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Texas Instruments and iBiquity Announce Availability of Industry's First Chip for HD Radio Technology
Programmable Baseband Chip and IBOC Digital Module
Enable Fast Receiver Deployment
| The manufacturer says . . . | ChipCenter's Paul O'Shea says . . . |
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The industryıs first digital baseband chip enabling HD Radioı technology, formerly known as In Band On Channel (IBOC), is available today from Texas Instruments Incorporated. The chip handles all of the baseband processing required for HD Radio. The new product, which combines TIıs expertise in digital signal processing and iBiquity Digital Corporationıs patented IBOC digital AM and FM technology, trademarked HD Radio, will enable radio manufacturers to incorporate the new digital reception technology into home and car receivers for U.S. retail launch in 2003 and for automakers in 2004. An IBOC Digital Module (IDM), incorporating TIıs solution with all the hardware and software needed to process the HD Radio baseband signal, is also available from iBiquity for radio manufacturers to deploy in new digital receivers. "Kenwood is pleased to see the first HD Radio DSP Solution available from TI," said Bob Law, sr. vice president of sales and marketing, Kenwood USA Corporation. "TIıs DRI200 and iBiquityıs IDM will save us valuable time to market and give us a competitive edge in delivering HD Radio to our retail partners for sale to consumers." As the industryıs first digital baseband chip to support iBiquityıs HD Radio technology, TIıs new single-chip TMS320DRI200 solution will enable manufacturers to design and deliver HD Radio receivers in 2003. TIıs DRI200 chip, which is based on TIıs TMS320C6000 digital signal processor (DSP) architecture, incorporates digital channel, source and data decoding and demodulation functions. An IDM combines the memory and appropriate interfaces on a credit card size board. Designed by iBiquity, the IDM reduces the complexity of a HD Radio receiver and helps reduce development and deployment time for radio manufacturers. The IDM is designed to easily plug into existing AM/FM radio architectures. Visteon Corporation, a leading automotive supplier and system integrator, plays a key role in HD Radio development and worked with TI during the development of the DRI200. This will enable Visteon to create an efficient HD Radio solution based on its MACH DSP Technology. TI and iBiquity have greatly reduced the risks inherent in developing products for new technologies by implementing HD Radio technology in software. The flexibility of the DRI200 allows for future refinements, which can be incorporated with software upgrades. The DRI200 is supported by TIıs Code Composer Studio Integrated Development Environment, the industryıs most comprehensive tools for DSP development. Code Composer Studio gives developers the ability to add new software functions on the same piece of silicon, allowing for fast implementation of integrated features. "The IDM and software radio approach that TI and iBiquity have taken allows manufacturers to enter the emerging digital radio market quickly and with little design risk," said OıConnell Benjamin, sr. vice president and co-chief operating officer, iBiquity Digital Corporation. "Without a software radio approach, we could not have enabled manufacturers to launch HD Radio products in early 2003." HD Radio technology (formerly known as IBOC) enhances AM and FM broadcasts with digital signals that improve listening quality and can provide additional information, such as station information, song and artist identification, stock and news reports, local traffic and weather alerts and more. Major broadcasters plan to begin transmission of HD Radio signals starting in the 4th quarter of 2002 in 6 strategic markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Seattle). Transmission equipment manufacturers announced production plans for digital radio station products at the National Association of Broadcasters show in April 2002. At that show, retailers announced support for receivers with HD Radio technology. Radio broadcasters are expected to begin converting their stations to HD Radio this fall. "With the availability of the DRI200, all the ingredients are now in place for the launch of HD Radio receivers in 2003," said Naresh Coppisetti, Digital Radio business manager at TI. "Weıre proud to see such leaders as Kenwood and Visteon among the first manufacturers to incorporate HD Radio technology in mobile radios. We look forward to seeing multiple mobile and home receiver manufacturers producing digital AM/FM radios in 2003." Texas Instruments Incorporated, Semiconductor Group, SC-02204, Literature Response Center, P. O. Box 954, Santa Clara, CA 91380, 1-800-477-8924, ext. 4500 Website: www.ti.com |
Very soon, analog radios are going to see stiff competition from digital radios. It may not happen this week or even this year, but the writing is on the wall. TI says that digital radios will replace analog radios, and there is a huge market for those ready to produce the digital radios. The numbers are there to support such a business venture because this will be a replacement market. Digital radio is expected to take off because it can offer much more than analog. For example it can offer data content in a display such as the artist and song title, but itıs not limited to just that, itıs wide open to our imagination. TI was involved in radio technology in about 1955 when it offered the Regency radio, which was the first transistorized pocket radio. Now they are teaming up with companies to offer this new type digital radio and it goes to TIıs strengths because it deals with signal processing. According to TI there are over 70M radios sold per year in the U.S., with an installed base of 800M radios in the U.S. They also say that half of all AM/FM radio stations are located in the U.S. for a total of13,000 stations. Looks like a good growth market to me. TI offers this digital baseband chip that supports iBiquity's (www.ibiquity.com) AM and FM digital radio technology. Itıs a single-chip called the TMS320DRI200. What I found interesting was the previous version of this digital radio with all the baseband processing needed 12 separate DSP chips. Thatıs a lot of processing power ı and a lot of real estate on the PCB. Now, one chip incorporates the demodulation and the decoding of those 12 chips. TI used the C64X as the main DSP chip. The company ported everything to the DRI200 DSP chip. This was also incorporated into iBiquityıs In-Band On-Channel (IBOC- which is now called HD Radio) Digital Module or IDM. Itıs a credit card-sized module that helps enable the deployment of HD Radio digital receivers. It interfaces to an existing radio, takes in the signal and does the necessary HD Radio processing and produces digital audio out. One of the tough operations for TI during the development stage was getting the software onto the chip. To accomplish that TI used their Code Composer Studio tools. They worked with IBiquity who got their chips from TI and was able to port the 12-DSP code to a single DSP within 4 months. Thatıs impressive but those are the same TI tools that receiver manufacturers would use to build other applications. The product will help customers differentiate their product, based on the processor. The first radios produced will only have a minimal level of data display. However, other manufacturers are looking to expand that capability in the 2004/5 timeframe. Some products are already showing up overseas, but they use different standards from the U.S. Itıs called the Eureka147DAB. To find out more information about that you can go to www.worlddab.org. Basically this standard uses a completely different radio frequency spectrum ı from 174MHz to 230MHz, compared to 88MHz to 108MHz in the US. It operates at 1.4GHz (the L band) with a different modulation scheme. Samples of the DRI200 are available now for $50 each. The IDM is available now to iBiquityıs licensed radio manufacturers. TIıs DRI200 is scheduled for volume production in the fourth quarter of 2002.
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