SEATTLE – A successful three-company trial conducted last week may pave the way for new class of broadcast video transport services based on low-cost equipment and affordable, dedicated Ethernet connections.
Pacific Northwest (PNW) Net, PacketExchange, and Ottawa-based Pleora Technologies today announced the successful conclusion of a two-way transcontinental trial which tested the ability of Pleora’s low-cost "PL1453A EtherCast Video IP Engine" to transport broadcast-quality video over long-haul Ethernet VLANs (virtual local-area networks).
Dedicated Ethernet VLANs cost significantly less to implement, own, and manage than facilities traditionally used to transport broadcast-quality video (think satellite links, ATM networks, or fiber-based SONET/SDH nets).
Until now, however, the high price of reliable video-over-Ethernet transmission equipment has dampened the value of VLANs for high-quality video.
“Pleora’s engine delivers reliable DVB-ASI (Digital Video Broadcast – Asynchronous Serial Interface) transport over VLANs for less than one quarter the per-port price of equipment from other vendors,” said Pat Holland, vice-president and CTO of Pacific Northwest Net, a global video transport service provider, in the press release.
“This product, together with the growing availability of private VLAN connections, allows us to deliver a new class of video services that gives broadcasters and other enterprises an affordable, practical way to transport broadcast-quality digital video.”
The video delivery does not touch the public Internet
“Massive deployment of metro-Ethernet networks has made Layer 2 VLANs available to points of presence in just about every major centre worldwide. At the same time, companies like PacketExchange are making the global infrastructure robust and reliable. Our EtherCast Video IP Engines meet demand from service providers, carriers, and broadcasters for affordable products that leverage these low-cost networks for broadcast-quality video,” said George Chamberlain, president of Pleora Technologies, in the release.
The trial was conducted last week over a dedicated VLAN provisioned by PacketExchange between one of its London (UK) network nodes and PNW Net’s facility in Seattle, Washington. Pleora’s EtherCast Video IP Engines streamed an ASI-encoded 19.39-Mbps ATSC/HDTV signal in real time from Seattle to London and back again for a continuous 24-hour period.
According to the companies, the transfers were lossless and the video quality was excellent. "Moreover, the picture was delivered back to Seattle with a round-trip latency of only 0.5 seconds," says the press release.
