LiveU successfully concludes the 'Field Trials Beyond 5G' research project

The European project FIDAL/B5VideoNet (B5GVN), in which he participates LiveU, demonstrates pioneering advances in remote video production workflows using 5G multilink and multislice technology for transmission and retransmission to the receiver from one or multiple cameras.

LiveU carried out extensive testing and trials using its units LU800 PRO multicámara and the Xtend connectivity solution with next-generation capabilities beyond 5G (B5G). As part of this project, LiveU focused on three remote production use cases:

• Remote production in the cloude: Leveraging segmentation configurations to ensure bandwidth and latency for cloud-based streaming workflows.
• Edge-based production– Integration of mobile edge computing within an operator's infrastructure (such as a private cloud).
• Remote on-site production with cloud-based solutions- Testing uplink/downlink segmentation configurations for full production workflows using LiveU Mobile Receiver, Xtend and LU-Link, along with the LiveU Ingest story metadata automatic recording and tagging solution.

Testing was carried out on the B5G testbed at the University of Patras (UoP) in Greece. The three scenarios explored the Advantages of multi-link and multi-segmentation for broadcast-quality video transmission, a mechanism that guarantees specific parameters of bandwidth, latency or error rate of SIM cards throughout the 5G infrastructure. This turned out to be especially important under conditions of network load and congestion.

The project worked with various configurations slice y multi-slice with guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and unguaranteed (Non-GBR). Once implemented in commercial networks, this advanced technology would allow broadcasters and content creators to adapt service levels to their production requirements, resources and budgets. For example, higher bandwidth GBR segments could be reserved when necessary, while cheaper GBR or even NGBR segments could be used for less critical traffic or to supplement bandwidth when necessary (and depending on budget). This is very valuable for multi-camera sports production, which requires premium transmission, as it allows bandwidth to be maximized, but not necessarily in all cases and at all prices.

Another key technology explored under B5G-towards 6G was the one of the Network Exposure API for network resource allocation, a critical step toward dynamic service orchestration and “as needed” use of services and resources. The project laid the foundation for real-time video contribution service requests, allowing LiveU and other similar applications to dynamically request segments based on the time and location of the event, ensuring quality exactly when and where it is needed. This technology (and related use cases) allows mobile operators to provide services “as needed” rather than “anytime, anywhere.”

A 5G private network (NPN) was used in combination with the above, demonstrating a private network for remote on-site production, both uplink and downlink. Furthermore, it was also shown that the espectro carving allows the creation of private subnets to guarantee quality of service (QoS), with B5G technology based on a software defined radio (SDR) in the UoP infrastructure equipment. This can open up new monetization opportunities for operators in specific remote production (and other) cases, while offering significant advantages to customers who require reliability and quality.

Baruch Artman, Deputy Vice President and Director of 5G and ESG Projects at LiveU, says, "We conducted dozens of indoor and outdoor tests over nine days on the UoP's B5G testbed, together with his team. The tests included various types of segments with multiple levels of guaranteed minimum and maximum bandwidth and 5QIs (5G QoS Identifiers), with different end-to-end service latencies. It was successfully demonstrated how the technology joins 5G multi-link and “LiveU multislice offers advantages for remote production in terms of reliability, flexibility and cost management, for both customers and operators.”

"Other key takeaways were the ability to request services through standardized network exposure APIs, which is promising for remote media production with applications like ours, as it allows you to request network resources and services for a specific period of time or even on demand. These are pioneering and important use cases for media production, also for the 6G future," he adds.

FIDAL is a Horizon Europe project, co-financed by 6G Smart Networks and Services. Together with LiveU and the University of Patras, other key partners involved in the project are Nova (a major Greek telecommunications company), FORTH (Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas) and Ubitech.