Broadcasters’ use of bonded cellular in ENG has progressed so quickly that we tend to forget that it is only about a decade old.

NBC used bonded cellular transmission technology as early as 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. It wasn’t long afterwards that the floodgates opened with new company launches and rapid development. Fast forward to today, and advances in codecs and cellular networks have made the technology much more ubiquitous among broadcasters and related media companies. While the appearance of these “backpack” systems at breaking news events or sporting events would raise eyebrows a decade ago, now they’re seen as the an important component in the future of ENG. 

In our latest ebook, we take a look at the current state of using bonded cellular for ENG (what we term “IP-ENG”), as well provide a primer on developing an IP-based facility. We also examine the market for ENG vehicles, which despite the growing popularity of bonded cellular, still provide an important role in a TV station’s news arsenal.

Does your station use bonded cellular for ENG? Share your thoughts with us at tvtech@futurenet.com.

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The television news business is all about getting the picture back from the field faster—faster than the competition, if possible. The latest tool to enable faster field video is the bonded cellular system that uses commercial mobile networks to carry video.

From a quiet start a decade ago, bonded cellular and wireless IP video products have taken off to become a major component of local news infrastructure. These portable mobile systems are far cheaper and faster to set up than a microwave or satellite truck, and they can go places—even indoors—where a truck could never go.

Jim Jachetta, executive vice president and CTO for VidOvation, the distributor for Aviwest products in the U.S., discussed the affordability factor of bonded cellular for news operations.

“As new news agencies emerge or establish agencies downsize, bonded cellular will require a much lower capital investment when compared to building citywide microwave coverage,” Jachetta said. “In some cases, satellite makes sense when the cellular network is not available. The Aviwest PRO380 system bonds up to 12 connections including eight cellular, two LAN and two WiFi. The LAN connections offer bonding of cellular with an IP microwave or IP satellite connections.”

Although bonded cellular has become important in the newsgathering toolkit, mobile network speed and reliability today are not always there when needed by broadcasters.

“It is always advised to have a variety of tools in the toolbox,” said Edgar Shane, general manager of engineering for JVC Professional Video. “Although 4G speeds, coverage, and capacity increased dramatically over the last five years, there may be conditions where cellular towers become overloaded due to great numbers of users, and satellite or microwave may be needed as a backup plan. This is especially true for large gatherings. My favorite example is New Year’s Eve in Times Square, where only microwave, satellite, or licensed wireless connections can provide reliable video transport.”

Reliability is paramount to broadcasters, who don’t want to run the risk of a remote shot failing suddenly. That’s why some manufacturers are integrating multiple paths into their bonded cellular systems.

“Although use of cellular data connections is one aspect of our system, the Comrex LiveShot system is capable of aggregating any viable IP network connection to transmit audio and video data,” said Chris Crump, senior director of sales & marketing for Devens, Mass.-based Comrex. “As with all public data networks, there is really no guarantee that your shared data path will be completely available and without any contention for bandwidth.”

CAMERA-MOUNT OR BODY PACK?

At the camera end, bonded cellular systems generally come in two configurations: camera-mounted or a body pack in a knapsack or shoulder-strap carrying bag. The CloudPort, from DVEO. a San Diego-based provider of broadcast gear, is an eight-modem backpack system that can be preconfigured with SIMs for a specific market. The CloudPort includes 40 GB of built-in storage to provide a solid recording of a live remote event simultaneous to the live feed.

Comrex’s LiveShot is a highly compact bonded cellular system that attaches to the back of a camera, with a docking mount for the camera’s battery. This lets any ENG broadcast camera become a mobile origination point with minimal increase in weight or size.

Change is a constant in the cellular business and the current technology for mobile connections is 4G, which is capable of wireless connection speeds of 100 Mbps or even a bit higher. (I frequently check my cellular connection speed and have twice measured connections at greater than 100 Mbps.) That is easily fast enough for excellent-quality contribution feeds from a news remote, although such speeds aren’t common in my experience and they are subject to random change as other cellular customers place demands on the service. For this reason, professional bonded cellular systems link two or more cellular modems together across multiple carriers to ensure the best possible connection and speed.

GREATER RELIABILITY

At some point in 2019, 5G cellular services will start to come online, and this is expected to provide greater reliability and bandwidth for mobile networks. However, it will not guarantee that there will be a suitable connection every time one is needed.

“The [timing and impact of 5G] is a harder question to answer than you might think,” said Dan Pisarski, vice president of engineering for LiveU in Hackensack, N.J. “One reason is there is a lot of technology, very cool tech, that falls under the ‘5G’ logo. Carriers can implement parts of this technology and not others—some examples would include deploying 5G radios but not a 5G network core, or deploying 5G in only specific frequencies while supporting 4G LTE in others. This is made more complicated because carriers are anxious to use the 5G name and are labeling some technology that standards groups might have called LTE [such as LTE Advanced and LTE Pro] as ‘5G.’

“All that said, yes, broadcasters should start to see immediate improvements even with these hybrid deployments, including more stable streams, especially at lower delays,” he added.

Initial deployments of 5G will be for fixed wireless access equipment, according to Yvonne Monterroso, head of product management for Dejero. “This equipment will provide very high data rates but will not be small size or low power,” she said. “Dejero equipment will support connection to fixed wireless access equipment via Ethernet.”

Monterroso added that later deployments (5G NR) will offer low power and portability, but the chipsets and modems are not expected to be available until mid- to late-2020. Once available, Dejero will integrate and certify these modems into its products, she said.

Once 5G networks and gear are available, Monterroso said it will mean that regular cellular customers will demand more data and content, soaking up bandwidth that broadcasters might use. However, that will take some time.

“Since 5G will take some time to be deployed and coverage will be limited, we believe that blending multiple connections will offer a compelling advantage regarding reliability and throughput, especially in mobile and nomadic applications,” she said.

SUPPORT GROWS FOR 5G

Other companies plan to support 5G for bonded cellular video acquisition gear as well.

“Aviwest and VidOvation are ready for the rollout of the 5G cellular networks,” Jachetta said. “We already have a few customers using 5G cellular and we feel that 5G conductivity will help in crowded urban areas. 5G will offer higher bandwidths over much shorter distances making it ideal for live sports venues and crowded urban areas.”

However, Jachetta pointed out that it will take time—years, probably—for wireless carriers to fully roll out 5G technology and improve their data backhaul circuits before 5G can live up to its promise. For this reason, he expects that 4G will continue to be the workhorse technology in the near term.

“While 5G cellular connectivity will help in certain locations, there will still be a need for the longer-range and wider coverage capabilities of 4G technology,” he said.

In addition to mobile 4G networks and the promise of future 5G networks, there are other connectivity options available to improve the reliability of live field acquisition. Several companies support such options, including TVU Networks.

“TVU has 5G-ready solutions today,” said Matt McEwen, vice president of product management for the Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of broadcast technology. “Our system has never been reliant on just one type of network connection technology. In fact, our system today can already aggregate virtually any cellular technology alongside WiFi, satellite, IP microwave, wired connections, etc. Just connect the active link and it will be aggregated. We expect 5G to be the same—it will just be an additional network connection that can be aggregated.”

HIGH-EFFICIENCY CODING

Another recent technology is improving the efficiency and performance of bonded cellular links: HEVC, also known as MPEG-5.

“HEVC offers higher bandwidth efficiency with the same or better visual quality than MPEG-4 AVC,” said Ronan Poullaouec, chief technology officer for Aviwest. “Using HEVC, broadcasters can achieve a 50-percent bitrate savings compared with MPEG-4 AVC. For bonded cellular news feeds, better compression means a reduction in the bandwidth needed to transmit high-quality live videos… allowing broadcasters to transmit live videos in environments where it would not have been possible to send any video with the previous MPEG-4 AVC compression technology.”

Mike Savello, vice president of sales for LiveU, said HEVC allows broadcasters to operate in real-time with extreme low latency with the highest quality, even at very low bit rates.

“This is where LiveU’s HEVC solutions differ from software solutions where video quality may be sacrificed to keep the latency low or may be switched back to H.264 to save battery life,” Savello said. “LiveU encodes in HEVC all the time, providing longer battery life.”

All the experts agreed on a tip to improve the reliability of a bonded cellular connection if you are building a new news vehicle, especially if you will be using the vehicle when it’s moving.

“With everything else being equal, I recommend antennas, more antennas, and better antennas,” said JVC’s Shane. “JVC ProHD Bridge systems utilize high-gain, diversity MIMO 4G and Wi-Fi antennas to assure reliable reception under a variety of conditions.”

Others had similar advice, each tailored to that company’s product.

“Consider the best equipment to meet the need to have a rackmount in the vehicle and/or use a mobile transmitter,” said Dejero’s Monterroso. “The Dejero mobile transmitter can be mounted in a vehicle and connected to rooftop antennas for increased cellular network reception or live shots while driving. And it can quickly be dismounted and placed in a backpack or sling bag, or mounted on a camera for mobility while on location.”

There are several smartphone apps to help broadcasters figure out coverage and ensure the most reliable shot. Of course, the wireless companies themselves have some information on their coverage.

“All cellular data providers have coverage maps to show the availability of their services down to the street level,” said Comrex’s Crump. “It’s always a good idea to try to take a look at what’s available, time permitting, at the location of a planned broadcast. There are also bunches of apps out there for the purpose determining coverage at a specific location. 

"We like Open Signal and Sensorly, which provide cellular network availability data based on app user speed tests," Crump continued. "Most broadcasters that have been using IP video codecs are fairly aware of the fact that stadiums filled will 80,000 cell phones are not idea locations for an IP live shot…regardless of how many modems you are trying to use. However, in locations where local cell towers won’t be compromised, aggregating across multiple providers does tend to provide a greater degree of reliability.”

The category of mobile newsgathering products has been one of the fastest-growing segments in the broadcasting industry. Not only are these mobile products working alongside and sometimes replacing traditional backhaul methods such as microwave and satellite, the comparatively low cost of bonded cellular means that more news organizations can afford remote gear than ever.

And that is the real revolution at work in the newsgathering business—not only is bonded cellular usually cheaper and faster than the competition, it allows for video from a moving vehicle and in other circumstances that were never before possible.

Where will the revolution go next?

HACKENSACK, N.J.—Sinclair Broadcast Group is upgrading hundreds of portable transmission units to LiveU LU600 HEVC systems under the terms of a recently signed multi-year $20 million leasing agreement.

“This deal is a recognition of the value LiveU brings to our content operations,” said Del Parks, senior vice president and CTO for Sinclair. Sinclair will use the units for newsgathering operations. 

The station group immediately will upgrade units at 80 stations to the LiveU HEVC field units, the company’s flagship model offering higher efficiency, greater stability and better reliability.

Sinclair has been a LiveU customer since 2011. Upgrading its bonded IP solutions will help the broadcaster maintain a competitive edge in newsgathering, LiveU said.

The broadcaster also uses LiveU’s IP-based LiveU Matrix and LiveU vehicle solutions. LiveU Matrix allows Sinclair to share live content from news events across all of its broadcast and digital news platforms. The IP video cloud management tool enables stations across the group to view, manage and distribute live content using the internet.

The station group is also evaluating its ability to outfit field reporters and crews with LiveU’s LU-Smart app for smartphones. The app makes it possible to go live from virtually anywhere and contribute content to the studio where it can be edited and ultimately distributed according to LiveU.

WAYNE, NJ (Nov. 15, 2018) – JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, today announced CN2, an independent cable TV station in Rock Hill, S.C., purchased a ProHD Portable Bridge bonded LTE hotspot in August to provide live news updates for its daily newscast and website. David Bain, technical manager, said the Bridge and a new BR-DE900 ProHD decoder allow CN2 to provide live content for its viewers for the first time.

Owned and operated by Comporium Communications, CN2 has two channels that serve the tri-county area of York, Lancaster, and Chester. Its small news crew produces a 6 p.m. newscast on weekdays, plus a daytime newsmagazine show, CN2 Today, three times per week. So far, most live content is being shared on the website.

Bain said the Bridge may be used for live coverage of the Rock Hill Christmas Parade later this month. CN2 will record multi-camera coverage of the parade and edit the footage in post for later viewing, but one camera will be paired with the Bridge for live coverage on the website. A similar setup was used for coverage of a recent school board debate. Bain said it only takes a few minutes to setup the RTMP feeds on the station’s five JVC GY-HM660 ProHD mobile news cameras, and “operation of the Bridge is very easy.”

The Portable Bridge streams signals from CONNECTED CAM, 4KCAM, ProHD, and JVC PTZ streaming cameras for live broadcasts or webcasts. Using Peplink’s SpeedFusion VPN Bonding technology, it combines multiple cellular, wired, and Wi-Fi connections. Dual cellular modems with redundant SIM slots support up to four different cellular providers for bandwidth bonding, data overage protection, or blind spot elimination. Dual-band Wi-Fi provides two independent, high-speed networks that work together (2x2 MIMO) to maximize throughput. The self-contained remote broadcasting hub can be powered by AC or an attached Anton/Bauer battery.

ABOUT JVC PROFESSIONAL VIDEO
Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC Professional Video is a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JVCKENWOOD Corporation. The company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of broadcast and professional video equipment, as well as D-ILA front projection systems. For more information, visit JVC’s website at http://pro.jvc.com or call (800) 582‑5825.

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MONTGOMERY, ALA.—Whether it’s for a news photographer or MMJ, the GYHM660 is a one-size-fits-all option for Raycom Media. We’ve been buying JVC cameras for local ENG since 2013—and since that time, Raycom has purchased more than 400 GY-HM650 ProHD mobile news cameras. In 2016, we acquired the new JVC GYHM660 model, and already have more than 260 in use throughout our stations.

Headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., Raycom is one of the largest privately owned media companies in the United States. We own and/or provide services for 65 television stations in 44 markets across 20 states. About 40 of those stations produce local news.

MULTIPLE OPTIONS FOR LIVE

For us, the GY-HM660 is more than streaming live ENG reports. The vast majority of our stations use the camera to send raw clips back to the station via FTP. As a result, in-house personnel don’t have to wait for an MMJ to get back to the station. In the on-demand SVOD world, this allows us to access the content immediately and edit breaking news for broadcast or online use.

Between our JVC cameras, satellite trucks, microwave trucks, and more, Raycom wants to make sure our stations have multiple ways to go live. The GY-HM660’s built-in streaming with Zixi error correction is another tool in the box for us. Not all our stations have decoders, so not all of them use their JVC cameras for live ENG reports from the field. However, the FTP function works for everyone.

For the stations that do use the GYHM660 for live news-over-IP, the results have been very positive. In fact, our folks in the field love it because it doesn’t slow them down. A lot of our stations are very aggressive when using their JVC cameras for live ENG reports.

No matter how footage comes into a station, we use the Bitcentral Oasis asset management system as our landing platform. That way, everyone has access to the raw content. It makes us much more efficient.

Beyond the live ENG and FTP capabilities, our JVC cameras have been dependable in the field. As someone who had to use proprietary recording formats in the past, I think recording to dual SD cards is great. It’s easy to swap cards in the field or even pick up a new card at a local Best Buy. That kind of workflow has really proven its worth.

Our MMJs love the lighter weight cameras, while our more experienced photographers appreciate the improved low-light performance and integrated 23x Fujinon zoom lens. We get a lot of good, positive feedback from everybody.

Clint Moore joined Raycom Media in 2015 as the corporate news operations manager. He previously spent almost nine years as the news operations manager for WMC-TV in Memphis, Tenn. He can be reached atclintmoore@raycommedia.com.

For more information on JVC, visitwww.jvc.comor call 310-639-9000.

French-based Aviwest, a developer of video compression technology, is teaming up with b<>com to develop new low-bitrate, low-latency video compression systems for current cellular systems as well as the emerging 5G cellular standard. Founded in late 2012, the b<>com Institute of Research and Technology (IRT) is a public-private organization backed by the French government.

An employee of Aviwest will join b<>com's New Media Formats lab in Rennes this summer to work on new low-bitrate, low-latency video compression systems with plans to incorporate the new technology bricks into Aviwest's current product lines and explore the possibility of developing new video transmission systems for b<>com's 5G experiment platform.

"We are proud and delighted to count the company Aviwest among our members," said Bertrand Guilbaud, CEO of b<>com. "It's a world leader in contributing and broadcasting high-quality video content. Besides these areas of excellence, we will work together on the opportunities offered by 5G networks. This is a new example of how our skills have broad applications and how b<>com's efforts to offer its members the latest experimental platforms are coming together."

"We've always been working on developing high added-value solutions adapted to our clients' practices," said Erwan Gasc, CEO of Aviwest. "We must keep innovating and incorporating the latest technologies into our products. Collaborating with b<>com enables us to anticipate our clients' future needs and preserve our technological and competitive advantage."

LIMA, OHIO—At WLIO, we seek to provide the most in-depth ENG coverage possible. In order to give our west central Ohio audience a never-before-seen point of view for our stories, we made the decision to upgrade to an HD microwave transmitter to escape the limitations of fiber-connected cameras.

We went shopping at the 2015 NAB show and happened upon the Integrated Microwave Technologies (IMT) booth. After spotting the microLite HD transmitter and speaking with the representative, we knew instantly we had to have these wireless wonders and ended up purchasing two microLite 6.4 GHz models.

FREEWHEELING
For the last 40 to 50 years of television, the camera has always been tied to a bulky and heavy cable that required several people to move around and operate. With the wireless microLite HD transmitter, our videographers are handed a camera with the unit on top and given the creative license to go wherever they feel they can get the best picture.

WLIO uses microLite system to cover county fairs. Much of our field reporting involves recurring events, such as county fairs and parades. Imagine you are in the middle of a county fair and you’re trying to do a television show. The biggest problem we would often have before purchasing the microLite was the limitations of running cable; the farthest we could go was 100 or 200 feet. In addition, we also had to deal with the nightmare of navigating through the crowd to get the shots. With the microLite, we supply our shooters with cameras to roam the fairgrounds; one videographer was able to go 1,200 feet from where we were located. We couldn’t see him, and we could just barely communicate with him on our intercom packs, but he was sending back beautiful footage of the fairgrounds.

In another scenario, we put one of our anchors up on a swing ride to interview one of the park officials. The results we achieved using the microLite for this application were simply amazing. In the past when we used fiber, we could never even think of going to these places.

EASY SET-UP
The ease of use of the microLite cannot be understated. The unit mounts effortlessly in place of the battery pack and the battery pack is then connected to the microLite itself, making it self-contained. It is extremely versatile and lightweight, and requires only one person to operate. To connect the microLite to the camera, all we need is an 8-inch HDSDI/ embedded cable with 90-degree BNC fittings.

Now that we are completely wireless, the possibilities are endless. The microLite has provided a cost-effective solution that has let us not only simplify workflow, but take our viewers where we have never been able to go before to tell a story.

Fred Vobbe is a 47-year veteran in broadcasting and has won numerous awards in the broadcasting and electronics field. He has been with WLIO Television since 1985. He can be contacted atfvobbe@wlio.com.

For more information, please visitwww.imt-broadcast.comor call 908-852-3700.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.—Jeff Cohen has been announced as a new addition to TVU Networks staff, coming on board to serve as a senior sales executive. Cohen will be based in New York and serve existing clientele in the Northeastern U.S., as well as pursue new customer opportunities.

Jeff Cohen

Before joining TVU Networks, Cohen was vice president of East Coast sales for Archimedia Technology. He also worked for Sohonet as its Eastern U.S. and Canada sales executive; and Eastern regional sales manager for Masstech. He also founded Digital Imaging Solutions. Other past positions included work at Sony, Avid, Electrosonic Systems, and BBC Systems Integration.

TVU Networks is provider of IP-based live video technology.