Final Report

Final Report
FM/HD Radio Mapping
ECE4007 Senior Design Project

Sections L01, FM/HD mapping
Thomas Shanks
Leandro Franca
Brian Casey
Submitted
April 30, 2009
FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................III
1.
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 4
1.1
Objective ................................................................................................................ 4
1.2
Motivation.............................................................................................................. 5
1.3
Background ........................................................................................................... 5
2.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS .................................................................... 6
3.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................. 8
4.
DESIGN APPROACH AND DETAILS ....................................................................... 10

4.1
Design Approach................................................................................................... 7
4.2
Codes and Standards .......................................................................................... 10
4.3
Constraints, Alternatives, and Tradeoffs.......................................................... 18
5.
SCHEDULE, TASKS, AND MILESTONES ............................................................... 19
6.
PROJECT DEMONSTRATION................................................................................... 20
7.
MARKETING AND COST ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 24
8.
7.1
Marketing Analysis............................................................................................. 14
7.2
Cost Analysis ....................................................................................................... 26
SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 16
APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. A1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of this project is to actively map FM signal quality and strength quality by use of an
automated mobile system. This system will provide radio stations, transmitter/receiver design
companies, and end users with a service that will show information for any station. Current
mapping involves mathematical modeling using FCC data. NPR performed a vehicular
mapping. However, their scope was different in that they were interested in adjacent channel
interference. The design groups system provides actual coverage with measurements of the
analog RF power and signal to noise ratio of the audio. It will show the signal strength, whether
HD is present, and will give information about the audio quality. The measurements will be
compared with similar results from NPR studies.
The system consists of a vehicle with an FM receiving antenna and a GPS unit controlled by an
automated computer system. Use of said system requires the station to send a test tone for
calibration and to further increase the accuracy of reading. Several radios will be used to test the
audio from various types of radios. Tasks have been separated between the group to ensure
design milestones will be met on time. Upon completion, a demonstration will be performed,
and data will be analyzed and compared with NPR Labs studies. The total project cost to recreate the project has been estimated at $28,892.
FM/HD Radio Mapping

1.
INTRODUCTION
Radio stations and government regulators generally rely on mathematical modeling to determine
the effective coverage area of their broadcasts. These mathematical models are based on rough
estimates of signal quality in the presence of approximated terrain and interference levels. They
do not accurately account for many factors that affect the signal, including multipath fading,
terrain type, attenuation from man-made obstructions, and interference caused by on-channel or
ineffectively filtered adjacent IBOC (in-band on-channel) HD Radio digital signals within
analog FM receivers.
1.1
Objective
The aim of this project is to create an active mapping system for FM radio reception
quality and signal strength using an automated vehicle-mounted system. The design
places an FM antenna on a vehicle and feeds the antennas output to multiple consumer
receivers within the vehicle to measure the actual received signal quality with the devices
used in that test. The output from these receivers is processed to determine the quality of
the audio. A GPS unit is used to record the location of each measurement so that they
can be subsequently mapped. Audio is sampled and processed at each location to
determine the signal-to-noise ratio received. The audio is statistically examined to
determine the statistical characteristics of the noise and to measure or visualize the effects
of such parameters as field strength, distance from the transmitter, bearing from the
transmitter to the location of reception, type of radio used, adjacent station interference,
and IBOC carrier presence on the distribution.
1.2
Motivation
The system provides radio stations, transmission and reception hardware companies,
advertisers, and end users with a service that will measure current coverage and validate
the results of existing models of coverage prediction. This information can be used to
show the stations current coverage and to help determine if antenna patterns are met or
transmission system upgrades are called for. The system also measures the local
behavior of interference and the statistical distribution of noise versus under real-world
conditions and locations. Additionally, stations can see the actual measured IBOC
interference to their analog signal at various actual locations within their market.
Publication of these results will also show end users where they can receive a stations
FM signal and whether stronger antenna/amplifiers are useful or required to receive a
stations signal in their respective areas.
1.3
Background
Current coverage mapping involves use of simple terrain elevation and transmit location
data to predict the radio terrain coverage [1]. Variables such at transmitter power,
antenna pattern, and antenna height which are published for each station by the FCC are
used to make these predictions.
NPR performed a study in 2006-2008 in which they investigated the affect of adjacent
radio stations on HD Radio reception [2]. They designed an all-inclusive system that
measured field strength of the desired channel and of two adjacent channels in a mobile
environment. It also determined whether HD Radio was successfully decoded at each
location. Locations were marked by GPS. Raw data was recorded to a memory card,
then was later analyzed using MATLAB. From this data, a model of HD Radio coverage
prediction was developed.
Amateur radio product engineer Brian Beezley has investigated the noise that a stations
own IBOC signal induces in the reception of that stations analog signal in average
consumer receivers. He has posted detailed explanations and measurements of this
adjacent-signal interference phenomenon in depth [3]. He finds that the primary cause of
IBOC-induced noise is imperfect stereo decoding methods in consumer receivers. He
states that such noise can be eliminated either though careful filtering at the intermediatefrequency (IF) level or through post-detection filtering before stereo is decoded. Since
most of the IBOC-induced noise comes in through the stereo difference signal decoding
process, Beezley finds that switching a radio to mono, when possible, also removes most
of the noise. He indicated that most home analog FM tuners are susceptible to this noise
issue, but that most car FM tuners are not because of their narrower IF filters.
2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
The system provides FM radio stations with measurements of the area where their analog FM
radio signal can be received.
The system is also capable of measuring where the IBOC digital radio signal can be received.
However, this feature was not tested because the digital IO hardware that the project team was to
be loaned was not made available as arranged. Additionally, the system can measure the effects
that the transmitted digital radio signal has on the reception of the stations analog signal. This is
done by comparing reception over the coverage area with and without IBOC transmission
enabled., but sufficient equipment (DIO, susceptible analog radio) were not available within the
budget to test or use this feature. and, therefore on the analog signals effective coverage area.
Since these detrimental effects occur because of imperfect filtering of adjacent signals within the
radio, susceptible consumer analog FM radios, residential and portable units in particular, would
need to be selected and tested in the field. This would allow a more general sense of the average
consumer radios IBOC signal rejection performance. NPR Labs
in the area and conditions
measured. The project team was unable to purchase any analog radios beyond the nonsusceptible vehicular unit within the budget allotted. NPR Labs
The System has the following features:
Maps signal RF power and analog FM SNR received in light of actual city RF noise
Visualizes the results in a manner that can easily be compared with FCC-provided
coverage maps or with predictions of coverage and interference provided by NPR Labs to
all CPB-funded stations
Field measurements can be compared existing computer model predictions to validate the
models applicability to that particular station and environment [4] or to determine whether a
stations transmission system or the RF environment are the source of interference. The project
team has provided a method to perform a visual comparison with the FCC-provided coverage
prediction map using Google Maps. The NPR Labs project team in Washington, DC committed
to producing predictions of the HD Radio and FM analog coverage with and without IBOC
enabled for Georgia Techs WREK [5], the target station for design, testing, and validation.
Unfortunately, due to changes in funding and staffing, NPR Labs was unable to provide
numerical or visual predictions of WREKs current coverage to numerically or graphically

compare to the groups measurements as originally planned.
3. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
The field measurement system consists of a vehicle with an FM receiving antenna and a GPS
receiver connected to equipment within the vehicle. For each GPS location, the system will
record the following measurements:
Receive power (from antenna) of the target station's analog FM radio signal (Received
Power (dBm))
Calculate Signal to noise ratio of audio from radios Power of the audio signal over the
rms power of the noise(dBm)
Measured from one channel of the output audio that is decoded from the stereo analog
FM signal by several representative consumer radios of different types:
o audio signal level when level calibration tone present ("FM-Stereo Audio Calib.
(dBFS)")
o average audio noise level when no modulating audio present ("FM-Stereo Audio
Noise (dB below calibration)")
Unit
Min
Max
dBm
-90
-10
dBuV/m
30
100
RF Noise Power
dBc
-70
-20
10
IBOC Carriers Enabled
T/F
HD Radio Receivable
T/F
N/A
FM-Stereo Audio Calib.
dBFS
0.01
FM-Stereo Audio Noise
dB cal
-70
-10
20
Received Power
Field Strength
Acc. Meas./sec
Table 1. Minimum Design Specifications.
Use of the system requires the station under test to transmit a pulsing audio signal, to enable FM
stereo, and to disable all other FM subcarriers.
4.
DESIGN APPROACH AND DETAILS
Design Details
Splitter
4.1
Figure 1. Schematic of proposed design.
Description of Design
The field measurement system as currently implemented receives the FM radio signal
from a monopole magnet-mount antenna placed on top of a vehicle. This is connected
via a cable TV amplifier (gain = 25 dB) to a spectrum analyzer, an HD Radio receiver,
and several different types of consumer analog FM radios through an RF splitter, as
shown in Figure 1. The cable from the antenna was matched from 50 Ohms to 75 Ohms,
using a 12th wave matching network to improve the VSWR between the antenna and the
following components. Using an antenna meter the antenna was properly shortened to be
wavelength of the target stations frequency. The antenna was shortened so that its
VSWR at the target frequency was 1.0. This measurement was performed while the
10
antenna was attached to the roof of the vehicle. The length of said antenna after being
shortened is 36 inches long. Preceding the amplifier is an RF bandpass filter. This filter
offered for use to the group by Dr. Aaron Lanterman of the Georgia Tech Electrical and
Computer Engineering Department. The purpose of this filter is to block all RF signals
outside of the FM band. This prevents saturation of the amplifier when driving near
stations such as in the television bands. The antenna, amplifier, and matching network are
selected in order to provide the components with an RF signal that best match that of the
signal straight off the antenna. From the antenna, the signal is split four ways, by means
of a satellite TV splitter, to the spectrum analyzer, two radios, and a 75-ohm termination.
The original design called for three radios; however, due to budget restraint only two
were used in system. Software is set up to support three radios however, and hence the
termination is a placeholder for future updates. The spectrum analyzer used has an
optical to serial cable for data acquisition and hardware control. The GPS also has a
serial interface. The RS-232 serial output of both the GPS and the spectrum analyzer are
connected through serial-to-USB converters to the central USB hub. USB audio cards
then attach to the radios using RCA to mini headphone jack (1/8). These connect to the
microphone/line in of the audio cards. The audio cards connect to the USB hub as well.
This USB hub connects to the laptop where the user can configure the system and control
automation.
Controlling the above hardware is LabView 8.5 with the additional Sound and Vibration
Toolkit (SVT) installed. The design group used the evaluation versions of both LabView
and SVT on the system laptop. The software was developed as a state machine, for
modularity and ease of debugging. There are several states in the software for testing
11
various hardware, and setting up said hardware to be ready for an automation mode. The
LabView automated data acquisition is shown in the flow chart in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Automation software flow chart.
12
System Calibration
The preliminary system design relies on transmission of certain easily analyzed signals
by the target station. To this end, the team has configured the measured station to
transmit stereo silence with all other FM subcarriers disabled. This will allow the
received audio noise to be measured accurately and at a one second interval. A brief
calibration tone will be transmitted periodically in order to provide a signal level
reference for the signal-to-noise ratio measurements conducted on the received FM
analog audio. Measurements that are hindered by the presence of this calibration tone
will be suspended for the duration of the tone. The IBOC signals are turned on and off
for separate test runs. The field measurement system will then be able to observe the
received audio noise at each point both with and without IBOC carrier presence. The test
tone being sent is a 1 kHz tone. This tone is pulsed for 250ms followed by 250 ms of
silence. The signal can be seen in Figure 3. There is a stream of this signal sent for 14.5
minutes. A recording is then played to allow listeners to know that testing is in progress.
Lab tests of the overall system were made to determine the attenuation/gain of the overall
system. It was found there was an overall gain of +17 dBm. Signal gain or loss for each
element of the system is shown in Figure 4. A -30 dBm 91.1MHz FM signal was sent
using a Rohde & Schwarz sweep generator and at the end of the coax that was directly
connected to the system input a -30.64 dBm signal entered. After the BPF the signal
power was at -33.9 dBm; after the amplifier -5.9dBm; At the 4-way splitters output, the
signal level measured from each connector was -13.72 dBm, -13.56 dBm, -13.62 dBm,
and -13.85 dBm respectively. The gain at the port which the spectrum analyzer is
connected is +17 dBm.
13
Figure 3. Screenshot of test tone.
14
Splitter
Figure 4. Signal loss/gain through system.
Data Acquisition
A GPS receiver will be placed on the vehicle so that the current location, direction, and
speed using NMEA standard RS-232 connection. The data output from the GPS receiver,
the channel power from the spectrum analyzer, and the audio output from the radios will
be connected to a computer located within the vehicle. The computer will analyze the
signals using LabView that is capable of processing the data in real time to determine the
transmission mode of the target station and configure the measuring equipment
accordingly. LabView sets up the spectrum analyzer for channel power collection. The
spectrum analyzer is centered at the radio stations frequency, with a channel power
bandwidth set to 500 kHz. LabView takes a 500 ms sample from each audio card. It first
15
calibrates the threshold by scanning the values, and determining the max 1 kHz tone
value. It then determines the power of the signal in dB. Once the power level of the 1
kHz tone drops, and is below the threshold of -10 dB, the noise is calculated. An ITU468R weighting filter is applied to the noise channel. This filter is more representative of
what the human ear is actually hearing as far as noise. The filter does not need to be
applied to the signal because the filter would apply no change to the 1 kHz frequency od
the periodic level-setting tone. The RMS power of this weighted noise is determined
from the signal of silence following each 1 kHz pulse. The signal to noise ratio is then
calculated as the measured power of the signal minus the measured power of the noise.
Processing and Visualization

The data collected by the LabView system is post-processed using a Python script and
visualized using GNUplot 4.0. The files to do this in a POSIX environment are found on
the projects website. The user calls the included bash shell script plot.sh, which calls
the other tools itself. The shell script runs the Python post-processing functions located
in parse.py located in the same directory, then calls GNUplot, which is assumed to be
located in /tmp/gnuplot, to produce the images. plot.sh requires that the input
measurement file from LabView and the output directory for the plots be specified on the
command line, in that order. These scripts were tested to run on both Cygwin and Linux
systems.
The Python post-processing code calculates the distance to the measured points from the
GPS data. The common Haversine formula is used to accomplish this. The bearing from
the transmitter to that point is also calculated XX CITE http://www.movable-
16
type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html XX. The set of data points is then saved into another
file, points.txt, in the output directory so that the post-processing output can be viewed
and so that GNUplot can access the data.
GNUplot is then called several times to produce a set of plots showing the relationship
between various variables and to produce interpolated color maps of the RF signal
strength and the signal to noise ratio at each point. An HTML index file is also
automatically created in the output directory to facilitate convenient viewing of the
several plots. Some information, such as the location of the transmitter and the axis
limits for the plots, is included in the scripts for reasons of visual comparability.
Descriptions of these values is included in comments within the code.
The Google Earth visualization of the data requires simply loading the .kml files from the
project website. These files specify the location that the image is loaded from and tell
Google Earth where to place the image on the screen. To load image data from other
sources, the user would edit the file name text in these simple, small XML files.
GNUplot is unable to provide plots that are completely free of white margins, so
automation of this process was not possible.
4.2
Codes and Standards
HD Radio has been standardized by the National Radio Systems Committee as NRSC-5B [10]. This standard describes the air protocol and the data stream in great detail. It
also describes the emitted spectrum and provides maximum bounds for the desired signal
and for spurious emissions transmitted by stations.
17
The common practice for testing FM radio receivers is described in IEEE standard 1851975, Standard Methods of Testing Frequency Modulation Broadcast Receivers [13],
which is still in use despite being withdrawn [11] ,[12]. The standard was not available
to access or use within the budget permitted. However, the project was designed with
methods similar to those specified in the standard.
The ITU-468 weighting filter
4.3
Constraints, Alternatives, and Tradeoffs
The design group considered the approach of using a vehicles native antenna. Upon
further thought and discussion with John Kean of NPR Labs [2], the design team decided
that due to the somewhat directional nature of this antenna proper results could not be
obtained. Due to high level of wear and tear on the tube of the transmitters exciter, the
group will not able to turn on and off the IBOC signal rapidly but more along the order of
tens of seconds. The spectrum analyzer being a handheld and slightly less capable could
cause some issues with various measurements. The use of the spectrum analyzer for
obtaining field strength measurements of non-preselected channels could too cause
issues.
The fact that the design team plan to use a single antenna causes the issue of noise due to
a splitter, and amplifier being introduced into the signal path. The major tradeoff is
commonality vs. a more real signal.
18
Some researchers in this field have access to testing zones that offer RF free zones and
large turntables to rotate antennas for calibration and testing. Due to a minimum budget
use of such locations will not be possible. Antenna system design will be tested in a very
high RF zone, Georgia Tech. To compensate numerous tests will be made to generate
calibration data for the system.
In order to be able to send test tones of various sorts from the FM transmitter, testing will
only be permitted at late hours of the night. The design team will be performing data
acquisition testing at hours such at 3-5am. Time is limited, and therefore a month has
been set aside for data acquisition.
5.
SCHEDULE, TASKS, AND MILESTONES
The group designed and built this system as a team. However task responsibilities have been
divided among group members based on expertise and resource availability. Table 2 shows the
scheduled task, start dates, end dates, person responsible for the task, and the degree of difficulty
of each task.
The project was completed in the following phases
Phase I - Preliminary Design - This step included the design and , such as hardware
drivers, working on the software interface, and choosing the antenna and the radios to be
tested.
Phase II - System Integration software and hardware will be put together, calibration
measurements will be determined, and the vehicle will be prepared.
19
Phase III Testing the vehicle will be driven around to acquire data that will be
analyzed and presented.
Project Definition
meet with advisor
define project scope
14 days
1/5/2009 1/22/2009
7 days
1/5/2009 1/13/2009
7 days
1/14/2009 1/22/2009
1/22/2009
2/4/2009 team
2/11/2009 team
Preliminary Design
communication with DAQ hardware
antenna and radio selections
software interface
hardware and software working
14 days
11 days
14 days
11 days
1 day?
1/23/2009
1/23/2009
1/23/2009
2/2/2009
2/16/2009
2/10/2009
2/6/2009
2/10/2009
2/13/2009
2/16/2009
2/13/2009
2/6/2009
2/16/2009
2/5/2009
3/15/2009
Brian
Leandro
Brian
milestone
System Integration
automated DAQ control
data control and analysis
calibration
vehicle preperation
functional system
15 days
7 days
7 days
4 days
3 days
1 day
2/16/2009 3/6/2009
2/17/2009 2/25/2009
2/26/2009 3/6/2009
2/26/2009 3/3/2009
3/4/2009 3/6/2009
3/7/2009 3/7/2009
3/17/2009
3/12/2009
3/2/2009
RF- 4/12/2009
3/8/2009
3/17/2009
Brian
Thomas
Brian
team
milestone
Data Acquisition
driving/data collection/analysis
presentable maps
30 days
3/8/2009 4/16/2009
30 days
3/8/2009 4/16/2009
1 day
4/17/2009 4/17/2009
4/16/2009
4/16/2009 Leandro
4/17/2009 milestone
Demonstration
demo for advisor
5 days
5 days
4/22/2009
4/22/2009 team
4/20/2009 4/24/2009
4/20/2009 4/24/2009
Table 2. Project Schedule, Tasks, and Milestones.
Appendix A shows the projected project Gantt chart, while appendix B shows the actual completion
dates.
6.
PROJECT DEMONSTRATION
To start, all the system components must be attached as describe in previous sections
and since there is a large amount of power and current being used by the system, a
power inverter with output of at least 400W connected directly to the car battery is
required.
20
Connect a laptop with LabView and Sound Vibration Toolkit to the system
and have the file base_loop.vi ready to run ( GUI shown in Figure XX)
Start the system and tune all radios to the target frequency
Verify if each individual radio output signal is calibrated to the line level
output voltage, in case it is not, tune the volume on to radio to achieve the
calibrated signal
Set the device IDs of the spectrum analyzer, GPS by selecting the specific
COM port
Toggle the audio card switch on from the front panel GUI application
Determine and enable the device ID of the audio card will from the front
panel. Press the button labeled set signal power in the spectrum analyzer
section of the front panel
Once this is performed, the spectrum analyzer is set to the correct configuration to
perform continuous signal power measurements. A check of the GPS and audio cards is
important to insure automation will be gathering valid data. The test tones may now be
started and the system can be set in automation mode by clicking run auto. The chart
on the VIs front panel updates continuously to show the SNR from the radios as
measured at the moment as a confidence indicator of continued functionality of the
measurement system. After system is visibly running, the vehicle can then begin to drive
the test path. Data is recorded only while the GPS unit indicates that the speed of the
vehicle is greater than 20 miles per hour (32.2 km/h) and that position data is current and
correct.
21
Figure 5. Labview base_loop.vi front panel.
Figure 6 shows a map of the path driven in Figure 7. This map is of the SNR values. Gnuplot is
used to generate this map and interpolate the non driven areas. This map is then overlaid in
Google Earth and a file such as that seen in Figure 8 is generated. This information along with
the location map give a usable map for stations.
22
Figure 6. SNR interpolated data.
Figure 7. Path driven to prove system.
23
Figure 8. Mapped RF data.
7.
MARKETING AND COST ANALYSIS
7.1
Marketing Analysis
NPR Labs were the pioneer and essentially the only organization to analyze and map FM
analog and HD broadcasting data. This was performed as a research project funded and
sponsored by Kenwood USA, Harris Corp. [11] and CPB, but no commercial systems are
yet available. The designed system has similarities to the NPR Labs such as power and
coverage mapping, but differs in that audio SNR processing that was not available in the
system designed by NPR Labs . The FM/HD mapping system will enable radio stations
to analyze and predict their FM analog and HD area of coverage. Additional data that
will include audio quality ranges at various data points will be available. For example,
after testing a station information about the SNR of the audio will be available for a given
24
distance range. Information obtained from final capture results and analysis will be
incomparably useful and beneficial to radio stations.
7.2
Cost Analysis
Item
Rohde & Schwarz FSH3 Spectrum
Analyzer
Consumer HD Radio
Laptop
NI LabVIEW Professional
BR-355 GPS
Labor ($35/hr per person)
USB to PS/2 adapter
Amplifier 4-way Splitter
Misc. components
Audio Card
Car maintenance
Gas/200 miles
NI Sound and Vibration
RF BPF
Magnet Mount and Antenna
Total (in USD)
Planned
8,200
150
800
4,299
43
8,400
10
20
320
60
40
77
22,429
Final
8,200
99
800
4,299
43
10,500
30
20
385
90
60
40
3,999
250
77
28,892
Our
Source
-
10
20
185
90
60
40
77
482
www.tequipment.net
www.smartwareetc.com
www.newegg.com
www.ni.com
www.semsons.com
www.walmart.com
www.radioshack.com
www.frys.com
www.ni.com
www.cheapham.com
Table 3. System design estimated development cost.
The development of FM/HD mapping system costs $28,892 as shown in Table 3, and considering a 15%
daily profit over the cost minus labor cost including two on-field engineers paid $75/hr, vehicle, gas and
maintenance, the net profit is of approximately $2064,2 per day of consulting service.
Labor charges include only cost charged towards project, and this amounts to 100 hours per person.
Actual time spent (including class lectures, reports, meetings, etc.) would be near 300 hours per group
member.
25
An estimate in finalizing future work would cost an additional 100 hours per group member. This would
include time spent fully calibrating and implementing SVT, and drive times.
8.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Currently the system can perform the following function:
Fully automated data capture of GPS, RF power, and SNR
Tag data as good or bad
Tag files as HD on or HD off
Data can be plotted using gnuplot
Gnuplots can be overlaid on Google Earth
Future work and improvements:
Fully integrated SVT for SNR determination
Full coverage drive to map stations full RF and SNR coverage
Use NPR study to select representative radios
After building this system and running the test, the team concluded that some of the initial goals did not
work out quite as expected. The RF power decays nearly exactly as expected as can be seen from Figure
9. The SNR, however, is not quite as clean and following the SNR as expected. As can be seen from
Figure 9, the SNR values have a trend that does decay but as it does the values fan out and the deviation
significantly increases. There are many reasons that this could be the case. Some of the reasons include
multipath issues of the audio, indirect signal acquiring, low levels of signal being more susceptible to
attenuation, and the AGCs of the radio kicking in for all said RF level fluctuations. Even with these
fluctuations, SNR can still be mapped by this system. More research should be performed in the field of
SNR capture (signal processing) of this sort of audio to further increase the accuracy of this aspect of the
system. Another initial goal was to observe the interference caused by HD on the analog RF signal by
observing the difference in SNR coverage. Results to this question cannot be determined from the data.
As stated before the SNR has a trend of spanning out as the vehicle moves further and further from the
transmitter. This spanning out, or increase in standard deviation of the decaying SNR values, masks any
trend of the HD affecting the analog signal quality. Tables 4 and 5 show the mean and standard deviations
of RF and SNR one with HD on and one with HD off. Figures 9 and 10 show the audio SNR of verse
distance from the transmitter kilometer. It can be seen that the SNR does decay as distance increases as
26
expected. HD interference is entirely radio dependent however and could in fact be shown with future.
Radios that represent degrees of HD interference should be used to accurately determine if the
interference is relevant and in deed destructive.
HD OFF
distance RF mean RF stddev SNR1 mean SNR1 stddev SNR2 mean SNR2 stddev
0-5 km
-43.34
3.07
72.58
4.25
58.98
3.20
5-10 km
-48.09
4.65
70.26
5.09
57.40
4.89
10-15 km
-57.10
3.47
65.36
8.16
55.83
4.97
15-20 km
-61.44
2.72
64.66
6.03
54.20
4.61
20-25 km
-64.17
3.04
58.49
9.40
52.05
5.66
25-30 km
-69.55
2.45
49.10
9.25
47.68
6.18
30-35 km
-70.28
2.49
49.34
10.33
48.69
5.44
Table 4. Mean and standard deviation values with HD off.
SNR with HD off

80
70
60
SNR (dB)
50
Home Radio
Car Radio
40
30
20
10
0
0-5 km
5-10 km
10-15 km
15-20 km
20-25 km
25-30 km
30-35 km
Distance from tx (km)
Figure 9. Chart of SNR means with HD off.
27
HD ON
distance RF mean RF stddev SNR1 mean SNR1 stddev SNR2 mean SNR2 stddev
0-5 km
-38.98
6.32
73.05
3.04
58.93
3.84
5-10 km
-48.39
4.85
69.77
6.16
57.68
4.18
10-15 km
-57.08
3.55
65.95
7.04
55.51
4.70
15-20 km
-61.53
2.75
63.63
8.36
54.77
4.35
20-25 km
-64.30
3.09
60.06
9.31
52.05
5.15
25-30 km
-69.68
1.93
50.83
9.70
47.30
5.16
30-35 km
-70.71
1.44
49.11
9.02
45.51
5.74
Table 5. Mean and standard deviation values with HD on.
SNR with HD on
80
70
60
SNR (dB)
50
Home Radio
Car Radio
40
30
20
10
0
0-5 km
5-10 km
10-15 km
15-20 km
20-25 km
25-30 km
30-35 km
Distance from Tx (km)
Figure 10. Chart of SNR means with HD on.
The RF power levels, shown in Figures 11 and 12, show that the power decays in an expected logarithmic
fashion. Also looking at Tables 4 and 5 the standard deviations of the power can be viewed. These
standard deviations show that measurements of the RF power are very precise. Through lab testing
performed on the system as previously described, a calibration value was determined. Use of this
calibration value ensures accuracy. The accuracy as well as the precision of the RF values ensure valid
and good data to be used in mapping analog coverage.
28
RF Power vs. Distance from Transmitter (HD on)

10
y = -10.462Ln(x) + 2.8163
R2 = 0.843
-10
RF Power (dBm)
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
0.2
4.1
7.7
12.0
15.5
19.1
22.7
26.2
32.5
Distance (km)
Figure 11. Power vs Distance from Transmitter with HD on.
RF Power vs Distance (HD off)

0
-10
y = -8.1059Ln(x) - 12.741
R2 = 0.7562
-20
RF Power (dB)
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
2.323913059
5.53888115
9.538955664
13.33316447
17.62751722
21.09460785
24.41676021
29.19922287
Distance (km)
Figure 12. Power vs Distance from transmitter with HD off.
Some items have been changed throughout the course of this design. The design team decided that use of
software that was already available (gnuplot) for interpolating and mapping this sort of data was more
29
practical than reinventing the wheel and making this same software with Matlab. It was initially the
design teams goal to turn on and off HD signal rapidly throughout the driving path. However, due to
foresight in issues that may cause at the transmitter, separate driving runs were made with HD and with it
off. The group had intended in initially continuously sampling the audio and calculating the SNR in the
back ground. This would allow the SNR to just be sampled from this background software. However,
the driver combinations of Labview, directX, and the audio cards would not allow this. In order to read
from a card a connection to it must be opened. This connection must first be closed before another sound
card can be connected to. Due to this issue the software needed to be modified to sample half second
captures of audio, and alternate between cards.
Additional work that would be highly beneficial to the design is to use a more accurate interpolation of
the data which resides outside the driven path. This would have to accurately model the loss of this
particular RF signal frequency. The interpolation being used is more of a generic interpolation.
30
9.
REFERENCES
[1] Theodric Technologies LLC, Radio-Locator, 2009, http://www.radio-locator.com/.

[2] J. Kean, An Improved Coverage Prediction Method for HD Radio, NAB Broadcast Engineering
Conference Proceedings, 2008, pp.137-145.
[3] Self-Noise, Ham-Radio.com, 2008, http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/hdrsn.htm.
[4] NPR Labs , Final Report to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Digital Radio Coverage &
Interference Analysis (DRCIA) Research Project, National Public Radio, Washington, DC,
2008.
[5] J. Kean, NPR Labs (private communications), January 27, 2009.
[6] Sony XDR-F1HD, ham-radio.com, February 2009, http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm.
[7] Rohde and Schwarz FSH3 Spectrum Analyzer Manual, http://www2.rohdeschwarz.com/R&S_FSH3_manual.

[8] J. Kean (jkean@npr.org), RE: Analog FM Coverage/Interference Measurement and
Prediction under HD Radio for Georgia Tech academic project, Email, February 1, 2009.
[9] J. Kean, HD Radio Coverage Measurement and Prediction, NAB Broadcast Engineering
Conference Proceedings, 2006, pp.353-359.
[10] In-band/on-channel Digital Radio Broadcasting Standard, NAB, April, 2008,
http://www.nrscstandards.org/SG/NRSC-5-B.asp.
[11] Updating IEEE 185-1975, ham-radio.com, February 1, 2009, http://www.hamradio.com/k6sti/ieee.htm.
[12] A Study of Co-Channel and Adjacent-Channel Interference Immunities of Subsidiary
Communications Authorization (SCA) FM Broadcast Receivers, FCC, December 1 2000,
http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/documents/reports/trb_99-3_sca.doc.
31
[13] IEEE Standards, http://standards.ieee.org/db/status/status.txt.

[14] J. Lawhorn and J. Broo, Tomorrow RadioSM Project Announces Stellar Test Results, Declares
Victory in Multi-Channel HD RadioSM Research, Nation Public Radio, January 9, 2004,

http://www.npr.org/about/press/040109.tomorrowradio.html.
[15] Calculate distance, bearing and more between two Latitude/Longitude points
http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
32
APPENDIX A: Planned Project Gantt Chart
FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007)
A1
APPENDIX B: Actual Project Gantt Chart
FM/FM Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)
B1
C1

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FM/HD Radio Mapping

ECE4007 Senior Design Project

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS .................................................................... 6

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................. 8

DESIGN APPROACH AND DETAILS ....................................................................... 10

Codes and Standards .......................................................................................... 10

Constraints, Alternatives, and Tradeoffs.......................................................... 18

SCHEDULE, TASKS, AND MILESTONES ............................................................... 19

MARKETING AND COST ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 24

Cost Analysis ....................................................................................................... 26

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS

in the area and conditions

The System has the following features:

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

numerical or visual predictions of WREKs current coverage to numerically or graphically

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

IBOC Carriers Enabled

FM-Stereo Audio Calib.

FM-Stereo Audio Noise

Table 1. Minimum Design Specifications.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

DESIGN APPROACH AND DETAILS

Figure 1. Schematic of proposed design.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Figure 2. Automation software flow chart.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Figure 3. Screenshot of test tone.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Processing and Visualization

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Codes and Standards

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

The ITU-468 weighting filter

Constraints, Alternatives, and Tradeoffs

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

SCHEDULE, TASKS, AND MILESTONES

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Table 2. Project Schedule, Tasks, and Milestones.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Figure 5. Labview base_loop.vi front panel.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Figure 6. SNR interpolated data.

Figure 7. Path driven to prove system.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Figure 8. Mapped RF data.

MARKETING AND COST ANALYSIS

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

Table 3. System design estimated development cost.

FM/HD Radio Mapping (ECE4007 L01)

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Currently the system can perform the following function:

Fully automated data capture of GPS, RF power, and SNR

Tag data as good or bad

Tag files as HD on or HD off