The EBU has underlined the importance of network technology for media production with the creation of its new Expert Community on Networks (ECN). But what exactly does this community work on? And what new challenges have been identified? In the most recent EBU Technical Review article, ECN chair Markus Berg (IRT) and vice-chair Lars Jonsson (SR) answer these questions.
Increased complexity
Networks are used by broadcasters for production, contribution, and distribution. With the introduction of HDTV, the amount of high-bit rate transfers has increased. And the complexity of networks is increasing too. EBU’s ECN is the ‘think thank’ that watches over these kind of network developments. It aims to solve all kinds of network and infrastructure problems that EBU Members experience.
Current projects
There are six ECN projects running at this moment, working on contribution specifications for audio and video, intercom
interoperability, Ip network measurements, the interoperability
problems with the different 3G SDI interfaces and an SNMP-based common control standard for networked aduio- and video-equipment.
New challenges
The challenges identified in ECN include topics such as network planning, green networking, cloud computing, security, virtualisation and file transfer acceleration. These topics (and many more) are potential themes for new ECN Groups to work on. The Experts in the Community are currently setting priorities and looking at adapting the mandates of the current groups, to optimise the use of available resources.
If you are interested to work with this community, visit the ECN homepage. As all EBU Experts Communities, also ECN is open to non-Member professionals. For more information you can also contact: Mathias Coinchon (EBU).