Media Links EMEA, a market leader in solutions to transport broadcast media and data over IP has announced it will show its new network management system NetGazer™ at IBC 2016 on booth 1.C31. NetGazer monitors and manages both local and wide area IP networks to enable performance optimization for high bandwidth multi-media services.
“Moving high value media content over a local IP network is complicated enough, however it becomes even more complex in a wider area network because of the various carriers, standards/certifications and traffic management issues required, confirms John Smith, managing director, Media Links EMEA. “Media Links has dealt with these processes for many years and can help bring together the world of telecoms and broadcast for the benefit of our clients looking at moving content over IP.
“For live remote production over IP, it is essential that all the signals arrive on time and in the right order with no packet loss. Basically, it’s got to work first time, every time, as you can’t film a live event twice!“ continues Smith. “NetGazer™ helps carriers and broadcasters achieve this by enabling users to send services across a WAN and providing status information at every step.
“Imagine producing a live event like World Cup Soccer or the Olympics over IP for example,” explains Smith. “Cameras send signals from the venue over a fibre network back to base for production. Any disruption in the contribution space would cause a major outage. This is where NetGazer™ comes in, as it monitors and manages the entire network, alerting the user of any issue, isolating the problem – which could be anything from an earthquake taking out a line or a simple port malfunction, then automatically takes action to switch the movement of signals to an alternative fibre path. This ensures no packet loss and ultimately that there is never any disturbance to the at-home viewer.”
For the user, NetGazer™ has been designed to provide graphically rich topology maps which intuitively display network elements across the LAN and WAN. It monitors and manages network environments and their associated elements while concealing the complexities of the underlying details, simplifying media service assurance and fulfillment. An integrated SDN (Software Defined Networking) and MDN (Media Defined Networking™) platform allows performance optimization for high bandwidth multi-media services. Several NetGazer™ editions are available that scale from single studio environments to large enterprise and global networks.
“Media Links has been supplying a range of standards-based products that allow telecoms networks to transport live and pre-recorded signals efficiently and reliably for any type of broadcast application for 20 years,” confirms Smith. “Our staff participate and lead the teams responsible for the various standards required by carriers to move content successfully over wide area networks with 100% QoS using our true IP based products and hitless switching technology. In 2014, Media Links was honored with a Technical & Engineering Emmy® Award for Standardization and Productization of JPEG2000 (J2K) Interoperability. Our clients have used Media Links‘ technology for remote production over IP for numerous major sporting events including World Cup Soccer and the London Olympics, experiencing 100% uptime.
“For real-life examples and further information about how Media Links’ reliable and proven technologies helps broadcasters realise the full potential of moving content over IP, please visit us at IBC on booth 1.C31.“
