METHOD FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF DIGITAL TELEVISION SIGNALS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for the transmission and distribution
of digital television (DTV) signals. More particularly, but not by way of limitation,
the present invention relates to a method for converting DTV signals to a format for
transmission over a communication network, and transmitting the signal via the
communication network to a remote location.
2. Background of the Invention While the quest for high-definition television ("HDTV" or "HD") has been
hampered by the lack of a single standard, resistance by the broadcast industry to implementation, and a substantial price disparity at the consumer level, mandates from
the Federal Communication Commission are forcing broadcasters and equipment
manufacturers to transition from conventional analog transmission to digital television
transmission. These mandates are certain to finally usher in the era of DTV,
improving the quality of standard definition television ("SDTV" or "SD") and advancing the cause of HDTV. As digital programming becomes more prevalent, the
need for infrastructure for the production and distribution of digital programming
becomes more pressing. Most of the existing infrastructure was developed for the distribution of analog
video, and an assortment of options presently exist as to the production and distribution of analog programming. Distribution via satellite, microwave link, or
digitally through a fiber network, or even over conventional wires are common place.
Arrangements can be made for a live broadcast from almost anywhere in the world
with little more than a few hours notice. Unfortunately, while the video signal may be
digitized over some portion of its path, it starts out as an analog signal and is delivered
as an analog signal. End-to-end delivery ofdigital video is just beginning to evolve. Presently, satellite transponders are available which will carry DTV signals,
however the issue of bandwidth is, at best, confusing. Data rates vary widely from
satellite-to-satellite and transponder sharing further complicates the issue. A producer
who plans on sending a DTV signal via satellite must negotiate bandwidth as well as
cost. Regardless of these issues, satellite bit rates for a single transponder are limited
to roughly 100 Mbps. As a result, for satellite transmission of DTV, some form of
compression is virtually always required. For transmission of HDTV signals via
satellite, substantial compression is absolutely necessary. As discussed further
hereinbelow, compression raises additional concerns.
Compression techniques can be broadly divided into two categories: 1) lossy
techniques; and 2) non-lossy techniques. Generally speaking, lossy compression
techniques compress a signal in a manner designed to faithfully reproduce the content
at the receiving end while not faithfully recreating the original digital signal. Non-
lossy compression techniques faithfully reproduce the original data stream, thus
ensuring that the content at the receiving end is identical to that at the transmitting
end. Lossy compression techniques have emerged as the standard simply because
such schemes provide significantly higher rates of compression over their non-lossy
counterparts. Many of the aggressive compression schemes employ forward
interpolation which, in terms of video signals, means that the information displayed in
the current video frame is at least partially dependent on information contained in one
or more future video frames. The result is that these compression techniques, by
necessity, add delay to the signal. In general terms, as the data rate increases, the amount of compression decreases and the adverse effects of compression, i.e. fidelity
of the output relative to the input and delay, are reduced. Thus, besides bandwidth and cost, a producer must also ensure a chosen
transponder can accommodate the format of the compressed data stream and must
determine if the accumulated delays are acceptable, including the transit time between
the earth and satellite. The round trip distance from the earth to a satellite alone adds
approximately a one-half second delay to a satellite relayed signal. Like satellite transmissions, for the most part terrestrial infrastructure has been
developed around analog video signals. While fiber networks are inherently digital in nature, bit rates offered to video programmers have been driven by traditional quality
video. Simply providing more bandwidth to accommodate HDTV signals is
hampered by any number of bottlenecks, such as: the data rate supported by the link
between a venue and the fiber network, typically supplied by the local telephone
company; the link between the fiber network and the receiving end; or even
bandwidth limitations of various network elements. At many venues, the link
between the venue and the fiber network is actually analog and digitization takes place
at the fiber network point of presence. After digitization, even traditional analog
video signals are sometimes compressed for digital transmission over the network. As
with satellite transmissions, for a given video format, compressing the video signal
reduces quality and introduces delay.
Another issue with transmission over terrestrial carriers is reaching multiple
receivers. While satellites cover wide areas by their very nature, terrestrial video links
tend to be point-to-point. While point-to-multipoint distribution is possible with
either wire networks or fiber networks, a route to each receiver must be planned in
advance. For live events, program production typically occurs at the venue, while
commercials are added at a studio or fixed production facility. Thus the possibility exists that there may be a need for point-to-multipoint delivery both for the original
feed from the venue and for the finished programming including commercials. With
millions of dollars of revenue on the line, not only does such an event warrant the
provisioning of dedicated routes in advance, but also the provisioning of redundant
paths to avoid lost programming in the case of a network event such as a fiber cut. Still another issue in producing and distributing television programming is
monitoring the broadcast video, including commercials, at the venue. Even with
analog programming, returning finished video to the production truck is problematic.
If the finished video is transmitted to network affiliates via satellite, a satellite dish
may be used at the venue to receive the signal. Alternatively, if the programming is carried by a local station, the signal can be monitored directly off-the-air. However,
local programming may also include locally inserted commercials or content which
overlaps the network programming. Yet another alternative is to provision identical
infrastructure assets to return the programming as were used to transmit the original
signal. This technique could effectively double the cost of distribution.
Yet another issue in the transmission of digital television signals is
maintaining synchronization between video and audio portions of the signal.
Generally speaking, the delays caused by distance and compression are substantially
constant. Once the audio is synchronized to the video, it will stay synchronized.
Problems with synchronization arise when the audio signal takes a different path from
that of the video signal and the delay in one of the paths is variable, or when the delay
introduced through compression is variable.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for the end-to-end delivery ofdigital television signals.
Thus it is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and
method for the end-to-end delivery of digital television signals with embedded,
synchronized audio programming.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a system and
method for the end-to-end delivery of digital television signals in a point-to-
multipoint environment.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a system and
method for the end-to-end delivery of digital television signals via a network
conducive to automated provisioning of network resources for a given program.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system for the end-to-end delivery of digital
television signals. In a preferred embodiment a digital television signal is: received
from production equipment, typically in HD format at approximately 1.4 gigabits per
second (Gbps); the received signal is transmitted to a venue point-of-presence;
converted for transmission via a local digital loop; transmitted to a network point of
presence/video service edge; packetized into data packets in a video gateway; and routed to one or more destination addresses via the data network; received at one or
more video service edge destinations; converted to a digital television format,
typically SDI; and either transmitted via a second local digital loop for delivery to a
customer site and subsequent conversion to a 1.4 Gbps HD signal, or converted directly to a 1.4 Gbs HD signal at the receiving video service edge.
In another preferred embodiment TCP/IP packets are transmitted via dedicated
routes which are determined and scheduled prior to the video transmission.
Optionally, when finished programming is returned to the venue, a symmetric path
can be provisioned for the returning program so that the need for duplicate dedicated network assets is reduced and to facilitate point-to-multipoint distribution.
In still another preferred embodiment audio information is encoded in TCP/IP
packets and embedded with video traffic along the same network routes. When routes
are determined in advanced and dedicated to carrying the video program, packets
arrive in the same order as sent, thus ensuring the audio program remains synchronized with the video program.
In still another preferred embodiment television signals are digitally
transmitted end-to-end from a venue to a customer site wherein at least a portion of
the transmission takes place over a multi-protocol label switching ("MPLS") network.
Preferably packetized video information enters the MPLS network through a label
edge router which adds a label to each video packet containing routing information for
the packet.
In yet another preferred embodiment, digital video information is carried over
a data network wherein the egress node includes a memory buffer of sufficient length
to remove jitter in the signal caused by routing delays.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and
upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A provides a block diagram of preferred embodiments of digital video outputs at a customer site.
FIG. IB provides a block diagram of a video service edge at a label egress
node in communication with the core MPLS network as employed in the preferred
embodiments of the inventive system.
FIG. 1C provides a block diagram of a video service edge at a label ingress
node in communication with the MPLS core network as employed in the preferred embodiments of the inventive system.
FIG. ID provides a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of digital video
input at a venue.
FIG. IE provides a block diagram of an egress node at a television operations center.
FIG. 2 provides a block diagram of a preferred video management system at a venue.
FIG. 3 provides a block diagram of redundant systems in a label ingress node.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is important to understand
that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction
illustrated and the steps described herein. The invention is capable of other
embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.
As will become apparent on reading the description of the preferred
embodiments, while the inventive system is not limited to a single network
architecture, in the preferred embodiments DTV information is transmitted, at least in
part, over a multiprotocol label switching ("MPLS") network. Such networks are well
known in the art and, with the exception of specialty label ingress nodes and label
egress nodes, as discussed further hereinbelow, the MPLS network of the present
invention is conventional in nature. In a MPLS network, packets are assigned a label at an ingress mode. In
practical terms, the label defines a route through the network. At each node, the label
provides an index into a routing table which provides the next network hop and a new
label which is meaningful to the next node of the network. A number of options are
available for label handling at each node. While MPLS networks are designed for fast
routing, the inherent ability to designate and manage routes in advance of even the
first packet of data is of particular interest to the present invention.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate the
same parts throughout the several views, a block diagram of the inventive system for
transmitting DTV signals is shown in FIG. 1A-E. Beginning with FIG. ID, digital video, typically HD video, is delivered from a production truck, or other video source,
via conductor 20, which is may be either fiber or copper wire, typically carrying HD at
a data rate of 1.485 Gbps. Typically the digital video stream will be in conformance
with a published standard, such as SMPTE 292 as promulgated by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
At a typical venue, conversions are performed at or near the production
equipment. First, if the signal is received optically, the signal is converted to
electrical by distribution amplifier 24. Next the HD signal is encoded at 270 Mbps by
encoder 22 for transmission over cable 26, preferably in either SDI or ASI format.
The conversion from HD to 270 Mbps allows the signal to negotiate throughput
bottlenecks.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, 270 Mbps is a standard SD
data rate and is preferably in conformance with SMPTE 259M, or a similar published
standard. Terms associated with 270 Mbps digital video include "serial data
interface" ("SDI") which generally refers to data in conformance with SMPTE 259M
and "asynchronous serial interface" ("ASI") which generally refers to digital video
compressed according to the DVB standard.
As will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the HD-to-SD encoding
and conversion from an optical data stream to an electrical data stream are known in
the art. One such system for performing these operations is the model 7700 HD series
available from Evertz Microsystems, Ltd. of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Next, an SDI switch 28 allows the digital video signal to be switched between
redundant paths (not shown) in the event of a failure. From switch 28, the video
signal is directed to distribution amplifier 30 for conversion from electrical to optical.
With further reference to FIG. 2, the conversion from electrical to optical overcomes
distance issues within the venue as the signal is transported from the mezzanine level
equipment 106 located at dock 108 to a telecommunication room 104 at the venue
100.
At the telecommunications room, the signal is converted back from an optical signal
to an electrical signal by distribution amplifier 32 and, with further reference to FIG.
IC, transmitted via a 270 Mbps digital loop 34 provided by a local exchange carrier to
a fiber network point-of-presence 40. As discussed hereinabove, preferably the fiber
network is an MPLS network 42. Thus, in a preferred embodiment the network point-
of-presence 40 is a video service edge, which is a specialized label ingress node for
the MPLS network. At video service edge 40, SDI video is delivered to SDI switch 44 which
allows video to be switched between redundant paths 46, 48, and 50. Preferably paths
46, 48, and 50 each include a video gateway 52. A video gateway 52 either: receives
digital video, i.e. SDI or ASI video, and outputs video formatted in TCP/IP packets; or
receives video formatted in TCP/IP packets and outputs video in a selected serial
format such as SDI or ASI. At ingress video node 40, video gateway 52 receives
serial video data and outputs packetized video data. One such video gateway is the
model CX1000 video gateway manufactured by Path 1 Network Technologies, Inc. of San Diego, CA.
Along each path 46, 48, and 50, from gateways 52 the signals are sent via
gigabit ethernet links, or similar high speed network, to router 54a. From router 54a
packetized data is sent to label edge router 56a. As discussed above, a label edge
router has the responsibility for tagging incoming packets with labels which ultimately
determine the route taken through the network by the packet. While in an MPLS
network, the destination edge router has the responsibility for initiating the generation
of labels for a given route, it is preferable in the inventive system to schedule the
routes and generate the routing tables in advance of the televised event. Thus, when
video packets arrive at label edge router 56a from gateways 52, router 56a will simply
add a predetermined label and pass the packet along the first network hop on network
42. One router capable of operating as a label edge router and suitable for use with
the present invention is the model M20 router from Juniper Networks, Inc. of
Sunnyvale, California.
With further reference to FIG. IB, wherein the core MPLS network 42 is again
shown, the packetized video data can take one or more routes through network 42.
For purposes of point-to-multipoint transmission, a generic routing encapsulation
("GRE") tunnel 58 is used to essentially create a private network within the larger
network. Packets can also be transmitted from the label edge router 56a at the ingress
node 40 into the network 42 and routed through the network as normal traffic through
connections 62 and 64, keeping in mind that the route is still scheduled and preferably
dedicated to the video programming. Still yet, a direct route 66 between label edge
router 56a and label edge router 56b may be possible.
Regardless of the routing method employed, packetized video is delivered to
video service edge 68, a specialized label egress node, at label edge router 56c. In one
preferred embodiment, video at video service edge 68 is handled in a reverse fashion
as that of the label ingress node 40 described above. Data is sent to router 54c,
directed through redundant paths 70, 72, and 74 to video gateways 52 which receive the TCP/TP packets containing video information and restore the SDI or ASI video
signal. Preferably, gateways 52 include a video buffer of sufficient length to eliminate
jitter in the outgoing serial data caused by routing delays in network 42. In the
preferred embodiment the range of accumulated routing delays can be calculated
and/or measured so that the video buffer within gateway 52 can be sized to be no
longer than necessary to remove the worst case potential jitter. As will be apparent to
those skilled in the art, buffer length has a direct impact on delaying the video signal.
Thus the buffer should be of the minimum length required to remove all potential
jitter. From gateways 52 the serial video data is directed to an SDI switch
76 allowing selection of the video from one of paths 70, 72, and 74 for transmission
via 270 Mbps loop 78. Like loop 34 (FIG. ID), 270 Mbps loop 78 is typically
supplied by the local exchange carrier. With further reference to FIG. 1 A, serial video
data is transmitted to a customer facility via loop 78 where a conversion is performed
from SDI or ASI to HD at 1.485 Gbps by convertor 80 and optionally converted to
optical format in distribution amplifier 82.
In another preferred embodiment, where label edge server 56c is at, or near the
customer site, video packets can be delivered from router 54c directly to the customer
site via ethernet local loop 84. Packetized video data is then delivered to router 54d,
directed to video gateway 52 along path 86, converted from TCP/TP packets to SDI,
ASI, or the like, in gateway 52 and restored to HD at 1.485 Gbps in decoder 88.
In still another preferred embodiment, an optical fiber 90 connects the fiber
network with the customer site. Data is then routed from router 56c to router 56e. It
should be noted that two options are available. First, router 56c can remain the label
egress node, strip the label from outbound packets and deliver data to router 56e as
TCP/IP packets. Alternatively, router 56e can become the label egress node, receive
MPLS packets from router 56c and locally convert the packets back to TCP/IP. Either
way, TCP/IP packets are delivered to router 54e, and directed to gateway 52 along
path 92. Within gateway 52 the packetized data is restored to an SDI or ASI data
stream and directed to decoder 94. An HD data stream at 1.485 Gbps is then provided
to the customer.
Turning next to FIGS. IB and IE, in many cases it is desirable to
simultaneously deliver the signal to a network operator's television operations control
facility 96. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, video packets are simply
routed to label edge router 56b where label information is removed from the packet
and the original TCP/IP packet is delivered to router 54b. From router 54b, data is
sent to router 54f and forwarded to video gateways 52 along paths 98, 110, and 112.
As before, gateways 52 restore the original serial video data stream, i.e. SDI, ASI, or
the like, from the received TCP/IP packets. Data is then switched via SDI switch 114
and converted from SD to HD in decoder 116.
It should be noted that the system for the delivery of HD signals described above is capable of bidirectional operation. Thus, for example, at a customer site
commercials may be added it the original signal, and re-transmitted via the MPLS
network back to other video service edges on the network. In such a configuration, a
video service edge, i.e. edge 68, may be a label egress node with respect to the
original program and a label ingress node with respect to the fully produced program.
Thus, at the customer site shown in FIG. 1A for example, path 118 could supply SDI
video to gateway 52 which packetizes the signal and forwards it to video service edge
68 via router 54d. It should also be noted that, in terms of point- to-multipoint operation, GRE
tunnel 58 is preferably symmetric in nature, network traffic in one direction follows
exactly the same route as network traffic in the opposite direction. While necessary
for point-to-multipoint operation, an added benefit is that network delays and jitter are
substantial the same in either direction of operation. It should also be noted that inherent in an MPLS architecture is the ability to
schedule routes in advance of the actual data flow through the network. In terms of
high value programming, this allows the provisioning of network resources well in
advance, allowing the network operator to ensure routes are actually available for a
specific event. Turning next to FIG. 2, in a typical configuration, a production truck 102 is
parked at a stadium in an area reserved for television production equipment 108.
Within 300 feet of truck 102, the practical limit for coax transmission of HDTV,
mezzanine level equipment 106 is provided to support the production truck 102.
Typically between truck 102 and support equipment 106 there will be: one or more
conventional analog telephone lines 130 for IFB or engineering management from the
customer facility; SDTV transmit line 132 for support of SD and analog broadcasting;
SDTV receive line 134 for receiving fully produced video back from the customer
site; and HDTV transmit line 136 for sending HDTV via the inventive system.
At the mezzanine level equipment 106 an RJ-11 panel 138 is provided for
management of the telephone lines, a power supply 140 for operation of equipment;
and data and fiber management as described above. From the mezzanine level
equipment 106 information is passed to telco room 104 via fiber to overcome the 300
foot limitation of copper coax.
At room 104, POTS lines 142 are connected to the switched telephone public
network, standard television transmit and receive lines, 144 and 146, respectively, are
handled in the conventional manner through a local loop provided by the local
exchange carrier, and control of the system is provided by network connection 148
directed to router 150. HDTV is directed from telco room 104 to the fiber network point-of-presence in the manner described above.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, using the venue system
described above, the conventional broadcast is backed up by the HD broadcast in the
event the classic link fails, and the broadcaster can always fall back to SD if the HD
system fails. As will also be apparent to those skilled in the art, the HD signal is never
analog, delivery of the HD video is digital end-to-end. In contrast, presently analog
video is sent from the venue to the network point-of-presence where digitization now
occurs.
With reference to FIG. 3, in most cities there are more than one venue which
host events which are likely to be televised. A feature of the inventive system is that
infrastructure is maximized at, and between, video service edges and minimized at the
individual venues. In light of this feature, multiple venues 200 are each served by
individual 270 Mbps loops 202. A single SDI switch 204 can be used at the video
service edge to enable video distribution from any given venue only during an event.
From switch 204, SDI signals are individually packetized at gateways 52 and sent to
router 206 and, in turn, to label edge router 208 and MPLS network 42. End-to-end
control of the system is accomplished via telemetry network 212, which may, in fact,
be a subset of MPLS network 42. It should also be noted that from a video service edge, monitoring can be accomplished by directing packets from a selected source to
gateway 210 which then provides serial video data.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, while some compression of the
HD signal is necessary to perform the HD/SD conversion to 270 Mbps to
accommodate the local loop and video gateway, the level of compression required is
relatively small, particularly in light of the fact that the data rate is over twice that
available from a satellite transponder.
Thus, providing a multicast transmission of HD video with the inventive
system involves: converting the signal from HD data rates to SD data rates; converting the signal to optical for transmission within the venue; converting the signal back to
electrical for transmission over a 270 Mbps loop, typically provided by the local
exchange carrier from the venue to a video service edge; converting from a continuous
data stream (SDI) to TCP/IP packets in video gateway; converting the electrical signal
to optical; transmitting the packets over a fiber network in a multicast environment;
receiving the packets at one or more video service edges; converting the packets from
optical to electrical; converting from TCP/IP packets to a continuous serial data
stream in a video gateway; decompressing the signal from SD data rates to HD data
rates; and delivering an HD signal to a customer.
Preferably, the transmission of packets over a fiber network includes tagging
each packet with a label containing routing information and transmitting the packet
over an MPLS fiber network.
Optionally, the packets are transmitted via a GRE tunnel in a point-to- multipoint fashion.
It should be noted that while the preferred embodiments were described with
reference to an MPLS fiber network, the present invention is neither limited to MPLS
networks or fiber networks. In fact many types of networks are suitable for use with
the present invention, whether electrical, optical, wireless, or otherwise, and many
protocols can be employed with regard to practicing the present invention and at
various network layers. Thus, by way of example and not limitation, the present
invention may be practiced in ATM networks, IP networks, and the like, and such
networks are within both the scope and spirit of the present invention.
It should also be noted that the term "label edge router" is used with reference to the preferred embodiments which employs an MPLS network. It is contemplated
that when other types of networks are used, routers appropriate for use with the
specific network will also be used. Thus, the term "router" is to interpreted broadly to
include not only label edge routers but also to include any type of network router, switch, or the like.
It should be further noted that, while the preferred embodiments are described
with reference to 270 Mbps loops, the invention is also not so limited. As will be
recognized by those skilled in the art, any number of solutions may be available for digital communications between a venue and the video service edge and any such
solution, regardless of the data rate supported, is within the scope and spirit of the
present invention. By way of example and not limitations, other available digital links
may include: fiber optic, coax, twisted pair, a modulated laser beam, microwave or other RF link, etc.
Finally, with regard to the mezzanine level equipment, it should be noted that
the preferred embodiment is discussed in the general environment of a sports arena,
stadium, or the like. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the precise
configuration of the venue-side equipment, as depicted in FIG. 2, will depend on the
environment in which it is used, the type of facility, the distance between production
equipment and telecommunication facilities, etc. It is contemplated that adaptations
of the venue-side equipment to accommodate the local environment are likewise
within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
[0061] Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects
and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein.
While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this
disclosure, numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in
the art. Such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention.