Consumer digital radio: from concept to reality

The commercial advent of digital broadcast radio in the UK is upon us. The concepts and technology of digital audio broadcasting, DAB, originated from the European Eureka 147 project, which began in 1988 and which has created international standards now adopted by ETSI and the ITU. In the UK today the BBC provides DAB coverage to some 60% of the population. A DAB licence for independent radio broadcasting has been awarded to a consortium called Digital 1 which will offer a similar level of coverage within 12 months. Digital radio had been held back by a lack of consumer receivers. High-end consumer products are, however, now beginning to appear in the shops. This paper describes the development of a world-leading, credit-card-sized DAB OEM receiver module that is already allowing new players and consumer products to enter the market