GatesAir, a subsidiary of Thomson Broadcast dedicated to wireless content delivery, will showcase new low-power FM and DAB Radio solutions from its two flagship transmission product brands at IBC2023 that align with global radio broadcast trends. Highlights include an expansion of the award-winning Flexiva GX transmitter series to serve more low-to-medium FM power levels, and the European debut of an ultra-compact, second generation Maxiva family of DAB/DAB+ Radio transmission solutions to support a higher density of digital radio services in a single chassis. GatesAir exhibits at Stand 8.C82.
“Working with broadcasters and partners worldwide continually brings new perspective to our product development teams about evolving customer needs, which makes IBC an ideal launchpad for bringing our latest transmission solutions to global audiences,” said Ted Lantz, Vice President, Product Line Management for GatesAir. “Our new FM and DAB Radio solutions carry the core space and cost-reduction benefits of our Flexiva and Maxiva transmission solutions into the next generation, with some new innovations that further raise the bar for operational efficiency.”
Low-Power FM
GatesAir’s Flexiva brand has become synonymous with both analog FM and digital radio transmission. At IBC, visitors to the GatesAir stand will see an extension of the pure analog Flexiva GX family unveiled last year. Introduced in 5 kW and 10 kW versions, GatesAir added 50 W and 1 kW models at NAB Show 2023 that bring the impressive benefits of Flexiva GX transmitters to low-power broadcasters. New for IBC this year, GatesAir will introduce a new 3.5 kW model to bridge the gap between its low and medium-power Flexiva GX solutions.
Flexiva GX provides radio customers with a strong power-to-size ratio for all five power levels by leveraging the latest LDMOS technology, packing exceptional power density into a compact chassis with overall efficiency ratings up to 76 percent. The engineering breakthroughs in power density, efficiency and footprint are made possible through the Flexiva GX’s design, enhanced by GatesAir’s third generation PowerSmart high-efficiency transmitter architecture. Flexiva GX transmitters also support N+1 configurations, enabling large national network operators to build very flexible and consolidated transmission sites that meet stringent uptime requirements
Options include GPS receivers for SFN support, and GatesAir’s Intraplex IP Link 100e module. The latter integrates within Flexiva GX transmitters, enabling direct receipt of contributed FM content instead of requiring an external codec. This further reduces rack space requirements inside RF facilities with limited open real estate.
DAB Radio Networks
GatesAir’s Maxiva brand was unveiled nearly 20 years ago, changing the game for high-efficiency UHF/VHF TV transmission design. GatesAir has since expanded the Maxiva brand to bring high-efficiency solutions to DAB Radio broadcasters. Chief among these solutions is the Maxiva MultiD Series of multichannel DAB/DAB+ radio transmitters, the second generation of which receives its European debut at IBC.
The GatesAir Europe engineering team first developed the MultiD series to reduce the costs and infrastructure of per-site multichannel DAB broadcasting. The latest MultiD system design serves four independent DAB/DAB+ channels within a single 1RU chassis, instead of requiring a separate transmitter for each channel plus an external combiner and auxiliary hardware.
The new MultiD system also increases flexibility for broadcasters by making it possible to broadcast four independent DAB radio services across different channel frequencies. Power output per channel can also now be built to each customer’s specifications, allowing broadcasters to establish unique power levels for each service. With such exceptional power output flexibility, MultiD systems are now configurable to serve virtually any combination of power levels for up to four DAB services. The ability to divide system capacity is also useful for MultiD systems that share different tenants – a common occurrence in road tunnels where broadcasters can effectively consolidate resources to ensure consistent coverage of their most important broadcasts.
The company will separately announce two new Intraplex Audio over IP solutions closer to the show, demonstrating its continued strengths in developing codecs and services for a broader diversity of networking applications. IBC2023 takes place September 15-18 at the Amsterdam RAI.
This story first appeared on RadioInfo.asia