Worldcast Systems - Radio & TV Broadcast Solutions

Cost reduction, more compact designs, more onboard features… these all reflect the current market trends in FM transmitter design.  Energy savings is also increasingly a top-priority, especially when considering the Total Cost of Ownership of a system, and innovative companies are boosting the momentum with new solutions. Among these, a new innovation promises to transform the FM broadcasting landscape…this innovation is SmartFM.  
 

What is SmartFM?  

SmartFM is a sophisticated algorithm, or AI, which enables broadcasters to reduce their energy costs by up to 40%.  
 

How was this Artificial Intelligence developed?  

With its ECRESO product line, WorldCast Systems has been in the RF business for over 60 years and has witnessed and participated in huge advancements in the design and performance of FM transmitters. However, much of this progress was achieved thanks to LDMOS technology which has now reached its maximum potential for improving transmitter efficiency. With this in mind, the company embarked on 3 years of intensive R&D, field testing and on-air measurements before bringing to market this new breakthrough technology.

To understand the AI behind SmartFM, Nicolas Boulay, Co-President of WorldCast Systems explains: “The development of this Artificial Intelligence is made up of three phases:    

• Phase 1: a statistical approach for content breakdown and classification (this phase corresponds to the retrieval and analysis of large numbers of data – “our big data”). It is this phase which enabled us to create a library of audio content classified by their signal characteristics as well as by their impact on the acoustic experience
   
• Phase 2: a probabilistic approach in the implementation of content detection,
   
• Phase 3: a deterministic approach in the automation of RF management
   

The result? 

The first worldwide patented Artificial Intelligence dedicated to the FM radio listening experience and which brings important energy cost savings to broadcasters without any compromise on the audio quality and coverage.  

Here is a scenario illustrating the savings broadcasters can benefit from with SmartFM. With a network of 10 FM transmitters at 10kW output power, broadcasters can benefit from up to 500 000 Euros in net savings within 10 years, simply by activating SmartFM on their Ecreso transmitter (these savings can go up to 1 300 000€ when upgrading from older generation FM transmitters from other manufacturers). With SmartFM, energy savings that significant is now a reality for network operators and radio stations). SmartFM’s optimized power consumption cascades into multiple benefits such as reduced cooling, reduced electricity, reduced maintenance, and a longer transmitter lifespan. Instead of paying high energy bills, broadcasters can now invest that saved sum into more valuable business assets.

But energy savings is more than a matter of cost! It also has an important impact on the environment and CO2 emissions. In the same scenario as above, SmartFM empowers broadcasters to offset their carbon footprint by 40% or 3000 tons of CO2.  

Modern broadcasters can now deliver a high-quality radio service while benefiting from a lower Total Cost of Ownership and contributing to a cleaner, more sustainable planet.  

To benefit from this technological advancement and to unleash the full energy saving capacity of their FM transmitters, all broadcasters need to do is upgrade their equipment with SmartFM AI…for free. Launched at the end of 2018, SmartFM is currently being deployed by a number of broadcasters in Europe and Africa equipped with Ecreso transmitters. After recently receiving approval by the FCC to begin tests in the U.S., WorldCast looks forward to introducing this solution to U.S broadcasters so they too can benefit from important energy savings and more sustainable FM broadcasting.