System Redundancy for Video Transport over IP
‘System Redundancy for Video Transport Over IP’
Consumer demand for high-quality video content is at an all-time high. Whether it's live broadcasts of tier 1 sports events or delivering premium content, the stakes are higher than ever. Quality and reliability are paramount when transporting valuable video content and any interruptions to the stream are unacceptable. This is challenging when contributing and distributing video content over unmanaged IP networks such as the Internet primarily because of the inherent best-effort nature of IP. It’s critical that content is received and processed correctly by the receiver, and system redundancy is one measure that must be employed to achieve this aim.
Understanding the Challenge
Although Internet service quality has improved over the years and ISPs strive to provide a seamless service, both bandwidth and connection remain highly variable. Fluctuations in connectivity can and do happen, and this can cause poor quality, disruptions, and even down time. For a content provider or broadcaster, particularly for those providing high value content such as tier 1 sports events, any disruptions to the stream are inexcusable. Interruptions in the video feed could result in disappointed viewers, reputational damage, and even financial losses. As a result, it’s understandable why content owners may feel apprehensive about relying on IP-based transport for their high-value content.
Mitigating Risks by Ensuring System Redundancy
The RIST (Reliable Internet Stream Transport) Protocol is specifically designed to address the challenges of transporting video over unmanaged IP networks. Here are five ways that the RIST Protocol mitigates the challenges that broadcasters and content owners face when delivering high-value content over an unmanaged network.
1. Packet Retransmissions Across Multiple ISPs
One of the core features of RIST is its ability to support multiple ISPs. This means that instead of relying on a single Internet connection, RIST can leverage multiple network paths. In the event of an outage or disruption on one ISP, RIST can automatically switch to an alternate path, minimizing downtime and ensuring a continuous video stream.
2. Hitless Switching and SMPTE ST 2022-7
RIST includes support hitless switching, using the SMPTE ST 2022-7 standard. This means that if one network experiences an issue, such as packet loss or congestion, RIST seamlessly switches the traffic to another network without any visible disruption to the video stream. This is vital for maintaining the quality and integrity of the content, especially during live broadcasts.
3. Bonding and Network Combination
In addition to providing redundancy across ISPs, RIST can be used for bonding multiple Internet connections. This means that content providers can combine various types of connections, such as LAN, 4G, or 5G, to create a robust and high-capacity network infrastructure.
4. Prioritizing Network Connections
Weighting is another feature of RIST that allows content providers to prioritize certain network connections over others. For example, a wired network might be given higher priority over cellular connections to ensure the highest quality and reliability when available.
5. Cellular Network as a Last Resort
In scenarios where the primary wired network fails, RIST can automatically switch to a cellular network as a last resort. This is a valuable backup mechanism, but it's used sparingly to avoid costly data charges.
Embracing the Future of Video Transport
By transporting video over IP, broadcasters and content providers stand to benefit from both cost savings and operational benefits. As a method of contribution and distribution, it’s highly flexible, so is well suited to the last minute changes that are commonplace with sporting and other live events. The mechanisms that RIST incorporates to ensure system redundancy and reliability make it a suitable means of transport, even for the highest value content.
RIST was developed in 2017 by a group of industry experts to address the challenges of transporting video over IP. It uses a standards-based approach and is an open specification and open-source transport protocol. The number of products that are RIST-enabled is constantly expanding as more vendors implement it in their equipment. RIST-enabled products now cover each part of the contribution and distribution workflow.
For more information about how RIST-enabled products can empower you to deliver broadcast content reliably and seamlessly, or to find out about becoming a RIST member, get in touch.