iBiquity Vs. Patent Trolls

The legal complaint is as dry as most any other. It is rife with what is pursuant to whom, proper venues, infringements, hereins and obligations to indemnify. But it gets exciting for one single solitary sentence.  "Had the patent examiner known or been made aware of these prior art references, the claims would not have been allowed and the [5506866]patent would not have issued." Aside from the vicarious joy of punting a patent troll around the DC beltway, how is this legal spat important?

Ok so it still sounds dry but what iBiquity  is saying as politely as they can is that the patent examiner is an ignorant clod. Instead of arguing just that Wyncomm are malevolent twats, iBiquity is essentially arguing that our patent system is broken and stupid. While both of these things are true, I think it's the second assertion which has legs. Technology patents are arcane, complex, and nearly impossible for a layperson to understand. I'm not saying the patent examiner is lazy, or dim, or didn't make a sincere effort. The problem is that compared to a radio engineer, mathematician, or C++ programmer a lay patent examiner doesn't have the proverbial snowballs chance in hell of understanding all the technical nuances of a complex patent.
More here.  So let us examine the material in question: U.S. Patent Numbers 5506866, 5642379 and 5475691.

5506866 - Filing Date 11- 15-1993
It originally belonged to AT&T but was used as loan collateral and was held by both Patent Business Development LLC and Clearwater Innovations LLC in recent years. The patent covers a narrow use of side-channel communication which can carry simultaneous voice and data transmission. Here they argue that they invented a technique to simultaneously transmit voice and data while also transmitting additional information separate and apart from the voice and data information. In webcasting we might call that third stream metadata. In broadcast radio we might call it RDS. They are describing transmitting data while broadcasting in CDMA. Ridiculous. Telegraph signal multiplexing dates to at least the 1870s, telephone multiplexing to at least the work of George Owen Squier in 1910. Prior art is an understatement. At the same time confusing this for IBOC (NRSC-5) is patently ridiculous.

5642379- Filing Date 06-14-1993
This patent describes a technique for modulating orthogonal signals with one or more analog or digital signals. Don't be intimidated by the word orthogonal. Even stereo LPs exhibit orthogonal signal. It just means having two overlapping but uncorrelated signals. Both TDMA and OFDM can be described as orthagonal. Any simultaneous transmission of two signals could be considered prior art. In this patent they describe voice and data, but it lists a large number of virtually identical patents: 4280020, 4313197, 3824347, 3875339 and others. This tries to solve the non-existent problem of FFT bandwidth. It does so with a common bandpass filter. Please just stop.


5475691 - Filing Date 11- 15-1993
Voice activated date rate change in simultaneous voice and data transmission. This technique is said to improve the transmission quality of the voice signal by dynamically adjusting bits per symbol. This is already used in everything from Ethernet LAN to HDTV.  Trying to increase this number is essentially the history of all IT hardware between your modem and your ISP.  This one is beneath our contempt.

HD on FM Translators

I should admit now that I am in favor of AM stations with FM translators. I am however not in favor of HD sub-channels with FM translators. (...and not fond of HD radio in general) Less than 1% of Americans have HD radios. The populous is totally unanimous in it's collective disinterest. Nonetheless is continues to exist. As the Broadcast Law blog cited about six weeks ago the FCC, on May 3rd  ruled in favor of Saga Communications — W277BS could carry programming as an analog FM translator for WYXL-HD2. It was now official.

ROI Broadcasting filed a petition against this because they interpreted it as a way to circumvent the rules regarding ownership limits. That's because in every practical sense of the law it does. Saga is licensed to operate 3 FM and 2 AM radio stations in the Ithaca, NY metro: WHCU-AM, WNYY-AM, WYXL, WQNY, WHII and three FM translators, W277BS, W240CB, and W262AD. The translators do not count towards that limit. W240CB and W240CB translate WQNY. W262AD translates WHII. This is the maximum number of stations that Saga can operate in this metro as it only contains 11 stations total. More here. Previous to this HD fandango,  W277BS was a translator for 107.9 WPHR (now WSYR) in Auburn, NY. Presently, it carries the HD2 sub-channel WYXL which is branded as Hits 103.3.


So how on earth did a repeater in Auburn repeating WSYR out of Syracuse move to Ithaca?  Well it was on 98.3 originally and at lower power. It's now on 103.3 at 250 watts. ROI broadcasting sees this as moving a new station into the market, and for 99% of listeners it is. But the reality that as long as it's carrying programming from an HD2 or HD3 channel, the programming already originates from within the market.  Hypothetically, ROI is open to do the same thing supposing they have a spare $100,000 dollars laying around, and can find space in the band to add FM translators.[source]

So ROI Broadcasting, (owners of WFIZ) lost the argument. as a result, the floodgates opened and a piddle of stations made the change. Most notably in Atlanta.  It starts with the ballad of WNNX, in September1992 when an alternative rock radio icon was born. They broke singles, began careers, sold records and had a good time. In 2006 it was bought by Cumulus who noted a ratings slide on a station that probably peaked in 1994.

They euthanized it on January 30th 2008. The frequency 99.7 became WWWQ, a cookie-cutter CHR/Pop station swapping calls with 100.5. The 99X brand and playlist was moved to the 99.7 WWQ-HD2 signal and a webcast. The WNNX call letters moved to 100.5, left atop a drab modern rock playlist that at least had moderately better ratings. 100.5 previously was outside the city of Atlanta, it's move-in in 2001 killed 102.5 WGHR at Southern Polytechnic State University. (Though it continues to webcast.)

Then in 2009... long before the rumble in Ithaca, 99X was doing the same thing. From April 17, 2009 until June 15, 2011 it was on 97.9 W250BC . At 250 watts it covered most of Atlanta with a city-grade signal. 99.5 originally was a 6-watt translator for WCLK. In 2009 it was sold and became a repeater for 100.5 WNNX which is how we got to where we are today.  Just a few days ago they moved it again to 99.1 W258BU-FM, mostly trying to make sense of their brand you can't leave 99X on 97.9. That'd be just silly. But the reality of the situation cant be avoided. This is a station, brand and format that died a natural death in Atlanta with 96,000 watts 3 years ago. There is no reason to think it will succeed at 99 watts.

But after all that I do have one lingering issue. No matter where they put 99X, it will have crappy ratings. It will persist not because it has listeners, but because automation is cheap. It'll be automated, and run off a server with a little voice-tracking. The programming doesn't really originate on WWWQ-HD2 any more than the programming of Hits 103.3 originates at WYXL-HD2. In effect these stations are webstreams, that are re-broadcast on the FM band. The servers from whence those streams actually originate could be in Atlanta, Auburn, Ithaca, Denver, or even Berlin. Despite all pretense to the contrary... if it ain't live, it ain't local.

HD-2 simulcast

On hundreds of stations in America there is a second channel or even third channel you could listen to. No one is listening, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Only consumers with a HD capable radio can tune into this HD-2 channel and very few of them do. Conceptually it's a leap for consumers to understand that each frequency can carry more than one channel of programming. HD radios have generally failed to convey this in an easily understood interface. None-the-less, these stations are still there. Most of these stations are running original content, but increasingly on the HD-2 and HD-3 sub channels I am seeing simulcasts of other stations. Allow me to give a few examples.

98.1 KUDL in Kansas City is simulcasting 980 KMBZ-AM,on their HD-3 another Entercom stick. This approach makes a lot of sense as AM radio dies a writhing static and bleeding noise filled death. On their HD-2 is 1660 KXTR-AM, a classical station.
More here.

In Los Angeles 95.1 KFRG is simulcast on the HD-2 channel of 94.7 KTWV. Interestingly enough, Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters owners of 105.1 KKGO asked the FCC to rule on that Viacom’s arrangement. the suggest that these simulcasts violate the FCC’s multiple ownership rules. I doubt very much this is a total simulcast, its probably a goulash of WFAN programming with local ads inserted.
In an interesting variation 660 WFAN-AM in New York is simulcast on the HD channels of three stations in Florida. In Orlando, HD-3 on 105.9 WOCL HD-3, in Tampa,on the HD-3 of 94.1 WLLD HD3 (94.1) in Tampa and in West Palm Beach the HD-3 channel of 104.3 WEAT. More here.
Most recently daytimer 820 WSWI-AM the University of Southern Indiana’s college station has begun simulcasting on the HD-2 channel 90.7 WPSR a 14,000 watt high school station. More here. I'll note now that this is the first case of a college station simulcasting on an HD channel at another station.

STOP IBOC!

My personal take on IBOC is this
IBOC on FM = good
IBOC on AM = bad

But this site is very entertaining in it's fervor.
http://www.stopiboc.com/ibocstory.html

BE SURE TO TUNE IN!

Friday the 14th pf September, 09/14/07 is a big day. The FCC has cleared all 90 IBOC-capable AMs in the us to use IBOC at night. HD radio after dark on the Am band has been cleared to go.

Predictions range from a reception apocalypse to "most stations will not have perceptible loss." The general consensus is that secondary and tertiary market stations will have "signifigant erosion."

My general feeling is that the low number of stations will prevent the apocalypse, but that things are worse than the boys at HD are letting on. Part of the problem is that there isnt' a practical way to measure the IBOC interference of skywave reception because propagation is totally reliant on highly varied atmospheric conditions. However, pretending that it's not there is even less practical. So tune in and listen, this could be exciting.