cell batteries (comparable to FM performance)
• Multiple solutions for portable and table-top radios, smart-device docks, wireless speakers, hand-held receivers, sound-bars and audio systems
• Automotive aftermarket - solutions for head units, integrated convertors and low cost adapters
• Smart devices - enables digital radio solutions for mobile phones and tablets
• Bluetooth connectivity - connecting smart devices and digital radios to enable hybrid radio (with interactivity and additional content delivered via IP), music streaming and remote control
• Integrated service guides - new software will enable listeners to select stations from a single list of digital and analogue stations regardless of platform

Multiple radio standards - including support for AM, FM, DAB, DAB+, HD Radio and DRM

Digital Tick compliant - Chorus 4 solutions meet all technology requirements of the UK minimum specifications for both domestic and automotive digital radio devices.

Read More:- http://www.frontier-silicon.com/new-digital-radio-chip-targets-smart-devices-and-global-markets#.U6lkzZQ70aI

A digital radio is an increasingly common piece of standard equipment in new cars.

Digital radio, offers a number of advantages over traditional analogue FM, AM or long wave radio, which is why manufacturers are replacing traditional radios with digital ones in their latest models.

1)One of the biggest advantages of Digital is that it allows for a greater choice of stations.

2)Another advantage is that Digital radio is less susceptible to noise and interference, which can manifest itself as fade, hiss or crackle on FM radio. Digital radios don’t suffer in this way because they maintain reception quality up until the signal becomes unsustainably weak, whereas the reception quality of FM radios gets steadily worse as soon as the signal begins to weaken. This is particularly relevant to people using radios in cars because constant movement means signal strength is likely to vary.

3)The third major advantage is that Digital radio is easier to use. Although FM car radios are usually fitted with RDS, which allows you to store stations as presets and switch between them without having to tune the radio in, you can’t store an infinite number. With a Digital radio, changing to another station is always one push of a button, and there is no seek feature that might find you the same station on a number of different frequencies,

India Leads The Way With DRM

The transition from legacy analog broadcasts to digital radio for the nationwide radio network in the former AM bands is seamless, as AIR is updating the existing transmitter infrastructure while offering analog-digital simulcast services at the same time. By now, the most recent addition to the AAC codec family is on the air in India: already, the first five major transmitter locations in India, two at Delhi, and one each at Bangalore, Pune, and Chennai have been upgraded with xHE-AAC-enabled DRM equipment by RFmondial with Fraunhofer technology components inside. In total, there are 39 transmitter locations (including 35 transmitters that form the domestic medium-wave network), which all are expected to receive this latest upgrade moving forward.

XHE-AAC (Extended HE-AAC), primarily developed by Fraunhofer IIS and the latest addition to the MPEG AAC codec family, bridges the gap between speech and audio coding. It provides consistently high-quality audio for all signal types, such as speech, music or mixed content, at all bit rates – starting as low as 6 kbit/s for mono and 12 kbit/s for stereo services, up to 500 kbit/s and above. This makes xHE-AAC the audio codec of choice for digital radio and adaptive streaming applications. It is a mandatory audio codec in Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)

Besides enabling more and higher-quality audio services per DRM transmission, the new xHE-AAC codec also allows broadcasters to benefit from a simplified broadcast head-end configuration, as all audio parameters are automatically streamlined internally by the xHE-AAC encoder. And the encoder is equally optimized for speech and music content, which eliminates the need to change configuration settings depending on the current type of audio content being broadcast. xHE-AAC makes it possible to provide much better, FM-like audio quality, as well as more programs in a single DRM transmission, up to three instead of one. The upgraded DRM encoder equipment also supports the provision of detailed textual information like current news, information, program schedules, traffic updates, and contact information via DRM’s Journaline advanced text service. Eventually, based on DRM’s emergency warning functionality (EWF)

xHE-AAC will align digital radio with the world of modern consumer devices and support for xHE-AAC audio decoding will be a default feature of the Android platform from version 9 (Pie) onwards. The use of xHE-AAC in DRM and the codec’s suitability for adaptive web streaming to mobile phones enable Indian broadcasters to bring the two worlds of radio and streaming together. The integrated broadcast solution offers a seamless user experience and reaches listeners on all classes of devices, from standalone radios to cars and mobile phones. In addition, more and more receiver models will combine the two distribution paths on a single device, no matter if it is a mobile phone with built-in digital radio reception, a car with a multi-mode receiver solution or a standalone desktop radio with built-in Wi-Fi streaming.

Read more at:-https://www.broadcastandcablesat.co.in/india-leads-the-way-with-drm/

Hyundai all models, except one, include DRM Radio

There are already 1.5 million cars with DRM receivers over the past 2 years.

The car industry has really supported the introduction of DRM. Hyundai car makers have  begun fitting DRM receivers into their new cars. Hundai all models , except one, include DRM receiver.

DRM Receivers Find Place in Cars

The number of cars with line-fit digital radio enabled radio sets in India is reaching 1.5 million.

All India Radio has 39 DRM transmitters installed and operational. Today AIR covers a large part of the subcontinent and an estimated 600 million people with digital DRM radio services.

In 2017, this number was estimated to be about 500,000 cars, while as of the beginning of May 2018 the volume has passed 800,000.

Maruti Suzuki has also incorporated DRM receivers in 6 models

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross Smart Hybrid Alpha And Maruti Suzuki S-Cross Smart Hybrid Zeta car has DRM feature in its audio system. Maruti Suziki's Dzire  car has DRM feature in its audio system.

Mahindra has also installed DRM in its TUV model.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s Sports Utility Vehicle called TUV300 is incorporated with DRM receiver in the audio system.