The DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau) produces a monthly news bulletin designed to keep all those in the DAB digital radio chain informed and updated on the latest developments in the industry.
BBC Coverage
Since the last newsletter, the BBC has added another two transmitters to its network, one in Central Manchester and one in East Sussex, with more to come. The BBC’s national DAB coverage has now risen to 70% of the UK population, heading towards a goal of 85% in 2004.
Product News
New on the market since the last newsletter are:
- Grundig GRD300. New from Grundig and available exclusively from Dixons and Curry’s, this hand-held portable DAB radio is priced at £149.99 in store, or £129.99 via the Dixons website. Features include scrolling station information, stereo headphones with integral antenna for clear reception, six station pre-sets, user friendly central navigation keys and a blue back-lit LCD display. Three AA batteries provide up to 16 hours of normal usage.
- Roberts Gemini 3 The first in a range of DAB products from Roberts Radio, the Gemini 3 is a mains or battery capable DAB/FM radio with RDS. The Gemini 3 has 20 station pre-sets and comes in a brushed silver and charcoal grey finish. The radio is in store now priced around £139.99.
- A new DAB kitchen radio from Goodmans. With DAB and FM, integrated stereo speakers, a clock and unified DAB/FM aerial, the GSR80DAB is expected in stores in November, priced around £89.99
- The Tempus-1 is Pure-Digital’s new digital radio alarm clock, with features that include multiple sophisticated but easy to operate alarms; touch-sensitive SnoozeHandle(tm) technology; backlit night time clock display; and timed record function for use with MiniDisc or cassette recorder. Expected in stores before Christmas, priced around £129.99.
- Three more products from Roberts Radio are expected by Christmas. The Gemini 4 is a hand-held DAB only radio priced around £159.99; the Gemini 5 is a kitchen style mains or battery FM/DAB radio priced around £149.99; and the Gemini 6 delivers FM/DAB in a mains only radio priced around £179.99.
- Bush enters the DAB market this year with a tuner system that includes the DAB2025. It’s part of a package that includes AMP2025 and CDP2025. Also from Bush expect to see the DABCR2003 stereo clock radio, a DAB, mains only bedside radio.
- The first home cinema product with DAB is also expected in shops by Christmas. Samsung’s HT DB770 is a home cinema product with DVD and DAB, priced around £399.
Technology News
There were several announcements from Frontier Silicon, the fabless semiconductor business, this month.
Frontier announced Quantum DAB/CD/FM/MP3 Audio Reference Platform, a DAB/CD/FM and optional MP3 reference design which can be easily integrated by manufacturers and developers into a wide range of products including boom boxes, midi and micro systems.
Quantum uses the Frontier Silicon Venice FS2020 DAB module in conjunction with a Toshiba FM IC and MCU control IC to provide a fully featured audio system.
The platform has been developed by Shiba-Tech, a key Hong Kong design house for Toshiba ICs, in collaboration with Frontier Silicon, which provides the DAB solutions.
Quantum’s user interface integrates all the audio functions and utilises a single dot matrix LCD display. Control is via a key interface with optional jog-dial functionality. Infrared remote control is also supported.
Quantum is based on Frontier Silicon’s Venice FS2020 DAB module, an optimised band III RF front end with Chorus FS1010 baseband processor module. FS1010 uses dynamic and static power management techniques including fully-static design, clock-gating and inactive period state minimisation for low power usage without compromising performance. The processor clock is generated by a PLL, which can be reprogrammed dynamically, enabling power consumption to be minimized for each application.
Venice provides DAB sensitivity of typically +3 dBm to -98 dBm (Band III, Modes I to IV). Adjacent channel sensitivity is typically 40 dB (Band III). The module supports fast tuning.
Frontier Silicon launches Munich Development Board. Munich, which will be available in Q4 2003 from Frontier Silicon for £999 (exc. VAT) is a solution for prototyping DAB products based on the Frontier Silicon Venice module.
Venice is a compact, highly integrated OEM Module for DAB Digital Radio. It has applications in consumer audio markets. It can be used either as master in the system where the only external components required to make it into a fully featured DAB receiver are LCD, keypad, antenna and power supply or as a stand-alone receiver in a larger system being controlled by the main system microcontroller.
Munich provides all of the functionality required to decode DAB, including a tested RF front end. Connectors are provided to enable a developer to connect their own application circuits such as displays, audio interfaces and data interfaces to DAB. A keypad is provided to implement user interface functions. Interfaces to the CodeScape toolset for Imagination Technologies’ META(tm) processor, on which Venice is based, are also provided.
Frontier Silicon announces an advanced suite of development tools for its Chorus DAB and digital audio processor.
The toolset will enable Frontier Silicon customers to further shorten development times for new Chorus based products. In addition to its core DAB capability the flexible programmability of Chorus, based on the powerful multi-threaded META DSP/RISC core licensed from Imagination Technologies, allows manufacturers to choose to include codecs such as MP3, MPEG4 video decode, and an ever growing list of other advanced capabilities into their products.
The new toolset is based on CodeScape® 5, the latest version of the popular toolchain for META, and provides DAB product manufacturers with a code development environment with advanced features such as IDE, project management and virtual prototyping. Working alongside CodeScape is an enhanced version of the GNU toolchain providing familiar and stable support for C/C++ development.
The toolset provides developers with a programming interface to the multi-threaded META(tm) DSP enabling developers to implement sophisticated algorithms to complement the integrated DAB capability of Chorus.
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Innochip launches DAB chip powered by ParthusCeva’s Teak SDP core
Hsin-Chu, Taiwan & San Jose, CA -Innochip Technology, Inc., an ASIC Design Services company and ParthusCeva, Inc. (Nasdaq : PCVA, LSE: PCV), a licensor of digital signal processors (DSP) cores and solutions to the semiconductor industry, have announced that Innochip has deployed a Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) chip powered by ParthusCeva’s Teak® DSP Core targeting the rapidly emerging high-definition digital radio market.
Digital radio, also termed DAB and HD (high-definition) Radio, is a digital radio system which is replacing existing analog AM/FM systems with interference free CD-quality sound. Also designed for multimedia applications, digital radio signals can additionally carry text, images, data and video. Digital-radio services are already operating in more than 20 countries worldwide.
Innochip’s solution is a complete low-cost, low-power, programmable digital radio platform capable of multiple audio functions including DAB, HD Radio and MP3 digital audio. Based on ParthusCeva’s programmable Teak DSP Core, Innochip’s 0.18u System-on-Chip (SoC) is comprised of a TSMC PLL, Innochip ADC and Artisan library. The highly integrated SoC with both channel and source decoder on-chip, minimizes the number of external components and, as a result, chip size, cost and power consumption.
Innochip’s digital radio SoC is capable of performing a sample data rate of 2MHz enabling a digital-radio to simultaneously receive data related services such as messages, electronic newspapers and videotext information as well as music.
About Teak
Teak is a 16-bit fixed-point general-purpose licensable DSP core. Teak is a dual MAC architecture with parallelism capabilities. It s soft-core fully synthesizable core enables fast process and foundry migration. The low power Teak DSP design as well as its high performance makes it suitable to a wide variety of battery-powered portable applications, including speech and audio processing, multimedia and wireless communications (2/2.5 and 3G), high-speed modems, advanced telecommunication systems, and various embedded control applications.
About Innochip
Innochip Technology, Inc. is a full-service provider of custom chips to the leading electronics companies. Founded in 2000, the company’s unique approach manages every step of the IC development process - from RTL coding through manufacturing and delivery of packaged and tested parts. Innochip offers one of the most comprehensive platforms for development of SOC solutions based on the strengths within complex digital and high performance AD/DA converters. Innochip is a member of TSMC Design Center Alliance, IP alliance partner, an Artisan’s service net member and a ParthusCeva partner approved design service center. Innochip has experience with embedded processors, DSP, and complex digital design, which has resulted in a leading edge in quality and Time-to-Market. For more information about Innochip, please visit www.innochip.com.tw
JVC DAB Pack
JVC has launched a package to encourage consumers to adopt DAB digital radio technology in their cars. The DAB pack is available at participating dealers at a special price and the promotion will be supported through suitable press with a double-paged advert, featuring a list of dealers who are taking part.
The advert and supplementary information is repeated on the JVC Mobile Entertainment website www.jvcmobile.co.uk along with a list of some 40 existing head units which are compatible with the JVC hide away unit – KT-DB1000.
The JVC Package comprises the KD-SX841R CD Tuner, KT-DB1000 DAB box and a stick on screen aerial from Harada. Individually, the package could cost in excess of £400. The promotional price is £299.99 with installation at the discretion of the dealer.
RAJAR meter tests
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) has agreed a second stage of meter tests on new versions of the two electronic audiometers and associated software developed by Arbitron and Radiocontrol, and will start as soon as second generation equipment is available.
Advertising: Focus on Emap
Emap continues to build its radio portfolio adding new station Heat to its digital stable of Kiss, Kerrang!, Smash Hits, Q, Magic, The Hits and Mojo. At the same time, Emap this month won the coveted West Midlands analogue licence under the auspices of its Kerrang! brand.
Emap was among the first commercial radio companies to enter its stations into RAJAR, the audience measuring body. Results indicate listeners are tuning in to new digital stations in big numbers, via DAB, the internet and digital TV platforms.
On the advertising front, Emap has set up the first dedicated commercial unit to sell digital radio to advertisers and agencies. With Kiss now available on 22 multiplexes around the country, Emap is able to offer advertisers a combination of its Onenation package and Kiss national network, and has generated in excess of £500,000 in revenues from such advertising. A list of advertisers using Emap’s national digital brands include Burger King, Nokia, Specsavers, Sony music, Coca Cola, McDonalds, and Buena Vista.
In September, Emap advertising attended the Marketing Forum and had 100 meetings with advertisers regarding digital radio, giving each client a DAB radio.
ENDS
October 21, 2003
The Digital Radio Development Bureau is funded and supported by BBC, Digital One, Emap Digital Radio, CE Digital, MXR, Capital Digital and Now-Digital. The DRDB's task is to ensure digital radio's wide accessibility and swift adoption in the UK with consistent and effective marketing.
Visit the DRDB's consumer web site www.digitalradionow.com, or our Business to Business site, www.drdb.org.
If you have any news you would like included in the next DRDB news bulletin, please email mandy@drdb.org
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Mandy Green
Press and Publicity Manager
DRDB
The Radiocentre
77 Shaftesbury Avenue
London W1D 5DU
020 7306 2636
07973 184995