Performance analysis and coverage optimization methods for a digital radio system in the VHF bands

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Estudio de la recepción del estándar de radio digital DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) en onda media en interiores

Los sistemas de radio digital para la banda de Onda Media (DRM y HD Radio IBOC) son muy sensibles a la variación del campo eléctrico ya que el umbral entre la recepción correcta e incorrecta es muy abrupto y no gradual como en los sistemas analógicos. Se han llevado a cabo numerosas campañas de medidas en exteriores durante la última década y se han podido observar desvanecimientos importantes sobre todo en entornos urbanos. Dado que se presupone que muchos potenciales usuarios de los servicios de radio digital se situarán en interiores, es necesario caracterizar la recepción de señales en Onda Media en el interior de edificios, además de actualizar los niveles de ruido radioeléctrico, ya que se han podido detectar incrementos de nivel considerables en entornos urbanos exteriores. En esta tesis se han llevado a cabo extensas campañas de medidas en el interior de edificios con el objetivo de caracterizar estadísticamente la variabilidad espacial y temporal tanto de la señal como del ruido radioeléctrico en Onda Media en este tipo de entornos. El objetivo sería ofrecer las herramientas más precisas posibles para el cálculo o caracterización de la relación señal a ruido en interiores en Onda Media, de forma que los operadores de red puedan realizar una correcta planificación de red

Digital Technologies and the Future of Radio: Lessons from the Canadian Experience.

This paper examines the position of digital radio in Canada. It examines the Canadian experience of digital radio development from its introduction in 1995 to the present and asks whether the approach adopted and the lessons learned provide useful models for application elsewhere. Three main strands form the background to digital radio’s current stage of development: firstly, the introduction and early support for Digital Audio Broadcasting or (DAB) in the mid 1990s; secondly, the response of the radio industry to the internet and new media as complementary to traditional radio broadcasting provision; and thirdly, the more recent experience of the introduction of satellite radio in Canada. The focus for this particular paper’s analysis is the revised digital radio policy issued by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in December 2006, replacing the earlier transitional digital radio policy of 1995, and seeking to implement a multi-platform framework in an increasingly complex technological environment. The paper assesses initial response to the new digital radio policy and examines some of the potential scenarios for the future environment of radio. The research is informed by policy analysis, interviews and expert opinions with leading members of the Canadian broadcasting profession

Digital Radio in Canada: From DAB to Multi-Platform Approaches.

This paper examines the position of digital radio in Canada. It examines the Canadian experience of digital radio development from its introduction in 1995 to the present and asks whether the approach adopted and the lessons learned provide useful models for application elsewhere. Three main strands form the background to digital radio’s current stage of development: firstly, the introduction and early support for Digital Audio Broadcasting or (DAB) in the mid 1990s; secondly, the response of the radio industry to the internet and new media as complementary to traditional radio broadcasting provision; and thirdly, the more recent experience of the introduction of satellite radio in Canada. The focus for this particular paper’s analysis is the revised digital radio policy issued by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in December 2006, replacing the earlier transitional digital radio policy of 1995, and seeking to implement a multi-platform framework in an increasingly complex technological environment. The paper assesses initial response to the new digital radio policy and examines some of the potential scenarios for the future environment of radio. The research is informed by policy analysis, interviews and expert opinions with leading members of the Canadian broadcasting profession

Digital Radio Policy in Canada: Fragmentation or Evolution of the Medium

In December 2006, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its review of Digital Radio Policy. This replaced the transitional digital radio policy of 1995, and sought to implement a framework designed to support multi-platform digital radio broadcasting in an increasingly complex technological environment for the medium. Drawing on policy analysis, interviews and expert group perspectives, this paper traces the background to the legislative provision for digital radio development in Canada. While Canada was an early adopter of the Eureka-147 or Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), the policy of DAB as a replacement technology approach proved to be mistaken. Subsequent extensive regulatory intervention to protect Canadian interests similarly proved ineffective against the dominant influence of US interests on Canadian broadcasting, evidenced most recently by the entry of satellite- delivered subscription radio services of XM Radio and Sirius. It is argued that the approach adopted in Canada’s new digital radio policy needs to be set against the background in which the future of radio is now much less obvious and clear than it was ten years ago. Instead of a relatively straightforward transition from analog to digital audio broadcasting (DAB), there is now a wide selection of both competing alternative and complementary technological options for digital audio delivery. As such, radio can be seen to be either facing the danger of fragmentation or in fact surviving by infiltrating into new platforms and becoming more polymorphic. The paper offers a critical appraisal of whether, given previous experience and lessons learned, Canada’s regulatory approach is the appropriate one and potentially a model for other sectors and other markets

Digital technologies and the future of radio: lessons from the Canadian experience

This paper reports on an ongoing comparative study of the development of digital radio in Europe and Canada. Focussing on the Eureka 147 Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) platform in Canada, of which it was an early adopter, the paper examines the complex interaction of industry, government regulation and the difficulty of policy formation matching the pace of technology development. Based on interviews with leading radio professionals, the paper presents a critical review of the ‘transitional policy’ towards the digitalisation of radio and examines the international market pressures that led Canada to largely abandon this approach in favour of the current multi-platform system. Despite extensive regulatory intervention to protect Canadian interests, the dominant influence of the US market on Canadian broadcasting matters is evident. Most recently, the entry of satellite-delivered subscription radio services by XM Radio and Sirius have illustrated the difficulty of regulating against powerful, global interests. Often seen as combining the best aspects of the European public service system with the commercial success of the US industry, the current stage of policy development in Canadian digital radio offers, it is argued, some important lessons for similar developments in Europe

Smart Chips for Smart Surroundings -- 4S

The overall mission of the 4S project (Smart Chips for Smart Surroundings) was to define and develop efficient flexible, reconfigurable core building blocks, including the supporting tools, for future Ambient System Devices. Reconfigurability offers the needed flexibility and adaptability, it provides the efficiency needed for these systems, it enables systems that can adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions, it enables communication over heterogeneous wireless networks, and it reduces risks: reconfigurable systems can adapt to standards that may vary from place to place or standards that have changed during and after product development. In 4S we focused on heterogeneous building blocks such as analogue, hardwired functions, fine and coarse grain reconfigurable tiles and microprocessors. Such a platform can adapt to a wide application space without the need for specialized ASICs. A novel power aware design flow and runtime system was developed. The runtime system decides dynamically about the near-optimal application mapping to the given hardware platform. The overall concept was verified on hardware platforms based on an existing SoC and in a second step with novel silicon. DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) and MPEG4 Video applications have been implemented on the platforms demonstrating the adaptability of the 4S concept

Powerline Kommunikation: Wesentliche Technologien um PLC in CE-Geräte zu integrieren

In-house PLT (Powerline Telecommunication) enables new and highly convenient networking functions without the need for additional cables on mains-powered devices. Since wireless networks are not able to reach sufficient throughput between different rooms or even floors, PLC is considered to be the ideal backbone home network medium, providing complementary and seamless interaction with wireless networks. The need to communicate information is not new. The historical overview of this thesis compares the development of PLT to radio broadcast technologies. The consumer expects technologies to operate without interferences. Today, there are coexistence problems between these two technologies. Why does this happens, and how the problems can be resolved are the main issues of this thesis. Initial calculations of the channel capacity provide encouraging results for using the mains cabling as a communication medium. Chapter 3 forecasts how PLT modems could develop in the future. The usage of frequencies above 30 MHz will increase the throughput rate. Next, the utilization of the 3rd wire (the protective earth) for communication enhances the coverage and the reliability of powerline transmissions. The reception of common mode signals and the usage of MIMO technologies enable 8 transmission paths between one pair of outlets, which improves the performance of the bad, strongly attenuated channels. Today, the main challenge for the mass deployment of PLT is the lack of harmonized international standards on interoperability and electromagnetic interference. The absence of a standard results in the undesirable situation of PLT modems interfering with technologies from different vendors and also with radio applications. Solutions for solving these problems are given in chapter 4 and chapter 5. The approach of ‘Smart Notching’ - monitoring the existence of receivable radio broadcast stations at the time and location where a PLT modem is operating, received wide resonance in the PLT and radio broadcast communities. ‘Smart Notching’, also called ‘Dynamic Notching’ or ‘Adaptive Notching’ is considered to be the key factor in solving the endless discussions about the interferences to HF radio broadcast. Details on the creation of ETSI TS 102 578 and the implementation of a demonstrator system is documented in chapter 5. Field tests conducted together with the EBU verified the efficiency of the concept. The jointly executed tests by representatives from the radio broadcast and the PLT communities became a historical event which brought the two technologies, radio receivers and PLT modems, back into one house. Finally, a vision of the future coordination of EMC and conclusions are presented.Heutige Modems zur Powerline Telekommunikation (PLT) können im Betrieb den Empfang von Kurzwellen-Rundfunk beeinträchtigen, wenn Modem und Rundfunk-Empfänger in unmittelbarer Nachbarschaft betrieben werden. Eine neue Generation von PLT Modems, in denen das Konzept von 'Smart Notching' - dem intelligenten Einfügen von Lücken in das Kommunikationsspektrum - implementiert ist, zeigt keine Interferenzen mit dem Empfang von Rundfunkdiensten. Das Rauschen auf der Niederspannungsinstallation enthält neben sonstigen Signalen - durch andere Geräte hervorgerufen - aufgrund der Antennenwirkung Information über Rundfunksender. Beim ‚Smart Notching’ erkennen PLT Modems am Betriebsort die Existenz von Rundfunksignalen, indem sie das Signalspektrum auf der Netzleitung messen. Die Echtzeit- Bewertung der aktuellen Situation am Betriebsort ermöglicht eine Adaption des PLT Systems. Damit wird die Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit nicht a priori (zum Herstellungs-Zeitpunkt) durch Schirmung oder eine globale Reduktion des Sendepegels, sondern durch Design des Verfahrens (welches während des Betriebs angewendet wird) hergestellt. Diese Doktorarbeit beschreibt nach einem kurzen Überblick zur Historie des Rundfunks und der Datenübertragung über das Energieverteilnetz Messungen zur Ermittlung der theoretischen Kanalkapazität. Anschließend wird ein Ausblick gegeben, wohin sich zukünftige PLT Modems entwickeln werden. Dies sind vor allem der Frequenzbereich oberhalb von 30 MHz sowie die Nutzung der dritten Kupferader in den Netzleitungen: der Schutzerde. Die Verwendung von MIMO-Algorithmen (aus der kabellosen Funkübertragung (z.B. WiFi) bereits bekannt) verbessert vor allem die Wahrscheinlichkeit, eine hohe Datenrate im Gebäude sicher zu verteilen. Sorge bereitet bei PLT ebenfalls die Koexistenz mit weiteren PLT-Systemen, sowie zu xDSL. Hierfür wird ein Vorschlag gemacht, um die Interferenzen zu nicht kompatiblen PLToder DSL-Systemen zu vermeiden, ohne dass die Systeme sich gegenseitig gezielt Informationen zusenden. Das bereits oben erwähnte Konzept des ‚Smart Notching’ wird detailliert erläutert und die Implementierung eines Demonstrators auf FPGA-Basis dokumentiert. Abschließend wird noch beschrieben, wie ‚Smart Notching’ gemeinsam mit der EBU getestet wurde und wie es seinen Weg in die Welt der Standardisierung gefunden hat. Der Veröffentlichung des Standards ETSI TS 102 578 wurde im Juli 2008 einstimmig von ETSI PLT zugestimmt