The Channel | 2003 | September

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Technology brief
Convergence in digital radio
The two terrestrial digital radio systems - Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)
have announced that they will collaborate on the development of their systems, paving the way for what they
say will be the digital radios of the future.
At a joint press conference at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin on 30 August, the two organisations
announced that they have agreed to work together on fostering conditions that are favourable to both systems.
DAB is described as the replacement for FM broadcasting, and is implemented in Europe, Canada and parts
of Asia. DRM is designed for the long, medium and short wave bands and is on the air in Europe, North
America and parts of Asia.
The two organisations suggested that their planned co-operation will pave the way for a new generation of
consumer digital radio receivers that will allow listeners to receive any digital terrestrial radio broadcast without
having to worry about the underlying transmission system.
“The relationship we have forged with DRM is good news for digital radio
broadcasters, manufacturers and, most importantly, listeners,” said Annika Nyberg,
President of the WorldDAB Forum. “DRM and its members have a tremendous
amount to offer in terms of technology and ideas. This promises to be an exciting
chapter in the history of digital radio.”
There has been a history of unease between the two organisations, with some
commentators suggesting that DAB and DRM are competitive rather than
collaborative. The IFA announcement appears to have changed that.
“Since DRM’s international debut in June of this year, broadcasters are now transmitting live, daily DRM
programmes. The next step is for consumers in markets worldwide to have access to DRM’s excellent audio
and reception quality,” said DRM Chairman Peter Senger. “DRM is a market-driven system, so we are committed
to strategic alliances that will increase listeners’ options across the globe. We are delighted to collaborate with
the World DAB Forum.“
DAB transmissions are on the air in much of Europe, although the extent of coverage and range of programmes
available varies from country to country. Britain leads the way in DAB, with the most advanced transmission
and programme mix, and also the most DAB receiver manufacturers. Currently none of the large-scale CE
companies have joined the rush to get DAB sets into the market place.
DRM is on the air from a range of transmitting sites with a number of different broadcasters’ output. Details
appear in the AIB Directory and Global Broadcasting Guide, available to order at .
Meanwhile, British radio manufacturer Acoustic Solutions is the latest to announce that it is basing its
DAB products on the new RS200 DAB module from RadioScape, an award-winning world leader in
the design of innovative DAB solutions. The RS200 is based on Texas Instruments’ advanced baseband
technology in the form of the DRE200, which is one of the world’s best selling receiver chips for the
Eureka 147 standard.
The RadioScape RS200 module includes DAB, FM and RDS and is priced at under $40 in volume quantities,
enabling digital radio manufacturers to quickly and easily bring feature rich products to market at very competitive
prices. RadioScape’s unique Software Defined Radio approach to DAB enables custom features to be added
as software to the module to provide product differentiation. Notably the software defined radio approach may
provide the solution for the combination of DAB and DRM in a single receiver, since a baseband processor will
be able to decode both systems, offering a price advantage against sets that have two separate dedicated
chipsets, one for DAB and another for DRM.
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