LiveU has announced plans to expand its hybrid global IP satellite service, which works in combination with its HEVC bonding technology.

Increasing the range of options, the new solution, based on Eutelsat's KA-SAT, will allow customers to use satellite or cellular connectivity seamlessly, streamlining both the billing structure and workflow.

LiveU offer its customers in Europe Ka satellite airtime in combination with its current cellular roaming data packages. Using this hybrid solution, the connectivity choice is made automatically based on a combination of signal strength and cost-effectiveness. LiveU will be working with Eutelsat whose KA-SAT satellite wide beam footprint extends across Europe and parts of North Africa.

The collaboration utilises NewsSpotter, Eutelsat’s Satellite News Gathering (SNG) product. NewsSpotter provides native bidirectional IP connectivity, facilitating integration with modern news production and media content management workflows. LiveU’s LU600 HEVC solution is a fully bundled service with a single-point-of-contact for support and with a range of packages available.

“This is a truly integrated service offering, bringing together the best of both worlds via market leaders in their respective fields,” said Zion Eilam, regional VP sales (EMEA), LiveU. “Making this as seamless and effortless as possible for our customers was essential, ensuring that they can concentrate on bringing high-quality live content to their viewers. Partnering with Eutelsat has achieved that, complementing our existing hybrid Ku-satellite service solution.”

Gerry O’Sullivan, executive vice president, Global TV and Video with Eutelsat, added: “Undoubtedly the contribution market, especially news, has changed significantly in recent years, with speed of deployment and mobility – at realistic price points – increasingly taking centre stage. NewsSpotter was a clear response to that and this collaboration with LiveU is the natural next step.”

VAN NUYS, CA--PSSI Global Services has partnered with OB vehicle builder Frontline Communications to build 16 new, state-of-the-art Ku-band SNG vehicles for use by PSSI News Group in exclusive partnership with CNN. The trucks replace 16 vehicles previously owned by CNN, which — having been absorbed into the PSSI Global Services fleet — are in the process of being upgraded and will soon be available to all PSSI Global Services clients.

The new PSSI News Group trucks include nine full-size Freightliner trucks and seven Mercedes Sprinters. Each is fully equipped with top-shelf broadcast equipment, including Ericsson AVP encoders and IRDs, Evertz Microsystems terminal equipment, Xenon digital routers, Hitomi MatchBox lip-sync systems, Panasonic video production switchers, and Vislink wireless RF camera systems. The new trucks are now in use by PSSI News Group engineers for CNN coverage in regions across the country, including Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, New York City, Dallas, Columbus and Miami.

The additional trucks PSSI Global Services acquired from CNN are already built for multipath news transmissions, with production switchers, extensive comms infrastructure, multichannel audio mixers, multipath encoding and decoding equipment, and more. 

Once PSSI Global Services’ upgrades are complete, the trucks will also have advanced compression, multiplexing and IP capabilities to support sports and entertainment projects, as well as news coverage. Each truck will be outfitted with high-throughput satellite modems with dedicated satellite capacity to enable a wide range of IP services, including internet access, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), enterprise connectivity, and bandwidth for backhaul and multicasting.

Many of the upgraded trucks are already complete and in use, including a Sprinter based in Los Angeles and several full-sized trucks with extensive production capabilities in Atlanta, Boston, Denver and Las Vegas. As the upgrades continue, PSSI Global Services plans to deploy trucks in Phoenix, Portland, Kansas City, Nashville, Charlotte and several other cities across the country.

ISTANBUL—Jordan Radio and Television, the Jordanian state broadcaster, has a new set of wheels. JRTV recently acquired a satellite news gathering (SNG) transmission uplink vehicle from Hitachi Kokusai Electric Turkey Systems.

Based on the Mercedes Sprinter van, the OB vehicle is designed to meet the SNG transmission needs of JRTV. The vehicle integrates a PDA 150 Ku Band Drive News antenna, features a 1:1 400 W Ku Band TWTA, an MPEG-2/4 HD compressions system and a built-in automatic leveling system. Additional features include a high power conditioning system, an uninterruptible power supply system and a power generator for standalone operation in any Jordanian climate condition.

The vehicle was delivered and commissioned on-site at JRTV’s Amman-based production headquarters in December.

On this project Hitachi worked with Amman-based HEAT for Engineering and Technology.

WASHINGTON—Federal regulators are working out the date certain that TV stations using satellite newsgathering trucks will have to install a tracking beam so neighboring satellite TV operators can find them if they cause interference.

Nearly three years ago, the Federal Communications Commission ordered the adoption of an identification scheme that would allow satellite operators to track down interference from temporary-fixed earth stations—a category that includes satellite newsgathering trucks. These stations were supposed to start embedding an Automatic Transmitter Identification System message into their subcarrier signal by Sept. 3, 2016. This was to be achieved though an upgraded or new modulator, but those are few and far between as the deadline approaches, according to the FCC Public Notice seeking feedback on when to set the new deadline.

“Recent information from affected earth station operators, and independent staff market surveillance, indicate that suitable external modulators have not become widely available,” it said. “Many earth station operators would therefore be unable to retro-fit their current transmitting equipment in order to comply... and instead would need to replace the equipment at considerably greater expense than anticipated when the rule was adopted.”

A temporary, one-year waiver of the Sept. 3, 2016 deadline was issued in March to allow more time to update the record on a more appropriate implementation schedule. 

“We now seek comment on the appropriate timeframe for implementation of the carrier identification requirement for digital video transmissions,” the Public Notice stated. “In particular, we invite comment on the costs to both earth station operators and space station operators of further delaying the effective date of the requirement. We specifically request that commenters provide supporting materials such as technical documentation and price quotations for equipment compliant with the carrier identification requirement.”

A timetable now has been established for the discussion on the questions in that PN. Today’s publication in the Federal Register set the comment due-date at June 30, with replies due July 15, when the comment period will close. The International Bureau Docket No. is 12-267.

Also see...
Aug. 15, 2013
“FCC Streamlines Satellite Communications Rules Changes”
One change that is likely to lead to extra cost for SNG truck operators is a requirement for a new Automatic Transmitter Identification System (ATIS). ATIS operating on a subcarrier is currently required for all broadband video uplinks, but this form of identification is not really compatible with digitally modulated signals.

Oct.5, 2012
“FCC Eyes Video Uplink ATIS Rule Changes”
With the use of different today’s encoding methods and encryption, it’s difficult to identify uplink transmitters.

OTTAWA— The evolution of ENG/SNG vehicle equipment has mirrored TV production as a whole. The latest ENG/SNG units use digital cameras, recording servers, routers, and (where needed) switchers; all linked to each other and the outside world via IP-based networking. It is just the most technically efficient—and cost-effective— way to produce ENG/SNG content today.

Due to IP’s ability to combine performance with cost savings, “all broadcast vehicles will eventually become IP. It’s only a matter of time,” predicted Steve Williamson, director of sales for Frontline Communications, a Clearwater, Fla.-based manufacturer of ENG vehicles. “Satellite has already evolved from DVB to lower-cost Ka-band—which is an IP data network— and Ku-IP,” Williamson noted. “Almost all vehicles also include IP-based bonded cellular encoders for terrestrial transmission, which can be used for Ka and Ku-IP satellite transmission.”

Telemundo affiliate WNJU-TV in the New York City DMA uses this Ka-band ENG van from AMT, built on the Ford Explorer platform. IP also offers cost savings for microwave users. For instance, the ENGenesis Bi-Directional LTE Microwave System and high-power Monsta Mesh products from Accelerated Media Technologies use both IP and LTE to connect stations and ENG/SNG trucks over broadcasters’ licensed 2 GHz broadcast microwave bands. This connectivity provides “both dedicated and proprietary network connectivity and private cellular networks to lower operating costs,” said Tom Jennings, president of AMT in Auburn, Mass. “This will eliminate the need for cable runs while allowing up to 10 news vehicles to transmit bidirectionally over the same channel—and make it easy for other IP-native resources to connect to other ENG/SNG IP-networked devices.”

DIGITAL DIVIDENDS
Even without IP factored in, digital technologies provide many beneficial changes to ENG/SNG vehicles.

The first big change is weight. Digital TV equipment is far lighter than its analog predecessors, and can thus be carried in smaller, less-heavy vans and SUVs. “This is why you are seeing new ENG/SNG vehicles being built on the Nissan NV HR and Ford Transit platforms, rather than the Ford E-350,” said John Payne, chief technology officer with Integrated Microwave Technologies in Mount Olive, N.J. “You no longer need that larger size of hauling capacity.”

The second major difference is power consumption. Compared to their electricity-devouring analog counterparts, today’s digital TV production equipment sips power. “You can have an entire ENG/SNG production system in a small SUV/Jeep or next-generation smaller van profile such as the ProMaster or Transit— including microwave and satellite transmitters— that gets up to 5–8 kilowatts of power from a custom [AMT] MVP Power Inverter/AGM Battery Pack connected directly to the engine,” Jennings said. “You don’t need a separate gas-powered generator anymore, and all the payload weight, expense and space such a device requires. The vehicles themselves have been upgraded from the factories to provide all of the HVAC you will ever need without 120V power.”

Digital’s third dividend is enhanced signal transmission capability. For terrestrial transmission, bonded cellular units that use commercial cellular networks provide ENG crews with low-cost, wide coverage twoway connectivity. So does the use of 2 GHz microwave transmission to support two-way file transfers between vehicles and stations. “We’ve seen tests where an ENG truck with its microwave mast down can still achieve distances up to 80 miles of reliable connections with data throughput speeds up to 10 Mbps,” Jennings said.

The combination of advances in digital technology and IP have enabled ENG/SNG truck manufacturers to reduce weight and fit more gear into smaller spaces. On the satellite side, the lower cost of Ka-band equipment and bandwidth compared to Ku-band—and Ka’s smaller equipment footprint—is making it the go-to choice for broadcasters.

“We have about 40 On Call Communications Ka-band satellite systems, which are compact enough to put on small SUVs,” said Jason Effinger, senior vice president of media and technology for station group Gray Television in Atlanta. “Add this to approximately 120 bonded cellular portables that we use for ENG—primarily made by TVU Networks—and you can see that Gray Television is committed to the benefits of digital ENG/SNG.”

The last big benefit is simplicity: “Today’s digital ENG/SNG trucks are so easy to set up and operate, that one vehicle can be run by a single reporter,” said Payne. “No longer do you have to pay for a dedicated truck operator and perhaps a producer as well. One person can do it all.”

All these digital advantages are of particular interest to the EW Scripps Co. and its 33 TV stations. “We are looking very seriously at IP-based newsgathering, which we think is a very exciting area to explore,” said Ray Thurber, vice president of engineering for television for the Cincinnati-based company. “It offers us the ability to do ENG/SNG better, simpler, and cheaper than the old ways of covering news in the field.”

Looking ahead, the continued evolution of ENG/ENG vehicles will “mirror the cellphone industry, if you remember the cellphones from the ’80s,” Williamson said. “Broadcast vehicles will continue to get smaller and smarter and have more features and capabilities and costs will continue to come down, both capital costs and operating costs.”

How drastic a change will this be? “What we envision looks nothing like what you see today,” Williamson replied.