feature live news & sport
configure the equipment on-site, through a combination of software and hot-swappable parts, is also extremely important.
Live news and sports
Ericsson’s Voyager II DSNG solution, the most flexible and scalable news and sports gathering product on the market, was recently deployed at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to bring all the excitement of the tournament live and in stunning high definition to hundreds of millions of fans around the world. Working alongside Sydney Teleport
pictures wherever and whenever a story breaks, and for uplink service providers who need to cover both regular news as well as HD (and possibly 3D) sporting events. The key is going to be in the
versatility of both crew and equipment. It is no longer viable to dedicate a fleet of units to particular combinations of connection platform and resolution, or even segregate it between different programming genres. The same crew must be able to get time-sensitive news pictures back by whatever means are to hand, while at the same time serving the rest of their channel’s wide range of programming needs, including high- end planned sporting events. Only this ‘dual capacity’ will maintain cost- competitiveness. In practice, however, this will mean
sourcing equipment that is both versatile in format support and efficient in bandwidth usage. The same equipment needs to be used for SD news, full HD coverage or a 3D sports event. Moreover, it must support a multitude of possible delivery networks. As there is no way of predicting where the news will break next, fleets have relied on satellite for coverage. However, today’s growing ubiquity of fibre availability, and the growing capacity of cellular networks, start becoming viable alternatives in certain situations. Units that have the technology to
take advantage of this variety of delivery network options and support all necessary formats can be invaluable to a broadcaster. But that’s not all. As mentioned, cost- effectiveness is linked to maximum usage of equipment and crew. Hence, the ability to service, upgrade and
Believing in a future where 3D sports broadcasting becomes more and more popular, Ericsson is ensuring its solutions are ready to deliver. We pioneered compression solutions for sports broadcasting in 3D, providing ESPN 3D with a complete standards based video processing solution in time for the 2010 football World Cup finals.
Services, Ericsson demonstrated the unique quality, reliability and flexibility that the Voyager II solution provides, and as a result was pleased to be able to supply broadcasters with the excellent standard of coverage that fans demand. Ericsson’s fifth generation multi-
format integrated DSNG solution is the first to unleash the power of MPEG-4 AVC 4:2:2 encoding with 10-bit precision specifically for the highest- quality requirements of sporting events. Voyager II features an integrated
satellite modulator offering high order DVB-S and DVB-S2 modulation on both IF and L-Band outputs. But designed with the needs of broadcasters in mind, it goes beyond the ‘classic’ DSNG functionality, adding features typical of fixed contribution encoders as well as easier-to-use interfaces in the quest to simply give crews the best possible tool for the job. Voyager II supports multiple
encoding algorithms, including MPEG- 4 AVC and legacy MPEG-2 video in order to provide the highest level of interoperability possible. Nonetheless, Ericsson recognises that the proliferation of fibre networks often provides a viable alternative to satellite, so Voyager II has been designed to natively support IP outputs and be software upgradable to such algorithms as JPEG2000 and AVC-Intra. While these codecs are less bandwidth efficient and hence unsuitable for satellite transmission, they provide lower latencies and compatibility with many studio file- based workflows. The IP support extends beyond the
fibre availability to broadband Internet and cellular network links, which may be the only option in certain locations. A number of vendors offer hardware with the ability to multiplex multiple 3G/LTE channels from different carriers to further increase resilience
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and/or bandwidth. Ericsson has a well-established reputation in this field and has completed tests in Denmark for local election coverage using Ericsson LTE for news capture. The 2011 Rugby World Cup was just
one in a long line of successful major sporting occasions for Ericsson. Our reputation for delivering quality live sports includes other global major events such as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Tour De France, Wimbledon and European Champions League football. But times change fast and as
Ericsson is gearing up to offer full supporting coverage for the London 2012 games next summer, the industry continues to innovate. Specifically, this event will introduce the use of Carrier ID as mandatory for all satellite users. Ericsson has been working closely with the Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG) and World Broadcasting Union (WBU) to ensure Voyager II complies with this new edict and, as a testament to the flexibility of the unit, provides this functionality as a simple software upgrade. Likewise, believing in a future
where 3D sports broadcasting becomes more and more popular, Ericsson is ensuring its solutions are ready to deliver. We pioneered compression solutions for sports broadcasting in 3D, providing ESPN 3D - the industry's first 3D sports television network - with a complete standards based video processing solution in time for the 2010 football World Cup finals. This technology, featuring encoders and receivers tuned for ESPN 3D broadcasts at the highest quality HD, will also be available in Voyager II through a mixture of licenses and software upgrades on the hardware available today, ensuring this platform continues to offer the most valuable benefits in news and sports broadcasting. Voyager II is already reshaping the
market, and with an ongoing development roadmap which offers new features and functionality through software upgrades and hot- swappable modules, it represents the soundest investment in the DSNG market, which nowadays we find limiting to call simply as such. Ericsson continues to pave the way for the evolution of this very competitive market by enabling operators to highly differentiate their services and drive the consumer experience forward.
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