GatesAir Integrates Video Over IP Support Into Intraplex Ascent Transport Platform

GatesAir, a global provider of wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV broadcasters, has added a new application to its Intraplex Ascent transport platform to support reliable and secure video over IP transport alongside audio. The new Ascent SRT Gateway, to be unveiled at IBC 2019 (Sept. 13-17, RAI Amsterdam), is designed to be use to broadcasters managing contributed video and/or audio content for point-to-multipoint distribution.

The application’s video support also brings Ascent into the television market, with a value proposition for national broadcasters feeding many destinations. Ascent will now provide transparent support of any real-time, IP-based broadcast video protocol, with applicability to ATSC 3.0 and DVB-T/T2.

GatesAir introduced Intraplex Ascent as a next-gen Audio over IP platform at the 2019 NAB Show in April. Intraplex Ascent represents an evolution in broadcast and IT convergence, and is GatesAir’s first Intraplex system to live on a COTS x86 server.

Ascent provides broadcasters with a highly scalable, redundant and cloud-based transport platform for multichannel contribution and distribution. Designed for centralized control and maximum interconnectivity, Ascent is compliant with the AES67 standard, today’s leading AoIP networking solutions, and most Intraplex Audio over IP codecs.

Ascent offers two key differentiating factors for IP transport: an ability to manage many Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) streams on a centralized platform, and its integration of GatesAir’s Dynamic Stream Splicing (DSS) software. The latter diversifies SRT data across redundant networks, and adds protection against packet losses and network failures.

At IBC, GatesAir will demonstrate how the Ascent SRT Gateway supports reliable and encrypted transport of video content both in point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. The addition of DSS software will support duplication of SRT streams with video and embedded audio over separate network paths, leveraging a single stream-splicing buffer for hitless protection against errors and failures.

“Since our new Ascent SRT Gateway application supports stream splicing, we can effectively reduce latency for SRT retransmission, and optimize network redundancy for video distribution,” said Keyur Parikh, VP-GM, Intraplex Product Group. “This is especially useful for our customers who are distributing real-time video and audio over microwave, fiber and IP connections, and transporting those high-bandwidth streams to multiple studios or transmitter sites.”

Parikh adds that the applications can scale to support more streams and more destinations as needed, with video bandwidth speeds of up to 200 Mb/s at the base level. “That can include multiple 50 Mb/s streams, or a much larger single stream generated through video encoders or other headend systems,” he says. “The Ascent SRT Gateway application scales very seamlessly with its multi-core hardware platform, opening a broad diversity of media transport applications to support national TV or radio networks.”

The core Intraplex Ascent platform is available in two form factors, each of which supports up to 32 audio channels (AES3, AES67, analog). Both versions will be on display at IBC2019: a 1RU server, with configurable options for physical and AES67 channels; and a software-only solution that operates in a virtualized container.

According to the company, Ascent adds value to broadcasters by removing the need for many separate codecs and auxiliary hardware components at the originating studio or headend. This streamlined architecture frees multiple equipment racks in enterprise-level facilities, simplifying installation and systems management.

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