Low-Distortion Receiver Design for Improved RDS Performance

Reliable RDS reception presents a new challenge to the automotive radio designer. In addition to meeting traditional performance requirements, careful receiver design is required to maximize the usefulness of the RDS system. This paper discusses the importance of low-distortion circuit designs for automotive RDS radio receivers. Topics of discussion include:

1. 1.
   How receiver circuit design can influence the RDS data recovery rate.
2. 2.
   Why RDS data recovery can be affected by the main program material.
3. 3.
   How low-distortion receiver circuit designs can improve RDS performance.
4. 4.
   Quantative improvements using three (3) different low-distortion circuit designs.

Although applicable under all types of reception conditions, the focus of this paper will be directed toward improvements obtainable under “moderate” to “strong” field strength conditions.