Microsoft To FCC: Change The Standard For HD Radio
July 25, 2005
By Tony Sanders
Billboard Radio Monitor
http://billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/leg_reg/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000990720
Microsoft and two other joint commenters said in a July 18 filing with the
FCC that the commission should amend the standard it has laid out for
digital audio broadcasting because there are "critical omissions" in the
standard.
Microsoft said that the FCC should "mandate amendments to NRSC-5 [the
current standard]" that would make the iBiquity HD Radio codec "an initial,
market-opening codec within the standard" and that would allow alternative
codecs to also be developed and used in digital audio broadcasting.
"As proposed, NRSC-5 does not contain enough information to enable full
implementation of the in-band, on-channel ('IBOC') digital broadcasting
technology already approved by the commission," the filing said.
"Specifically, the standard fails to specify either an initial codec for
broadcasting and receiving an IBOC digital audio signal or a registration
and signaling mechanism through which to enable alternative codecs."
To ensure DAB devices that "offer the most benefit to consumers," the
filing said, the FCC should mandate that the NRSC "complete the standard by
incorporating both an initial codec and a mechanism that enables the use of
alternative, optional codecs.
Microsoft said in its filing that National Public Radio (NPR) has tested
multicasting "using alternative codecs that, without sacrificing audio
quality," use only about half of the 96 kbps available to "each digital
radio station operating in the Hybrid IBOC mode."
The software giant also urged the Commission to "develop and adopt the data
transmission portion of the DAB standard" and to "establish an oversight
procedure for resolving disputes concerning further development and
licensing of the DAB technology."
The comments were filed as part of the FCC's June 16 Public Notice on DAB
and its impact on terrestrial radio. Interested parties should refer to MM
Docket 99-325.
Contacted by Billboard Radio Monitor, iBiquity didn't have an immediate
comment on the filing. The company said it planned to review all comments
in detail before filing its reply comments at the FCC.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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