Industry News

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Rohde & Schwarz has announced two 5G Broadcast-enabled transmitters – the R&S Tx9 & Tx9evo transmitter series. In addition, for existing Rohde & Schwarz transmitter users, the migration to 5G Broadcast/Multicast can be achieved through a software upgrade and minor hardware upgrade.

Access to 5G Broadcast / Multicast services opens up entirely new business models, such
as venue-casting, ultra-high-quality live video streaming, live commerce and over-the-air
software updates/upgrades.

Worldwide, most terrestrial transmitter networks have been upgraded to digital transmission technology. As the global market leader, R&S transmitters have earned the reputation of being the most advanced, energy-efficient transmitters on the market – now Rohde & Schwarz is offering users a straightforward migration pathway to the world of 5G Broadcast & Multicast.

Also, Rohde &Schwarz is a leading manufacturer of electronic Test & Measurement and communications equipment. Network operators use this equipment to successfully install, maintain and optimize broadcast networks of all types, making R&S a very effective and reliable 5G Broadcast partner.

Using Broadcast and/or Multicast over 5G, network operators can deliver premium content
to mobile consumers while they are still attached to cellular networks with consistent high
quality of service (QoS) and higher quality of experience (QoE) within an overlay concept.
From an architectural perspective, 5G Broadcast/Multicast is a key pillar of the new 5G
ecosystem. It is composed of a Broadcast/Multicast Radio Access Network (RAN) and a
Broadcast/Multicast Core Network (CN).

Compliant with 3GPP Rel.14/16, the R&S 5G Broadcast/Multicast RAN solution is mainly
based on new Tx9 and Tx9evo transmitter range across all output powers. However, for
existing transmitter customers, depending on the solution already implemented, a software
and/or hardware upgrade will be sufficient to acquire the new 3GPP specifications.

“Rohde & Schwarz transmitters set the benchmark for power efficiency. With some of the
largest installations worldwide and a history in RF transmission going back to 1933, we
have the experience required for your transmission needs,” said Manfred Reitmeier,
Vice President Transmitters and Amplifier Systems at Rohde & Schwarz. “A wide range of
highly innovative broadcast transmitters – including the Tx9 and Tx9evo – provide a
distribution system that is ideal for 5G Broadcast / Multicast content distribution.”

RBR+TVBR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES provides an opportunity for companies to present their story, in their own words, to RBR.com and Weekly Tech Roundup readers. For more information, please contact RBR+TVBR at adam@rbr.com.

Broadcasters supporting the “Phoenix Model Market” project for NEXTGEN TV, along with broadcaster group Pearl TV, have started the initial testing of NEXTGEN TV over limited cable infrastructure.

It’s being done in the Pacific Northwest’s second-largest market, home to stations owned by Meredith Corp., Sinclair Broadcast Group, TEGNA and Nexstar Media Group.

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The global TV market is on track to achieve 1.2% growth in 2020 and is set to end the year on more than 233 million shipments.

The COVID-19 pandemic is to “thank,” if you will, for the forward momentum, a new market report from Futuresource Consulting finds.

Trade value has also fared relatively well.

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Google’s GNI Innovation Challenge has selected one of the nation’s leading broadcast TV companies for $200,000 in funding to support a multi-platform journalism project focused on health disparities in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia regions of the U.S.

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In June 2019, RBR+TVBR reported on the proposed sale of a 100kw FM serving the Grand Junction, Colo., market from high atop a mountain peak some two hours to the north.

The intended buyer: a wholly owned subsidiary of Allen Brill’s Western Slope Communications.

It turns out that deal never closed. Now, a new buyer has emerged for the facility.

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Northern Mechatronics, a Canada-based manufacturer of radio frequency (RF) and wireless solutions, has chosen Ambiq’s Apollo3 Blue microprocessor (MCU) for its latest LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module, NM180100, a revolutionary single-package solution for IoT applications.

The NM180100 is purpose-built to enable edge and endpoint computing with short and long-range wireless communication capability in a highly integrated and flexible single package module solution. By combining Apollo3 Blue MCU, the NM180100 can achieve ultra-low power consumption in all application states, including computing, transmitting, receiving, or deep sleep.

Wireless communications expertise has always been at a deficit, especially for commercial industries such as agriculture, electric and gas metering control, and property management. With the rapid growth of Industrial IoT and the recent 5G rollout, the need for faster time-to-market can easily make or break a solution provider in today’s competitive landscape. The NM180100, supported by a wide range of design resources, including the evaluation board NM180100EVB, the NM180310 small form factor application board, a software development kit, full programmability, and regulatory certifications for FCC and IC/ISED, is the only turnkey solution in the growing IoT market.

“We partnered with Ambiq because of its record-breaking ultra-low power energy efficiency. IoT sensors provide unprecedented insights to businesses across the spectrum, including commercial, industrial, and consumer levels,” said Dr. Joshua Wong, Executive Chairman and CEO at Northern Mechatronics. “Until the development of the NM180100, an ultra-low power single package IoT solution possessing short-range and long-range communications and edge computing capability without sacrificing battery life has been a pipe dream.”

About the NM180100 LoRa Bluetooth 5 Low Energy Module

With 1MB of on-module flash memory and 384kB of SRAM, the NM180100 allows applications to run two radio stacks simultaneously (BLE and LoRaWAN) with ample memory remaining for over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates via either LoRaWAN or BLE.  Page-level locking in the flash memory allows the application to maintain regulatory certifications without impacting critical firmware components such as the radio stacks.  The architecture design significantly reduces the end-product cost by eliminating the need for an additional application processor typical of many other LoRaWAN module solutions.

The Apollo3 Blue possesses a secure interface (ISO7816), including secure boot and secure OTA firmware upgrade over Bluetooth. Built on Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform, the Apollo3 Blue further enhances the power efficiency on Arm® Cortex M4F with DSP instructions by enabling designers to perform raw data pre-processing before transmission over the air, in so doing improving the battery life by reducing the amount of raw data transmitted.

For more information, visit www.northernmechatronics.com/nm180100.

AVT Audio Video Technologies is highlighting a new digital radio installation in Germany.

“With the installation of NDR’s new DAB+ playout system supplied by AVT, listeners will be able to receive news and weather information from their respective regions via DAB+ with a coverage that was previously only possible via FM,” the manufacturer stated.

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Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or NDR, is part of the public broadcast association ARD. It serves Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.

“The DAB+ playout, which was previously divided into four regions, was replaced by a completely new redundant DAB+ Ensemble multiplexer system for 16 regions,” AVT stated.

It said the large number of different programs was a project challenge, because each of the 16 regional multiplexes can generate eight to nine independent DAB+ programs.

IP-based playout is done with a Magic DABMUX plus Ensemble Multiplexer with integrated DAB+ encoders licensed by FhG.

“The system’s internal redundant switching ensures seamless switching of the multiplex signal, which is available as EDI and ETI/E1 signal. The audio feed to the multiplexers including the audio monitoring is done via AES67 streams, which are connected to Prodigy audio converters from DirectOut,” the company stated.

“The regionally categorized slideshows are created by the PAD playout system of the company 4=1, Dynamic Label+, traffic announcements and TPEG traffic information is generated by the TIC system of the company GEWI. Linkage sets are triggered directly from CGI’s dira! automation software. The monitoring of the entire system is via EMBER+ with a GUI using Lawo VisTool. As management software, the new browser-based AVT DAB System Manager is used which enables the management of all 32 Ensemble multiplexers.”

Thorsten Geselle was the project manager at NDR.

The post NDR Gets AVT DAB+ Playout System appeared first on Radio World.

With Christmas right around the corner, we’re pleased to offer our readers this Classic Media Information Bureau installment from longtime Adult Contemporary programming consultant Gary Berkowitz. 

Happy holidays, and best wishes on a successful “Holiday” ratings book.

By Gary Berkowitz

Christmas is less than two weeks away. If your company has stations that are presently airing all-Christmas music, making sure they sound great throughout the holiday season is of utmost importance. Here is a 10-point programming checklist to keep the holiday tunes sound fresh through December 25.

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Talk about “a case of the Mondays.”

Entercom Communications lost some 13.1% of its value on December 14, largely due to one big midday trade that send ETM’s average volume doubling while its share price fell hard.

At 11:44am Eastern, ETM dipped from $2.54 to $2.24, likely triggered by a single sell.

At day’s end, volume was 3.527 million, compared to an average of 1.893 million. The downward activity continued in early after-hours trading, falling to $2.32 as of 4:19pm Eastern — off 1 cent from the $2.33 closing price on Monday.

The close negated an upward trend for Entercom that began November 19, and ETM on December 9 reached $2.86 — the highest closing price seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, a negative investor report surfaced, and shareholders seem to have responded.

Take a look at the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report, and you’ll immediately notice one big difference from the Spot Ten Radio report for the week ending December 13.

Big retail stores are present at spot TV; they’re absent at radio.

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