In Broadcast - October 2015 - 42

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 10 | October 2015

InStudio

AEQ's AoIP Multichannel Network
Solutions Support Athletics World
Championships

Commentary system used at the Athletics World Championships in
Beijing 2015 relied on AoIP multichannel network solutions from AEQ...

Setting up commentary positions and preparing for the Commentary Units

he Athletics World Championships, infrastructures such as E1 Audio
organised by IAAF in Beijing Multiplexer systems (also supplied by
2015, took place between 22 and 30 AEQ) and similar.
August 2015. The Championships
For the IAAF WC 2015 the system
were primarily hosted in the Bird's was much smaller and also simplified.
Nest, which was the venue for the In the opinion of the writer it was also
2008 Olympic Games. The Athletics much more efficient in terms of what
World Championships was the biggest is needed in both time and resources
sporting event on the planet in 2015. to be deployed, thus impacting very
Close to 2000 athletes from over positively in the number of man-hours
200 nations assembled in Beijing for required for planning, Installation, setnine days of competitions that were up, operations and maintenance and
broadcast to an accumulated audience eventually dismantling.
of six billion worldwide. CCTV was
The way that the Commentary
acting as the Host Broadcaster and AEQ System was deployed and installed was
provided all the Commentary Units for in essence the same as back in 2008,
the fully booked commentary positions. but the transport of the uni-lateral
This was actually the second time signals from the CCUs in the CCR to
that the AEQ commentary gear has the Commentary Switching Centre in
been at this stadium, but on the the IBC were significantly simplified.
occasion of the Olympics in 2008, the The CCUs in the CCR presented the
set-up was in all aspects much more unilateral commentary signals to
complicated. It was
the AEQ NetBOX 32
a larger system and
Audio Interfaces and
much more complex
network nodes. These
system
and
the
were connected to a
connections between
standard, managed
the
Commentary
gigabit switch with
Control Unit frames
fibre
links.
Two
(CCUs)
in
the
redundant
and
Commentary Control
diverse
dark-fibre
Room
(CCR),
the
paths linked the CCR
Broadcast Compound
with the Commentary
and the International
Switching
Centre
Broadcast Centre (IBC)
(CSC) in the combined
were of a completely
IBC/Broadcast
different
scale.
Compound
and
During that occasion
a pairing set of
we had to rely on Commentary signal switching in
managed switch and
traditional Telecoms IBC with AEQ NetBOX 32
NetBox 32's.

From here the signals are distributed
to the RHBs in analogue or digital.
AEQ and the Host Broadcaster would
have loved to be able to give them a
port on a standard Gigabit Network
Switch, but there are still a few RHBs
that don't have AES67 or DanteTM
compatible equipment, and the HB
rate-card did not include this option.
Since the system is bi-directional there
was obviously a return path from the
RHBs IBC facilities to the CCR via the
commentary Switching Centre.
AEQ DCS10 Commentary Unit
In order to control and monitor the
system signals, DanteTM Controllers is that it can be built as a very simple
and DanteTM Virtual Sound cards on "isolated" network, where the system
computers were used at both locations clock is generated by one of the
(CCR and CSC). This allowed for both NetBox 32's. The same network was
the control of the signal paths and also used for control and management
to monitor the commentary signals of for example the commentary control
Program Go and F'back, Coordination unit frames, the AEQ Phoenix Stratos
Go and F'back, International Sound, multi-format AudioCodecs - including
Auxiliar, Guide, etc. Further the signal monitoring. With full control
International Sound (IS1 for TV and of this network it is very simple to
IS2 for Radio) for the commentators establish the necessary responsibility
was produced in the Compound demarcation points.
and was conveyed to the CCR using
For the setting-up, testing and
the same signal path as the RHB operations, AEQ sent two of its
coordination and return signals. All the engineers, Luis Hernandez and Javier
other required signals that were also Muriel to lead and assist the teams
common signals for the commentator, of the Host Broadcaster and its main
such as PA and also two CUE signals contractor - CSS-Group at the Beijing
were also available through this national stadium. These companies
DanteTM Multichannel IP Audio undertook the tasks to provide the
Network.
services and broadcast signals to the
Part of the international PoP was world broadcasting community with
located in the same area as the CCR. great professionalism.
And whether or not the RHBs were
From these lines we would like to
using ISDN or IP connectivity or express our gratitude to CCTV as the
not , all the signals were coming on acting host broadcaster and CSS-group
the same signal path as previously for the trust deposited in AEQ.
described and were routed
to the AEQ Phoenix Stratos
IP and ISDN codecs. This
part of the system provided
for
the
International
connectivity
of
the
commentary signal and
bi-directional program and
coordination with the RHB
facilities in the IBC and the
Commentary positions in the
Installation of the Commentary Control Room (CCR)
stadium.
with AEQ Stratos IP and ISDN codecs and NetBOX 32
The beauty of the system
for IBC multichannel AoIP interconnectivity

http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.aeq.eu/products/dcs-10 http://www.aeq.eu/ http://www.aeq.eu/products/aeq-aoip-networking http://www.aeqbroadcast.com/products/phoenix-stratos

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