Localised FM Digital Audio Broadcasting using WiFi Mesh Networks

<div>Digital Audio Broadcasting via FM radio continues to be popular, even today, owing to its accessibility, especially in rural areas where even common feature phones and affordable radio receivers are able to freely receive both, mainstream and local vernacular transmissions without any subscription charge. Additionally, it is established that broadcasts undertaken at a local level can play an instrumental role in facilitating cultural expression and aiding information delivery at a local level However, local broadcasts via the current Community Radio Stations (CRS) are not only expensive but also unsuitable for remote, isolated regions with their rugged terrains. </div><div><br></div><div>The authors hereby propose a novel approach to help address these current problems through a distributed system for Digital Audio Broadcasting. Multiple FM transmitting nodes (using VHF II: 87.5-100 MHz) form a WiFi Mesh Network to receive digital audio signals to broadcast from 1 hub node. The components used are off-the-shelf, cost-effective, and modular. It is more cost-effective than current CRS systems for mid-scale local broadcasts, with essentially no data loss between the transmitter units in deployment. Additionally, unlike relays, an existing alternative, built-in redundancy in the system ensures reliability, and caching protects against minor network disturbances when recordings are being broadcast. This approach allows for flexible and efficient deployments with wide, precise and accurate coverage, notably remaining equally effective in areas with an uneven terrain, thereby expanding its potential applications. </div><div><br></div><div>Experiments involving the system were conducted by varying the audio samples and the conditions, for which the evaluation metrics included the PSNR, PSD spectrograms, DFTs, signal strength, and data transmission rate to gauge the transmission quality, range and scalability. Results included a moderate data rate of 12 mbits/s at a 100 metres separation with obstacles from the transmitter, which is sufficient for the broadcasting and fast caching of high-fidelity audio. </div>

Analysis of the Single Frequency Network Gain in Digital Audio Broadcasting Networks

The single frequency network (SFN) is a popular solution in modern digital audio and television system networks for extending effective coverage, compared to its traditional single-transmitter counterpart. As benefits of this configuration appear to be obvious, this paper focuses on the exact analysis of so-called SFN gain—a quantitative effect of advantage in terms of the received signal strength. The investigations cover a statistical analysis of SFN gain values, obtained by means of computer simulations, with respect to the factors influencing the coverage, i.e., the protection level, the reception mode (fixed, portable, mobile), and the receiver location (outdoor, indoor). The analyses conclude with an observation that the most noteworthy contribution of the SFN gain is observed on the far edges of the networks, and the least one close to the transmitters. It is also observed that the highest values of the SFN gain can be expected in the fixed mode, while the protection level has the lowest impact.

Localised FM Digital Audio Broadcasting using WiFi Mesh Networks

Digital Audio Broadcasting via FM radio transmission on the VHF-II Band remains widely in use despite advancements in other wireless technologies due to its accessibility, particularly in rural areas where CRS help facilitate cultural expression and aid local information delivery. Current CRS are expensive and power-intensive while remaining challenging to scale, especially across hilly environments and uneven terrain. This paper first examines the need for a low-cost, scalable CRS in 2 regions, namely India and African countries, using recent social science literature and reporting. Then, we evaluate the performance of the proposed community radio mesh system for range, scalability, and transmission quality. The system consists of low-cost and modular FM transmitter units connected to each other via a WiFi MeshNet which is used to transmit digital audio signals from the hub node. Each transmitter unit then broadcasts this digital audio signal in the VHF-II band, supported by standard feature phones and other FM receivers. The transmitter units consist of COTS components running on open-source software. The transmission quality has been analyzed using objective metrics such as Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio and interpreted from PSD spectrograms and the output of Discrete Fourier Transforms. While field trials and further research are necessary, the approach seems promising for rolling out mid-to-large scale community radio mesh systems.<br>

Localised FM Digital Audio Broadcasting using WiFi Mesh Networks

<div>Digital Audio Broadcasting via FM radio transmission on the VHF-II Band remains widely in use despite advancements in other wireless technologies due to its accessibility, particularly in rural areas where CRS help facilitate cultural expression and aid local information delivery. Current CRS are expensive and power-intensive while remaining challenging to scale, especially across hilly environments and uneven terrain.</div><div><br></div><div>This paper first examines the need for a low-cost, scalable CRS in 2 regions, namely India and African countries, using recent social science literature and reporting. Then, we evaluate the performance of the proposed community radio mesh system for range, scalability, and transmission quality. The system consists of low-cost and modular FM transmitter units connected to each other via a WiFi MeshNet which is used to transmit digital audio signals from the hub node. Each transmitter unit then broadcasts this digital audio signal in the VHF-II band, supported by standard feature phones and other FM receivers. The transmitter units consist of COTS components running on open-source software.</div><div><br></div><div>The transmission quality has been analyzed using objective metrics such as Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio and interpreted from PSD spectrograms and the output of Discrete Fourier Transforms. While field trials and further research are necessary, the approach seems promising for rolling out mid-to-large scale community radio mesh systems.</div>

Localised FM Digital Audio Broadcasting using WiFi Mesh Networks

<div>Digital Audio Broadcasting via FM radio transmission on the VHF-II Band remains widely in use despite advancements in other wireless technologies due to its accessibility, particularly in rural areas where CRS help facilitate cultural expression and aid local information delivery. Current CRS are expensive and power-intensive while remaining challenging to scale, especially across hilly environments and uneven terrain.</div><div><br></div><div>This paper first examines the need for a low-cost, scalable CRS in 2 regions, namely India and African countries, using recent social science literature and reporting. Then, we evaluate the performance of the proposed community radio mesh system for range, scalability, and transmission quality. The system consists of low-cost and modular FM transmitter units connected to each other via a WiFi MeshNet which is used to transmit digital audio signals from the hub node. Each transmitter unit then broadcasts this digital audio signal in the VHF-II band, supported by standard feature phones and other FM receivers. The transmitter units consist of COTS components running on open-source software.</div><div><br></div><div>The transmission quality has been analyzed using objective metrics such as Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio and interpreted from PSD spectrograms and the output of Discrete Fourier Transforms. While field trials and further research are necessary, the approach seems promising for rolling out mid-to-large scale community radio mesh systems.</div>

USRP Based Digital Audio Broadcasting Using OFDM in Virtual and Remote Laboratory

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is an amazing technology, achieving its promise of certainly delivering high quality digital audio in the most vindicate mobile and fixed receiver environments. The radio signal processing capability can be provided by Universal software radio peripheral (USRP) hardware. The received signal frequency can be controlled and transmitting the signal through wireless is possible by installing NI USRP utility configuration. The programmable USRP was running the VI snippet program in block diagram panel with radio companion integrated through USB cable on windows 7 64. With the parameters such as IQ rate, transmitter gain, carrier frequency along with device name which is given as ni2901_1 the students can able to tune the radio signal. DAB technology is integrated with USRP device using prominent OFDM technique for promise delivery of high quality audio signal. DAB works under four transmission modes in this paper. In this paper RF0 module is used USRP device is connected with dual band vertical antenna with 2.4 and 5GHz frequency as Tx1. This transmitting VI snippet program will support all file formats such as.wav, mp3, etc. the intention of the paper is to transmit the real time data through long distance using DAB technology in remote laboratory. The proposed system is implemented in virtual lab so that it can be accessed by any user from anywhere. This system is successfully tested on institute of aeronautical engineering virtual lab.