Digital radio silicon is coming - News - Texas Instruments, iBiquity Digital develop digital audio broadcasting receivers

Electronic News, August 12, 2002 by Gale Morrison

Silicon for digital audio broadcasting (DAB), also known as digital radio, is set to hit the airwaves in the coming months.

Today Texas Instruments Inc. is reporting that it is sampling a digital baseband chip for digital AM and FM radio and will begin volume production by year's end. TI expects radios using the chips will be on the shelves in 2003, with automakers putting out vehicles with factory-installed digital radios the year after that. Expect DAB receivers to be a major presence at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, analysts say. TI will face competition in this space from Philips Semiconductors and STMicroelectronics, who have also signed on as "strategic partners," (i.e., licensees and investors), digital radio juggernaut iBiquity Digital Corp.

"All the ingredients are now in place for the launch of IBOC receivers in 2003," said Naresh Coppisetti, digital radio business manager at TI.

Digital radio, also known as software radio, has been a hope and dream of the mainline radio component giants for decades. iBiquity is actually the combined USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio, which merged in 2000. Harris Corp. is also part of the alliance and has been a key equipment provider in digital TV as well.

TI said it is excited about the rollout because it's a place where programmable DSPs can shine. Radio junkies have been hopped up about the final arrival of software radio for decades.

"The (module) and software radio approach that TI and iBiquity have taken allows manufacturers to enter the emerging digital radio market quickly and with little design risk," said O'Connell Benjamin, senior VP and co-COO of iBiquity. "Without a software radio approach, we could not have enabled manufacturers to launch products in early 2003."

TI produced the baseband DRI200, and iBiquity gets to do the integration and marketing of its module, which includes the algorithms that will run on the TI DSP for processing the broadcast in-band on-channel (IBOC) signal. Audio entertainment stalwart Kenwood USA plans to use this combination, as does Ford Motor Co. electronics subsidiary Visteon.

The DRI200 is based on TI's TMS320C6000 DSP architecture. The module is only available to iBiquity licensees, nearly all of whom are investors in the Maryland-based concern. Samples of the DRI200 are available now for $50 each. The IDM is available now to iBiquity's licensed radio manufacturers. TI's DRI200 is scheduled for volume production in Q4.

[GRAPH OMITTED]