InBroadcast - May 2023 - 16

16
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 13 - Issue 5 | May 2023
InStudio
IP-Linked Cellular Production
Contributing Editor David Kirk reports
on the current trends in IP-linked remote
OB production...
A
notable aspect of the April 2023
NAB Show was the large number
of conference presentations focused
on signal delivery, from REMI links
onward to terrestrial, satellite and IP
broadcasting. 5G continues to attract
strong attention as a production
tool, exemplified by the presentation
from Ian Wagdin (BBC Research &
Development) et al under the title
'Pop-up 5G Standalone Non-public
Networks (SNPNS) for Live Broadcast
Production' which merits study by
everyone with a serious interest in OB
developments. A brief summary:
" The use of 5G technology is of
great
interest
and
to the broadcast
industry, as it can offer the low
latency
high bandwidth
requirements for outside broadcast
(OB) program making.
There are
two main scenarios that should be
considered in the deployment of 5G
technologies
for program making.
First are contribution feeds, which
are characterized by the current
use of bonded cellular devices on a
public network. These are typically
constrained in terms of latency and
bandwidth but
offer advantages
in ease of deployment and large
coverage areas. The second scenario
is the use of production links that are
characterized by low latency, high
bandwidth local connectivity
dedicated
wireless
to a single
camera channel.
Private 5G networks have
the ability to impact on both
of these scenarios. A portable,
pop-up private standalone 5G
network has been developed
and deployed around the world
in a series of successful proof-ofconcepts
production
in remote locations.
When we started on this journey,
the potential benefits of 5G SNPNs
for the broadcast industry were
understood, but
whether the
technology was mature enough
to use in practice and whether
it
ultimately
delivered
on its
promises in real-world application
remained to be seen. Our biggest
take home from the trials and
Abonair's AB4000
events described here is that the
technology is absolutely
ready to
find use in broadcasting, and will
continue to improve with adoption
and experience. "
Mike Palmer (Sinclair Broadcasting,
USA) outlined
Sinclair's
Cloud
Media Pipeline which allows
centralised reception and processing
of
commercials, syndicated
programming and promos across the
group's 210 channels by applying
IP-linked applications and services
to achieve savings, efficiency and
speed: " Each month Sinclair's 210
channels receive on average 30,000
advertising spots, 6,000 syndicated
programs, and create more than
60,000 episodic
promos.
This
content was formerly received across
60 different physical locations, each
with its own hardware, software
and operators, where media timing
and quality was manually checked.
Though much of the content was also
used on other channels, every master
control site received and prepped its
own content. If an exception, such
as bad timing, was found at one
site, the content had to be manually
corrected at all other sites where that
same content was also used. The
result was unnecessary duplicated
effort by both humans and machines
and
produced
redundancy
costs,
Haivision's StreamHub
including support, power, cooling
and
rack
determined
space, etc.
that the best
Dejero's 5G EnGo 3 and EnGo 3x
Sinclair
course
forward would be to consolidate
ingest and prep operations into the
public cloud, using a limited number
of flexible and loosely coupled cloudnative
applications and services to
ingest, process and deliver content
to playout
for the entire group.
The system is operating well, and
producing content used by the full
enterprise. Full
efficiencies
will
come over time as the environment
continues to evolve. "
The April 2023 NAB Show also saw
significant product introductions and
upgrades. The following are some of
the highlights:
ABonAir's
wireless
video link
AB4000 is a 4K
supporting
4K, 12G-SDI, HDMI 2.0, HDR, lens
control
a
for outside broadcast
intercom and loopthrough
using a single RF channel.
The AB4000 incorporates
wireless-optimised
H.265
codec
and
uses
bi-directional
communication allowing each video
pixel
to be acknowledged by the
receiver. If no acknowledgement
is received, the same packet is retransmitted.
Coverage range is 300
metres or more. Among additional
features are three mount options
(Hot
Shoe, Gold Mount, V-Lock),
and light weight (350g). Suggested
applications
digital
and
monitoring, news production and live
event coverage.
include broadcast
film production and
Dejero's EnGo 3
(L-bus), RCP and PTZ. It
includes
an integrated
combine 5G connectivity, multicamera
support
and 4K
feeds
can
UHD
resolution, employing 4x4 MIMO
antennas. Up to four fully
frame-synced HD
be
accommodated.
" The
redesigned
RF and antenna architecture, multicamera
support, 4K UHD features and
internet gateway give mobile news
teams and production companies
more flexibility than ever before, "
says
Dejero's
Michael
Stanton.
" The transmitters provide wireless
broadband internet connectivity in
the field so that news teams only
need to carry a single transmitter
to go live, quickly send or receive
large
files
and
securely
private newsroom systems
access
and
cloud services from any location. The
EnGo 3 and 3x also offer enhanced
security with AES256 encryption, a
security-hardened Linux OS and a
cryptoprocessor to authenticate the
hardware. "
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