2wcom Partners With Jump2Go To Develop First RDS2 Encoder

The first RDS2 encoder has been developed by 2wcom and Jump2Go.

Both companies teamed up to produce the RDS2.0 Encoder, which is backward compatible with existing RDS receivers and is designed for all RDS2 applications (the new industry standard introduced in 2015).

The system is the first RDS encoder to feature an internal FM receiver for the verification of all RDS activities. Real-time configuration and monitoring of the encoder's activity is available via web interfaces as part of Jump2Go's data management system.

RDS2 technology uses three additional data subcarriers in addition to the existing carrier, and reduces many limitations of the existing RDS standard by increasing the usable data transmission capacity by a factor of 10 to 20. This permits station identifiers to reach a maximum of 32 characters versus the current eight characters. The new standard also supports non-Western Europe languages through UTF-8 encoding, which improves TMC delivery to allow for much more detailed urban and regional traffic information and even graphical station logos.

RDS2 will also play a significant role in the ongoing development of the "connected car," with its "service following" method of broadcasting a URL for the station's online stream. Future radio stations will be able to stream as the FM signal becomes unavailable.

Both Jump2Go and 2wcom are pioneers in RDS system advancement, and this partnership brings together knowledge, competence, German-made quality and first-class customer orientation.

Werner Drews, Managing Director of 2wcom, said: "Today datatransport is a fundamental business, and this release will allow broadcasters to easily meet changing RDS requirements."

www.2wcom.com

(LM/CD)