The Unexplored Benefits of Digital Radio.

The Unexplored Benefits of Digital Radio

Now work from home has become much more than the bonus it might have been occasionally in the past. The same is true about the current intense virtual socializing, conference calling and distance learning many experience.

When schools closed down hundreds of thousands of children and older students started to use the internet intensely to continue their education. But to do so these students need a computer and access to broadband and secure connections. In addition, we are already experiencing the limitations of WFH. The broadband is not infinite, and neither is spectrum, a rare commodity indeed.

Big players like Netflix and Amazon are already trimming their offerings to save some bits. Providers are also asking us to use this precious commodity with care. Broadband itself is also of different grades, better when glass fiber than copper etc.

And then there is the physical laptop. What if your mother is distance teaching, your father is conference calling, you are distance learning and your siblings are just skyping friends? How many laptops does a household need? Maybe not all these activities are simultaneous but the laptop (and the cell phone, too) are our gateway to a world blighted by an invisible enemy.

And this is where free-to-air radio broadcasting in its digital format can be of real help. Unlike analog radio, digital and certainly using DRM will allow you to use a receiver with a LED color screen, not smaller than what you have on a cell phone.

This screen transforms radio into an aggregating platform that delivers quality audio, no matter which band is used.

In digital DRM, audio is accompanied by data. It offers the possibility of carrying up to two audio channels and one data channel just on one of the existing frequencies. This is different from analog, which delivers just one audio program on the same frequency and no data. Data can be anything: A geometry lesson with drawings, a quiz, a poem, any text or picture or diagram, etc.

And if you use Journaline, an open, internationally standardized data application for advanced text information in digital radio systems, you will get hierarchically structured information, giving users easy and immediate access to topics of interest and in the desired language.



Click this link : https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/the-unexplored-benefits-of-digital-radio%3Famp&ved=2ahUKEwjmnfLHvoPpAhWPxTgGHSNQATgQFjAAegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw3RtjsOu6sVJAgGt3g3HLcu&ampcf=1

Source: www.radioworld.com

ReplyForward

WEBINAR:HAM FEST 2020

TOPIC:SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO  (SDR)

SPEAKER: BM SAI SHIVA (18BEC127) ECE - 2ND YEAR KUMARAGURU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

DATE: 18/04/2020 (SATURDAY) 

TIME: 1:00 TO 1:40 PM

ZOOM MEETING ID: 794 6968 7036

PASSWORD: HAMFESTSDR

General Assembly concern about DRM receivers in Indian cars a big market potential.

The DRM Consortium held its virtual General Assembly on March 25 with the participation of members from all over the world. They had a chance to get updated on the rich variety of activities undertaken in 2019-2020 such as the recent stakeholders' meeting held by AIR (All India Radio) and the DRM presence at BES Expo in India. A comprehensive presentation on the DRM receiver situation was very well received.

This was focused on the over two million DRM receivers in Indian cars and the new consumer receiver models (standalone, car solutions and adaptors, SDR) from China, India, Germany, UK, supporting the full DRM feature set with Journaline, EWF (Emergency Warning Functionality) and DRM in the AM and FM bands. It completed the image of a positive year and of the great strides made by DRM in 2019-2020.

Read more at: http://www.asiaradiotoday.com/news/drm-holds-virtual-general-assembly © Radioinfo.com.au

DRM – COLLABORATES WITH ABU AND ASBU TO JOINTLY HOST A TWO-PART INTERACTIVE WEBINAR SESSION

Under the theme of “DRM Benefits in Times of Crisis,” The DRM Consortium in collaboration with Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union (ABU) and Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) will jointly and for the first time host a two-part interactive webinar session. The webinar will focus on key DRM benefits and what makes the standard so useful in times of crisis and disasters.

The first session will take place on Thursday 23rd April 2020 and the second session will take place a week later Thursday 30th April 2020 (0800 UTC, 0900 BST- London and Tunis time, 1600 MYT, Kuala Lumpur time).

Both webinars will explore the benefits of the DRM digital radio technology in times of crisis and disasters by demonstrating key features such as, Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF), monitoring map, content server programming using Journaline and how the DRM technology is used in public signage. The webinars will also delve into how DRM data casting technology could be valuable in education for all, especially in regions which are not always covered by internet or television signals.

The speakers will include: Ruxandra Obreja (DRM Chair), Alexander Zink (Fraunhofer IIs, DRM Vice-Chair), Yogendra Pal (Chair Indian Platform), Simon Keens (Ampegon), Jan Bremer (NXP) and Radu Obreja (DRM Marketing Director).

According to DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja:” This webinar duo on the 23rd and 30th of April is a first for us as our long and fruitful cooperation with ABU is now being enriched with that of ASBU. We feel that as a lot of people are under lockdown just now, a webinar is an excellent opportunity to learn more about DRM and its many advantages, beyond excellent audio, which can become particularly useful in times of crisis. We hope that many participants will register for the two events to be technically hosted by ABU”.

To register please click here

DRM is the best among the all:Robort Lee, Owner-President at QXZ MediaWorks LLC, Texas.

I just finished reading the weekly e-newsletter from DABWorld, the international, nongovernmental organization that sets the technical standards and advocates for government adoption and implementation of terrestrial DAB+ digital radio. DAB+ is one of the three principal global digital radio standards, along with Digital Radio Mondial (DRM) and In-Band/On-Channel (IBOC), the latter known commercially as HD Radio. DAB+ has emerged as the leading digital, terrestrial radio standard in Europe and other countries. As I read the DABWorld and other industry email newsletters and publications each week, I am always staggered at how much further along other governments and the proponents of DAB+ and DRM are in their digital broadcast radio development, as compared to the U.S. and the Federal Communications Commission.

Here in the States, I believe our FCC and other executive branch and Congressional leadersmerely think in terms, over and over again, of the “lowest common denominator”; in other words, the easiest way out, not thinking in truly long-term and visionary-solution ways. For example, while the FCC and the Congress years ago mandated the conversion of the NTSC analog broadcast television system to ATSC digital, our terrestrial radio stations are still relegated to muddling along in a “market-based” analog and digital hybrid compromise, with broadcasters mandated to utilizing the privately controlled IBOC/HD Radio standard, which radio station owner/operators are required to pay annual rights fees to use. Even worse, HD Radio, for technical and engineering reasons, only works well with FM radio, and not AM. On the AM side of things, HD Radio causes hugely intolerable interference problems between and among first-adjacent stations, even when the AM facilities are hundreds of miles apart. And then, with AM radio here in the U.S., what is the FCC’s “solution” to ostensibly help these analog stations overcome or survive the massive “noise floor” interference that daily degrades these medium-wave stations? They are permitted (literally) to supplement their ruined signals with analog, 250-watt FM translators, which, due to the low power of the latter, mostly do not provide the same coverage as the AM parent signal! In turn, the addition of thousands of cross-service translators for struggling AM stations just clogs the 88 to 108 MHz FM band to its own detriment, because that FM spectrum is already jammed to near-capacity with tens of thousands of full-power and low-power stations.

And, finally, the FCC’s latest idea for “revitalizing” AM radio is to allow voluntary, market based (again!) adoption of the MA3 digital standard — something that no other government regulator in any country, anywhere else in the world, uses. In other words, yet another mish-mash, “do it at your own risk,” hoped-for “solution.” Does this, along with all kinds of other problems and challenges faced by radio broadcasters, represent rational and productive public policy? I think not.

So, where do I think we need to go from here? Generally, without getting too political, I am a small- and limited-government conservative who supports a mostly hands-off or light regulation of the private sector. However, I believe that broadcasting is different. Because of the limited spectrum that is available for broadcast television and radio, I willingly accept that there needs to be a minimally robust amount of regulation of the use of the airwaves. We cannot have the “anything goes,” disorderly chaos that ensued in the very earliest days of radio broadcasting. Additionally, because of this scarce spectrum, I further accept the need to adopt a single standard that applies to all broadcasters, television and radio. The FCC, to its credit, mandated one standard, ATSC, for digital broadcast television. Technical/engineering upgrades, including the latest standard, 3.0, must adhere to and remain within the ATSC framework. Broadcast radio, I believe, needs to follow the same mandatory regulatory process. What, then, do I propose?

First, we need to transition broadcast radio to all-digital transmission and discard thecompromise hybrid IBOC standard that we’ve had to settle for. As with digital television, we need to move the digital transition along by Congressional and FCC mandate. The market-based, voluntary adoption policy, I think, simply does not work in a limited-resource environment like broadcasting. The limitations and lack of acceptable results of a voluntary system have been proven time and time again. Remember, most infamously, the 1980s analog AM stereo debacle, where four or five competing, “leave it to the market” standards resulted in no real or broad adoption, at all, of AM stereo?

Second, in my examination of the three main broadcast radio standards – IBOC/HD Radio, DAB+ and DRM – I believe DRM is the best technical choice. Unlike the privately held HD Radio system presently used in this country, DRM is a fully digital, open-standard, royalty-free method that will easily integrate and work with our existing AM and FM broadcasting system. DAB+, in contrast, would require the use of a different part of the radio spectrum, which is now used extensively by the U.S. military. Unless forced to do so by Congressional action, our military is not going to agree to simply hand over the radio spectrum it controls. DRM, then, is the only logical, valid, and most-compatible choice.

Lastly, if the FCC does insist on making a typical, compromise decision on an all-digital broadcast radio standard, it would still have to mandate that audio device manufacturers include an integrated chip in traditional AM/FM radios and smartphones, at the consumer level, that would allow the devices to decode both an HD Radio or DRM terrestrial signal. However, such a compromise would still be an illogical, “bureaucratic” decision, given that most radio broadcasters and equipment makers presumably would not want to pay a royalty fee – or continue to pay the annual fee, in the case of broadcasters who are already using HD Radio technology – to Xperi, the licenser of the IBOC/HD Radio system intellectual property. Again, as an all-digital, open standard, “owned” or licensed by no one, DRM is the most rational way to go.

I would implore both Congress and the FCC to finally “get it right” in the transition to all-digital AM and FM broadcast radio. The two federal entities mandated the shift to digital broadcast television several years ago, along with the single standard that was required and is in use to this day. They need to do the same with broadcast radio. AM/FM radio in this country now stands out like a sore thumb, so to speak, being the last medium that is not yet fully digital. Once and for all, this far into the 21st century, let’s fix this public policy and market inconsistency in the most effective manner, by adopting DRM digital broadcastin.

Source:-https://radioink.com/2020/03/12/dear-government-lets-get-digital-radio-done/

After hard times there will be the moment to relaunch digital radio anew .

                 Written by: Ruxandra Obreja

If a quarter of mankind or so is in under lockdown and a lot of things we had in our lives are no more, one thing is there, more valuable and used than ever, the radio.

Recent figures from commercial stations in the UK show staggering increases to streaming but also traditional radio. “Nation Broadcasting, which owns Nation Radio and a network of local stations in Wales as well as stations in England and Scotland, has recorded listening increases of around 40% across the majority of its portfolio, with some stations boosted by as much as 75%,” reports Mediatel on April 6th.

Lockdown drives radio listening and not just as pop sound wallpaper for working from home. Exercising, cooking, learning about art forms that were never on your radar (opera, plays etc.) and schooling have regained their place on radio.

While we were deploring the waning interest of “youf” in radio, this harsh time will help form and reform habits and radio must be ready for it. If lockdown gives a radio listening boost, the great advantage gained now will allow radio and especially digital radio a reboot, or rather an even stronger relaunch, for all those who never put their heart in the digitisation of radio.

The lockdown has also demonstrated that broadband is great, when you have it, laptops are fantastic, if you can afford them and there are enough to go around your family. It has also proved that the one cheap, widely available and very easy to use gadget is the radio set.

Big UN organisations wish for a fast ICT development in African, Asian countries, in the Pacific islands and the countries of Latin America. This is laudable but hard to achieve. The reality is that the internet is more of a first world advantage and not even there not universally available.

If you want to educate children in rural areas, even in more developed countries, what you need is digital radio. If you use a DRM shortwave or medium wave transmitter you will be able to cover vast areas with up to three programmes in different languages and data (like maps, sums, pictures etc.) to accompany them.

Radio as an enabler of distance learning is more accessible and realistic than universal broadband now. Recently several organisations in Africa have clubbed together to offer exactly this type of material to students across the continent via radio, not digital yet. 

After the corona will be extinguished, the regulators, other main stakeholders and the industry must be persuaded that digital radio, and I can only speak about the DRM standard here, needs to be viewed more holistically. DRM does not offer simply excellent sound in all bands at lower energy prices. It is not to be used just for pop-up music stations but for distance learning, emergency warning text and audio messages broadcast directly to radio sets, but also to large public signage screens. DRM enables the broadcast of traffic information and above all of news (including the increasingly important financial and economic news), entertainment to an unlimited number of listeners. Rich or poor, in the outback or in faraway regions, on islands and ships, DRM can reach everyone in a region or the whole country at once with sound, text and other data. 

It is time to build resilience in our communities as we have seen how quickly our modern gadgets and fibre glass links can become useless.

Coronavirus, so invisible and so lethal, will die down and then the time will come to take a fresh look at radio, at digital radio, at DRM, too, and all its benefits. They are to do with a better audio quality in all bands, for sure, but digital radio DRM offers so much more. Its data carriage potential is practically unexplored though there are very interesting developments. Digital radio DRM can offer full country coverage without gaps, with clear advantages for normal times and extra services in times of crisis. DRM alone, or in combination with other standards and platforms, can be part of a national arsenal of assets to be fully exploited when unexpected events occur. For this reboot or rather radio relaunch, DRM must prepare in new and persuasive ways to engage all the stakeholders. And they themselves must engage fully and in an unbiased way, without letting themselves be influenced by long-standing lobbyists, uninformed “experts” and those who put commercial gains before the listeners’ needs and the national interest. 

Read more at: http://www.asiaradiotoday.com/news/after-hard-times-there-will-be-moment-relaunch-digital-radio-anew . 

SEASON ROLLOVER – WHY DO SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES HAVE TO CHANGE?

Despite a slow decline over the past two decades, the use of High Frequency (shortwave) bands for national and international radio broadcasting remains a uniquely effective and efficient medium for reaching millions of listeners with a single transmitter.

The physics of why shortwave transmissions behave in the way they do is complex, but with a well-planned service, using the right frequency at the right time of day, broadcasters can serve the population of an entire continent, beamed from a transmitter thousands of miles away. Shortwave knows no boundaries or international borders and continues to provide a lifeline service for audiences in remote corners of the planet, or in territories where access to state controlled news, information and education is tightly controlled.

Unlike other broadcast bands (notably FM and medium wave), shortwave signals can be steered towards the sky – rather than radiating horizontally along the ground – and reflected back to earth, illuminating large geographical areas several thousands of miles away. The same principle applies regardless of whether traditional analogue or digital (DRM) mode is used, which makes DRM digital radio on the SW bands a compelling proposition to deliver high quality audio to mass audiences over very wide areas.

The mechanism for this magic is the ionosphere, which extends from about 80 to 1,000 km above the earth’s surface; it contains a high concentration of ions and free electrons which reflect radio waves. The ionosphere consists of several layers of these charged particles which are sensitive to sunlight – the effect of which is to vary the density and composition of these layers depending on a number of factors: local daylight hours and the time of year are two of the main influences, as the earth’s inclined orbit around the sun moves our planet between the seasons.

However, the very useful property of shortwave signals to travel long distances also has a drawback. The same frequency cannot be used all day long, or indeed all year round. This is because the diurnal and seasonal changes in the number of daylight hours at any location has a direct effect on the optimum frequency band at any given time. The sun itself also undergoes a much longer period of change, known as the sunspot cycle. Based on observations over many centuries, this variation in solar activity peaks around every 11 years. Long term predictions can therefore be made with a reasonable degree of accuracy, and this is an important factor in the art of frequency planning.

As a general rule, higher frequencies work best during daylight hours and summer time (in the northern hemisphere) while lower frequencies propagate better in darkness – before dawn and during the long winter evenings, especially when the sunspot cycle is at its lowest ebb. The problem, of course, is that the same rules apply to everyone, so in periods of low solar activity such as we’ve experienced over the last couple of years, the lower frequency bands are crammed by every broadcaster trying to use the best possible frequency for their service.

Management of the shortwave broadcast bands is an international affair. While every country has its own national organisation or governing body for legislating internal broadcasting (such as Ofcom in the UK) at an international level the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – an agency of the United Nations – performs the role of a worldwide administration of radio regulations. Every member state of the UN subscribes to the ITU, even if not all abide by its rules.

Within the auspices of the ITU, the High Frequency Co-ordination Committee (HFCC) manages and co-ordinates global databases of international shortwave broadcasting. Encompass’ Frequency Managers represent the BBC and other customer’s interests at this forum, which meets several times a year to co-ordinate the frequencies used by all of the world’s major broadcasters.

The output from the HFCC is two seasonal frequency schedules – summer and winter – known as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ seasons. The changeover between seasons is internationally agreed to occur on the last Sunday in March (start of ‘A’ season) and the last Sunday in October (start of ‘B’ season), which coincides with start and end of ‘Daylight Saving’ in many countries that change their local clocks.

Thus the start of the new ‘A20’ season will be Sunday 29th March, and the frequencies agreed for all shortwave transmissions will continue until the beginning of the next season ‘B20’, on Sunday 25th October.

Source:-https://www.drm.org/season-rollover-why-do-shortwave-frequencies-have-to-change/