Digital Radio Service Switching Time Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital radios experience longer service switching times compared to analogue radios, despite existing methods that store additional channel information to reduce this time, which increases memory and bandwidth requirements.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that includes a digital radio transmitter with first and second service channels, a central server storing information for all digital radio stations, and a receiver storing this information for fast access, allowing for reduced service switching times by using stored data for demodulation and decoding when switching frequencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If channel information of all frequencies is stored in the receiver device to reduce switching time, then service switching time is reduced, but memory requirements and bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver device performs preliminary actions by storing only the necessary service channel information (FAC and SDC) of adjacent frequencies in its internal memory before switching is needed. This allows the device to have critical data ready in advance without storing all channel data, thus reducing switching time while minimizing memory usage.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of uniformly storing all channel information across all frequencies, the invention applies local quality by selectively storing only the service channel information of adjacent frequencies that are most likely to be switched to. This targeted approach reduces the overall memory burden while maintaining fast switching capability for relevant channels.
2Loss of time
If channel information of all frequencies is stored in the receiver device to reduce switching time, then service switching time is reduced, but bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential service channel information (FAC and SDC channels) from the complete channel data set. By taking out only the critical components needed for fast switching rather than storing all channel information, the bandwidth consumption is significantly reduced while still achieving the goal of reduced service switching time.
3Reliability
If complete channel data is received from live broadcast stream, then data accuracy is ensured, but service switching time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies partial action by receiving and storing only the necessary portion of channel information (service channel data of adjacent frequencies) rather than waiting for the complete live broadcast stream. This partial data is sufficient for fast switching to adjacent frequencies, achieving a balance between data accuracy and switching speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method enhance the user experience in a digital radio by reducing the service switching time between frequencies. The system includes a digital radio transmitter to transmit digital data in a digital radio broadcast standard. The digital radio transmitter includes a first service channel to carry basic service selection information and a second service channel to carry information required for decoding. The digital radio transmitter includes a main service channel to transmit digital audio services and data services. A central server stores information channel data of all digital radio stations. A digital radio receiver stores the first service channel and the second service channel information of all frequencies other than the currently tuned frequency to the receiver internal storage and uses the stored information for demodulating and decoding at the time of service switching between frequencies.