The popularity of Internet Radio

Table of contents:

• Internet radio
• Shoutcast

Wireless data transmission technologies

The Internet uses both wired and wireless data transmission technologies, including satellite and cellular networks. Wired, terrestrial data lines are WAN/LAN networks that use Ethernet technology: VPN and regular phone line: DSL (ADSL), Dial Up. Satellite Internet uses DVB technology, an advantage: the choice of any satellite provider, such as SkyDSL. Today, wireless data transfer technologies like Wi-Fi and the new WiMax data transfer protocol are spreading, followed by the networks of cellular companies with GPRS and EDGE/3G data transfer protocols. 

That is, the faster wireless Internet networks that transmit data over long distances are WiMax and EDGE/3G, which can serve as an excellent platform for transmitting the digital signal of all the Internet radio stations of the world with a maximum guarantee of quality of sound transmission from source to consumer, absolutely without any noise interference on the way. In principle, the new wireless networks are also called radio networks (cell phones are also conventional radio receivers), but their difference is that they transmit digital rather than analog information.

Internet radio

Internet radio in the future should largely replace the current popularity of frequency wave radio and simple wired radio. Internet radio may in time become very popular. In addition, the transmission of the currently popular analog FM signal may become a thing of the past with the transition of this system to digital broadcasting. Then it will be possible to receive several digital radio stations on one wave.

Already today we can see that the line between the separation of analog and digital radio broadcasting is blurring. Almost all popular FM radio stations have their broadcasting on the Internet and the most interesting thing: the original projects, as Internet radio stations, try to enter the FM-band and some successfully do it, in addition with the transition to digital broadcasting in the FM-band, this process will actively develop in the future: Internet radio stations will be able to buy licenses for broadcasting in the FM-band.

Shoutcast

A typical Internet radio like SOUNDPARK DEEP uses Shoutcast (from Winamp) or Windows Media encoder technology when transmitting information from the source. Windows Media Player or Real Player must be installed on the user's (listener's) computer to receive an Internet radio station. Internet radio is an Internet service similar to radio broadcasting.

• For quality and uninterrupted sound requires a sufficiently wide channel, that is, a high speed Internet connection.
• Significant traffic consumption (the amount of information received from the network).
• To listen to the radio requires software that supports streaming signals from the network, such as Winamp from the company NullSoft.

As a server application to create an Internet radio station is often used Shoutcast, by Nullsoft (long time out of development, has a number of limitations) or Icecast (open-source, GPL)

This technology can also be used in local networks such as offices and companies. All that is needed for this is computers connected to the local network and the availability of sound cards.