Blog - How to Embrace the Transition to IP 23 November 2015Blog - How to Embrace the Transition to IP by Stan Moote, CTO, IABM
There is no doubt that right now one of the top concerns for a broadcast engineer is the transition to IP. This is a topic that is filled with hype, ambiguity and confusion. Standards are being created, plug-fests are underway, and vendors are promoting proprietary solutions to keep IP front and center. Many broadcasters and media companies feel threatened because IP technology is outside their comfort zone.
The result is that the growth of the broadcast business may grind to a halt until the core questions are answered fully. This is bad news for vendors, of course, however it also has negative connotations for broadcasters. Waiting around for technology to be 100% in place could put an organization way behind the competition.
How many of us have put off buying a computer, or a phone, because we believe something better will be available in a few months? Taken to the extreme, we end up never buying anything because we are always waiting for the next big thing. Finally what we have stops working altogether; we have to get something to replace it in a hurry, and we end up disappointed due to panic or impulse buying without proper planning.
The first piece of advice would be to not put this transition off. Rather, accept that it is going to happen, and start taking advantage of the perks it offers right away. That doesn't mean your SDI infrastructure needs to be thrown out suddenly or, for that matter, that it has to become obsolete either.
Be clear what people are really talking about. IP is the buzzword, and IP is pretty entrenched on the delivery side already. Everyone knows about OTT. Buried deep within cable/satellite systems ASI has been routinely replaced with IP. On the production side, file based IP workflows are rapidly becoming the norm. Since IABM has had so much interest in IP and File based workflows, IABM's Training Academy has just completed an online course to help colleagues in the industry get comfortable with workflows, processes and relevant terminology. Click here to find out more.
As for getting live feeds back into the plant, believe it or not, there are thousands of backhauls that are using IP delivery based on the SMPTE 2022 standard, using low latency JPEG 2000 compression. By using a technique called hitless switching, IP based backhauls are now very cost effective and extremely reliable.
Seeing that IP is being used everywhere, the real concern about IP for broadcasters now is more about what to do within the plant where signals are live or where operations are based on linear switching of real time feeds. SDI is completely reliable, so why even consider going IP? The IP proponents clearly state that riding on the technology curve for IT has to bring cost benefits to broadcasters. Is that really true?
My opinion is both yes and no. The IT business is so large and isn't interested in customizing products for our relatively tiny broadcast niche business. That being said, traditional broadcast vendors and leading broadcasters themselves are reinventing content-flows. Note that I said content-flows, not workflows. Today's consumer is all about viewing content, and this is the aspect broadcasters need to focus on. Technologies such as cloud and virtualization will help propel organizations into the future and are all based around IP. So using IP becomes a requirement, and leading the charge are those broadcasters and vendors who are earnestly using IT based products, rigorously customized for broadcasters. In many cases this means off the shelf, professional grade IT products, modified with tweaks to meet industry requirements.
The bottom line is, if you want to survive you need to move towards an IP based infrastructure. The good news is you don't need to swap out everything today. When you need to upgrade, or start up a new service or channel, look at a hybrid architecture, which covers both SDI and IP. This could be as simple as choosing products that support both SDI and IP I/O's. If a complete area needs an upgrade, taking the Islands of IP approach (similar to the approach used with HD upgrades HD Islands) with SDI connections into the plant will keep you on the right track.
As you move forward, you will quickly realize that pretty much everything turns into software defined: software defined networks (or switching), software defined storage, software defined severs, the list goes on. This isn't anything to be afraid of, simply a more flexible way to define your content-flow, whether it is live or file based. Software-defined systems allow new workflows to be built, and there will be changes you can make which will result in new efficiencies, hence improving your bottom line.
Another suggestion to get you moving in the right direction is to capitalize on IT expertise. IT systems are often thought of as not reliable due to the constant barrage of maintenance and upgrade programs that certainly are not acceptable for 24/7 broadcast schedules. The fact is the IT industry knows how to make reliable systems with complete back up redundancy. The catch is their definition of reliability is different than a broadcaster's. To many IT people, video is still thought of as just another data type. This is far from the truth. The IABM Training Academy also has courses to train IT personal about broadcast operations, their quirks, special demands and basic workflows. Having this knowledge will help them understand how to configure, provision and maintain systems to match your demanding on-air requirements.
Embrace the transition. There are countless benefits that have not been covered in this short article. Learn about them. Reconsider content-flow, equipment and personnel. Ensure everyone understa
