WorldDAB Technical Committee – enabling radio’s digital future

21.09.2020 -

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the members of the WorldDAB Technical Committee, DAB+ is now established as the digital radio standard of choice for broadcasters across Europe.

A core pillar of the work of WorldDAB is the Technical Committee (TC), a forum where dedicated technical experts from WorldDAB member organisations combine their expertise to oversee and enhance the DAB technical standards.

The TC’s work ensures that receiver equipment and broadcast technologies are compatible. Its various Task Forces work continuously to upgrade and advance the DAB standards, keeping them in line with other technical developments, and future proofing DAB equipment.

WorldDAB Interoperability Workshop in Munich

Over the past twelve months, the TC has focused its work on several of the DAB technical standards submitted to ETSI, the global standardisation organisation for telecommunications.

Key highlights include:

Update to the DAB Specification covering Rules of Implementation for Service Information Features - TS 103 176. The rules were developed to provide a reliable and consistent experience for digital radio listeners. They provide implementation details for how the Fast Information Channel (FIC) signalling is used and how receivers will interpret and behave in response to receiving the FIC signalling. They also describe how the text labels (service labels, dynamic labels) are handled for non-Latin scripts, including the idea of regional text profiles that help to align what is broadcast with what is displayed by receivers. The updated standard provides more detailed rules and guidance for service following across borders and the addition of the “simplified bidirectional algorithm” to provide further capabilities with mixed direction labels. In parallel with these updates, a new regional text profile for Thai has been defined, so that DAB+ receivers can now more easily support Thai script.

New DAB specification - TS 103 689 - on Filtered Information Service. The Filtered Information Service (FIS) is a data application that allows service providers to deliver information to groups of receivers with configurable filters, for example, text language, model number, date of registration, etc.

TS 103 461 - DAB minimum requirements for domestic and in-vehicle receivers. The introduction of the EECC requires all new car radios sold across the EU to be able to receive digital terrestrial radio from the end of 2020. The TC has completed work to review and update TS 103 461 to ensure it provides all the necessary testing for compliance with the new requirements and that it is completely in line with changes to the standards base since it was first published in 2017. The standard is used as a reference by the receiver industry and is the technical basis for the DRUK Tick Mark scheme.

WorldDAB ETI library

Another key area of ongoing work for the TC is maintaining and expanding the WorldDAB ETI library, containing samples of live on-air ensembles from different countries. The files represent a wide range of sources, companies, and geographic coverage and provide a real-world representation of what is actually happening in practice. Files available are configured with multiplexing equipment from specific manufacturers, as well as test files for demonstration and testing purposes.

All the DAB technical standards are available to download for free at ETSI.org or via the worlddab.org website.

Membership of the Technical Committee is open to all technical experts of WorldDAB member organisations.

Find out how to get involved at worlddab.org/about/membership.