Digital radio broadcasting using USRP and CRC mmbTools

Résumé

Usually setting up a DAB+ digital radio transmission has been something complex and expensive, out of reach of smaller radio stations. However, since some years, thanks to the power of the recent CPU and the emergence of software defined radio platforms, all these operations can be done on affordable generic hardware. CRC in Canada has developed a set of open tools to perform the digital radio operation such as encoding, multiplexing, modulation. In this talk, we will demonstrate how we have integrated a full digital radio transmission chain to cover the city of Geneva with up to 18 radio stations. This solution is something that will offer the smaller radio stations to have a digital future beyond FM or enable experimenters, developpers to make their own transmission. It is foreseen to have a real DAB+ transmission over Geneva during the RMLL and demonstrations. A workshop may be organised for those who would like to learn how to setup their own transmission.

Biographie

Mathias Coinchon and Stanislas Roehrich are both engineers at the European Broadcasting Union. Apart from this professional activity, radio is a passion for them. Stan is running Maxxima his own web radio station and has helped many radio to go on air. Mathias has been president of the student radio station Fréquence Banane in EPFL and has created the website opendigitalradio.org that document open techniques to setup digital radio transmissions. Both have been experimenting with mmbTools from the beginning and made demonstration at various radio events in Europe. More recently they have invested to integrate a real "DAB+ in a box" high power transmission kit to perform medium-size city coverage. More information on http://www.opendigitalradio.org