Next RDS Forum meeting in October 2026 at Geneva

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In 2010, the RDS Forum started to debate about expanding RDS. The new option was called RDS2 and it has, now is fully specified in IEC 62106 (all parts, 2018-2023). With three additional RDS subcarriers, almost five times the data transmission capacity in comparison to conventional RDS was achieved and it can be used only with the ODA feature, and even with ODAs that were developed for legacy RDS like TMC, using the tunnelling option.

RDS2 is backwards compatible with existing FM/RDS receivers. However, to use the innovation, new receivers will need an RDS2 decoder for the additional data streams. The technology mostly used now for FM radio and RDS decoding is called DSP (Digital Signal Processing) and it has led to very low cost and mass produced FM/RDS receiver chips since two decades already. With this same technology it is possible to easily decode also four RDS subcarriers at once instead of only one, still maintaining the low cost of the IC, as established now, and on a similar market price level. It is also assumed that not all future FM/RDS radios will really need RDS2. Only the receivers that will offer the new enhanced services will need RDS2.

In radios using microprocessors and SDR radios RDS and RDS2 can also be decoded by software only.

The new RDS2 features are Station logo, Slideshow and Internet Connection.

RDS2 requires a new RDS/RDS2 encoders that have fully implemented the UECP as standardized in IEC 62106-10:2021.