Digital radio platforms in EuropeEurosonic conference - Bruxelles – 10th May 2007

Mathias Coinchon

EBU Technical department

Presentation plan

Overview of digital systems

Aspects to consider, categorisation, frequencies

Focus on European digital radio broadcasting systems

DAB family of standards: DAB/DAB+/(T-DMB)

Digital Radio Mondiale

Future and conclusion

This presentation does not cover on-demand, delayed delivery platforms (also called non-linear radio)

Analogue broadcasting

AM1906

FM~1955 (published: 1936)

Digital systems...

and more to come ....

ISDB-T

Aspects to consider

Network costs

Coverage objectives: % country/population, audience, indoor reception

Number of programmes / audio quality

User

Free to air services

Simplicity of use/installation, portability, receiving costs, battery life

Zapping time, service following

Associated data

Pictures, text, interactivity, (video)

Other information: traffic information, announcements

Nature of systems

Terrestrial: small to large scale coverage, indoor

Radio: DAB, DRM, IBOC/HD radio (USA)

TV: DVB-T, DVB-H, T-DMB, MediaFlo, ISDB-T

Satellite: large scale coverage, no indoor

Radio: Worldspace, XM/Sirius (USA), ESA

TV: DVB-S, DVB-TH (hybrid terrestrial/satellite)

Telecommunication systems: designed for one to one

Mobile phones: 3G UMTS

Internet using Wifi, Wimax,....

Resources: frequencies

Long, medium and short waves (<30MHz): DRM

Band I (47-68MHz): (DRM+)

Band II (87.5-108MHz): FM, (DRM+)

Band III (174-230MHz): DAB, DVB-T

Band IV & V (470-862MHz): DVB-T/DVB-H

Band L (1452-1490MHz): DAB, Satellite radioAntenna

sizeTransmitters

density Low frequencies: large scale terrestrial coverage

High frequencies: local terrestrial coverage

All European countries now have band III spectrum available for DAB

The DAB Family

DAB transmission system

DAB Audio DAB-IP T-DMB DAB+

Eureka-147/DAB Family

Initially: Audio.

Now: Audio, video & other data services.

Common DAB transmission system

“Bouquet” of services (Multiplex) on a single DAB frequency

Coexistence of different types of services is possible

1993 2005 20072005

DAB

Terrestrial Digital Audio Broadcasting transmission system

Robust for Mobile (up to 300km/h)

Single Frequency Network: no frequency changes, combined power

Audio services with MPEG Layer II

192-256kbps for good quality stereo, 128kbps for moderate quality

Data services

PAD: Program associated data (text, pictures, web, guide)

Announcements, traffic information

>350 receiver models, starting from 50€

DAB+

System for transporting MPEG-4 AAC audio over DAB

Good audio quality at low bitrates => more audio or other services

Inherits all DAB features designed for radio

DAB receivers are incompatible but DAB+ ones will receive DAB

First receivers in 2007, chipset already available

Good option for new comers

Australia has already chosen DAB+

Others: migration plans can be considered

New services with DAB+

DAB/DAB+ Capacity

DAB stereo audio at 128kbps

up to 9 services per multiplex

DAB+ stereo audio at 64 kbps

up to 18 services per multiplex

128

128

128

128

128

128

128

128

128

DABMultiplex'Bouquet'

6464

64

64

64

64

64

646464

64

64

64

64

64

64

6464

DABMultiplex'Bouquet'

DAB+ Audio at 48kbps

DAB+ Audio at 48kbps

Audio demonstration

Normal DAB at 48kbps (stereo)

DAB+ at 48kbps

Original extract

Audio quality improvement

Higher bitrate necessary for Hi-Fi

Planned EBU listening tests (B/DABA group) 24 audio services

4848

48

48

48

48

48

484848

48

48

48

48

48

48

4848

DABMultiplex

T-DMB: Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting

Mobile television system over DAB

MPEG-4 video and audio (BSAC or AAC)

~150 receivers models: Car GPS, mobile phone, portable devices

Can be used for radio with pictures but

Increased overhead => less programs (~normal DAB)

Video component is necessary for the receivers

Longer zapping time

T-DMB receivers include normal DAB reception

DAB-IP

IP transport over DAB

Flexibility of IP for transporting multimedia services

No specification for service description, formats,...

Suitable for vertical markets like mobile operators who control their mobile receivers park

BT Movio in the UK: Multimedia services (video) + DAB radio programs

DAB-IP enabled phone receive normal DAB (and probably DAB+ in the near future)

T-DMB

DataDAB

DAB

DAB

DAB+DAB+

DAB+DAB+

DABMultiplex

DAB multiplex composition example

Legacy DABreceiver

DAB+ receiver

T-DMB receiver

DRM: Digital Radio Mondiale

Digital system for long, medium and shortwave

Improved audio quality compared to AM (but lower than FM)

Easy tuning

Large scale coverage with few transmitters

Limited capacity, sensitivity to interferences

DAB(+)/DRM receivers (alliance)

Complementary to DAB standards

DRM+: project of modified DRM for frequency bands I (TV) and II (FM band)

Internet radio receiver

Home device that enable Internet radio listening (streaming) without a PC

Wifi or cable (Ethernet) connection

Huge choice of stations

Not so trivial to install/configure

Broadband connection necessary

Some technical knowledge necessary for the setup and configuration

Limited range (home device)

Suitable for small audience programs

Big audiences leads to high distribution costs for the broadcaster

Digital world

The digital world construction.....

(Picture: The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel, 1563)

Software defined radio

Software defined radio

Similar hardware for different standards

Software demodulation/decoding => updates/adaptations possible

Issue: costs of standard patents (IPR licences)

FM/DAB/DAB+/WifiReceiver module

Conclusions

Consider the objectives for radio and network costs

Availability of frequencies

European radio broadcasting standards

DAB/DAB+: national/regional/local coverage, large audience, multimedia

DRM: international/national/(local) coverage, large audience

Don’t get confused with plethora of systems

Marketing overload

Interoperability with multi-standard receivers (DVB-H/DMB/DAB+)

Integration of broadcasting standards in mobile phone devices (like FM in today’s mobile phones)

Thank you !

Questions ?

For more informations: coinchon@ebu.ch