Chapter 11

Digital audio broadcasting

Broadcasting system choices

AM

Until the 1990s, there were only two basic options for broadcasting a radio signal – systems in which the signal is modulated in amplitude (AM), and those using frequency modulation (FM) – and each of these methods have their individual advantages and drawbacks (see Chapter 2). In the case of AM, which is the longest established, and still the most widely used method, its advantages are its cheapness and simplicity of construction, in respect of both the transmitter and the receiver. It also allows by far the most efficient utilisation of the available electromagnetic spectrum. For example, it is possible, in principle, to broadcast a (mono) AM signal carrying modulation frequencies ...

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