DARC - Technical Introduction

DARC - Technical Introduction

Related Documents
[1]
[2]

ETS 300 751, Radio broadcasting systems; Data Radio Channel

(DARC), ETSI, Dec 2001
EN 50067, Specification of the radio data system (RDS) for VHF/FM
sound broadcasting in the frequency range from 87.5 to 108.0 MHz,
CENELEC, April 1998

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DARC - Technical Introduction

1.

Introduction

DARC Data Radio Channel, is a broadcasting system based on the already existing FM infrastructure. It
allows information providers to transmit data to any place within the coverage of the FM radio network. This
use of existing infrastructure leads to low expansion costs.
The DARC signal is a sub-carrier, like RDS, that is inserted in the multiplex signal. The DARC signal does
not interfere with the RDS signal or the audio signals.
Information providers send data to a network server, which distributes the data to the transmitter stations in
the network. At the transmitter station, the modulated signal is created by a transmitter station equipment,
TSE.
The transmitted data is received by DARC receivers and sent, depending on the type of service, to
applications on computers or to other equipment such as GPS receivers.
This document refers to SWIFT-DARC, a European DARC standard controlled by ETSI. See [1] for more
information.

1.1

Overview

DARC is a data broadcasting system, using ordinary FM transmitters. The technique that is used in DARC is
similar to the technique that is used in RDS. The digital signals are modulated onto a FM carrier.
1.1.1 DARC sub-carrier
In a sub-carrier system the sub-carrier is modulated with the data. Then the modulated sub-carrier is added to
the FM multiplex signal, MPX (that may contain audio and RDS). The MPX signal is then modulated onto a
FM carrier.
The sub-carrier that is modulated in DARC is 76 kHz locked in phase to the forth overtone of the pilot tone
(19 kHz). The frequency tolerance is 76 kHz 7.6 Hz (100 ppm) and the phase difference shall not exceed
5 degrees from the pilot tone.
1.1.2 Modulation
DARC specifies that L-MSK (level controlled minimum shift keying) should be used as the modulation method.
L-MSK is a form of MSK in which the level of the stereo signal, L-R (left minus right), controls the level of
the modulated sub-carrier. The frequency 76+4 kHz is used when the input data is 1 and 76-4 kHz when
input data is 0. The deviation of the main FM carrier caused by the DARC signal is allowed to vary in the
range from 4 % to 10 %. In the normal case the deviation of the DARC signal is set to 10 % (7.5 kHz).
If the level of the stereo signal (L-R) becomes low, the DARC deviation is decreased to 4 % (3 kHz).
Even if the DARC specification specifies a level control of the DARC deviation, it is also common to use
static DARC deviation. In the static deviation case the DARC deviation is set to 10 % independent of the
level of the stereo signal level.
1.1.3 Bit Rate
The gross bit rate in the DARC system is 16000 bit/s 1.6 bit/s.
As a comparison the gross bit rate in the RDS system is 1187.5 bit/s 0.125 bit/s.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

1.1.4

MPX Spectrum with DARC

Mono Pilot
L+R

RDS

DARC

53 60

76

Stereo
L-R

L-R

kHz
15

23

38

19

94

57

Figure 1 The spectrum of a FM pilot tone system.

1.2

The DARC Network

DARC is a data channel with the purpose of broadcasting data from service providers to customers. The data
might be dependent of location and therefore it is possible to direct the data to specific areas. The DARC
channel is a multiplexed channel due to the fact that the service provider may have different kind of data
and that there might be several service providers.
The network has some identification parameters: Country identification (CID), Extended country code (ECC),
Network identification (NID) and TSE identification (TSEID). The receiver can use these parameters to identify if
the receiver is tuned to the right network. The parameters are mostly used when the receiver shall search for
a DARC channel automatically.
If the receiver is placed close to the boarder and there are DARC networks in adjacent countries, ECC and
CID can be used for identification of which country the network belongs to. See [2] for more information about
ECC and CID. There can be a number of different networks even within a country and the user of a
receiver might just want the receiver to tune into one of these networks. The NID identifies networks within a
country. All of the transmitter station equipments within a network are uniquely defined by a TSEID. The
TSEID can be used if the receiver must only lock on a certain transmitter.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

Transmitter/
TSE 1

Transmitter/
TSE 2

Service
Provider A

NWS

Transmitter/
TSE 3

xxyyzzww
zzz xxx
xwwweswe

Pager/
Receiver

Transmitter/
TSE 4

Receiver
Service
Provider B

Figure 2 A network with a NWS, 4 transmitters and 2 service providers.

1.2.1 Service Providers
A service provider is someone who has information and that information needs to be broadcasted to the
customers. An example of this kind of information is financial data, news or differential GPS information.
Financial data is an example of data that is not area-specific and therefore can be sent from every transmitter
in the network. Differential GPS information however, get loss of accuracy if the distance between the receiver
and the reference station is too long and therefore it is only interesting to use transmitters that covers the
surroundings of the reference station.
1.2.2 Network Server
The heart of the DARC system is the network server. There is one network server for each network. The
main task of the network server is to collect incoming data from service providers, direct the data to the
transmitters (TSE) and for every TSE calculate current bandwidth in order to prevent overflow and to guarantee
bandwidth to all services.
Since the network server has control over the DARC system it also generates service channel information, e.g.
COT, AFT, TDT, SCOT.
1.2.3 TSE
The TSE is the DARC signal encoder. The TSE is located at the transmitter station and it is connected to a
transmitter. There is a TSE for every transmitter in the network that is transmitting DARC.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

1.2.4 Transmitter Station

The radio signal is broadcasted at the transmitter station. A transmitter station can have several transmitters,
one for each FM radio network. This means that there can be several TSE at a transmitter station, one for
each transmitter.
1.2.5 Receiver
When a customer wants to receive data from a service provider, the customer uses a receiver. Depending on
which service the user needs, there are different kinds of receivers. The receiver can act as a radio modem
and just output data to an application on a laptop. The receiver can also be a pager for receiving text or
voice messages.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.

DARC Protocol

See [1] for more information about the DARC protocol.

2.1

Services

The purpose of DARC is to transmit data. Since there can be several service providers and each of the
service providers can generate different data for many applications, data can be grouped into what is called
services. These services are identified with unique service identities, SID. The range of SID is 1-16383.
DARC also supports conditional access, CA, based on SID. With this system it is possible for the service
provider to restrict which receivers that shall be able receive the services.
2.1.1 Standard Service
In most applications the arrival time of the data is not essential. It is more important that the data is
received reliably. In DARC there are four methods, A0, A1, B and C with different capabilities. With different
error correction strategies, the possible time delay of data varies.
2.1.2 Real-time Service
Even if most of the services are of standard type, there can be some services for which delay cannot be
tolerated. An example is an RTK service. A time delay of a few seconds is enough for making the
information worthless. Real-time data is therefore not protected with the same strength of error correction
possibilities as standard services. Data that cannot be delayed more than 1 second should be sent as a realtime service.

2.2

Layer Organization OSI Reference Model

The DARC protocol is specified with a layer model. In this document only layer 1 to layer 4 is considered.
2.2.1 Layer 1, Physical Layer
In layer 1, the modulation is taken care of. The modulation is described in section 1.1.2.
2.2.2 Layer 2, Data Link Layer
This layer handles DARC methods (framing) and error correction. After handling layer 2, error correction
information is removed and the data is sent to layer 3 handling. See section 2.3 for more information about
layer 2.
2.2.3 Layer 3, Network Layer
This layer together with layer 4 handles the multiplexing of channels. In layer 3 is data divided into blocks.
The blocks in layer 3 are sorted into logical channels. There are 16 logical channels defined, 4 of them are
reserved for SWIFT-DARC. One of these channels is the service channel.
2.2.4 Layer 4, Transport Layer
In this layer the service identity is considered. The data that was sent by the service provider is available at
this layer. The data from the service providers are received as messages. The layer 4 messages are built of
layer 3 blocks.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.3

Layer 2

There are four methods in DARC. Each of them has a special framing method. The selection of method
depends on the needs of the applications.
A0
A1

Normal format.
Normal format with possibility to send some real-time information.

The original format. Mainly used in Japan.

Horizontal error correction only. Suited for real-time services.

The frames are built of information blocks and parity blocks. Each block consists of 288 bits. All blocks starts
with a 16 bits block identification code, BIC.
2.3.1

Information Block
16
BIC

176
Information

14

82

CRC

Parity

Figure 3 Information block.

The information block consists of a BIC, 176 information bits, 14 CRC bits and 82 parity bits. The CRC is
used for error detection. The parity is used for error correction.
2.3.2

Parity Block
16

272

BIC

Parity

Figure 4 Parity block.

The parity block consists of a BIC and 272 parity bits. The parity is used for vertical error correction. The
vertical error correction is only performed in the methods A0, A1 and B.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.3.3 A0
The A0 frame consists of 190 information blocks and 82 parity blocks.

Information
B
I
C

C
R
C

190 blocks
Horizontal
Parity

Vertical parity

82 blocks

Figure 5 The A0 frame format.

The A0 method is well suited for mobile services since it can take advantage of the entire error correction
capability of DARC. This frame type can be used when there are no real-time services in the system.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.3.4 A1
In the A0 frame there are 82 parity blocks in the end of the frame. This means that there is a time delay
of data when the parity blocks are transmitted. In order to suppress the delay in the A1 method, additional
real-time information blocks are inserted between the parity blocks. This gives a possibility to have some realtime services. 12 blocks are inserted, 3 groups with 4 blocks each. Since the inserted blocks are not part of
the product code they are removed after the horizontal correction (before the vertical error correction) and the
information in those blocks are sent to the handling of layer 3. The vertical error correction can then be
performed (if necessary) on the rest of the blocks. Standard services use blocks in the information part of the
frame. Real-time services use blocks in the information part of the frame and the inserted blocks in the
vertical parity but use only the horizontal error correction. An A1 frame consists of 284 blocks.

190

Information
B
I
C

C
R
C

Horizontal
Parity
Real-time
blocks
(4 per group)

Vertical parity
82+12
Figure 6 The A1 frame format.
The A1 method is very similar to the A0 method, but it provides a possibility to have some real-time services
in the system. When there are no real-time services, this method will have lower net bit rate than A0 since
the inserted blocks cannot be used for standard services.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.3.5 B
The frame B spreads the parity almost uniform in the frame. The parity blocks are interleaved with the
information. Since a parity block is sent before all information blocks are sent (all information blocks are
needed for calculation of the parity blocks), there is a constant time delay at the transmitter side of one
frame (5 seconds). This implies that this frame type cannot be used when there are real-time services. The
frame consists of 272 blocks.
Parity blocks
(1 per group)
15
2
2
.
.
.

136 blocks
B
I
C

.
.
.

Information

C
R
C

Horizontal
Parity

15
2
2
.
.
.

136 blocks
.
.
.

.
.
.

.
.
.

.
.
.

Figure 7 The B frame format.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.3.6 C
The C frame contains only information blocks. In other words, no vertical error correction can be made. The
C frame increases the net bit rate since no parity blocks are transmitted.

B
I
C

Information

C
R
C

Horizontal
Parity
272 blocks

Figure 8 The C frame format.

The C method offers high bit rate and is well suited for real-time services but is less robust for mobile
services since it does not have the same error correction capability for standard messages as the other
methods.
2.3.7 Performance Using Different Methods
The different frames give different performance.
Net bit rate
Method
Net bit rate

Available for realreal-time

services

Available for standard

standard
services

A0

6.8 kbit/s

0 kbit/s

6.8 kbit/s

A1

7.0 kbit/s

7.0 kbit/s

6.5 kbit/s

6.8 kbit/s

0 kbit/s

6.8 kbit/s

9.8 kbit/s

9.8 kbit/s

9.8 kbit/s

Error correction
The error correction used in DARC can correct almost 100 % up to 3 % bit error rate. At 7 % bit error
rate the error correction performance is still good. When the product code is used (vertical error correction)
the capability of correcting burst errors is appreciably increased.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

Delay for standard services

Method
System delay using only horizontal System delay using vertical error
error correction
correction
A0

0 1.5 s

1.5 6.4 s

A1

0 1.7 s

1.7 5.6 s

4.9 s

4.9 9.8 s

0 s

Delay for real-time services

Method
System delay using only horizontal
error correction
A1

0 0.4 s

Note: If the vertical error correction is performed in the receiver (method A0, A1 and B), there is a delay
caused by the product code of 5 seconds, except for real-time blocks in method A1. Method C does not use
vertical error correction.

2.4

Layer 3

In layer three the message multiplexing begins. Layer 3 is divided into 16 logical channels (SI/LCh). In Europe
(SWIFT-DARC), 4 of these channels are used (SI/LCh 8-11).
Layer 3 Channels
SI/LCh
Description
8

Service channel

Short message channel

10

Long message channel

11

Block message channel

2.4.2 Service channel

The service channel is divided into 16 service messages. The service channel gives the receiver information
about the data transmitted on current transmitter and information about the network. See [1] for more
information about the service channel.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

Service channel message

Channel

Channel Organization Table, COT

Alternative Frequency Table, AFT

Service Alternative Frequency Table, SAFT

Time, Date, Position & Network name Table, TDPNT

Service Name Table, SNT

Time and Date Table, TDT

Synchronous Channel Organization Table, SCOT

RFA

7-15

COT
The COT is a list of all services (SID) that are available on current transmitter. The receiver can use this
information in automatic search.
AFT
Contains information about the frequencies of DARC transmitters that are close to current transmitter. The
alternative frequencies are used for channel switching if the receiver loses contact with the transmitter.
The AFT contains more than one alternative frequency list if the transmitter has associated repeater stations.
The AFT then contains one list for the main transmitter and one for every repeater station frequency.
SAFT
Contains information for helping the receiver build a more specific alternative frequency list depending on which
services the receiver wants. For every service in the COT the SAFT can give information about on which
transmitter in the AFT the service is not transmitted. The SAFT also contains information for every service in
the COT about other transmitters that are not in the AFT but is transmitting the service.
TDPNT
Contains information about time, date, position and the network name. This message contains either time
information or date information.
SNT
Contains information about what kind of data that is transmitted on a service, e.g. file transmission. It contains
names (text strings) of the services. This service channel message is still a proposal.
TDT
Contains information about time, date, position and the network name. It also contains quality information for
the time information. This service channel message is still a proposal but will replace the TDPNT message.
SCOT
The SCOT is a list of all synchronous services (SID) that are available on current transmitter. It contains
information about SID, transmit cycle and cycle offset. With this information, together with a frame message
see 2.6.1, a receiver can figure out when to wake up and go to sleep.
2.4.3 Short Message Channel
The short message channel builds layer 4 data messages up to 127 bytes. This channel is suitable for realtime services and message services.

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DARC - Technical Introduction

2.4.4 Long Message Channel

The long message channel builds layer 4 data messages up to 255 bytes. This channel is designed for
data/file transfer. The long message channel contains information for linking several messages into larger
packets and message repetition.
2.4.5 Block Message Channel
The block message channel can be used for simple block based protocols. The block message channel is
divided into 8 sub-channels.

2.5

Layer 4

Layer 4 is the transport layer or the service layer. At this layer, the service messages are available. The
messages at layer 4 can be sorted according to SID and the receiver can output messages from the desired
SID.
Layer 4 is in a way the only layer that the user, and the service provider, has to be concerned about. The
service provider sends layer 4 messages to the NWS and the user receives layer 4 messages from the
receiver.

2.6

Synchronous DARC

The main purpose of synchronous services is to support low power applications. The receiver can synchronize
to the transmitted data in order to save battery in mobile receivers.
The time is split up into 24 slots (one slot is one frame) and every synchronous service has a transmit cycle
and a cycle offset.
Service

Transmit Cycle

Delay

SID1

SID2

SID3

Slot

9 10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

SID1
SID2
SID3

Figure 9 When a synchronous service transmits data.

Data from a synchronous service is sent in the frames that are defined by the cycle and offset.
2.6.1 Frame Message
In the beginning of every frame there is a frame message, sent as the first block, that describes the current
frame number and the synchronous data content in the frame. It describes where all the synchronous services
are located in the frame and that enables the receiver to turn power on/off at exactly the right block.

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