HUDSON, Mass.—BitFire and Appear have struck a strategic partnership aimed at offering broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms a faster, more flexible and reliable way to deliver live video from venues to viewers.

The companies have integrated Appear’s high-density live contribution X Platform with BitFire’s global transport network and cloud production ecosystem. The move enables direct ingest into BitFire’s transport network, providing low-latency, high-quality video contribution and distribution and granting access to BitFire’s virtual production tools, including Cloud Switcher, Cloud Replay and the FireBridge remote talent interface. The BitFire tools enable remote control, monitoring and distribution from anywhere, the companies said.

“This partnership merges best-in-class edge encoding with professional IP transport and scalable cloud production,” BitFire President and CEO Jim Akimchuk said. “By combining Appear’s efficient encoding with BitFire’s flexible infrastructure, we’re removing traditional geographic and hardware constraints for all live content producers.”

The integrated solution is designed for high-demand environments like live sports and entertainment telecasts where nearly instant transport and quality are critical. Appear’s X Platform solutions deliver high-quality feeds directly to BitFire’s IP transport network and cloud production platform, supporting cloud, REMI and hybrid productions, the companies said.

“Partnering with BitFire allows us to better serve the evolving needs of broadcasters and cloud operators by directly connecting our products with a world-class IP transport and cloud production provider,” Appear Chief Technology Officer Andy Rayner said. “Whether for global sporting events or full-time distribution, we’re collectively raising the bar for efficiency and quality in live production.”

The integrated solution is being evaluated by major sports and entertainment companies at the moment. Full-scale deployments are expected in early 2026. BitFire and Appear will show the solution at upcoming industry events, they said.

More information is available on the BitFire and Appear websites.

HACKENSACK, N.J.—LiveU has unveiled LiveU IQ (LIQ), a new technology for IP-video transport that takes connection, resiliency and performance to the next level, and will show LIQ at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

LIQ dynamically and intelligently switches mobile network operators to provide the highest performing set of cellular connections available in any location. The new transport technology accomplishes this feat by leveraging a number of innovations across eSIMs, AI and hybrid local and cloud-based data and algorithms, it said.

“Customer-centric innovation is deeply ingrained in LiveU’s DNA. We founded the company to make video production easier, more accessible, and efficient for broadcasters and content creators, and that mission still drives us today,” said LiveU co-founder and CEO Samuel Wasserman. “LiveU IQ means that connectivity options are no longer limited to a preselected, fixed set of cellular operators. Now we can dynamically and smartly switch to the best performing network configurations, live and on air.”

LIQ is unlike existing cellular bonding setup where one or more modems may be tied to underperforming networks at a given location, he said. 

Rather, LIQ “always plays to the strengths of our network operator partners” by switching automatically to higher performing networks, even when there is network congestion, said Wasserman.

LIQ enables a LiveU field encoder to deploy intelligent bonding, dynamically selecting the best performing cellular connection options available to it at any given time and location. LiveU IQ means that video crews can simply trust that they will experience the best available cellular connectivity profile whenever and wherever they seek to transmit from, the company said.

LiveU’s LRT protocol ensures the reliable transmission of video-over-bonded-IP by merging the available IP connection links into a more robust, higher bandwidth connection. Drawing on a data depot created from the activity logs of hundreds of thousands of SIMs, LIQ adds another dimension to this by ensuring that the cellular components of the bonded link are always the very best available, it said,

“LiveU IQ consists of three main elements: LiveU’s own universal eSIMs, able to work with any operator network; a cloud-based decisioning engine working with our big data set of network performance logs; and LiveU Analytics, showing users the dynamic switching events and exactly how their session performance has improved,” said Gideon Gilboa, LiveU’s chief product officer. “With LIQ, it’s easy for our customers to see how they can ‘Go Live. Better.’”

See LiveU at IBC Stand 7.C19.

More information is available on the company’s website.

MIAMI—Streaming video tech provider Akta has announced the launch of what it is billing as a revolutionary new AI-driven IP video transport technology that will help reshape the landscape of cloud-based live video signal management. 

"Akta Media Gateway is an AI-first live signal acquisition and distribution platform,” explained Alper Turgut, chairman of Akta. “Native AI features to monitor and heal signals across geographic boundaries with minimal latency mark a significant milestone in the evolution of live video streaming."

Akta noted that the launch comes at a time when modern media and entertainment industries are witnessing an unprecedented demand for high-quality live video stream transport across geographical boundaries. Akta's Media Gateway addresses the challenges associated with managing and distributing live video signals over cloud-based networks by providing a seamless, efficient, and robust solution.

Key features and benefits of Akta's IP video transport technology include:

• AI-driven Reliability. Akta's AI monitors signal metrics and predictively heals infrastructure and adjusts protocol metrics to achieve unparalleled reliability. For mission-critical applications, AI driven technology ensures uninterrupted video signal delivery in and out of the cloud even in unpredictable network conditions.
• Multiprotocol. Industry standard SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) , HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and other protocols are supported to address a wide variety of signal transport needs.
• Low Latency. Akta's solution significantly reduces latency, enabling sports streaming and interactions and engagement for viewers .
• Scalability. The technology's cloud-based infrastructure allows for effortless scalability, accommodating fluctuations in demand without compromising performance.
• Advanced Error Correction. Through cutting-edge error correction algorithms, the technology minimizes disruptions caused by packet loss or network fluctuations, ensuring a consistent and high-quality video stream.
• Secure Transmission. Security features, including encryption and authentication protocols, safeguard the integrity of the video content during transmission, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
• Simplified Management. Akta's user-friendly interface streamlines the process of setting up, managing, and monitoring live video streams, making it accessible to both technical and non-technical users.

For more information, please visit http://www.akta.tech.

WALTHAM, Mass.—Video encoding provider Videon is partnering with Zixi, a developer of live video over IP,  integrating Zixi’s tech platform into Videon’s LiveEdge, a powerful container-based edge compute ecosystem with sub-second glass-to-glass latency. A second integration enables LiveEdge to be managed by Zixi’s ZEN Master control plane, enabling users to manage large-scale configurations and orchestrate, analyze, monitor, and report on live video streams and devices across the Zixi Enabled Network of customers, integrated hardware and software applications, platforms and service providers standardized on Zixi.

Offering an alternative to traditional live video infrastructure, Zixi’s LiveEdge simplifies first-mile workflows by normalizing and synchronizing live video, audio, graphics, and data feeds, in real-time, enabling complex workflows and use cases including remote production kits, live betting, multi-camera time sync, video assistant referee, localized graphics, remote camera control, automated ad marker insertion and in-stadium second screen experiences, to name a few. 

Key features include the ingestion of live video, audio, graphics, and metadata, including proprietary and custom data formats, for normalization, synchronization, visualization, and security using native, third-party, or custom containers such as SMPTE-336 (KLV), SCTE-35, timestamp, DRM, watermarking, etc. 

Many of Zixi’s clients are using the company’s Software Defined Video Platform (SDVP) to deliver and manage thousands of streams to deliver low latency error-free transport over IP networks. For those media organizations contributing and delivering live video over unmanaged IP networks, Zixi says its protocol is a resilient congestion and network-aware protocol that adjusts to varying network conditions and employs patented, dynamic Forward Error Correction techniques for error-free video transport over IP. 

v17 of Zixi’s core software being released at IBC 2023 improves processing capacity requiring 95% less compute compared to other available options, as well as helps reduce transport stream egress cost by up to 50% allowing organizations to maximize their resources, minimize expenses and deliver broadcast-quality video content reliably with a profound impact on the TCO of live video streaming implementations. 

Zixi says the efficiency of its platform eliminates the need for excessive virtual machines, leading to reduced infrastructure requirements and substantial cost savings. By significantly cutting infrastructure costs, media organizations can allocate their resources more efficiently, redirecting budgetary allocations to other critical areas creating new business models and opportunities to generate revenue, the company said.

Videon utilizes key components of the SDVP to transport broadcast quality, ultra-low latency live video over any IP network. LiveEdge devices with the native Zixi integration include EdgeCaster EZ, EdgeCaster VCP, LiveEdge Node, the new LiveEdge Max, and across multiple form factors, including LiveEdge 2Go Mini, LiveEdge 2Go, and LiveEdge Rack.

"As Videon's footprint rapidly expands, becoming an embedded and critical component in major workflows, our customers recognized the value of Zixi's dependable and scalable broadcast-quality video delivery," said Lionel Bringuier, Chief Product Officer at Videon. "While Videon empowers users to harness edge computing, ingesting live video, audio, graphics, and data feeds to simplify first-mile workflows and create new revenue-generating opportunities, our collaboration with Zixi further elevates this capability, offering the industry's lowest TCO and unmatched management of linear and event channels at scale through the SDVP integration."

"With its unmatched efficiency and scale, reduced infrastructure requirements and transport stream egress cost reduction, Zixi opens new possibilities for growth, innovation, and enhanced video streaming experiences.," said John Wastcoat, SVP BD and Marketing, Zixi. "The integration with LiveEdge and partnership with Videon expands our ability to deliver exciting use cases like live betting, video assistant referee and dynamic, unique in-stadium second screen experiences." 

Videon will exhibit LiveEdge ecosystem’s native integration in the Zixi Partner Village at IBC 2023, for more details and to book a meeting please visit https://zixi.com/zixi-at-ibc-2023/

HUDSON, Mass.—BitFire has launched the capability to transport live video programming in High Dynamic Range (HDR) over the BitFire Video Transport Network. 

This latest update allows broadcasters, streaming providers, sports leagues, production companies, and event promoters to deliver visual content with maximum contrast, making images appear richer and more brilliant. With this advancement in video transmission, BitFire has met the challenge of delivering HDR across long-haul IP networks.

“HDR is on the rise as more broadcasters embrace high dynamic range in their live productions,” said Ben Grafchik, vice president of business development at BitFire Networks. “At BitFire, we’re proud to provide the ability to deliver HDR through our global IP network.”

HDR provides an increase in the available range of luminance within an image, meaning the overall difference between the darkest shadows and brightest highlights is much greater than that of traditional SDR television. The human eye cannot take in the entire HDR range at once, causing the viewer’s visual system to react as though they were in the scene, allowing HDR to display astonishingly rich images that are perceived more intensely.

BitFire noted that its new support of HDR has a number of implications: 

• For broadcasters, HDR means live productions will display with greater luminance, headroom, and color depth. Subjects and backgrounds will appear richer and more detailed, allowing programs to more faithfully convey the experience of being there.
• For production teams, HDR provides an enriched ability to manage visual details, giving V1s and colorists the control to create a more appealing cinematic impact. The advanced capabilities of your cameras, studio equipment, and control room technology can now be transmitted to networks and other distribution and broadcast partners with ease.
• For audiences, HDR delivers images that appear more vibrant and immersive, with deeper shadows and clearer highlights, optimizing the emotional impact of cinematic scenes and thrilling action alike.
• For businesses, HDR brings the capability to exceed viewers’ expectations with the highest quality images available. For remote production, in-studio services, post-production, or network distribution, the ability to deliver HDR throughout the workflow offers a competitive edge.
• Most importantly, this update leverages BitFire’s software-defined platform to increase broadcast capabilities using the BitFire hardware already deployed, further improving workflow, impressing audiences, and expanding opportunities for producers and broadcasters.

More information about BitFire’s globally-scalable Video Transport Network, its multiple cloud and physical data centers, and the capabilities of its BitFire Engines to encode and decode SDI video, in full 10-bit HDR, for IP transmission is available at bitfire.tv. 

MARINA DEL RAY, Calif.—Last week, the Video Services Forum (VSF)—an industry group covering all aspects of video networking technology—celebrated the 25th anniversary of VidTrans, its annual three-day gathering. Usually held the week after the HPA Tech Retreat in Palm Springs, the timing and proximity makes it easier for Tech Retreat attendees to  participate in both events.  

This year, 148 industry professionals attended the event, Feb. 28-March 2, which despite the not-so-friendly southern California (wet/cold) weather, went on without a hitch. 

Topics of discussion covered the transport of video and media signals throughout systems, hence the name “VidTrans.”  This year’s agenda focused on innovative types of networking and video technologies along with their application to video transport. 

Here’s a summary of selected presentations:

Video Quality Monitoring
In the session “OTT: Best Practices and Challenges,” Andrey Pozdnyakov, president of  video monitoring provider Elecard, discussed typical OTT tasks and challenges, practical use-cases and quality monitoring models. Andrey described how to detect problematic parts of technical equipment or networks which then quickly identify who is responsible for the issue. 

Elecard’s monitoring products describe the differences and findings in a Quality of Services (QoS) vs. a Quality of Experience (QoE), similar to those applications in cable or encoding systems. 

Implementing Sustainability
In a hybrid session that included in-person and virtual panelists, “Minimizing the Carbon Footprint of Live Production” focused on sustainability in the video networking space. 

Moderated by Andy Rayner, chief technologist at Nevion, panelists Thomas Edwards of AWS, Barbara Lange of Kibo121, Athena Trastelis of the CBC, and Geoff Wolf of the BBC, discussed how their organizations are working towards implementing and maintaining a carbon neutral-future, focusing on the environmental impacts and best practices in the workplace.  Panelists asked the VidTrans audience to consider buying products from companies who have a demonstrable plan for improving their workplace or products amidst a growing global awareness for sustainability.

Live Cloud Production Networking
On-demand networking for enabling live cloud sports production in a real-world proof of concept (PoC) was discussed by Brad Cheney of Fox Sports, Thomas Edwards of AWS, and Ryan Korte of Cloud Connect, Lumen Technologies. The team showed how they approached “working from home” for live sports productions including the products and practices, showing examples of recent live sports productions done entirely in the cloud from non-venue locations.

Prompted by the impact of Covid on remote production, Fox in particular, has taken a stunning direction in making live production possible using cloud-based services and production support services that literally “sit” in production personnels’ living rooms, front porches or in a hotel.

This is obviously changing the structure, feasibility, and cost of doing live sports productions by mitigating the expenses and time associated with moving an entire truck fleet-level staff to the onsite venue. This new approach is changing the model by spreading the production into geographically separated locations and eliminating the requirements to transport large sets of complex hardware (i.e., mobile outside broadcast units) to site.

Designing for Efficiency
Adam Salkin, director of engineering, M&E West for Diversified, discussed how EVS, TAG VS and Fox Sports collaborated with Diversified to design, assemble and configure a fully transportable system (Fig. 1a) contained in a system engineered for transport in a cargo plane’s belly.

The folding rack system (Fig. 1b) consists of multiple skids that hold five 44RU systems each and contain a complete ST 2110 mobile production system that was used for Fox Sports’ coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl LVII and the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s Cup this summer in Australia and New Zealand.

Considering the complexities associated with assembling and transporting the huge volume of gear needed to technically produce these events, it was impractical to use ocean cargo methods to get the systems between locations in the time frame available between two major events. Developing the air-cargo system was essential to covering the World Cup and Super Bowl in the minimal time allotted.

‘Building the Airplane While in Flight’
I had the pleasure of joining Microsoft’s technology team of Jack Clawson, Chief Solutions Architect and John Ball, Project Manager at Microsoft to focus on the timelines involved in transitioning to IP in the session “End User Requirements and Design Challenges,” moderated by Brad Gilmer, Gilmer and Associates. 

In the session, Jack and John outlined all the detailed planning and implementation requirements for an active project that updated Microsoft’s Production Studios services on their Redmond, Wash. Campus.  

Panelists talked about the steps taken in the migration from an SDI-based system to IP. Since the five-year-old SMPTE ST2110 standard is so new, such a transition was described by one panelist as akin to “building the airplane while it’s in flight.”  

Discussion topics focused on how the integration addressed supply-chain issues, delays, and the continual changes and additions incurred as the design and install was developed throughout an 18-month period; all the while, keeping live production going and major events Microsoft conference events moving forward. Extensive adjustments were constantly made as switch deliveries and new products were introduced into the Microsoft Production Studio systems—often with delay adjustments driving the “next phase” of each project segment.

Network Details
Chris Lapp, Technical Solutions Architect of Cisco Systems discussed any-source multicasting (ASM) in the session “PIM: there's a better way,” which included a brief overview of PIM-DM (dense mode) and PIM-SM (sparse mode). In addition, Chris described the concepts of “PIM flooding,” a generic way of distributing information within a PIM domain as well as “PIM source discovery,” which announces information of active sources throughout a PIM domain. 

Chris discussed the status of this technology within the IETF and Cisco, describing how the oldest multicast routing protocol commonly used today is defined in RFC 3973 (which is only an experimental protocol and not a standard). 

Sufficient detail was diagrammed to describe the variations in the family of PIM (protocol independent multicast) as optimized for specific, particular, or differing environments. The protocols provide one-to-many and many-to-many distribution of data over a LAN, WAN, or the Internet.  

IPMX and RIST Updates
One of VidTrans’s annual rites of passage include a summary status of the variations, findings, and demonstrations of the newest Technical Recommendations, such as TR-10 for Internet Protocol Media eXperience (IPMX) and TR-06 Reliable Internet Stream Protocol (RIST). 

The developers for both of these transport technology TRs discussed their progress within the VSF Activity Group, including an update on TR-10 within the IPMX group from Jack Douglas, Vice President Marketing and Business Development for Packetstorm. IPMX is a ST 2110-type implementation focused on products in the ProAV marketplace. Such products are already available for harmonized implementation with ST 2110 systems.

Dr. Ciro A. Noronha, Ph.D, Cobalt Digital, updated the gathering on the latest developments in RIST Source Adaptation. Topics included the motivation for source adaptation, and an overview of the VSF TR-06-4 (Part 1) and preliminary implementation results for this technology. 

TR-06-4 (part 1) is designed to recover packet loss via retransmission. When network capacity falls below the stream rate, no amount of retransmission can fix this (i.e., you can’t recover a 5 Mbps stream once the link falls below 4 Mbps). TR-06-4 sets a point where the stream source must be reduced to compensate for a link level that is insufficient. This TR creates a signaling methodology to dynamically adjust the stream source rate to compensate for network changes.

New features are summarized in TR-06-3 RIST Advanced Profile for other protocols and in TR-06-4 RIST Ancillary Features including Source Adaptation (approved in November 2022) and the use of Wiregaurd VPN in RIST (approved in January). 

Historical Perspectives and PTP Security
Wes Simpson of LearnIPVideo reviewed the history of the Video Services Forum, from its creation in 1997 to the present, while John R. Naylor, Vice President of DashBoard, softGear at Ross Video, presented the SMPTE Study Group’s second report on Security in ST 2059, including a detailed overview of how PTP (i.e., IEEE-1588) functions, typical PTP applications, how PTP is used in broadcast infrastructures and the vulnerabilities of PTP on systems plus suggested corrective actions to prevent bad actors from taking over PTP in a system.

The VSF’s annual technical conference is an educational and networking experience for all those working in the domain of IP video in a broadcast environment, a WAN or a transport solution provider’s world.  Each year the VidTrans conference showcases some of the latest applications, technologies and products in its exhibit hall as well as provides attendees with networking opportunities at this special event. 

More information about VSF is available at vsf.tv.

UMEA, Sweden—Swedish IP-over-video solutions developer Intinor will showcase the latest capabilities of its Direkt series products, including ultra-low latency, synchronized streams and full support for SRT and RIST and Bifrost, its own transport protocol, at the NAB Show, April 23-27, in Las Vegas.

Intinor, a participant in the new Future of Delivery Zone in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, also will show its solutions delivering greater efficiency in remote production and remote commentary workflows, it said.

The latest ultra-low latency feature for Intinor’s Direkt series delivers less than half a second end-to-end delay for complex contribution links. Latencies are almost as low as WebRTC, which is used by Zoom, but with no compromise on audio and video quality. With Direkt it is possible to conduct two-way interviews without people talking over each other. Broadcasters now have a plug-and-play solution to support remote production without compromising operational flexibility or on-screen quality, the company said. 

Now a member of RIST Forum, Intinor will show how it supports multiple open source transport protocols, including SRT, RIST and its own Bifrost Reliable Transport (BRT) protocol. Optimized for live video via public internet, BRT combines adaptive bitrate streaming with error correction and network bonding offering redundancy for internet connections with the highest possible robustness to ensure streams are delivered without a single point of failure, it said.

The company also will feature stream synchronization with fixed end-to-end delay on multiple encoders from different cameras, enabling precise frame sync between cameras on the receiver, thereby supporting REMI applications with a single unit equipped with multiple SDI inputs or multiple units, it said.

Planned for an April release, new support for AES67 as part of its intercom solution used for remote production and remote commentary will be featured.

“Our Direkt series has the power and flexibility to send video streams to receivers from multiple vendors – as well as our own. We are looking forward to sharing the latest enhancements and showing customers exactly what they can achieve with our solutions at NAB Show 2022,” said Intinor regional sales manager Daniel Lundstedt, who will deliver a session on interoperability in the CMIP Presentation Theater (W11300), April 24, at the show. “We are also excited to return to engaging with customers and partners face to face after so long.” 

More information is available on the company’s website.

See Intinor at the NAB Show Future of Delivery Zone in the West Hall of the LVCC.

NEW YORK—The last two decades have seen an enormous proliferation of video content – and sports and other live events have been no exception, as a broader range of content has found its own audiences. Yet, at the same time, the value of each piece of programming has fallen and broadcasters must now find ways to do more with less. The upshot is it is harder for rights holders to justify the inherent cost of the “live-via-satellite” link that has been a mainstay of many live productions for decades.

Internet-based delivery models are now coming to the fore as a compelling alternative to the commercial communications satellite for broadcasters and other rights holders. As a result, satellite’s role in the TV ecosystem is waning, with close to six decades as the bedrock of live video delivery to and from almost anywhere in the world being eroded by IP-centric approaches.

Furthermore, the rise of multiplatform, over-the-top (OTT) streaming as a way of reaching wider, new and niche audiences has also impacted the use of satellite. The rise of streaming giants and specialist platforms has changed the game and forced everyone in the industry, including traditional linear broadcasters, to increase overall distribution capacity using IP-based methods that employ private fiber networks and the public internet to deliver live feeds.

These trends are forcing many sports and news broadcasters to evaluate the role internet-based delivery models will play in the future of their operations. Critical factors most need to look at include the balance between capital expenditure (CAPEX)  and operational costs and, increasingly, the potential that IP models offer over satellite for future-proofing their businesses.

The hybrid model 

IP is not a one-size-fits-all approach but offers many options for content contribution and distribution – from the public internet and dedicated leased lines to hybrid set-ups that mix and match different transports to balance cost per GB, capacity, latency and availability. 

In weighing up the relative strengths and weaknesses of IP, satellite and hybrid solutions, many broadcasters see shifting away from a satellite-driven approach as necessary for the future due to the IP-based model’s lower cost per circuit and flexibility to rapidly scale up and down. Many like the fact IP solutions offer inherent redundancy and the raw bandwidth to support 4K HDR broadcasts. Fiber options that can be used with IP, such as dynamic synchronous transfer mode (DTM), offer their own advantages.

DTM provides a highly scalable transport and switching layer between IP and fiber for next-generation networks and can deliver a direct point-to-point connection for UHD native video – at lower latency and better predictability than the open internet.

Nonetheless, satellite still can play an important role in live content delivery, such as distribution across a wide geographic area with numerous destinations – for which it can be a simpler and more cost-effective route to take. And even then, it can be integrated with IP-based elements for further distribution on the ground. 

The evolution of the TV satellite

The geosynchronous satellite traditionally used to carry TV signals requires significant capital investment and has an operational lifespan of about 15 years. Even though the average per Gb cost of satellite bandwidth has dropped significantly over the last decade, this limited operational window places a cap on how low prices can fall. 

Satellite can also be more inherently complex for broadcasters than straight IP-based delivery, adding additional steps and costs to the production process. IP-centric workflows using satellite require steps to encode, transmit and then decode content. Plus, booking satellite circuits is a pre-planned process involving a rigid schedule. While buying “always-on” satellite capacity may be an option for larger CNN-type organizations, smaller, more cost-sensitive operations face inherent technical and CAPEX barriers. 

However, satellite is evolving, and the next generation of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations are launching at a rapid rate. These offer low latency and use IP transport, making them potentially more efficient for broadcasters with end-to-end IP workflows. 

The growing appeal of IP

The shift to IP is built upon the vast amount of fiberoptic cable laid over the last decade, and when paired with 5G technology, the combined infrastructure capacity can exceed the equivalent satellite footprint. In practice, IP can ensure that a video stream – from a football stadium to a production center on the other side of the continent, for instance – will deliver a consistent circuit and low latency for a significantly lower cost than the equivalent satellite feed. 

Furthermore, building workflows centered entirely on IP-based video feeds creates new opportunities for broadcasters and streaming services to meet the expectations of multidevice consumers. IP workflows make dynamic content creation much easier to manage while unlocking the potential of remote and cloud-based production to support more flexible and efficient content creation for multiple platforms. 

Satellites, on the other hand, are not always reliable. Heavy snow or rain can affect transmitters, causing signal degradation. What’s more, the unpredictable nature of live event coverage can be a factor. For example, a delay in a press conference or game kick-off can mean that the allocated circuit may not be available when needed – so often excess, potentially wasted capacity needs to be booked.  

SAT to IP migration in the real world

Regional Sports Networks offer a great example of how shifting to IP-based content distribution from satellite strongly appeals to broadcasters seeking to balance scalability and costs as they look to the future. For instance, New England Sports Network (NESN) worked with The Switch over the last two years to replace its existing satellite distribution network with a next-generation hybrid private fiber and internet distribution model. 

NESN’s migration to a terrestrial distribution platform enabled it to build direct private fiber into its affiliates in areas that the broadcaster identified as its most important markets. This roll-out resulted in a significant improvement in signal quality delivered to the affiliates and a corresponding reduction in monthly costs to the client for the distribution network.

Grounded in the future

Satellite-based communication for TV will not vanish overnight. But the shift to IP will accelerate as global telecoms giants push up costs as they purchase more satellite spectrum for 5G, and broadcasters look for the scalability, redundancy and other pluses that IP-based delivery and workflows offer. 

With high-profile live events such as the Olympics and the World Cup on the horizon and sports leagues seeking to increase fan engagement, rights holders are looking for ways to spend less but still do more. For many, it makes more sense than ever to shift from satellite to an IP-centric approach, which offers a quick-to-deploy “on-demand” service and billing model.

Robert Szabo-Rowe is the senior vice president of engineering and product management at The Switch

Champaign, Ill. – March 25, 2019 – The RIST Forum was established today with 21 founding companies to promote the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST), a new interoperable and royalty free standard for low-latency video transport over unmanaged networks for contribution and distribution applications. In its efforts to promote worldwide adoption of RIST, the new industry association engages both users and vendors of RIST technology and products.

The RIST Forum will host a free panel discussion during the 2019 NAB Show on April 9, at 2 p.m. in the South Hall Learning Lab, Room S210, in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Representatives from members Cobalt Digital, Net Insight, VideoFlow, and Zixi will provide a detailed overview of the technology, as well as plans for further adoption of the standard. NAB attendees are encouraged to register for the panel at www.rist.tv/register-for-nab-2019-panel.

RIST was developed by an activity group within the Video Services Forum, combining more than 300 years of industry experience to provide the foundation for interoperability and a technically robust design. It was demonstrated publicly for the first time at IBC 2018, with the RIST Simple Profile Specification published in October 2018 (as VSF TR-06-1). The protocol has now been subject to numerous interoperability tests, in which implementations from Artel, Cobalt Digital, DVEO, Evertz, Net Insight, Nevion, QVidium, VideoFlow, and Zixi have already shown interoperability. There is also an open source VLC player with technology contributed by DVEO.

“We are proud to announce the RIST Forum and encourage users, manufacturers, and industry professionals to join us,” said Jacob Kinsey, RIST Forum co-chair. “We want to help broadcasters and other content providers lose the packet loss. RIST is a technically robust solution co-developed by a large number of vendors, ensuring interoperability and enabling future innovation, and it’s really in a category of its own in terms of ease of adoption.”

Current members include Amagi, Artel, Ateme, Cobalt Digital, Crystal, DVEO, Evertz, Haivision, Happy Robotz, MVA Broadcast Consulting, Mankin Media, Media Transport Solutions, Net Insight, Nevion, Qvidium, Sencore, Synamedia, Telecom Product Consulting, VideoFlow, Zayo, and Zixi. For more information, visit www.rist.tv.

About RIST Forum
The RIST Forum is a nonprofit organization that strives to make the world adopt the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) interoperable standard for transporting live video over unmanaged networks. Established as a collaborative, nonprofit organization, the RIST Forum is a true community that’s engaging both users and vendors of RIST technology and RIST products.

Follow us on Twitter @RISTForum, LinkedIn @RIST Forum, and get involved at www.rist.tv.

For further information about RIST Forum, please contact:
Jacob Kinsey, Co-chair RIST Forum, jacob.kinsey@cobaltdigital.com or
Alexander Sandstrom, Co-chair RIST Forum, alexander.sandstrom@netinsight.net

TVU Networks, the global technology and innovation leader in live IP video solutions and TVN GROUP, one of Germany’s leading TV, Film and Outside Broadcast production company, today announce that they are working together to provide the German broadcast market with innovative, powerful and flexible IP video transport solutions.

“Our customers are facing growing demand for more news content across more platforms, so we need to help them with new and innovative ways of newsgathering. Deploying the advanced live IP video acquisition solutions from TVU, delivers the flexibility, mobility and reliability needed to tell stories from any location,” said Bernd Dypka, CIO TVN GROUP. “We worked closely with TVU Networks to ensure that our joint solutions enable broadcasters to get the heart of the news and action as it happens – whether in Germany or further afield.”

The first joint projects will see broadcasters deploy the TVU One mobile solutions to ensure that TVN customers can deliver the best possible live streaming video services, with unmatched quality and reliability regardless of location. The collaboration has been facilitated by TVU Networks’ long-term partner QVEST Media.

When discussing the project, Alexander Kritschker, Head of Professional Products, QVEST Media, said: “I’m looking forward to helping deploy the innovative joint TVN and TVU live video solutions so that the German broadcast market can more efficiently acquire, transport, share and re-use video to get on air first and enhance storytelling together with viewer engagement.”

David Jorba, EVP and Managing Director at TVU Europe added: “As the German market leader in broadcast facilities and newsgathering services, TVN Group has established a reputation for always being at the cutting edge. We are excited by the development of joint TVN and TVU solutions and look forward to ensuring that TVN continues to lead the way in providing innovative solutions that meet their customers requirement to tell stories better while increasing flexibility and efficiency.”

EIGHTY FOUR, PA.—Internet protocol technologies developed and implemented globally are now found in equipment rooms and network applications for broadcast. We’re at the cusp of seeing just how technologies like virtualization, IP, real-time transport protocols and software-based network management impact real-time broadcast systems. Of the many enabling datacenter technologies, “software defined networking” (SDN) is now integral to next-generation IP video transport.

SDN is the core technology present in the controlling of IP video on professional media networks (PMN). To understand how SDN fits into real-time transport protocol (RTP), UTP (user datagram protocol) and live-studio video—i.e., Studio Video over IP (SVIP as SMPTE 2110)—we will explore portions of networking evolution; see where the differences are; and provide examples of how SDN is being applied to broadcast infrastructures and IP-network management.

PACKET FORWARDING PLANES
Networks are all about packet forwarding. Networks are largely built of three integral components: a control plane, a data plane and a management plane.

Planes are implemented in the firmware found in routers and switches. The control plane makes decisions about where network traffic is sent; and, the data plane (or forwarding plane) is what moves traffic to the next hop—i.e., which packets go through the router with a path that is determined by the control plane logic. The management plane configures the interfaces, IP subnets, and routing protocols.

SDN changes how the control plane and data plane interact. SDN is a technology where the network control is decoupled from data forwarding and becomes directly programmable. SDN moves away from distributed configurations to controlling the network via a logically centralized high-level controller. Insulating the control plane from network hardware and implementing control in software enables programmatic access, making network administration more flexible.

Fig. 1: Classic network model with details of each network component detailed in the green inset.

TRADITIONAL NETWORKS VS. SDN
Classic networks are built whereby the data planes move traffic using a “state distribution mechanism” (“protocols”) layered onto forwarding hardware, with an operating system in the control plane set between them. Fig. 1 represents how protocols interconnect the components.

Fig. 2: Traditional networking model where each network component has a control plane coupled directly with the data plane of each section.

Fig. 3: In SDN, the data planes exchange the packets, but a single control plane manages the data planes directly.

Using designated protocol(s), vertically integrated practices guarantee consistent interoperability, but unfortunately also produces a closed platform. In the “traditional networking model” (Fig. 2), control planes and data planes are coupled to network elements and endpoints. In the SDN paradigm (Fig. 3), the control plane API is decoupled from each individual data plane using a network topology abstraction with high-level access to programmable switching.

SDN models allow features such as host tracking or shortest path routing; with intelligence to know about and control each data plane element accordingly; and alleviates the former need to land control software applications on each peripheral hardware endpoint. SDN lets the control system become aware of all the network’s activities.

BASIS OF CONTROL
SVIP products leverage SDN capabilities, emulating similar functionality to what broadcasters have in existing SDI-based routing. Since SDI routing is constrained to specific bandwidths (1.5G, 3G, 6G and 12G) with a fixed point-to-point unidirectional signal architecture, all SDI data flows are governed by strict standardized hardware parameters, which send and receive SMPTE standardized signals. For IP-video broadcast networks, flow management is an essential component, which is unnecessary in SDI-routing environments.

IP networks may utilize either TCP (transmission control protocol) or UDP (user datagram protocol); but unlike SDI, IP connectivity is point-to-multipoint. In real-time IP-networks, especially for broadcast applications, “flows” and “connections” are managed via capabilities built into the SDN; providing both intelligence and protection against over-subscription of the network. With SDN, network controllers know of the signals, where they came from, and who gets what data sent to which end-point.

Excessive flows will oversubscribe any network, and may collapse the network in unpredictable ways. By applying SDN’s intelligence, flows are better understood because control on the network becomes centrally managed.

UNDER THE SDN HOOD
Understanding SDN helps users of media networks know how control, automation and network management can be achieved and maintained. We should be clear though, SDN is not virtualization—rather it is the logically controlling of the network from a central high-level program (e.g., the network ‘Controller’)—much like an SDI-router’s controller does today.

In networking, lower layer routing protocols, i.e., layer 3 and layer 2 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), Table 1, won’t understand the infrastructure of the network much further than the next hop in the topology. By themselves, flows are not necessarily fault tolerant, nor do they possess intelligence about the overall systemization or user-interfaces on the network.

Table 1: The classic OSI reference model with examples of the various networking standards, applications or protocols associated to each Layer name and number.

For television broadcast and production, an SDI “router controller” executes the video switches (i.e., routes the signals through the crosspoints to output ports). SDI routers may control audio channel-pairing, shuffling, perform tie-line management between routers, act on specific policies (i.e., user access control), and set up control panels based upon sources, destinations and availabilities.

In networking, the “network controller” is tasked with those management functions. Controllers utilize SDN to “steering packets” across the network from sources to destinations. Since multiple signals are carried on the same physical media (copper Ethernet cable or optical fiber), something must track what is on that media; understanding what is going to or coming from any port on the switch or end-points. Not all switches are SDN capable, so be aware you can’t pick any switch and expect it to handle SDN functions.

SDN AND ORCHESTRATION
SDN enables network agility; helping automate the pathing of packets through switches throughout the network, processes known as “orchestration,” based on what the end-points on the network need or expect. Orchestration is equivalent to the broadcast SDI router control system, (except in network terminologies), and together with SDN, are the basis of control for PMNs.

Applications and SDN handle IP multicast join or leave requests. They aid in port management to prevent packets from oversaturating links or receiver end-points. IP-routing decisions are dynamic and continually changing, so SDN-based network control must understand network changes based upon potential activities throughout the network, contrary to single streams on a single cable in an SDI router.

Network control application software, such as OpenFlow (an open standard-based piece of an SDN system), enable network controllers to know about and steer packets across the network switches. Since SDN separates control from forwarding, a sophisticated and intelligent flow management schema is created.

HYBRID SYSTEMS LIVING TOGETHER
Hybrid systems are where network (IP) and digital video (SDI) topologies share the features of SDN-based controllers to manage real-time transport (RTP) of IP video with legacy SDI-based equipment on the network. Broadcast equipment manufacturers seamlessly integrate these “network controllers” with their SDI-router controllers—which is essentially the SDI/IP architecture we expect to see for several years.

Karl Paulsen is CTO at Diversified (www.diversifiedus.com) and a SMPTE Fellow. Read more about this and other storage topics in his book “Moving Media Storage Technologies.” Contact Karl atkpaulsen@diversifiedus.com.