Dejero Transforms KNSD And KUAN’s Broadcast Truck Into Mobile TV Station

Dejero has made it possible for NBCU-owned KNSD and KUAN-LD (Telemundo) San Diego to turn their new broadcast truck into a self-contained, end-to-end mobile TV studio.

The Dejero equipment on board the truck — including the Dejero GateWay M6E6 network aggregation device, PathWay E encoder, and a WayPoint 104 receiver — gives KNSD and KUAN the bandwidth to work fully independently in the field, processing, editing and distributing live raw video without reliance on teams and equipment located back at the broadcast facility.

The truck, which was built by Emmy award-winning truck builder and mobile integrator, Accelerated Media Technologies (AMT), is able to act as a backup station in case the main broadcast facility needs to be evacuated, a scenario that could have happened during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled with our new truck and are particularly impressed with the power and flexibility of the Dejero equipment, in particular the GateWay network aggregation device,” said Mike Fouch, manager of technology at KNSD. “In the past we would have used an encoder/transmitter to access cellular networks or traditional microwave/satellite to get a signal in, but with the Dejero GateWay we can transport video as well as have general-purpose connectivity so we can access all of our in-house systems remotely through private networks, the public internet and the cloud. So now, the field team can be autonomous and rely less on those back at the station to manage content.”

KNSD approached the team at AMT for the provision of what they termed a ‘Swiss Army Knife Truck’ — in essence, a vehicle that was able to both switch a newscast out of the truck in the event the studio facility was inaccessible, and to receive multiple channels of cellular video data direct to the truck. The big challenge lay in getting significant return bandwidth to the truck by allowing the team to receive field assets and to relay them via cellular or satellite networks without having to have another high bandwidth service plan.

The backbone to Dejero’s solutions is its patented Smart Blending Technology which simultaneously aggregates diverse wired and wireless IP connections from multiple sources to form a virtual “network of networks,” enhancing the reliability of connection paths, expanding coverage and delivering greater bandwidth.

“Dejero is in a league of its own when it comes to critical connectivity in mobile and nomadic scenarios,” said Tom Jennings, president at AMT. “Having tested the system personally in the rural hills of Montana where cell frequencies can barely be counted on to make a normal phone call, I experienced data rates upwards of 30 Mbps constantly and without linking to a satellite.” Jennings added: “Overall, Smart Blending Technology has helped transform the once behemoth DSNG truck into a highly maneuverable, cost effective platform that requires less formal training to operate. It has expanded the reach and quality of news trucks on the road.”

By continuously measuring each connection in real-time, GateWay dynamically distributes packets across the available multiple connections, leveraging the combined bandwidth potential of all of them, to achieve up to 100 Mbps upload and 250 Mbps download speeds.

The availability of Smart Blending Technology has created a high-capacity, bidirectional data pipe inside the truck, delivering spectacular throughput for any type of IP data. The Dejero GateWay delivers critical connectivity to the truck and provides KNSD and KUAN with reliable access to the Internet, cloud applications such as Latakoo for ENG video and AWS WorkSpaces for accessing content at the station, as well as private networks from the mobile field locations of the stations’ remote workforce.

The truck uses the Dejero CellSat connectivity service, intelligently blending cellular connectivity from multiple mobile network providers with Ku-band IP satellite connectivity from Intelsat when needed — reliably delivering the bandwidth to transmit broadcast-quality video in real time in all scenarios. The Dejero PathWay E is an adaptive bitrate encoder in a 1U short-depth rack-mount form-factor, ideal for installation in vehicles where space is at a premium. Finally, the Dejero WayPoint 104 receiver reconstructs video transported over multiple IP connections from Dejero transmitters, decodes HEVC or AVC, and outputs it to KNSD or KUAN’s desired workflow — SDI or MPEG-TS.