A
satellite digital audio radio receiver system and method. The inventive
receiver includes a circuit for down-converting a first ensemble in a received combined
signal in a first mode of operation and for down-converting a second ensemble from the received combined
signal in a second mode of operation. The first ensemble includes a first
signal received from a first
transmitter, a second signal received from a second
transmitter, and a third signal received from a third
transmitter. The second ensemble includes a second signal from the first transmitter, a second signal from the second transmitter, and a second signal from the third transmitter. A controller is included to selectively switch the circuit from the first mode to the second mode. The first ensemble comprises first, second and third frequency slots and the second ensemble comprises fourth, fifth, and sixth frequency slots. In the illustrative embodiment, the first and second transmitters are mounted on first and second satellites and the third transmitter is a terrestrial
repeater. Both ensembles are transmitted in accordance with the XM
frequency plan. The first ensemble is down-converted using low side injection and the second ensemble down-converted using high side injection. The inventive circuit includes a synthesized frequency source. The circuit further includes a first
intermediate frequency down-conversion stage with a first mixer for mixing the received combined signals with the output of synthesized frequency source. The circuit further includes first and second
surface acoustic wave filters for separating the first and second signals received from the third signals. The inventive circuit further includes a second
intermediate frequency down-conversion stage having second and third mixers for mixing the outputs of the first and second filters, respectively, with the output of a
local oscillator.