The Future is Hybrid

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Future is Hybrid"

Ethel Griffith
8 years ago
Views:

1 Leveraging the Internet for broadcast video contribution Creating a hybrid contribution network that brought new easeof-use and cost-effectiveness to a major American broadcaster. April 1, 2015

2 Page 2 Waves of Change in Broadcast Contribution From the 1960s into the 1990s, satellite, microwave and coaxial cables were the hot transmission technologies. Innovators in technology, in business and in content worked miracles in overcoming distance, spreading knowledge and entertainment, and creating the biggest mass markets ever known. People with long enough memories will recall the Andover and Goonhilly satellite earth stations, the Telestar- 1 satellite, the Thrilla From Manilla and many other firsts. For a very long time, the architecture of televised media and entertainment was unchanging. To take news as an example, there was an anchor sitting in a broadcast center, receiving breaking news by wire and videotape. The nightly news was transmitted via satellite to earth stations at broadcast affiliates across the United States, and beamed free- to- air to households. By the time cable TV began its headlong growth in the 1980s, there were new wrinkles: SNG trucks providing contribution by satellite or microwave, and distribution to headends for transmission over cable systems as well as the affiliate network. But fast- forward to 2015, and that traditional landscape is almost unrecognizable. The TV newsroom has evolved into an all- digital content engine, as have the playout centers that put most other programming on the air. But the digital revolution inside the news operation is nothing compared with the broadband revolution that has taken place outside it. From YouTube and Netflix to the Huffington Post and CNN online, distribution is a whole new world. Or maybe a whole new cloud. The Care and Feeding of Video Video remains unlike any of the other traffic crossing the globe s networks. Since long before the word broadband existed, it was the original high- bandwidth application. Continuing advances in data compression make it possible to get acceptable video quality with using ever- less capacity, but video technology responds by increasing its demands from standard definition to high definition and now to Ultra- HD. Video remains the bandwidth hog of the world s networks.

3 Page 3 One of the biggest differences between video and ordinary data, however, is that video quality depends on exactly when each digital bit arrives at the recipient s end of the network. When we transfer a file, we don t care that much in what order the bits arrive as long as the software reassembles them properly. But for a video stream, as for a telephone conversation, the bits making up each of 30 frames per second have to get where they are going exactly when they are needed. Otherwise you do not have moving pictures and sound. You have static. This is why video has generally been treated differently from all other forms of communications traffic, to the extent that it traveled on separate copper, satellite and fiber networks for decades. But in the media business of today, those discrete and expensive networks are increasingly hard to justify. A project for a major American broadcast network demonstrates the changing needs and search for solutions. The Hybrid Contribution Network The broadcaster developed a requirement to build a new kind of delivery system for video and audio contribution, connecting its broadcast center with affiliates around the United States. The broadcaster wanted to achieve goals that looked incompatible: enhance the quality and flexibility of its contribution network, while sharply reducing its cost. And if possible, make it very easy to use, so that fewer trained personnel would be needed to operate it, providing additional savings over the long term. We surveyed the available technologies and transmission platforms, and our engineers proposed an out- of- the- box idea. We advised the company to forget about the traditional approach: dedicated, internal storage systems (aka, a private cloud ) and internal network linked by fiber and leased satellite capacity. Such systems are robust, secure and effective. They are also expensive, however, and there is nothing simple about managing MPLS over fiber. Continuing to lease the large volumes of satellite capacity to support contribution was also not an option, because too much of it went underutilized most of the time. We outlined an alternative instead: a hybrid IP- based platform combining satellite, the public Internet and a cloud platform ( public cloud ) hosted by one of the big providers. This Next- Generation Contribution Network would connect the

4 The Future is Hybrid Page 4 broadcast hub with nearly 200 member/affiliate stations for the delivery of linear real- time and file- based non- real- time media content. Making the Complex Look Simple The challenge of the design was to make the most efficient use of satellite and terrestrial bandwidth while providing a single software platform capable of managing it all, including media assets, the scheduling of feeds, invoicing and dynamic bandwidth allocation. The Broadcasting of Everything Contribution arrives at the broadcast center from satellite trucks, LTE-connected remotes, files and archive footage and must flow from a data center to an expanding range of devices in the home and the hand. We designed a unified platform that dynamically mixes Internet and satellite transmission to provide three kinds of content streams: Small file transfer for low- resolution files and short clips Large file transfers and video streaming (off- air return, bonded cellular, tower or helicopter cameras) Live broadcast- quality video (news, Q&A) The unique ability to open the satellite spectrum for IP news contribution during idle periods provides the most efficient use of space segment. Making it all work together was a software platform that automated the most common workflows for ease of use and reduction of operating expense.

5 Page 5 At the affiliates, we installed all- IP advanced VSAT terminals using dynamic SCPC technology and an advanced bandwidth management system, which automated carrier switching and spectrum management. The Human Factor With any new system, there is a vital, non- technical concern: adoption. Will the network engineering team be comfortable relying on it? Will the affiliates actually use it? Companies like Apple have demonstrated the power of good software design and hardware integration to win over users of unfamiliar technology. Was the new system Appley enough to do the same? Affiliates told the network, and the network told us, that they loved it. What had once been a series of complex processes had been transformed into a few mouse- clicks on the desktop or laptop, with the intelligence in the system making the judgment calls about the best routing. So, problem solved? Well, not quite. Public Internet and public cloud storage are delivering on the promises of adequate reliability (for the right kinds of content) and lower cost. But they also open a Pandora s Box of security issues that broadcast networks and satellite operators have seldom had to face before. Cybersecurity is suddenly a serious issue, and it takes a serious regimen to deal with it: vigilance, network- wide assessment of risks, fixing the gaps and taking frequent, holistic views of the network architecture to increase its security over time. That s how the major Internet companies do it, and hybrid networks need the same treatment. New Ways of Doing Business With change comes complexity, but also greater efficiency and cost- effectiveness. The commercial Web turned 25 last year, and it is not done upending our traditional ways of doing business. Technology will continue to improve, as will our way of moving voice, video and data. Within 10 years the term hybrid will probably be an amusing description of this transition period to what will simply be a technology infrastructure, a fluid and dynamic portfolio of internal and external services, which is cost- and performance- optimized for the moment.

6 Page 6 About Globecomm Globecomm is a leading global communications provider serving media, mobile, business, government and maritime markets in over 80 countries. From developing broadcast studios and playout centers to the integration of satellite and fiber networks, Globecomm meets the fast- changing needs of broadcast networks, cable channels, direct- to- home operators and over- the- top content providers. For customers around the world, we offer a comprehensive suite of system integration, system products, and network services. We believe our integrated approach offering in- house design and engineering expertise combined with a world- class global network and our 24x7 network operating centers provides a unique value. More at or info@globecomm.com.

ADVANTAGES OF AV OVER IP. EMCORE Corporation

ADVANTAGES OF AV OVER IP. EMCORE Corporation ADVANTAGES OF AV OVER IP More organizations than ever before are looking for cost-effective ways to distribute large digital communications files. One of the best ways to achieve this is with an AV over