HowStuffWorks has an article on how satellite radio works. This is a good article that describes how XM, Sirius and WorldSpace satellite radios work.
The one thing that I want to know is how they transmit their data. For example, in my cars with XM, when I drive under an overpass, I don't hear a pause in the music. But if I sit long enough under the overpass, the music cuts off. So it appears that XM is transmitting the data at a higher bit-rate than the music requires. Then there must be a carousel system so that if the radio loses the signal it can get the data about to be played from the buffer.
[via Droxy]
Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link back to Droxy. There must be some buffer mechanism in the radios as I've experienced the same. However, I know that XM also has repeaters in urban areas for sure. I was stuck under a six-lane underpass in Philadelphia for about 30 seconds and had no signal loss....awesome!
Thanks,
Kevin C. Tofel