Media Service Management
As media networks evolve from baseband technologies to IP, and then onto Software Defined Network (SDN), managing effectively the different technologies and equipment from various vendors becomes a real challenge that must be overcome. Nevion’s VideoIPath software provides a unique platform for managing media networks and the services that run on them. VideoIPath hides the complexity of the underlying network through an easy-to-use, business-orientated web interface, therby putting non-expert users in control of their own media service delivery needs. This enables them to react faster and more efficiently to events that are important to their business.
Nevion’s VideoIPath is designed to make it easy to manage traditional and IP-based media networks; enabling users to achieve their objectives in a quick and simple way.
- The recording (inventory) of all details of equipment and connections (including available capacity), as well as the services running over these
- The creation of connections (media service fulfilment) on wide area, metro, in-campus and studio networks, when needed
- The monitoring of the network and correlation with on-going services (media service assurance), for example to ensure compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
VideoIPath is designed to interact with all the equipment (from Nevion and 3rd party) that is crucial to modern media service delivery:
- Signal transport equipment (baseband and IP), such as SDI matrixes, Ethernet switches and IP routers
- Signal processing equipment, such as encoders/decoders, multiplexers, IP encapsulators, etc.
- Signal monitoring equipment, such as probes designed to check the services are running as planned
Software Defined Networking
Software Defined Networking (SDN) is making its ways into media networks, as it delivers the deterministic and scalable performance required for the transport of live video and audio. VideoIPath is intrinsically SDN capable and Nevion embraces the standardized Openflow protocol to control the flow of data through a network by clearly separating the control and forwarding logic of network devices.
VideoIPath uses an Openflow controller to discover the network topology and make intelligent routing decisions from source to destinations, which takes into account protection and bandwidth requirements for every service that is provisioned across the network. One key advantage of the VideoIPath approach is that it supports hybrid networks consisting of a combination of SDN and traditional technologies.
The VideoIPath SDN solution has many applications from control of contribution networks to production and broadcast infrastructures. One example is SDN controlled IP routing as a replacement for traditional baseband routing, providing the same workflow that broadcasters are used to from the baseband environment without the complexity involved in managing an IP network infrastructure.
