There was an article last week about a new shortwave radio card for PCs where the IF (intermediate frequency) and audio processing is software based. Typically a radio (TV, satellite, etc...) has circuitry which first takes the high frequency signal from the antenna and turns it into a lower IF frequency. The lower frequency is easier to deal with and the circuitry cheaper. Similar to breaking a complex math formula down into a series of addition and multiplication chunks that your calculator can handle. The IF signal is then demodulated, which means the "intelligence" (guess that depends on the type of radio you listen to) is extracted. In other words, the audio. Now Motorola has rolled out a "digital radio" chipset for capturing and processing plain old AM and FM radio signals into something approximating what digital radio has been promising all these years.
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