Service Provider

Live TV gets a production reboot

France TV began working with Cisco to test IP video routing, starting with a proof-of-concept a decade ago. The public broadcaster tested Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) 2110 ST, a suite of standards that describes how to send digital media over an IP network. Since then, the idea has become a reality at the network, as IP multicast technology was used for the live, ultra-high definition (UHD) coverage of Paris 24, the French Open, and the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.

The network selected a Cisco solution to meet the challenging demands of live broadcasting. This solution involves migrating the production network from legacy Serial Digital Interface (SDI) systems to IP multicast technology. France TV is currently undergoing this migration, leveraging high-speed switches and an industry-leading IP media transport solution. This approach delivers enhanced performance, reliability, security, and ease of use, setting new standards for broadcast production.

A revolution in live broadcasting

SDI has been used by broadcast environments for many years, but its limitations have become clear to broadcasters. SDI is limited to point-to-point transmissions, with each signal requiring a dedicated cable and cumbersome setups. It can't scale as bandwidth demands grow, and it can't handle multiple signals across various locations.

"With IP and 100G switches, we can transport up to 80 HDTV feeds. Using SDI, we would have needed 80 cables," says Yannick Olivier, broadcast engineer at France TV. "With the Nexus 980+8, we can go up to 12,000 UHD inputs and outputs at the same time. And we can also replace all legacy SDI routers with one scalable Cisco Nexus 9808 Switch with 400G connectivity."

Optimal architecture, simple and powerful features

The Cisco IP Fabric for Media (IPFM) solution chosen by France TV, featuring Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches, was easily and swiftly deployed in a spine-leaf architecture in France TV's data center. Any leaf switch can communicate with any other leaf switch with minimal latency and maximal throughput. Provisioning is done automatically by Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller. "Adding a truck or a TV setup to a satellite switch is just plug, provision, and run," says network consulting engineer Serge Obadia.

Various technologies help ensure the performance, reliability, scalability, and security of live video production feeds. France TV uses Non-Blocking Multicast (NBM) to avoid data loss or performance degradation from multiple, simultaneous transmissions. A blue fabric and a red fabric provide network redundancy. Signals are sent to each fabric and to the receiver in case of failover due to a fiber cut or equipment outage. The production environment is also a closed-loop system for greater security, with other Cisco security solutions protecting endpoints, system access, and data in transit.

In this new architecture, SMPTE ST 2022-7 enhances the reliability of IP networks by introducing redundancy. It allows for the simultaneous transmission of identical streams over two separate network paths. If one path fails or experiences issues, the receiver can seamlessly switch to the other path without interruption, ensuring continuous delivery of the media stream. This provided an added measure of reliability for broadcast of important events such as Paris 24.

"We have a strong relationship with Cisco," says Olivier. "Cisco developed NBM and I think it's a perfect way of running an IP infrastructure for broadcast. It's a non-blocking infrastructure with mechanisms to protect flow policies. And it's easy. The network is provisioned and working. As a broadcaster, I get to focus on my video cameras and monitors."

France TV and Cisco redefine live broadcasting with IP multicast for UHD coverage of major events, boosting performance.