System design and implementation of broadband in-band on-channel digital radio

In this paper, we present an in-band on-channel (IBOC) broadcasting system suitable for digital audio and data broadcasting in FM and AM channels. The new system utilizes a combination of frequency hopping, LDPC coding, hierarchical modulation and band aggregation techniques to increase the data rate, improve spectrum efficiency, and at the same time, provide spectrum flexibility to meet the requirements of high quality audio and multimedia services. A prototype has been developed on a personal computer (PC) based software defined radio (SDR) platform. Numerical results and initial laboratory tests demonstrate significant performance advantages of the new design over existing systems such as the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and Hybrid Digital (HD) radio.