The Technologies Powering Satellite Broadcast

| Thursday, February 17, 2011
By James Skinner


Any song you hear on satellite radio starts as a recording in a specific format on unique recording mediums. IN most cases, the recording high quality has to be maintained fairly high, often around 384kb/s, although also being reasonably tiny enough to be transported on CDs and DVDs. The music tracks utilized in satellite radio are cataloged using a comparable system to the MP3 cataloging criteria, the ID3 tags. The option for the music tracks which will be played is made by every channel individually. The DJ selecting the tracks typically chooses about 20-30 minutes worth of music. The DJ has to listen to the tracks to make sure they are in proper condition and then basically lets the computer decode the original file. The exact same thing is repeated once the initial 20-30 minutes are exhausted along with the music playing cycle repeats itself.

Sound encoding in satellite radio.Encoding is among the key elements of digital radio. Every channel is handled by a unique encoder. The encoder basically takes the analog file and turns it into a digital 1. The digitalization process is made in real time and the music files are transformed into 1's and 0's. This method is carried out by powerful computers that analyze sound waves and frequency and break them into binary code. The encoding method is carried out at 128kb/s, 44.1Kh which is actually CD high quality. After the song is encoded, it really is transmitted to a multiplexer where other channels are also present - the multiplexer basically takes all the channels of the satellite radio provider and combines them into a single broadcast transmission. The information is then sent to a satellite modem device which modulates the information and sends it to the broadcaster's satellites, using distinctive transmission frequencies.

What happens above the Earth.Here is where the satellites are located. They obtain the transmission and transmit it to the receivers we have in our homes and cars. The satellites are located at 23,000 miles above us - both Sirius and XM Radio use satellites located at this distance from the Earth. The satellites are located in geo-sync, which means that hey orbit above the location they're designated to service at all times. When the satellite receives the transmission encoded at 128kb/s, 44.1 khz it rebroadcasts it to the geographical region it covers. Both Sirius and XM Radio use satellites that cover certain areas of the United states - mostly the East and West coasts. As an example, one of XM Radio's satellites covers the western part of USA, probably an region located roughly from Seattle to San Diego on the West and Minneapolis to Houston on the east. The increased sound high quality is doable simply because the broadcasted data (music tracks, news, sports transmission) do not get sliced up too numerous times inside the decoding method.

The antenna connected to your satellite radio receiver picks up the transmission on L-Band. The recent technological advances have allowed digital radio broadcasters to produce receivers modest sufficient to fit mobile locations. Within the early days of satellite radio, a significant parabolic dish would have to be mounted on the auto so that you can receive signal. Also, just before the additional compact receivers had been created, the early satellite radio receivers necessary electronic movements that directed the dish towards the satellite line of sight. Modern flat panel receivers have eliminated all the complications of their predecessors and might be fitted nearly anywhere with out taking up too significantly space.

The receiver as well as the output, the receiver is the device that decodes the data, essentially doing the precise opposite of what the encoding procedure was like. After receiving the signal from the antenna it amplifies it and converts it to usable sound. The automobile or property audio system is then able to play the selected satellite radio channel. The rest of the process is exactly like analog broadcasts would work, with an amplifier and speakers outputting the sound.




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