[A-DX] Fw: [dx_india] Software package for car radios with DRM – Digital Radio Mondiale

[Wolfgang Bueschel]

ach ja, Fraunhofer Erlangen Fleischtöpfe ... ,

das geht jetzt schon 18 Jahre mit DRM,
wurde aber nie ein wirtschaftlich umgesetztes Konzept für den Massenmarkt.
Grüssle wb  df5sx

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alokesh Gupta >

Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 2:07 PM
Subject: [dx_india] Software package for car radios with DRM – Digital Radio
Mondiale

Erlangen, Germany, March 10, 2016: A new generation of car radios is just
around the corner. These devices receive information not by analog
transmission, but digitally – for example, via the new standard, DRM
(Digital Radio Mondiale). The advantages: increased sound quality, along
with the ability to simultaneously transmit images and text information.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS are now
offering device manufacturers a new software package with a decoder for
DRM+, and in so doing have pushed digitization one step forward. DRM+ was
developed for digital transmissions in the FM band and rounds out the DRM
standard.

In a sense, FM radios are true antiques: for decades, they have relied on
traditional analog signals. Digital transmission, however, makes for a far
superior listening experience. Rather than being sent over the airwaves in
analog form, the information is broadcast digitally. An antenna picks up
the signal, and software embedded in the radio converts it back into music.
The result: enhanced audio signal quality.

In the digitization of FM frequencies, many countries are moving to the new
standard, DRM – short for Digital Radio Mondiale. India, with over a
billion potential radio listeners, is but one example. The digital
information is transmitted via the same frequencies that radio broadcasters
have used for analog transmission for decades. Up to now, however, the
introduction of the DRM standard has been delayed because broadcasters are
waiting for device manufacturers to build DRM-capable radios. The
manufacturers, in turn, have been holding back production until the
broadcasting companies switch over to digital transmission signals.

The researchers at Fraunhofer IIS are stepping up to help accelerate the
international DRM rollout. After developing high-quality receiver software
for the DAB standard, which is popular in Germany and Europe, it was a
logical step for Fraunhofer IIS to take a comparable approach to DRM. “As
with our established DAB software package, we have now developed receiver
software for the complete DRM standard,” reveals Thomas Dettbarn, scientist
at Fraunhofer IIS. “The radio manufacturers can build on a proven modular
system, thus shortening their development times and, in turn, reducing
their costs. This allows them to focus on integration and application
development.”

A central component of the modular system developed by Fraunhofer IIS, and
the heart of any digital radio, is the baseband decoder. This converts the
transmission signals received from the broadcaster into digital data
streams. In the DRM standard, the sound quality is ensured by the new audio
codec MPEG xHE-AAC – the successor to HE-AAC v2, which has a track record
of success in DRM and DAB+. Numerous service decoders for the
representation of text, images, and other value-added information are
available as additional components of the modular DRM system. Of special
note here is the text information service Journaline: similarly to teletext
on TV, it presents specific information from the broadcaster that the users
can read while listening to their favorite station. This may be news,
weather reports, sports results, or station contact details for
participating in the radio program. Journaline is also part of the DRM
Emergency Warning Functionality, or EWF. In the case of an alert, EWF
enables DRM receivers to switch automatically over to the emergency
program, in which the audio announcement is accompanied by text giving
multilingual details and instructions on looking up further needed
information.

For manufacturers, Fraunhofer’s modular approach to DRM means that they can
select various features according to their own radio designs and compose
the functional range of their devices as required.

*(Fraunhofer IIS Press Release)*

---
Alokesh Gupta
New Delhi, India