Riedel guarantees intercom connectivity and commentator positions at the largest multi-sport event in China

Riedel Communications provides a fully integrated communications and commentary solution for the 15th Chinese National Games, supporting 56 competition venues and four International Broadcasting Centers (IBCs) in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

During the 30 days that the event lasted, the system operated without interruptions, allowing perfect coordination between 56 broadcast teams and 39 ultra high definition productions.

Yuquan Lin, technical director of the RHB National Games, comments that "the 15th National Games marks the first time that Hong Kong and Macau participated as host regions. This presented a unique challenge in coordinating communications between multiple locations."

Riedel's solution addressed these complexities with a system that ensured seamless connectivity between four IBCs and 56 locations. From implementation to integration, the technology enabled efficient collaboration between teams across all three regions. Reliability and performance of Riedel's infrastructure established a solid technical benchmark for large-scale interregional events.

Held from November 9 to 21, the Games brought together elite athletes from provinces, municipalities and special administrative regions to compete in 34 sports, including athletics, swimming, basketball, cycling and gymnastics. The event also featured mass participation activities in 23 sports, making it a showcase for sporting excellence and community involvement.

Distributed architecture

The National Games introduced an innovative “one main, three sub” arrangement for the IBCs, with Guangzhou as the main signaling hub connecting three regional sub-centres in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau. To meet the demands of this distributed architecture, Riedel deployed its Artist intercom platform as the backbone of the network. An Artist-1024 array at the Guangzhou IBC supported more than 200 channels, including AES67/ST2110-30 IP transmission and the MADI signal integration, while one Artist-128 took care of dedicated feedback channels. Both arrays were connected using cascaded fiber connections, creating a redundant configuration for uninterrupted performance.

In all IBCs, Riedel installed 28 SmartPanels RSP-2318 with AES67/ST2110-30 compatibility and PTPv2 sync for precise synchronization. These panels allowed direct, low-latency communication between production teams and rights-holding broadcasters. At the campus level, 56 NSA-002A adapters They converted traditional four-wire signals into IP streams with latency of less than 10 milliseconds, ensuring real-time connectivity even during peak traffic periods.

Commentator positions

Riedel also provided 13 comment panels CCP-1116 for the opening and closing ceremonies and 13 major competitions. Each booth integrated a high-quality preamplification and talkback function, allowing commentators to interact directly with the production teams, while maintaining pristine audio for the broadcast audience.

Guillaume Mauffrey, Asia Sales Director at Riedel Communication, highlights that "the magnitude and complexity of this year's National Games required a robust and flexible solution, capable of connecting multiple regions. Our team worked closely with technical partners to design and implement a system that provided reliable, real-time communication across all venues and broadcast centers. This implementation underlines Riedel's expertise in managing large-scale, multi-node events, as well as our commitment to advancing workflows. based on IP for live production environments.