15 May 2006
RadioScape has used its world-class RF and software expertise to create the first, software-controlled, single chip RF front end that can handle six frequency bands — Band III and L-Band for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), medium wave, long wave and short wave for AM and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), and Band II for FM. The RF chip combines with a standard DSP chip that runs RadioScapes baseband digital radio software and also controls the RF IC to form a two chip solution, which dramatically reduces the power consumption and size of modules compared with current generation solutions.
This new RF IC is a breakthrough technology for RadioScape that will revolutionise multi-standard, multi-band digital radio, said John Hall, RadioScapes CEO. There is nothing like it in the market and is the result of a major initiative that we started over two years ago to create a technology platform for our next generation consumer radios. The objective was to create a highly flexible RF device that would complement our software-defined radio approach, timed to coincide with the emerging DRM market, and we have done that.
Until now, the only way to create a comparable multi-band digital radio was to create independent RF front ends for each of the different frequency bands each consuming power and adding to the bulk of the product. Our unique partitioning of the radio system allows us maximum re-use of the digital components by loading only the appropriate baseband stack into the DSP as and when required. explained Dave Hawkins, VP of Business Development at RadioScape. We have used the same approach in our RF IC, which reuses internal functionality to best suit the frequency band and standard required at the time. Dynamic configuration of the RF path on the RF IC is controlled by the DSP using software algorithms to ensure the optimisation of both performance and power consumption. The result is a multi-frequency RF device that requires less than half the power used by the equivalent circuits in our current generation of multi-standard modules.
Available only in a RadioScape module offering, the RF IC will be used to create a new range of modules that maintain the size and pin configurations of existing modules to enable manufacturers to quickly take advantage of this latest RadioScape innovation and benefit from the lower power consumption that it offers. RadioScapes RS200 family provide highly optimised DAB and FM reception whilst the RS500 family provides additional features and functionality, such as fully integrated Digital Radio Mondiale and AM reception, in addition to DAB and FM. Full details of the new RF IC-enhanced modules will be available shortly along with samples in June.
This is the first time that a single, front end RF chip has been implemented to handle these six, very different, frequency bands. While this chip uses both zero-IF and super-heterodyne methods to achieve the stringent requirements of the variety of standards and frequencies, RadioScapes pioneering software-controlled approach enables a significant part of the implementation to use common circuitry. A major benefit of this challenging approach is the dramatic reduction of the external component count by over 150 items relative to equivalent designs which implement these standards. The high level of integration of the chip enables the board real estate for the front end RF to be reduced from 30 sq cms (covering both sides of the board) to only 9 sq cms on a single-sided board design for all standards and even smaller if a subset of standards and frequency bands is required.
8 May 2006
Harris Corporation announced that its comprehensive Leitch high-definition (HD) conversion portfolio continues to gain momentum in customer acceptance, as demonstrated by the recent surge in worldwide sales during the company’s third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2006, which saw Leitch product sales increase significantly over the previous quarter.
“High definition is taking hold strong and fast, and broadcasters are increasingly looking for advanced, cost-effective, integrated solutions that will see them through the transition,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president elect of Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “This stream of recent successes in HD conversion follows a heavy period of new product introductions that provide customers more advanced HD conversion feature sets, higher-quality processing and more cost-effective solutions.”
The growth is attributed to broad acceptance from leading broadcast customers such as CBC/Radio-Canada; EchoStar, Hearst-Argyle Television and Mobile TV Group in the United States; and Gearhouse in the United Kingdom.
“Our station group needs are really diverse, so we need a full offering of HD conversion solutions – not just a few products,” said Martin Faubell, vice president of engineering, Hearst-Argyle Television. “The Leitch HD conversion products provide us with the feature sets, quality and price points that meet the stations’ needs.”
Harris offers a wide range of HD processing applications within its industry-leading Leitch modular platforms, NEO(tm) and 6800+(tm), as well as the award-winning X75(tm)HD standalone processor. With this HD conversion portfolio, Harris provides customers with the broadest set of applications, feature sets, processing choice and price points in the industry.
8 May 2006
The first Arab Broadcast Forum, the most important gathering to date in the Arab world of regional and international broadcast news journalists and executives, will take place on June 4 and 5 at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi. The inaugural event, hosted by Al Arabiya News Channel and Abu Dhabi TV, will be announced today at a press conference and will provide a global forum for hundreds of news professionals to discuss the most powerful issues in the Arab media.
The Arab Broadcast Forum will provide a dynamic interactive forum where broadcast news professionals, journalists and political leaders can exchange views, ideas and experiences. We will engage in in-depth and thought-provoking debate from the beginning and we invite all media in the region to participate in this industry first, says Jim Gold, Managing Director of the Arab Broadcast Forum.
Leading executives from top Arab and global broadcasters have defined a content-rich agenda that will shape the perceptions and behaviour of the Arab media in the 21st century. The interactive forum will address: – Embedded in Danger: The continuing dangers of covering Iraq; – New Technology and Citizen Journalism: How does it affect Arab news broadcasters; – Technological Minaret: How media savvy Islamicists reach new audiences by using all aspects of the media; – Women & Arab Media: A look at how women are faring in the Arab broadcast news media; – Lost in Translation: How global broadcasters are now focusing on reaching the Arab viewer and a look at the new players; – Thinking Global/Reporting Local: Do Arab broadcasters focus too heavily on pan-Arab and international issues to avoid covering local stories?; – Arab Perceptions of the West: Results of a major new comprehensive study are released.
Jihad Ballout, Director of Communications at Al Arabiya adds: The forum is a vital opportunity to promote the rise of investigative journalism and technological advancement of the Arab media, while addressing the challenges of transparency and risks in reporting the truth. Debate will challenge perceptions and ultimately drive change towards more professional, balanced reporting.
We believe the Arab Broadcast Forum is needed in this region, says Nart Bouran, head of news at Abu Dhabi TV. The revolution in news broadcasting on the Arab airwaves has been remarkable in the past 15 years and its now time for the industry and its leaders to look back, take a hard look at where weve come and how we can all improve over the next 15 years.
8 May 2006
Al Jazeera International, the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, headquartered in Doha, announced that Divya Gopalan and Hamish MacDonald have joined the channels team of on-screen talent.
Divya and Hamish will be the channels weekend news anchors for Al Jazeera Internationals Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre, one of four regional broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC. They join the award winning weekday news anchors Veronica Pedrosa and Teymoor Nabili, formerly of CNN International and CNBC Asia respectively.
Divya brings the channel over 10 years experience in international journalism including roles with BBC News, CNN and American networks NBC and CNBC. Hamish meanwhile joins Al Jazeera International from the UKs Channel 4 News where he built a career as a news producer and reporter covering a range of international stories.
Nigel Parsons, Managing Director of Al Jazeera International said, I am pleased to confirm our weekend presenters who bring a dynamic approach to news reporting in keeping with the channels aim of bringing a fresh perspective on world news while maintaining the highest journalistic standards.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to be part of Al Jazeera International. I’m looking forward to the challenge of helping shape what I believe will be this century’s defining news station,” said Divya Gopalan.
“I am hugely excited to be joining Al Jazeera International. This truly is a dream job and I am honoured to be part of an on-air team which includes the likes of Sir David Frost, Veronica Pedrosa and Riz Khan,” said Hamish MacDonald.
“Working on the Asia pacific patch for Al Jazeera International is an enormous opportunity for me and I am looking forward to the challenge of producing distinctive journalism which is meaningful to people living both inside and outside of this region, he continued.
At the BBC Divya worked on daily news and current affairs programmes such as Hard Talk. Her portfolio included major news stories such as the Iraq war, the Asian Tsunami, the Bali and London bombings. She also covered the 1997 Hong Kong handover for NBC and at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival interviewed Palm Dor winner for best actress Maggie Cheung and best director nominee Wong Kar Wai. Divya was the first ethnic Indian newsreader on Hong Kong television.
Starting her on-air career as a sports reporter, Divya interviewed some of the biggest names in the sporting world like tennis stars Steffi Graf, the Williams sisters, Anna Kournikova, F1 star Jensen Button, and International soccer players including Gianfranco Zola and Andy Cole.
Divya has a truly global background, she is of Indian origin and was born in Hong Kong. She was also brought up in the Philippines, educated in North America and spent five years living and working in London and is fluent in four languages.
Hamish has covered major stories at Channel 4 including the Asian Tsunami and the London bombings. He reported live for Channel 4 and ITV news and reported as an eyewitness for Australian Networks 9, 7 and ABC.
He began his TV career with WIN television in Canberra as a politics reporter and presenter. From there he moved to the UK and freelanced for a short period, before joining the Channel 4 news team as a producer.
Hamish trained in journalism at Charles University in Australia and began his career as a Talk Radio presenter and newsreader on Radio 2BS Gold. He is the first Australian news anchor to join the Al Jazeera International news line-up of on-screen talent.
8 May 2006
Independent media in the countries of the former Soviet Union, already operating under extreme duress, came under further assault over the course of the last year. The political, legal, and economic environments in most of the non-Baltic former Soviet countries remain distinctly inhospitable to independent journalism.
This reality is reflected in ‘Freedom Of The Press 2006,’ the latest edition of Freedom House’s annual global survey of media independence. Ten of the 12 Soviet countries are ranked ‘Not Free’ in the new edition of the survey. Of the 10 Not Free countries, five saw a further erosion in their performance over the course of last year.
Of the 12 non-Baltic former Soviet states only Georgia and Ukraine, which are categorised as ‘Partly Free,’ escape the Not Free designation. No country in the region achieves the designation of ‘Free.’ The degree to which each country permits the free flow of information determines the classification of its media as ‘Free,’ ‘Partly Free,’ or ‘Not Free.’
The downward trend was particularly evident in countries with regimes that place a premium on controlling the airwaves. Among the Not Free states, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan experienced declines. Uzbekistan and Russia suffered the most dramatic backslide.
Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
