Next RDS Forum meeting on 21 & 22 October 2024 at Geneva
RDS Forum - the association of RDS users
If you do not yet have the latest version of the RDS standard IEC 62106 (2018 - 2023), then, before you order it, you might like to have a look at the RDS Forum's final draft RDS specification. In this section you also find information about Part 2 being updated and Parts 9 (RBDS) as well Part 10 (UECP) being published in 2021. The latest change concerns Part 6 - ODAs in the public domain. There will be three new ODAs for RDS2: Station logo, Slideshow and IP Linking. There is also a new protocol to distribute RDS data over other bearers, such as IP.
The RDS Forum 2012 submitted to the IEC standardisation process a revised specification on receiver product measurements to check the minimum RDS performance requirements for three categories of receivers, portable ones, car radio and home receivers. The standard was approved in July 2013 as IEC 62634/Ed.2. Here you can consult the input from the RDS Forum, R14/019_1.
UECP stands for Universal Encoder Communication Protocol. This is fundamental if you want to use an RDS encoder. The specification originated in the EBU, but the RDS Forum has updated it several times since then. For more information refer to the section RDS specification.
On the RDS logo, if used outside the USA, there exist unjustified license claims, although the logo is part of the RDS IEC standard. The logo originated within the BBC and they gave it to the EBU. It was published first in the RDS Newsletter no. 7/1988, issued by the EBU, and then the EBU submitted it for standardisation. In 2005, there was a special meeting of the RDS Forum at the BBC, involving legal experts. The resulting expert reportgives all the information necessary to refute those totally unjustified claims.
The RDS Guidelines for broadcaster, transmission operators and manufacturers, contain the collective RDS implementation knowledge of the RDS Forum members. They were last updated in 2013/14 and implementation advice to support the transition to digital radio was then also added.
E BOOK (PDF) ON RDS
NEW VERSION - 12/2021
This eBook was updated in December 2021. It was compiled from contributions of a team of RDS Forum members who have been closely involved in the RDS development for over two decades. Readers will learn about the possibilities, seen from within the RDS Forum, of the very best possible way to use this well proven, and frequently updated FM radio technology. In doing so it takes into account the new possibilities offered by RDS2 and explains how to use these new options for designing open data applications. This book gives a general description of the RDS system and all RDS features, it explains the UECP and how to monitor and generate RDS signals on air, the use of RDS in the automotive world, the principles of RDS-TMC and the possibilities for using the extension of RDS2. This book is a "must read" for everyone interested in the subject.
ISBN 978-2-940536-21-4
Now available for free downloading (3.6 MB) from here