Nautel Showcases HD Coverage Toolkit
Live demonstrations at the NAB Show offer broadcasters a portfolio of strategies that can help them achieve enhanced HDRadio coverage.
April 20, 2009
NAB 2009, Booth N7016 –Underscoring its commitment to “Making Digital Radio Work,” Nautel showcased a broad portfolio of products, technologies and research projects that address HD Radio™ coverage at NAB 2009. Included in the demonstrations were solutions that permit higher digital power such as the recently announced NV Series transmitters and Nautel’s HD Power Boost. Nautel also demonstrated an innovative concept called IQ over IP (IQ/IP) which simplifies the deployment of cost effective boosters as part of an IBOC coverage infill strategy. In showing their HD Coverage Toolkit, Nautel personnel noted that when it comes to HD coverage there is no “one size fits all” reality, so the portfolio approach will allow broadcasters to select from power increase strategies, infill strategies or a combination of both.
“At NAB Nautel makes a tradition of showing both our newest technologies for digital radio as well as emerging technology concepts from our labs,” said Peter Conlon, Nautel President and CEO. “For 2009, our technologies offer a broadcaster a full toolkit of solutions that help ensure the best possible IBOC coverage. Our complete working demonstration of a studio, main transmitter and booster site clearly show these technologies under live conditions right here on the NAB exhibit floor. We invite broadcasters to discuss these technologies with our engineers both at the show and afterward so that we can continue to focus our efforts on the solutions that broadcasters need.”
Increased power technologies featured:
In 2008 Nautel introduced HD Power Boost, based on the concept of achieving higher IBOC power utilizing patent pending Peak to Average Power Reduction (PAPR) techniques. No longer just a concept, Nautel presented a live demonstration of HD Power Boost on a 10kW transmitter at the show. The company says its tests suggest a 10kW transmitter that normally can produce about 4.3kW in -10 dB HD hybrid mode can now achieve 5.4kW at -10dB. Alternatively a 10kW transmitter that produces about 8kW in -20dB HD hybrid mode can provide the same 8kW but with -15dB injection levels using HD Power Boost. Nautel also showed its broad array of NV Series family FM transmitters including the award winning NV40, the first high power solid state transmitter with tube comparable affordability. Nautel NV Series transmitters provide up to 44kW of output power, or even 70kW+ in combined mode, without the tuning, tube replacement, high voltages and performance variability issues of the tube systems they replace.
IBOC infill booster technologies featured:
Booster technologies offer the broadcaster the opportunity to selectively address poor coverage areas for analog, hybrid or purely digital signals. Historically the challenge has been how to manage synchronization and interference zones. Nautel has introduced a new concept called IQ over IP or IQ/IP. “In our demonstration we place a single HD Radio Exgine modulator at the studio site and broadcast the identical I & Q data stream, a complete digital representation of the RF broadcast signal, to any number of transmitter sites, booster sites or even translator sites,” said Conlon. “The benefit is three fold. A single Exgine saves cost and dramatically simplifies booster deployment while an identical I & Q feed to all transmitters eliminates the majority of synchronization issues.”
Robust HD Radio Components for Ease of Deployment
As part of the HD Radio Toolkit demonstration Nautel showed its broad portfolio of HD Radio components. Last year’s award winning Exporter Plus is joined this year by the Importer Plus. Both of these devices are a compact size (1RU) and utilize solid state hard disks for outstanding reliability and fast boot times of seconds as opposed to minutes with other products. Nautel also offers HD Reliable Transport that helps ensure reliable studio to transmitter HD Radio communications and reduces the bandwidth requirements for STL links. HD Reliable Transport is being used by broadcasters for satellite delivery of HD Radio content to remote stations with “main channel” audio decoding so that all analog and digital audio content can be carried on a single STL transport. Nautel also manufactures the AM IBOC, a unique solution which utilizes the latest Exgine technology for AM HD broadcasting.
Nautel Show Blog
Nautel invites anyone who is interested in the company’s presence at NAB 2009 to visit the Nautel blog at http://nautelnab.blogspot.com/ . Nautel will be posting pictures from the show floor as well as video demonstrations and presentations.
About Nautel
Nautel is a global leader in the design, manufacture, sales and support of high power Radio Frequency (“RF”) products for AM and FM broadcast, navigation, industrial and space-based applications. With a long history of creating highly innovative products, Nautel continues to lead the way in providing valuable new solutions for the digital radio broadcast revolution. Thousands of customers in more than 170 countries have discovered that Nautel delivers world class RF solutions - systems that meet stringent quality standards at its ISO-registered manufacturing facilities.
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For more information please contact:
John Whyte
Marketing Manager
902-823-5174
902-802-1281 (mobile)
John.Whyte@nautel.com
Making Digital Radio Work.
www.nautel.com
HD Radio™ is a trademark of iBiquity Digital Corporation.