It’s the age of integrated media services, so it’s no surprise that many phone companies are getting into the TV business in some way, shape, or form. One example is KDDI, a long-distance carrier with hubs in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo, Japan (the company is known as KDDI America in the U.S.). It operates a data circuit that sends U.S. TV signals to Japan, to be broadcast there by various Japanese networks. To ensure there are no problems with the signals going to Japan, KDDI employs several systems from Ensemble Designs for monitoring.
“We provide the path for [U.S.] broadcasters to send their signals to Japan,” said Tomohiro Nakashima, who supervises KDDI America’s network operation center in Los Angeles. “We need to monitor the video to make sure everything is ok. That’s why we use Ensemble Designs.”
Essentially, KDDI uses Ensemble Designs equipment to divide incoming ASI signals in order to be able to monitor pictures sent by the company’s various broadcast companies in the U.S. In addition to contracts with many local broadcasters in the U.S., KDDI has a contract with most Japanese broadcasting companies. The broadcasters send their signals to KDDI’s New York or Los Angeles hub, depending on where they are located, and KDDI sends the signal through an undersea fiber cable to its Tokyo hub, where the broadcasters there pick up the signal.
KDDI uses Ensemble Designs Avenue, 4110 DVB-ASI, 5100 Digital DA, and 5150 Analog Video DA. It uses the Avenue system to divide signals coming into the Los Angeles hub for monitoring. “Let’s say there’s a main signal going into Tokyo. We are using a divider so we can get the different outputs into our monitor system,” said Nakashima. It uses the 4110 DVB-ASI to monitor ASI signals. “We get different signals from our carriers... analog or ASI. If we get an ASI signal, we have to use the ASI card.”
KDDI only sends digital signals to Japan. When it receives an analog signal from one of the U.S. broadcasters, is uses Ensemble’s 5100 Digital DA to convert the signal to digital. It uses the 5150 Analog Video DA pick up analog video and divide the analog signals to different outputs.
So, what do Japanese viewers want from U.S. TV signals? Baseball, for one thing. “Because a couple of Japanese players are playing Major League Baseball, viewers in Japan are interested in sports,” said Nakashima. News is also popular. In any case, with Ensemble Designs, KDDI can be confident its customers’ signals reach Japan intact--and--in digital.
