Program Comparison and Identification
PCI was developed by Blaupunkt in the early 1980s to also display the names of the stations in car radios . It was first used in the Berlin IQR-83 model and later in the Berlin IQR-85, IQR-88 and Cologne IQR-25, IQR-47 models.
functionality
The radio's computer collected the frequency, regional code ( ARI ) and field strength from all easily receivable stations . By comparison with the built-in database, the computer was able to determine the location of the radio relatively reliably. Now the database could again determine on which frequency which program transmits. Incorrectly displayed station names were possible, but rarely.
Updates
The database (8 KB) was stored in an EEPROM and could be updated using a data cassette . The data was stored on the cassette in a similar way to the program cassettes on home computers. The cartridges were still being updated 10 years after the last model (IQR-88, 1989) was phased out. The last one had the status 865 and could still be ordered from Blaupunkt in 2006.
The end
In 1988 the RDS ( Radio Data System ) , which had been in test operation since 1984, went into regular operation and the production of car radios with PCI was discontinued.
Since 2003, the " ARI signal" has gradually disappeared from the radio stations, until it was finally shut down in 2008 (in Austria; in Germany it took place in 2005). The PCI system thus loses its function, since the microprocessor can no longer receive any comparison data, the so-called " ARI area identifier".