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Session - V

Digital Radio - New Experiences


Session Chairman

Mr. H.R. Singh Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio, India

Speakers

Mr. Charles W Kelly Nautel Limited, Canada

Mr. Peter Senger Chairman & Director, DRM, Deutsche Welle

Mr. David Birrer Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG, France

Mr. Guy Gampell APT Broadcast, Ireland

Mr. H.R. Singh Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio, India

Born on 7 May 1949, Mr. H.R. Singh obtained his Bachelors Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from University of Rourkee in 1970. After being selected through th UPSC, he joined AIR, Bikaner on 12 July 1971 and later served at various AIR & Doordarshan stations as engineering head. Mr. Singh was promoted as Chief Engineer(East Zone), Kolkata in July 2001 and was in-charge of maintenance of Doordarshan and AIR installations of East Zone. He moved to Guwahati in October 2002 as Chief Engineer (North East Zone) and then to Delhi as Chief Engineer (North Zone), responsible for installation activities of AIR and Doordarshan in North Zone. He has served as Chief Engineer (Development), AIR Directorate and as Chief Engineer(Training),Staff Training Institute, Delhi before taking over the charge of Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio with effect from 2nd July 2007. Mr. Singh has a wide experience in almost all the fields of broadcasting including station administration, projects and training. Mr. Singh has attended various workshops/ conferences on Executive Development, Human relations, Conflict Management, Modern trends in broadcasting and Computer Applications. His areas of interest are digitalization, IT applications and modernization of broadcast network.

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Digital Radio Implementation in AM & FM bands

Mr. Charles W Kelly Nautel Limited, Canada

Abstract
In the move towards Digital Radio implentation on the AM and FM bands, broadcasters and regulators are dealing with issues of occupied bandwidth and the impact of DRM and HD Radio implementation on co-channel, as well as adjacent channel interference. Analysis, both theoretical as well as real world examples from around the world will be presented.

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Bandwidth & Frequency Allocation Issues in International Digital Radio Am & Fm Broadcasting
As Digital Radio is implemented around the world, broadcasters face a key decision: Which digital radio system is right for my country? The answer to that question is complex, and encompasses many technical, regulatory, financial and political issues. This paper does not aim to solve the question, but to examine one facet the way existing band plans and allocation tables in the current AM and FM bands lend themselves to various technologies. By limiting the scope of this paper to digital systems which operate within the existing AM and FM bands we do not discount DAB, DMB, DVB-T, DVB-H and ISDB-TSB which require additional spectrum to be allocated. In fact, these technologies are not mutually exclusive to systems which operate within the existing AM and FM bands, and should a country implement one of the systems they will still be faced with the question of whether and how to digitize the stations within the AM and FM bands. strength at the receiver to avoid interference from the DRM signal into the analog receiver. There are also proposals to implement a SSB AM signal and use the other half of the channel bandwidth (formerly occupied by the other sideband) but this is predicated on synchronous detection of the AM signal, and in general, shortwave receivers are much more likely to feature synchronous detectors than are AM radios. HD Radio was developed to meet the unique needs of the US broadcast market and is based on the 10kHz AM channel spacing found in North and South America. In the US, the AM band is full of stations, and there aren't a lot of open frequencies to put a stand alone digital signal. On the other hand, adjacent frequencies are not normally allocated within the same area, so HD Radio was designed to keep the AM analog signal essentially unchanged (just band limited to 5kHz audio response) and to utilize the spectrum beneath the analog signal, plus on the two adjacent channels for OFDM sidebands to pass the digital component. HD Radio fits the needs of broadcasters in the US, because it allows full simulcast of the legacy analog signal as well as the new digital signal. Eventually, when digital receivers make up enough of the receiver installed base, the analog signal may be shut down, and the HD Radio signal will be reduced in bandwidth to 9.6kHz (+/- 4.8kHz). HD Radio reduces the effect of digital to analog onchannel interference because the sidebands above the carrier frequency are out of phase to those below the carrier frequency and are identical thus they cancel in the analog receiver. While this is helpful for the on-channel signal, it does not affect the interference to adjacent channels. There is no question that HD Radio can create significant interference to co-channel and adjacent channel signals, and depending on the IF bandwidth of the receiver, on the second adjacent signals as well. This has the effect of reducing the secondary coverage areas for a number of AM stations in some cases, dramatically. V-2

AM IN-BAND SYSTEMS
There are two systems which are available for AM Digital Radio use, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and HD Radio. While there are profound differences between them in bandwidth requirements, and flexibility, they are both OFDM systems which use a number of sidebands to carry the digital information. DRM as it exists today, is designed as a LW/MW/SW system, and has considerable flexibility in how it may be configured to meet various bandwidth, payload and robustness criteria. The DRM Broadcasters' User Manual downloadable from www.drm.org is a wealth of information about the various options that DRM makes possible. In general implementation, however, DRM is normally installed with a 9 kHz bandwidth (carrier +/- 4.5 kHz), on a single channel, or 18 kHz bandwidth (carrier +/- 9 kHz) which utilizes one channel plus half of the two adjacents. There are options for using adjacent channels for an analog AM broadcast, but this isn't in common use, as some tests have indicated that the analog signal must be greater than 16dB above the DRM field

MARKET CONSIDERATIONS INFLUENCE DIGITAL STRATEGY


If the channel spacing in a country is 9 kHz, and there are free channels available for allocation, it is a simple matter to implement DRM. Many European countries fall into this category, as reduced AM listenership has resulted in some AM stations being taken off air and these "dark" facilities may easily be re-purposed for DRM. In some cases, however, HD Radio has been implemented successfully for market reasons. In Surabaya, Indonesia in 2006, a religious broadcaster

bought three adjacent AM channels and installed an HD Radio AM station on the center frequency. He broadcast the same programming on the analog and digital transmissions, and used the analog channel to promote the purchase of HD Radio receivers, some of which are made in Indonesia. In this way, they provided higher quality audio programming to their loyal listenership, while having just one transmitter, one antenna and paying a much less expensive license fee from the government than an FM station would have cost. Figure 1 shows how a standard HD Radio AM signal fits into a 9 kHz spacing band.

Where the AM band is fully utilized, and spare channels are not available to construct new digital only DRM channels, HD Radio is a possibility. An example is the Philippines, which like all of Asia, has AM channel steps of 9 kHz. Figure 2 is a

graphical analysis which presumes each station is running HD Radio in Manila, the most populous metropolitan area, and with the most crowded spectrum in the country.

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As can be seen in Figure 2, the channel spacing within the Metro Manila area is 36 kHz between stations and a guard band of 6 kHz exists between the AM HD sidebands. While Figure 2 is compelling, there is additional analysis needed before any station is approved for use with HD Radio AM. As these are existing stations co-channel interference to other stations

on the same frequency has been presumably been known for some time. With the HD sidebands extending to +/- 15 kHz from carrier however, both of the first adjacent channels will be impacted, and to a lesser extent, the second adjacent channels will also be affected. Figure 3 is a graphical analysis of the physical locations of first and second adjacent stations in the Philippines relative to one 50kW AM station. V-4

As can be seen from Figure 3, the nearest station on the first or second adjacent channels to 558 kHz in Manila, is DZMQ, a 5kW station on 576 kHz in Dagupan City, nearly 200kM away from Manila. Calculating the power in each of the AM HD Radio sets of sidebands, approximately 375 watts from the

50kW Manila station falls within the 2nd adjacent channel of DZMQ nearly 200kM distant. A more serious problem exists with 1062 kHz figure 4 below:

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In Figure 4, we see that there is a 1st adjacent station, DZEL 5kW, in Lucena on 1053 kHz. This station, only 100kM distant from Manila, would receive nearly 1,130 watts from the HD Radio sidebands of 1062 kHz. It is likely that some secondary coverage areas of DZEL would be affected, and conversely, HD Radio coverage of

DZEC in the Lucena area could be affected. It is important to understand that the digital sidebands above the carrier and the mirror image ones below the carrier carry the exact same information thus, if interference garbles the ones below the carrier, the receiver can fully demodulate the program audio with reduced robustness. V-6

In adaptation of digital radio in these circumstances, there are likely to be compromises to secondary coverage areas, but the tradeoff is that within the primary service areas, the broadcaster is able to deliver dramatically improved audio performance, as well as text data.

FM In-Band Systems
There are three Digital In-Band systems and they are all dramatically different. HD Radio works a lot like the AM HD Radio system, with OFDM carriers on either side of the analog FM carrier, so both the

analog and digital signals are on a single FM channel. DRM+/DRM120, cur rently in development, are digital only options, with the OFDM carriers occupying 96 or 100 kHz of FM spectrum. FMeXtra utilizes OFDM carriers added to the composite baseband of a conventional FM analog signal and thus the bandwidth of the FM signal does not appreciably change. Interestingly, FMeXtra may be operated on an existing FM HD Radio station thus increasing the possible total digital payload.

At this writing, HD Radio is currently on the air in over two thousand stations, FMeXtra is on the air at around 100 stations, and DRM+ is in testing stage at several stations. Figure 5 is a graphical depiction of the FM band in Seoul, Korea showing that FM HD Radio is

compatible with all existing Seoul stations. In addition, it can be seen that many DRM+ channels could also be fit into the band. The FM spectrum in Taipei, Taiwan, is depicted in Figure 6 below. Between 88 and 89 MHz, there are four educational FM stations which are spaced by

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only 200 kHz. As can be seen, the HD Radio sidebands are on top of each other, and it is likely that poor coverage would result, with HD Radio reception possible only where one station has a significantly higher field strength that the adjacent channels. Between some of the stations, such as the ones at 89.3 MHz and 87.7 MHz, there is only 400 kHz separation. Theoretically, this will work, however the reception of one of the sidebands may be impacted if the immediately adjacent sideband is significantly higher in received strength. This condition is not unlike blanketing interference in analog FM.

Note that in HD Radio FM, the sidebands above the analog carrier and the ones below the carrier are carrying the same information, while there may be interference in one set of sideband it may be possible for the receiver to properly decode the HD signal on just the clear set of sidebands, albeit with less robustness. In some cities, stations on the FM band are spaced too closely for either HD Radio or DRM+. For instance, the metropolitan Istanbul, Turkey market has FM stations virtually every 200 kHz from 87.5 to 108 MHz. In this situation, it may be that the only workable in-band digital system would be FMeXtra.

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Summary
The selection of a digital radio standard encompasses much more than simply the technical capabilities of the systems. An examination of frequency usage, both within the market, as well as far field, can reveal how a successful transition can be made with minimal interference.

Mr. Tim Hardy, Nautel Limited, Halifax, NS Canada Mr. Glen English, Pacific Media Technologies, Cooma NSW Australia HD Radio is a registered trademark of iBiquity Digital Corporation.

Acknowledgements
The author is indebted to:

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Charles W. Kelly, Jr. is a 34 year veteran of Radio, starting as a DJ at his college station at the University of Illinois. He has held positions as News Director, Program Director and Chief Engineer at stations in Illinois and Colorado. He was educated at the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Parkland College, and Fort Lewis College. Prior to joining Nautel in October of 2006, Mr. Kelly served as Director of International Sales for Broadcast Electronics for 18 years and as Sales Manager of ITC/3M for 7 years. Mr. Kelly is a two term Past President of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), a professional society with over 5000 members in over 30 countries. He currently serves the on the SBE International Committee.

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Digital Radio Mondiale - New Experience

Mr. Peter Senger Chairman & Director, DRM, Deutsche Welle

Abstract
The DRM-System up to 30 MHz was ready developed and handed over to the ITU-member countries in 2003 at the occasion of the WRC in Geneva/Switzerland. Since then it was successfully tested mainly in Europe and is ready for market entrance since 2005. Several receivers are available for different markets and new models are under development. With the decision of the Indian Government in 2007 to modify all existing short- and medium-wave transmitters for DRM usage and a series of tests in 2007 the interest has increased not only in India. The presentation gives an overlook about the global situation as well as an outlook about the development of DRM+, an extension of the existing system for the FM frequency bands.

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Digital Radio Mondiale - New Experience

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER Since 1965 with Deutsche Welle, Germany and after 16 years abroad he was in charge of all terrestrial and satellite networks. In 1994 he became first chief engineer, than Director Distribution and since 2006 he is DW's Director DRM. Peter was co-founder of the DRM consortium and is its chairman since 1998. In September 2003 he has received the first life-time award of the European Broadcasting Union for his engagement for international broadcasting. He is a member of the German National Platform for Space Communication and Navigation at the Deutsche Luft- und Raumfahrt.

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Innovations in AM Broadcasting

Mr. David Birrer Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG, France

Abstract
In the past years Thomson Radio Broadcasting has focused its efforts on developing advanced solutions to meet the rapidly changing global frame conditions. The field of radio broadcasting is strongly affected by evolvements in the environment and technology, like global warming, soaring energy prices, scarcity of renewable energy sources, rapidly evolving digital media platforms, advances in compression technology and quickly changing life styles. Meeting these challenges, Thomson offers more efficient transmitter solutions for digital and analog broadcasting and better protection devices against major natural phenomena like lightning. The purpose of this presentation is to give an overview of the status of DRM and new developments in the field of AM broadcasting. V-17

Innovations in AM Broadcasting
1. Introduction
We are living in very challenging times with quickpaced environmental and technological changes. Energy sources are getting scarce and costs are rising. In October 2003, a barrel of crude oil cost $30. On November 9, 2007, the price was $96.32/barrel. Thats more than 300% price increase in 4 years! You might ask yourself: what do environmental changes have to do with radio broadcast technology? The fact is that broadcast equipment suffers heavily from natural phenomena like increasing lightning effects in connection with global warming. At the same time, broadcasters with high power broadcast equipment suffer under the strong increase of energy costs and need more energyefficient solutions. Nature is avenging herself for the global warming: reports about new floods, tsunamis, typhoons and other natural disasters appear practically weekly. Field-proven high-power tube technology is making way to solid-state solutions. Stationary, analog listening is making way to mobile digital listening: the world is going digital and mobile! In March 2008 DRM (Digital Radio M o n d i a l e ) org anization will celebrate its 10th anniversary. After only ten years, the DRM consortium has developed a new digital system for all broadcasting bands from 150 kHz up to 108 MHz, enabling all radio stations around the globe to take part in the new multimedia age. In October 2007, 40 broadcasters are using DRM for regular transmissions with a total of about 800 hours daily. DRM has become an important member of the new digital media platform. Today we can listen to a program in DRM coming from thousands of kilometers away in crystal clear FM quality! Ten years ago, who would have believed that this could ever be possible? Thinking beyond the border is more important today than ever. I would like to inform you about some of the latest innovations coming from the house of Thomson. Thomson is committed to technological leadership since more than 70 years. Our goal is to develop cutting-edge technology and to put that technology at the disposal of our customers in the form of sturdy, reliable broadcast solutions.

In technology, the trend to digital and mobile is accelerating in leaps and bounds. Media platforms are changing rapidly. Radio broadcast technology is forced to revise its classical technological approaches to meet the new demands and to be prepared for the new challenges.

2. Increasing System Availability and Protection against Enhanced Lightning Effects


Statistics indicate that around 5000 thunderstorms

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occur simultaneously worldwide with danger for persons, structures and material. Even in Europe, each year millions of Euros are spent for repairing damages from lightning. The density map below gives a good picture of lightning activity worldwide. The average intensity of a lightning flash is estimated to be 40000 amps/s. At the peak, even intensities of up to 200000 amps have been registered as well! A lightning strike no thicker than a few inches can illuminate one million 100- watt light bulbs! The chart below depicts the increase in lightning occurrence versus the increase in average global temperature in three different geographical zones.

A study showed that in the Darwin area, only 1C global warming results in 800% more lightning strikes. Lightning protection is especially important for the new solid-state technology. The power vacuum tubes of yesterday could withstand very adverse conditions like high transients coming from lightning and the antenna field, and still keep on working. Todays solid-state devices have a lot of advantages, but they are very sensitive to such transients as mentioned above. A few micro-seconds of overvoltage or over-current can completely destroy them.

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Broadcast antennas are the interfaces between nature and transmitter. Standing high and frequently at quite isolated places, broadcast antennas and especially connected equipment are highly vulnerable to lightning. Especially medium wave radio broadcastings stations rely on high antennas (lambda/2 to lambda/4) in order to provide a greater signal coverage. Thomson antenna specialists work hand in hand with our transmitter specialists to provide advanced protection for the overall systems. Our special bandpass filter provides not only excellent lightning protection for solid-state systems but is also a very useful device for compensation of nonlinear impedance and phase characteristics for DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) applications.

In digital mode (DRM), the savings potential is quite amazing. A Thomson DRM transmitter consumes only around a third of the power of an analogue transmitter to cover the same area in even better quality. The vast field experience gained over 70 years of broadcast engineering has convinced us that building equipment based on tolerance design is always a wise decision. Thanks to tolerance design, Thomson equipment withstands the wear and tear of day-to-day, aroundthe-clock operation and pays off in terms of low, longterm maintenance costs.

3. Overall System Optimization


A high overall efficiency of the complete transmission chain can save broadcasters literally millions of dollars over the component life cycle of 20 or more years. A transmitter with a 5% lower purchase price today might end up costing you many times more over the years for energy and maintenance if the system efficiency is not optimized. Looking at the efficiency of the overall system, we see that it can range anywhere from 30% to 75%, depending on how much of the energy taken from the mains will finally be transmitted to the specified target area. Responding to the growing need of broadcasters to reduce energy consumption and operating costs, Thomson makes important advances in newest energy-savings technology. Our teams are specialized in optimizing overall broadcast system efficiency. Thomson transmitters can operate in various energy saving modes like DCC and AMC that reduce the transmitter energy consumption up to 50% as compared with the classical DSB (Double Side Band) mode.

4. DRM Advances Worldwide


The media landscape is changing rapidly together with fast-paced developments in coding and compression technologies. DRM is an important platform within the transition to digital media. A perfect complement to other standards like DAB, DMB, HDRadio in FM, etc., DRM provides the possibility to transmit addedvalue services which can be used in parallel to the pure audio and/or video programs. DRM is the only economically applicable digital system to cover large areas over long distances. A whole continent can be covered with only a few transmitters and frequencies with near FM audio and reception quality. DRM can also be used like FM for local coverage

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with very low power shortwave transmission in the 11 m-band (26 MHz). This found great interest worldwide as it can be used instead of FM when all frequencies are already occupied. Using adequate antennas with reduced skywave propagation, local stations can operate with high quality audio and data in this band. Options like Multi-Frequency Network (MFN), Single Frequency Network (SFN) and Single Channel Simulcast (SCS) make very efficient use of the existing spectrum.

The interest in DRM is growing in leaps and bounds. The ABU (Asian Broadcasting Union) has been very active in conducting highly professional tests and symposiums in various countries. A landmark event for digital radio took place in spring 2007 in India, where for the first time in the world an 18 kHz DRM test was carried out in the medium wave band by Thomson. The project was a huge success and listeners were thrilled when they heard the crystal clear sound emanating from their receiver sets. Having seen the results of these tests, India is now fully committed to DRM and DW (Deutsche Welle) has recently taken up regular DRM shortwave broadcasts to that country.

DRM uses the same frequency, spectrum and channeling as analog AM and is the most costefficient, reliable and independent means to reach millions of listeners at home, on the road, at work or traveling or living in distant countries. With the impact of globalization, one out of every 35 persons on earth today is living abroad. International immigration is a fact and is growing. China is one of the strongest and fast growing economical powers in the world today. One out of every six people in the world is from China and over the last decade, millions of Chinese people are living abroad in various parts of the world. With DRM, these groups can be serviced economically and in high quality with programs coming from their home country. As the DRM system is developed for dayand nighttime coverage (ground and sky-wave), it is proved to work even under severe conditions like high man made noise in cities as well as difficult propagation conditions. New Zealand is using a Thomson DRM shortwave for regular coverage of Pacific Islands, using the high-quality DRM signal for re-broadcast through local stations. Mexico and Brazil have participated in DRM tests with convincing results. The first Russian DRM symposium, cosponsored by Thomson, took place in October 2007. The interest in DRM in that country is overwhelming. As a result of the symposium, a Russian car manufacturer is going to place an order with a Russian receiver company for 100000 DRM car receiver sets! In 2008, the Russian regulatory body will officially recommend the DRM standard. For large African countries, DRM offers a unique

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possibility to participate in multimedia broadcasting for reasonable prices. Several African countries have committed themselves to a DRM future with projects in implementation on 26 MHz for local coverage, on medium wave for local and national coverage and on short wave for national and international coverage. The European continent is still a radiocontinent, which is also reflected by the high amount of DRM transmissions originating in Europe or transmitted towards Europe. 50 hours DRM transmissions are broadcast daily towards North, Central and South America, third place after Europe and Australia/New Zealand.

of listeners around the globe with simultaneous access to data from one transmission site. There is no other media with similar cost-effective distribution possibilities. In comparison, simultaneous access of the Internet by only 10% of these listeners numbers would block lines and cause server break downs. DRM is reliable, secure, safe and independent, controlled only by the broadcaster himself. A highly fascinating option made possible by DRM and DAB is called Journaline, a new data application which provides the functionality of an electronic newspaper. As a kind of teletext application for digital radio, Journaline carries both program related information (general station presentation, listener contact information, background information on shows, etc.) as well as program unrelated information like news, sports, up-to-date financial/stocks information, weather forecasts categorized by region, etc. The user can navigate through a menu structure and interactively find the required information on demand - right when he needs it. The car manufacturers are offering data services in DRM/DAB based on News Journaline for big events like for sports, etc. The basic idea of the proposed service is to transmit text-based information to vehicles and other mobile radio receivers.

The fascinating coverage possibilities of the AM bands, united with the digital technology, high compression and increased bandwidth options, open the door for exciting new applications. Todays DRM transmitters can broadcast music, speech, data and pictures all at the same time on the same frequency. With 8 or 10 kHz bandwidth, a DRM transmitter can broadcast today a net bit rate of 20 kbps x 3600 seconds/hour x 24 hours/day x 7 days/week. This amounts to 1.5 giga bytes per week! Depending on frequency, transmitter power, type of antenna, target area and time of day, DRM can provide on shortwave 5 to 6 hundreds of millions

5. DRM Receivers: News from Chengdu


An overwhelming success of the DRM technology depends on the widespread availability of affordable, multi-functional receivers. The receiver set industry is moving quickly now and the official DRM website is updated regularly with the latest information. Basically there are 3 different types of DRM receivers: Software receivers, DSP (Digital Signal Processing) receivers based on Radioscape module RS500 or similar and chip-set receivers. Advantages of chip-set receivers include low price, less power consumption, portable devices are

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6. Summary
Today, with the exciting new possibilities provided by DRM, there is no limit to what radio broadcasting can do. After more than a hundred years, it is still the only media to reach out around the globe and inform and entertain people anywhere using a single, independent infrastructure from the own home territory. possible and flexible combination with other digital systems in a single device. Thomson is proud to have the opportunity to work together with a dynamic, young Chinese team at the Chengdu New Star Electronic Company, who has designed a brand new, portable multifunction digital radio set based on an Intel-chip-set. The New Star WR608 is the first receiver with a high resolution color display, enabling new applications like distance learning and picture radio. New Star has packed all the DRM functionalities that listeners are looking for into a neat, portable model and are bringing it to market at an unprecedented attractive price. The teams at Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia are totally committed to the future of radio broadcasting. We work hard to provide our customers with the best, most innovative and most cost-efficient equipment available anywhere today. It is a pleasure and honor for us and our teams to work together with the teams at AIR and other broadcasters to bring a bright future to the broadcast platforms in India.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Mr. Birrer has been active in the broadcasting business since 1999. Beginning as a commissioning engineer of high power AM broadcast transmitters for Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG business unit in Switzerland. Birrer was responsible for commisssioning and handing over of various large broadcast transmitter projects worldwide. Since 2006, after serving as head of the project management group of the transmitter department, Birrer is Director of Marketing & Strategy of the Thomson Radio Transmission group. 20042005 Birrer has been appointed by the Managing Director of Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia AG in Switzerland to set up the wholly owned Service Center in Beijing, China. Birrer has several diplomas, including diploma of electrical engineering (1998), postgraduate diploma in Business Administration (2003) and a Masters Degree of Business Administration (Executive MBA, 2005, at PHW Private Hochschule Wirtschaft, Zrich) and Cambridge International Management diploma in Marketing Strategy (University of Cambridge, London). David Birrer was born 1975 near Lucerne in Switzerland. He is married and has one daugther.

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Audio Compression The Trade Offs Between Quality, Data Reduction And Latency

Guy Gampell APT Broadcast

Abstract
This paper seeks to examine the variety of trade-offs that must be considered when audio is compressed. It will provide an overview of both psycho-acoustic and ADPCM-based compression algorithm principles looking at the issues of latency, potential loss and concatenation associated with each approach. Research findings will be presented incorporating theoretical and real-world latency figures, comparisons of sample material before and after compression and listening test comparisons after multiple encode / decode cycles. New innovations in audio compression techniques such as AAC HE and apt-X Live will be explored and appraised. Lastly, with the advent of IP and the exponential increase in available bandwidth, this paper will consider if compression is still a requirement or if Linear is the answer. V-25

Audio Compression The Trade Offs Between Quality, Data Reduction And Latency
1. INTRODUCTION
Digital Audio Compression technologies are utilized in a wide variety of audio distribution and storage applications. While these technologies bring many benefits, compression also contributes latency and can have a negative impact on the perceived audio quality. In its most directly encoded linear form, digital audio requires 1.411kbps - almost the entire capacity of a 1.5Mb per sec T1 circuit to achieve CD resolution (16 bit stereo, 44.1Khz sample rate) audio transmission. This carries significant penalties in terms of the operating cost of circuits and distribution and is particularly inefficient when dealing with multiple channels. Therefore, for many applications, data compression is essential. With a single encode-decode cycle of high quality audio compression, an average listener can rarely detect coding. However, problems develop when audio is passed through multiple encode-decode cycles - this effect is referred to as concatenation. In research conducted by the EBU, it was identified that typically, a broadcast chain consists of the following elements: Source Contribution circuit Broadcast studio installation Secondary distribution Emission Due to this growing number of jumps and storage points used in the broadcast chain, and the varied compression techniques employed, it is important to choose your audio compression technology wisely. This paper looks at the options for compression, their relative benefits and disadvantages and suitable applications. audio compression algorithm or codec for a broadcast application lie in qualifying its latency, robustness and its audio transparency. There are two fundamental audio compression processes currently employed: Perceptual: These are based on psychoacoustic models of hearing. Predictive: These employ a system of predictive coding and are known as ADPCM codecs.

Perceptual codecs An Overview


The theory of perceptual coders is that of aural and temporal masking, taking advantage of two properties of the human auditory system: Spectral masking (whereby frequencies of high amplitude drown out nearby higher or lower frequencies of low amplitude) and temporal masking (whereby loud aural events drown out quiet events immediately before or afterwards). For the purpose of Spectral Masking, most psychoacoustic algorithms split an audio signal into a small number of critical bands. Within each band the human ear has difficulty differentiating between cooccurring sounds, so that sounds of higher volume or lower frequency will mask others within the same band. Temporal masking is dealt with by dynamically adjusting the input between long and short signal blocks to identify and mask any desirable effects of sharp temporal sound. Development of perceptual codecs has been largely driven by the desire to lower bit rates further and further, in part to cater for the consumer market which has seen an explosion in the adoption of portable devices (not just MP3 players and iPods but phones too) for audio storage.

Predictive codecs An Overview


The theory of ADPCM or predictive coding operates in a fundamentally different way, not least because it does not rely upon the removal of certain parts of the audio signal in order to reduce the bit requirement for transport. Hence, predictive coding is non-destructive.

2. COMPRESSION TYPES
The basic criteria for assessing the suitability of an

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ADPCM coding takes advantage of the fact that it takes less information to code the difference between two separate and successive audio samples compared to using their actual values. Since the early days of ADPCM algorithms such as G.722, the technology has developed significantly and, in the form of Enhanced apt-X, it is now capable of operating at multiple bit widths of 16, 20 or 24bits. Development of predictive codecs has been largely driven either by the desire to maintain low delay (latency) or the need to keep audio quality at its highest possible.

Where such delivery is distributed via terrestrial or satellite using a psychoacoustic algorithm, special care needs to be taken over contribution and distribution circuits so as to avoid concatenation (the detrimental effects of multiple encode/decode cycles). As shown earlier, the modern broadcast infrastructure has at least 5 hops or storage points where several different audio codecs can be used. The EBU identified that for example, in the contribution element as many as 13 different codecs were in use in a sample of broadcasters. Taking into account all possible scenarios, one would arrive at a total of over 50,000 possible codec combinations! Clearly, when choosing a codec, the broadcaster needs to think, not just about the stand-alone performance but the entire broadcast chain. This factor will be examined further in the paper.

3. APPLICATIONS
Low delay being one of the key attributes of ADPCM coding makes it particularly suitable for use on remote live links. A pronounced delay in this application can cause confusion in the contributor and affect the consistency of the live broadcast. The encode/decode cycle is not the only contributor of delay in broadcast applications: the additional interfaces that need to be bridged in order to get the signal onto an ISDN or leased line introduce their own latency into the process - usually about 15ms. Given this fixed delay, it is important to minimize the additional variable delay from audio coding. Predictive codecs will introduce far less latency into the signal than a perceptual codec i.e. less than 1.98ms. Perceptual codecs take a significantly longer time to complete the encode/decode cycle, for example, modules utilizing MPEG compression types will typically create a latency of up to 120ms in each cycle and should be avoided in circumstances where a low delay is crucial to the quality of the broadcast. One of the most popular forms of compression applied in such situations is the ADPCM codec Enhanced apt-X. Enhanced apt-X can transport 4 x 20K stereo signals of 384kbps across a 1.536Mbps T1 circuit and maintains 98% of the original signal. Where latency isnt an issue, and the pursuit of lowest possible data rate is paramount, perceptual coders are often chosen. An obvious example of this would be for final delivery to the consumer (e.g. DAB, IBOC, and streaming over the internet etc).

4. THE EFFECTS OF AUDIO COMPRESSION


The purpose of this section of the paper is to investigate different manifestations of audio artifacts that occur as a result of compression based on the dynamic characteristics of audio content. I will also examine how different types of program material can be affected by audio compression and how these processes can affect the logistics of audio transport and application demands.

Content and Artifacts


Loosely speaking, in audio compression, simpler is not easier. To encode and decode simple sounds without detection is more difficult than to encode and decode a complex audio signal such as an entire orchestra or rock group. When testing audio compression algorithms, the most unforgiving source material to use and that used by many researchers is that of isolated pitch pipes, glockenspiels and other sound sources of similar dynamic characteristics. Classical music is hard to compress due to the high transience between the bass and treble, this could also be said for an acapella female voice and a male voice with low tones. Even local language dialects and speech attributes can cause anomalies in audio compression.

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Musical instruments such as the tin whistle generate audio signals that are mostly tonal in appearance. Such signals contain a high level of redundant information in that most of the energy of the signal is concentrated in a small range of frequencies, principally at the fundamental note and higher frequency harmonics. On the other hand, the signal from a cymbal is more like a noise signal in appearance and contains very little redundancy in that the energy of the signal is evenly distributed across a wide range of frequencies. It is important to note that the waveform of an analog audio signal is time and amplitude continuous whereas a digital signal is time and amplitude discrete according to the sample rate and quantization resolution (number of bits). Before proceeding, some notes of explanation are required: Sample rate is a measure of how often in a given period (1 second), a quantization measurement takes place. A minimum of two samples is required to encode a given pure frequency waveform therefore an audio bandwidth f requires a sample rate 2xf to encode it. In practice it is common to use higher sample rates, since the process of sampling also creates noise (called aliasing) which is an image frequency of actual sample rate +/- f. A filter is required to remove this out of band noise and, if too aggressive, such filters can affect the performance in band. A higher sample rate requires a less aggressive anti-aliasing filter for the same audio bandwidth or can be used to provide a wider audio bandwidth Quantization is the process of encoding the amplitude of an analogue audio signal: the higher the number of possible quantization values offered, the more accurate the systems encoding is. A 16-bit system such as CD offers 2 16 possible discrete quantization values. i.e. 65,536 possible values whereas a 24 bit system offers 16,772,216 possible values. Of course the actual signal level will usually fall somewhere between two possible quantization levels. The difference between the two levels (actual and quantized) in itself is an error which is a form of distortion known as quantization noise and in

unavoidably induced into the audio signal during the conversion to digital. As this noise determines the maximum dynamic range achievable, the higher the quantization resolution the better the dynamic range. Figures are as follows: 16 bit Theoretical 96 dB, in practice usually around 85 90dB. 24 bit Theoretical 144 db, in practice usually around 110120 dB Data compression can be seen as another stage of quantization added to an already quantized signal and, depending on the accuracy of the quantizer, will simply induce more quantization noise. This is an accumulative process and it is easy to see that, if the process is continually repeated, then there will come a time when the quantization noise is audible. When encoding a PCM signal, a perceptual coder allocates the reduced bit rate in a way that attempts to maintain a separation band or threshold between the wanted audio signal and the quantization noise a masking effect. However, repeated passes of perceptual encoding may very quickly erode this threshold and soon, the quantization noise breaks through this threshold and is audible. In predictive encoders the quantization noise is restricted within each of a number of subbands. The subband quantizers, processing only very small differential signals, are effectively insulated from each other and the quantization noise induced in one subband does not influence any of the other subbands. The overall effect is that an audio signal can withstand any more passes of predictive encoding than an equivalent perceptual encoder. Awareness of these effects is of ever-increasing importance as more instances of digital compression are added to the broadcast delivery chain. Perceptual encoders operate in the frequency domain using the theory that loud sounds will mask out the quieter sounds. The analyzed sounds are

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subjected to a masking process that removes all those irrelevant parts of the audio that would never be heard. It will depend on the nature of the audio signal as to how much irrelevancy is removed but it could be as much as 80% of the original signal. If the audio signal is subjected to other passes of compression that involve other types of perceptual encoding then there can be a conflict between the competing masking models. When different types and levels of perceptual encoding and decoding are applied over a number of jumps in the broadcast chain, the problem of concatenation may occur and very quickly degrade the audio signal. Predictive encoding operates solely in the time domain. Filtered subbands of the PCM signal are analyzed to identify those parts of the signal that are repetitive, a common feature of all PCM signals. Once identified, the sample levels are measurable and readily predictable and this prediction can then be compared with the actual sample. The resulting low-level differential signal is now all that is required to be requantized to a lower bit resolution. This is then multiplexed with the reduced data from the other subbands to represent the original linear PCM audio signal. Such an approach is known as redundancy removal and this theory is extended to the decoder which uses the same prediction process to re-introduce a similar amount of data to the decoded differential signal, thus reconstructing the original linear PCM signal. In an end-to-end process, the accuracy of both prediction processes delivers around 98% of the original signal. The minimum signal loss at each pass of predictive compression means that many more passes can be tolerated without audible degradation.

[B] Next is a comparison between the original PCM of above, and a single Encode/Decode cycle using MPEG.

High the level of harmonic distortion between 20Hz and 2Khz apparent by the wide variation in frequency content shown above between the original and the MPEG encoded signal. A very large amount of spectral content has been completely removed between 6Khz and 9Khz, with almost total content loss between 7Khz and 8Khz. This is repeated with a very large amount of spectral content removed between 12Khz and 15Khz and almost total content loss between 13Khz and 14Khz. There is a high level of harmonic distortion between 14Khz and 15.5Khz, a steep roll-off above 15Khz and no content over 16Khz. Listen to MPEG 1 time encoded/decoded. Why does it work? Well it works for the reasons explained above, in that content removed has been done so according to well researched psychoacoustic prediction that this is the content that will not be audible. However this does not bode

Illustration and Demonstration


By way of illustration lets look at a recording of the singer Suzanne Vega singing a well know song of hers, solo, unaccompanied. [A] This is the original after PCM encoding (linear uncompressed audio at CD resolution) Note the surprising complexity of harmonic content from a single source (solo singer), the complex harmonic structure continues to 20Khz with a gentle roll off from 20Khz to 21Khz.

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Listen to Enhanced apt-X after 5 times encode/decode.

5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS


Broadcasters seeking the best performance from their infrastructure investment will inevitably have to seek the best possible trade-off between the quality, data reduction and latency offered by their audio delivery compression. Digital Transmission systems such as DAB (Eureka 147) or HD Radio (formerly IBOC) specify the use of perceptual codecs, such as MPEG or AAC respectively, for final transmission. They also specify the desired compression ratio, which in the case of HD Radio is 12:1. Given these constraints, care needs to be taken with the choice of compression used in any prior stage of the program chain. Any loss incurred earlier in the chain cannot be recovered and incremental losses can be disastrous. The use of perceptual algorithms elsewhere in the production chain (location Flash Memory recorders, storage and play out systems, presenters personal MP3 players, Mini Disc etc) also adds to the requirement for an ADPCM algorithm to be used for distribution. Therefore, the safest choice is to use the highest bit rate possible or, put another way, the lowest compression ratio. In parallel with this, the processing delay should also be kept at a minimum for broadcasting consistency.

well for a second, third or fourth encode/decode cycle. Since it is accepted that a typical broadcast chain involves up to 5 hops or storage points, this is critical. Let us have a listen to what happens. Listen to MPEG, 5 times encoded/decoded. [C] Finally, a comparison between the initial PCM encoding and a popular ADPCM type of algorithm (Enhanced apt-X). The preceding is an FFT plot of the same audio after one encode and decode cycle of Enhanced apt-X data compression running at 16bit, 44.1Khz, data rate of 384Kbps. Note that Spectral content is preserved very accurately including complex harmonic structure and high frequency content. Listen to apt-X 1 time encode/decode

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Mr Gampell has approximately 25 years experience in the recording, post-production and broadcast industries. Gampell has been a key player in the introduction and adoption of many new digital technologies in that time, and now works as the Asian Sales Manager for APT. Gampell has overseen tremendous growth of business for APT in Asia, especially India, where in the last 12 months APT has shipped in excess of 450 codecs to customers in India. Today's talk will reveal what the key issues are that broadcasters need to be considering when choosing the right technology for the application of audio distribution and contribution.

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