Taming the Wild-Wild West of Internet
Eric Wiler, Vice President of Network Operations
The Internet has had an amazing impact on our lives on a daily basis. With each day that passes we continue to transition legacy workflows to utilize Internet technology. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in broadcasting.
While the Internet is truly the “wild-wild-west” of networking, careful consideration of all available tools has allowed great progress to leverage this resource now and in the future.
With live broadcasting, redundancy is a key factor to ensure quality transmission. While streaming video services increase their transmission time to offset network delay and loss of material, professional broadcasters are really not able to do the same thing, can you imagine watching a national broadcast with a spinning circle and “BUFFERING” message?
Using two or more circuits (preferably from different service providers) is becoming the normal state. This will account for the failure of routers, circuit cuts and other disruptions we’ve all experienced.
Sometimes a hard switch between the circuits (which is audible) and newer devices can “splice” the duplication of material between two or more circuits preventing circuit dropouts or other anomalies from impacting our product.
In addition to redundant circuits being combined, newer technologies are being applied to broadcast products every day. Forward-Error-Correction enhances reliability. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is a technology specifically designed to make public networks suitable for on-air use.
MISTiQ from International Datacasting is a product which combines the best components available including redundancy, error correction and SRT allowing networks to not only utilize Internet for backup delivery, but for rock-solid primary delivery.
While the combination of Internet circuits (copper and fiber) and satellite delivery provides the most reliable solution for broadcasters today, MISTiQ allows Internet only distribution to be a viable option.
In scenarios where a satellite dish is simply not possible, LinkUp has the right answers. Contact our main office today to learn how we can help you move your technology forward with all the right components.
Eric Wiler is Vice President of Network Operations for LinkUp Communications and is responsible for driving the technical vision and leadership of one of the most experienced teams in broadcasting.
Eric and LinkUp constantly work to provide options for our clients through collaboration and innovation. To find out more about Eric and the variety of managed services offered, visit our new website. (https://linkupcommunications.com/what-we-offer/)