Core Insights: Operating An IP Broadcast Facility

May 6th 2020 - 09:00 AM
Michael Grotticelli, The Broadcast Bridge

Whether we’re routing signals or remotely operating equipment, the need for reliable system control is one of the most important aspects of a broadcast facility. But as we migrate to IP, some of the working practices we took for granted with SDI operation don’t necessarily transfer and this is most evident in signal routing.

With ST2110 systems, multicasting is often used to distribute signals resulting in potentially thousands of streams being generated in a network infrastructure. As IP has allowed us to move from point-to-point connectivity to mesh networks, keeping a map of the thousands of source and destination IP addresses is both a logistical nightmare and prone to human error.

This Core Insight, sponsored by Lawo, investigates control systems for IP broadcast facilities. Software Defined Networks (SDNs) abstract away the detailed control of Ethernet switches and IP routers in broadcast infrastructure systems to simplify systems and improve efficiencies and workflows.

Using their most recent solution at the new, state of the art, IP broadcasting facility at CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Lawo provide a detailed description of how control and communications work.

This Core Insight covers;

  1. Control Is Key To Successful IP Facility Operation – Discusses why we need SDN and how it operates in an IP broadcast facility.
  2. A Forward-Looking Control System Made For Today - Explains how SDN works and how it is integrated into an IP broadcast facility.
  3. At CBC’s New IP Broadcast Center, Communication Is Key – Describes CBC’s brand new, state of the art, IP broadcast facility and the importance of communication and control in critical systems.

As an industry, we have gone beyond the “making it work” phase and are now embarking on truly creative solutions to improve and simplify workflows. This Core Insight investigates the problems to be solved and the solutions available.

Download this Core Insight today to learn more about software controlling IP broadcast infrastructures.

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