When cellular bonding systems were first introduced to newsgathering, it was a bigger game-changer than when John Montagu asked for his meat between two pieces of bread. It provided a method of sending a live shot back to the station from almost anywhere at a fraction of the cost of traditional uplink solutions.
Cellular bonding equipment providers figured out how to take advantage of 3G and 4G wireless data signals from multiple cellular carriers and bond them together to increase the throughput required for live video. By combining modems with encoders and antennas in small, portable transmitters, it suddenly became possible to broadcast from places that were off limits before—and even to transmit while moving.
More than cellular bonding
Much like the name stuck for the Earl of Sandwich’s snack of choice, the term “cellular bonding” is still in popular usage despite the evolution of the technology for aggregating bandwidth. Cellular bonding is still a big part of the equation, but a more accurate description would be network bonding because the most cutting-edge transmitters are able to bond all available IP networks, from cellular, to Ka-band and BGAN satellite, to Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Managing network connections
Each of these network connections may not always be available, so managing the available connections becomes critical. Dejero accomplishes this with Intelligent Connection Management technology that adapts the bonding according to the strength and reliability of the available network connections, and your needs.
For example, in breaking news where immediacy is paramount, latency is important if it’s a two-way feed, regardless of picture quality. Meanwhile, when covering live sports, picture quality and reliability are more important.
With technology that automatically produces the best results based on the priorities for the particular broadcast, the crew can focus on capturing the content.
Content management and sharing
As network connections continue to improve, IP newsgathering technology will continue to improve along with them. However, the real innovations going forward will be in the management and sharing capabilities for the content as it is collected.
At the leading edge of that innovation is Dejero’s LIVE+ Multipoint. In a nutshell, LIVE+ Multipoint is a cloud-based IP video distribution network for sharing content. It enables simultaneous distribution of live content from any location, to any location, at any time—quickly, easily, and cost–effectively—using public Internet infrastructure.
This means that you can instantly share live content simultaneously across stations in your organization or to third parties without the use of satellite or fiber networks. Sharing live feeds allows for the pooling of content acquisition resources, achieving workflow efficiencies that effectively allow you to broadcast from more places at once.
All of your content is managed in the cloud and accessed from a web browser. An operator can use advanced filtering and search to easily find and preview the desired content, then simply drag-and-drop to send it live.
Changing the game again
Cellular and network bonding changed the game for acquisition of content, and IP video is continuing to evolve—but it’s just the beginning. With the exponential increase in the amount of content generated, the ability to manage and share it with other stations, anywhere in the world, will change the game again.
Bogdan Frusina is founder and chief technology officer at Dejero.