| Abstract: | ASTRA Digital Radio (ADR) is a satellite audio transmission technology which has been designed to be compatible with analogue radio and television transmissions via satellite. It uses QPSK modulated subcarriers above the video spectrum. For source coding, the internationally standardized MPEG 1 Layer II digital audio compression has been selected. Owing to its backward compatibility with the existing analogue audio transmission technology, ADR provides a maximum operational flexibility for both the broadcasters and the satellite operator. For the consumer this technology allows for a very high number of near CD quality radio programmes which may be received with a low‐cost receiver connected to a standard 60 cm satellite reception antenna. ADR was officially launched in August 1995 during the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin and currently allows for the reception of over 85 radio programmes in digital quality. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
