Comparison of radio systems

Many of the world's radio stations broadcast in a variety of analog and digital formats^[1]. This page will list and compare them in chart form.

[1]

System	Type	Modulation	Data rate	Sidebands?	Ch. Bandwidth (KHz)	Radio spectrum	Sound Codec	Digital subchannels	SFN	Metadata/RDS/RBDS
AM radio	Analog radio	Amplitude modulation	N/A	?	18–20 kHz	148.5-283.5 kHz (Longwave) 510–1610 kHz (Europe) 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada)	N/A	N/A	No	None
Motorola C-QUAM	Analog radio (AM stereo)	QAM	N/A	?	18–20 kHz	510–1610 kHz (Europe 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada)	N/A	N/A	No	None
DAB	Digital radio	OFDM (DQPSK)	around 1000 kbit/s (4 channels up to 256 kbit/s)	?	1500 kHz	VHF-High/174-240 MHz, L-band/1452-1492 MHz	MPEG-Layer 2	Yes, typically 4-6 "stations" per channel	Yes	Yes
DAB⁺	Digital radio	OFDM (DQPSK)	up to 256 kbit/s	?	1500 kHz	VHF-High/174-240 MHz, L-band/1452-1492 MHz	HE-AAC	No	Yes	Yes
Digital Radio Mondiale	Digital radio	COFDM (QAM)	up to 72 kbit/s	?	4.5–5 kHz (hybrid mode), 9–10 kHz, 18-20 kHz	510-1610 kHz (Europe), 510–1710 kHz (USA and Canada), SW, LW	MPEG-4 HE-AAC/CELP/HVXC	Yes, via IBOC	No?	Yes
FM radio	Analog radio	Frequency Modulation	N/A	?	200 kHz	87.5-108 MHz, 76-90 MHz (Japan), 65.8-74 MHz (USSR)	N/A	N/A	None	Yes (depending on station)
HD Radio	Hybrid/Digital radio	COFDM-HDC (SBR)	up to 60 kbit/s on AM, up to 300 kbit/s on FM	?	20–30 kHz on AM band ±5 kHz (on adjacent channel), up to 400 kHz on FM band (2 full FM channels)	510–1710 kHz, 87.5-108 MHz	HDC	up to 7 (3 full-power, 4 low-power) subchannels (FM)	No?	Yes

v t e Telecommunications
History	Beacon Broadcasting Cable protection system Cable TV Communications satellite Computer network Data compression audio DCT image video Digital media Internet video online video platform social media streaming Drums Edholm's law Electrical telegraph Fax Heliographs Hydraulic telegraph Information Age Information revolution Internet Mass media Mobile phone Smartphone Optical telecommunication Optical telegraphy Pager Photophone Prepaid mobile phone Radio Radiotelephone Satellite communications Semaphore Phryctoria Semiconductor device MOSFET transistor Smoke signals Telecommunications history Telautograph Telegraphy Teleprinter (teletype) Telephone history The Telephone Cases Television digital streaming Undersea telegraph line Videotelephony Whistled language Wireless revolution
Pioneers	Nasir Ahmed Edwin Howard Armstrong Mohamed M. Atalla John Logie Baird Paul Baran John Bardeen Alexander Graham Bell Emile Berliner Tim Berners-Lee Francis Blake Jagadish Chandra Bose Charles Bourseul Walter Houser Brattain Vint Cerf Claude Chappe Yogen Dalal Donald Davies Daniel Davis Jr. Amos Dolbear Thomas Edison Philo Farnsworth Reginald Fessenden Lee de Forest Elisha Gray Oliver Heaviside Robert Hooke Erna Schneider Hoover Harold Hopkins Gardiner Greene Hubbard Bob Kahn Dawon Kahng Charles K. Kao Narinder Singh Kapany Hedy Lamarr Roberto Landell Innocenzo Manzetti Guglielmo Marconi Robert Metcalfe Antonio Meucci Samuel Morse Jun-ichi Nishizawa Charles Grafton Page Radia Perlman Alexander Stepanovich Popov Tivadar Puskás Johann Philipp Reis Claude Shannon Almon Brown Strowger Henry Sutton Charles Sumner Tainter Nikola Tesla Camille Tissot Alfred Vail Thomas A. Watson Charles Wheatstone Vladimir K. Zworykin Internet pioneers
Transmission media	Coaxial cable Fiber-optic communication optical fiber Free-space optical communication Molecular communication Radio waves wireless Transmission line telecommunication circuit
Network topology and switching	Bandwidth Links Network switching circuit packet Nodes terminal Telephone exchange
Multiplexing	Space-division Frequency-division Time-division Polarization-division Orbital angular-momentum Code-division
Concepts	Communication protocol Computer network Data transmission Store and forward Telecommunications equipment
Types of network	Cellular network Ethernet ISDN LAN Mobile NGN Public Switched Telephone Radio Television Telex UUCP WAN Wireless network
Notable networks	ARPANET BITNET CYCLADES FidoNet Internet Internet2 JANET NPL network TANet Toasternet Usenet
Locations	Africa Americas North South Antarctica Asia Europe Oceania Global telecommunications regulation bodies
Telecommunication portal Category Outline Commons

Comparison of radio systems

References

Related Articles