Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

SIS Live installs first Optocore 2 GBIT broadcast network at MediaCityUK

OB provider SIS Live has installed a large Optocore fibre ring on a 2 GBIT network, and BroaMan Repeat48 SDI-to fibre converter at MediaCityUK in Salford. This major broadcast project was successfully conducted by the SIS Live projects and integration division, under Dave Gill.

OB provider SIS Live has installed a large Optocore fibre ring on a 2 GBIT network, and BroaMan Repeat48 SDI-to fibre converter at MediaCityUK in Salford. This major broadcast project was successfully conducted by the SIS Live projects and integration division, under Dave Gill.

SIS has now fully occupied three floors of the Blue Tower within the MediaCityUK complex. The 8th and 9th floors house new broadcast facilities including a master control room, production galleries, studios, voice-over booths, edit suites and data control centres. Optocore’s contract required the infrastructural design and installation of seven presentation galleries, two small TV studios, two edit suites, seven VO booths, new central MCR/CAR, new satellite dish farm, IT CAR and new Text Room data centre. SIS Live also installed an IT infrastructure and house monitoring system on the 10th floor.

Seeking to implement a fully redundant network, SIS Live Broadcast Designer Alan Laird believed that an Optocore audio network would offer the best solution given the lengthy cable runs involved; the fact that his OB colleagues had successfully run an Optocore system at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, underpinned his decision.

Once the hardware decisions had been made he created a vision routing architecture based on embedded audio distribution, constructed around two 576 x 1152 routers.

The main router is a hybrid design, which generates the MADI sources for the Calrec and Yamaha sound desks, while a similar sized monitoring router is used as a back up.

In addition to the back-up system Laird also wanted a network that could be used for ad hoc work — so that any microphone or audio sources could be picked up from anywhere within the production facility over the Optocore network.

Faced with a reduced timescale to install the galleries on an HD/3G backbone and concerned about cable lengths, SIS Live was impressed that the company’s fibre routing solutions had extended to video (with the setting up of BroaMan).

As a result 22 BroaMan Repeat48 units, which convert up to 24 SDI or MADI coaxial signals to optical fibre within a 1U device (equipped with dual redundant power supplies), were commissioned — working within a Miranda vision distribution environment. The multiple 24-way fibres have been installed to each production room with a Repeat48 at each end, and Ethernet multicore cable and PSN 25 for the GPI’s.

“We are delighted that the SIS system is the first broadcast installation that takes full advantage of the 2 Gbit protocol,” said Maciek Janiszewski. “The nice aspect is not only the invisible core that seamlessly runs all audio through the facility, but SIS also uses all software advantages with the matrix and remote control of our interfaces.”

www.optocore.com