Broadcast Beat Magazine 2018 NAB Show Edition | Page 51
request the missing packets. Finally, the protocol
also has a built-in level of redundancy. Together,
those elements make for the ultimate in reliability
across all possible IP-based networks, including
the public internet.
requires the best possible RF radio combined
with the highest-gain antenna. In bonded cellular,
having a high-gain antenna means the signal is
more likely to get picked up by a cellular tower.
In the Real World
Besides providing high reliability in any environ-
ment, this one-of-a-kind transport protocol lets
users record, store, and forward HD contents at
low bit rates. Furthermore, it provides the biggest
pipe to transport video content by bonding up
to 11 IP connections, including eight cellular, two
LAN, and one Wi-Fi. The LAN connections can
be a telecom circuit, public internet, satellite, and
more. These benefits translate to greater speed
and agility for broadcasters.
Many broadcasters have requested a full-band-
width return video and audio transmission path
to help facilitate interviews and send program or
teleprompter feeds from master control to the
field. To answer that need, this protocol will soon
transport video and up to eight channels of audio
bidirectionally.
There are plenty of bonded cellular solutions
out there, but one of the things that makes
this solution special is its patented high-gain,
long-range antenna technology, which elimi-
nates cross-coupling and interference compared
to consumer USB modems. Just like with tra-
ditional wireless, not all radios and antennas
are created equal, and any good wireless link
This technology is already in use with resound-
ing success. The best example of the protocol’s
magic: A&E’s highly popular “Live PD,” a ground-
breaking docuseries that captures and streams
live video of police officers on patrol in six juris-
dictions around the country.
“Live PD” is a REMI production that, on a typical
weekend night, runs as many as 36 live camera
feeds back to a New York-based control room at
A&E headquarters with perfect genlock and lip
sync. The major challenge was how to produce
this live cop show cost-effectively and home-run
all those cameras from multiple police vehicles
simultaneously — sometimes from a police car
in a high-speed chase going 130 miles per hour.
With so many feeds, traditional satellite or micro-
wave links are not only cost-prohibitive, but they
do not provide the necessary mobility and flex-
ibility for such a production.
The “Live PD” crew relies on bonded cellular with
this one-of-a-kind protocol to achieve what no
other system could: simultaneous transmission of
as many as 36 live video streams at a time up to
3,000 miles away, with perfect multicamera gen-
Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com • 51