Ten Years After: Dab in Europe （4）

Published:2011/8/4 22:51:00 Author:Li xiao na From:SeekIC

By Hans Weber

Bad inside

If you look for components for DAB receivers, you will quickly find two British manufacturers: FrontierSilicon and RadioScape. FrontierSilicon’s product line is based on the Chorus FS1010. This IC is a highly integrated multimedia processor with ADC input, a DSP processor core, DAB coprocessors, on-chip RAM and cache memory, and a wealth of on-board peripheral. The DAC is not integrated, so users are free to spend as much as they wish on this component (or as little as they wish, if cost is an objective). For equipment manufacturers, FrontierSilicon also provides convenience products in the form of complete modules that include the RF front end (tuner) and several peripheral components. To produce a complete receiver, the manufacturer only has to add his own user interface (control processor, display and burtons), audio portion (DAC, buffer, sockets or Toslink, etc.), and an enclosure.

RadioScape goes a step further with its tiny RS200 Module Board, which uses the Texas Instruments DRE200 DAB IC and incorporates all of the functions of a DAB/FM digital radio. As you can see from the illustration, a complete DAB/FM tuner can be made by simply adding a few pushbuttons, a rotary encoder, a standard LCD module (2 x 20 characters) and a power supply. With its compact dimensions, the RadioScape module can also be used to build pocket radios.

It’s certainly not much of a secret that most DAB receivers are fitted with such modules. As an example, the photos show what’s inside the DAB tuner from Restek’s Audio Mini Module series.



Things are different in the USA:

HD radio instead of DAB

The DAB article in the April 1998 issue of Elektor Electronics reported that ’in the USA, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) opposes the introduction of DAB and has come out in favour of In-Band Digital Radio for operation in the VHF and medium-wave bands’. At that time, no practical method had been found to implement such a solution. The situation has changed since then: under the name ’HD Radio’, iBiquity Digital Corporation developed a technique that allows digital programmes to be broadcast on existing AM and FM frequencies using existing transmitters. This can be done in combination with conventional AM and FM programmes, which can continue to be broadcast on the same frequencies. All that is necessary to enjoy the improved sound quality and data services of HD Radio is to buy a new receiver with HD Radio capability. CD quality can be achieved with FM reception, while AM programmes have the same quality as current FM broadcasts. In both cases, noise-free reception is provided along with supplemental data functions. Most HD Radio receivers can also receive normal AM and FM broadcasts.

Before even a single receiver was commercially available, iBiquity managed to grant licenses to more than 280 radio stations in 37 US states. Component manufacturers, such as Alps (front-end tuners, A/D and D/A converters, and signal processors) and Philips (SAF3350 HD Radio Processor) plan to start mass production this year.





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