"AQUA": A New Audio Quality Monitoring Algorithm for the Performance of DRM Receivers in Fading Channels.

This paper presents a new Audio QUAlity monitoring algorithm: "AQUA" for assessing the performance of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) receivers. AQUA targets performance evaluation of consumer grade receivers in fading channels objectively. Consumer grade DRM receivers do not generally possess a Receiver Status and Control Interface (RSCI), which prohibits the possibility of analysing digitally decoded audio bit stream after reception. AQUA relies on the analysis of the received analog audio output signal instead. The paper describes the development of the AQUA algorithm and the measurement system used for receiver audio quality testing. The performance of AQUA is compared to conventional RSCI derived metrics like Bit Error Rate (BER) and Frame Error Rate (FER) of the decoded audio data. A series of tests are conducted in a variety of propagation conditions using a DRM dedicated testing system with a fading channel emulator. It is shown that FER estimates using AQUA are in good agreement with conventional FER figures derived from RSCI in different fading channel scenarios. This allows AQUA to be used as a reliable alternative to conventional FER performance analysis for automated objective testing of DRM receivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]