5G, IP-bonding and a new era of production

Baruch Altman, AVP of technologies and projects LiveU and president of the 5G-IA International Stream testing and pilot working group, details in this forum the keys to 5G in broadcast environments.

In order to expand the enormous possibilities for our customers, we have been working hard behind the scenes to understand and take advantage of all the possibilities that 5G offers and, in this way, understand how it will affect the market. This gives us two advantages: a powerful insight into the role that IP bonding will play and the opportunity to actively participate in ongoing 5G developments.

What is the current state of the media and entertainment sector, and more specifically IP bonding solutions? How is LiveU helping shape the future of 5G? We address it.

5G testing and deployments

LiveU has been extensively involved in the development and deployment of 5G technology around the world for more than four years. In this time, we have successfully carried out numerous commercial tests with the main mobile telephone operators, among which are T-Mobile, AT&T, NTT Docomo, Vodafone con Sky Italia y Korea Telecom (KT).

On the other hand, we have also worked with Sky Germany/ Telefonica, partners who used our technology LU-Smart to broadcast a 2nd Bundesliga handball match using the Vodafone network for the new generation of production. These tests and deployments certified the effectiveness of LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT™) in combination with the 5G in real conditions. In this project, at LiveU we take advantage of the knowledge acquired in pan-European research projects on 5G.

Collaborating with the EU on 5G projects

Our active collaboration with the EU has been developing for several years. In 2020 we announced an increase in participation. Specifically, we collaborate with the main European partners in public-private partnership (PPP) projects for 5G infrastructure, testing and validating content contribution and media production use cases. The main objective of these projects is to provide broadcasting communities (and other vertical sectors) with all the available information on how 5G technology works in real situations. Horizon 2020, the largest research and innovation program in the EU, finances these projects in which we work with agents such as the UER, BBC, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Orange, Telenor y Telefónica.

Why is IP bonding necessary with all this bandwidth?

While 5G network deployments offer countless advantages over existing connectivity (and really interesting opportunities for the sector), one thing is clear: the Bandwidth will vary from 5G network and site to site. We have already been able to verify this in the work we have done. Therefore, it must be taken into account that interfering targets, such as buildings, can cause a sudden loss of connection or a significant reduction in bandwidth. This will happen in any 5G network, including more advanced commercial Stand-Alone (SA) deployments (currently very rare) or even NPN (Non-Public-Network, i.e. private) SAs.

At the same time, we must not forget other problems inherent to mobile telephony, such as narrow backhauls, the distance to the cell antenna, partial coverage (even in buildings, urban areas or outside the city center) or the preference for the downlink in resource allocation. All these elements make the IP bonding is essential, especially because of its multi-link capabilities rather than depending on the whims of a single network. It is absolutely key to get the most out of 5G, including the use of multicam and 4K.

Keys about 5G that our clients have given us

In the conversations we have had with clients directly or in different panels, there is one issue that has resonated with us: 5G is not just about improving video and audio capabilities, including 4K, as important as they are.. When we explain all the work that the units do internally to make 3G or 4G signals reliable (not only with total throughput, but also with end-to-end latency and maintaining superior video quality), lhe advantages of 5G technology with IP bonding are even clearer.

However, 5G technology is different. It is much simpler, thanks to its higher potential uplink throughput. This is great news for LiveU customers, as it means that additional available bandwidth can be reliably allocated to other important functions.

The key is not only to transport top quality video and audio. We must not forget all the additional IP data that we have focused our attention on over the last few years: communications, robotic camera control, video return, CCU control. All these functions are provided thanks to the operation of our algorithms and the bandwidth offered by 5G. Thanks to this, our customers can offer improved remote production use cases, which in turn makes the shipping of vans and mobile units unnecessary.

What is network slicing about and what are its advantages?

5G is the first operator technology to hit the market after the arrival of software-defined networks (SDN). And it is that Network fragmentation is one of the main potential advantages of 5G Stand-Alone networks, which provide more critical bandwidth and latency for links, all when and where they are deployed. In short, network operators can segment their network resources to address specific use cases according to their needs.

Where could this be applied? It could be especially important, for example, in those stadiums that are packed, whether for a game or a big concert. While non-public networks (NPNs) can be used in these locations, which more easily support this requirement from a commercial point of view, it is currently unclear to what extent they will be economically deployed in large city-wide public networks or in nationwide deployments.

Thanks to the tests we have carried out in European commercial and research projects, we have been able to ensure that our hardware and our algorithms are compatible with both types of networks. This will allow sports productions to best utilize the NPNs of venues or locations that benefit from these limited networks. And, similarly, everyday use of 5G in less specialized settings is also fully optimized.

Real-world examples of 5G and the interesting benefits we've seen

Among other fields, the 5G offers great opportunities for sports broadcasting. Particularly for remote production, which will take advantage of the higher quality and super-low latency of 5G networks. LiveU, as we previously anticipated, played a central role in the important and successful 5G test with the pay television operator Sky Germany y Vodafone, testing the 5G wireless transmissions during a 2. Bundesliga match with multiple cameras. The workflow demonstrated the powerful capabilities of the system's engaging live sports coverage. Specifically, to carry it out, a field unit was used at the production level. LU800 and two smartphones equipped with LU-Smart. The test also demonstrated the cutting capabilities of the 5G network, which guarantee access to a certain bandwidth.

Alessandro Reitano, senior vice president of sports production at Sky Deutschland, commented on the development: "This has been an important test for us in terms of the capabilities of 5G, IP-bonding and network slicing, and what this can achieve for premium-level sports broadcasting. The LiveU technology, with which we are already familiar, was key to the test, showing how the latest wireless capabilities fit with these new network capabilities, enabling truly innovative workflows, with camera position flexibility. much longer and a very fast broadcast time. This means that we can now start to think differently and take advantage of all the possibilities that these technologies offer.”

There are many other application possibilities for 5G, such as live sports enriched with augmented reality or eSports. Still, we should not discount the news for the application of these technologies, as they will benefit from the additional bandwidth and communication capabilities.

We are ready for 5G… and so are you!

5G offers a whole new world of exciting possibilities. For our part, we are working on our entire range of products so that our customers can make the most of the opportunities. Most importantly, the knowledge we have developed about 5G remote production with a multitude of customer examples will allow us to increase the possibilities of remote production and change the way productions can be made a reality. 5G, combined with IP linking, offers a very exciting future and once again we are leading the market.

* LiveU is proud to be a partner of these 5G research and validation projects in collaboration with the EU: 5G-SOLUTIONS (#856691), 5G-TOURS (#856950), 5G-RECORDS (#957102), EUROPE CUP (#957059) and 5G-Xcast (#761498).