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Broadcast Aus unveils DAB+ processes
Rose Major ©RapidTVNews | 11-06-2009
With digital radio services now up and running in Australia, digital broadcast specialist Broadcast Australia has unveiled its contracts to provide the DAB+ transmission in the country’s five largest capital cities.In March, the company signed a 15-year agreement with the two public broadcasters, ABC and SBS, followed in May by operations and maintenance contracts with five joint-venture companies representing commercial radio networks.
Clive Morton, Broadcast Australia’s Engineering and Field Services Director, said that the company would use its Network Operations Centre at Gore Hill in Sydney to monitor and control all of the DAB+ transmission sites.
Morton said: “It allows us to strategically and effectively manage the ongoing performance of our entire network, including the new DAB+ services. We can respond remotely to issues and mobilise field teams within minutes if required—plus keep our clients informed as to the live status of their broadcast.”
Commercial DAB+ services started transmitting in stages from May 2009 with two joint-venture ensembles (VHF 9A and 9B) broadcast in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and single ensembles (VHF 9B) in Perth and Adelaide. Broadcast Australia is operating all eight ensembles via a software interface into each multiplex; this includes monitoring the transport stream to ensure integrity and forward control as required.
The combined ABC and SBS digital radio ensembles (VHF 9C) are scheduled for launch in each of the five cities before 1 July. Here, Broadcast Australia will receive the encoded and multiplexed signal and provide broadcast transmission services, in addition to operations and maintenance.
Officially ratified and published as a new standard by ETSI in February 2007, the DAB+ system supports up to four times as many services in a digital audio broadcast (DAB) multiplex, while maintaining high-quality sound. It also possesses all the other advanced features of DAB, such as immunity to multi-path interference, fading and single frequency networks.
“These are exciting times for the radio industry, with the multimedia functionality of DAB+ set to considerably enhance the listening experience,” said Morton. “Not only does digital radio offer superior sound quality, but with creative production at the front end there’s scope to offer many new dimensions to bring radio closer to other broadcast platforms.”
© Rapid TV News 2009
