Bonded cellular systems are very important for dispatching live video content.
Broadcasters can use these systems to share interesting stories, cover live events, and report breaking news from almost anywhere.
They are easier to set up and don’t cost much, which makes them better than many other connectivity solutions that are limited to certain use cases.
Despite the advantages, bonded cellular systems face a big challenge: interoperability.
Other modern content exchange systems focus on open integration through containers and APIs. However, bonded cellular systems have changed over time to become closed networks that use their own protocols.
Broadcasters face problems because of this lack of interoperability, which limits their ability to share content and be flexible in how they run their businesses.
It can be hard for freelance camera operators to find bonded cellular systems that work with their cameras.
A specific system may exclude them from job opportunities, and a partial system failure can disrupt the entire network. This causes delays and complications.
While efforts have been made to standardize live broadcasting solutions to improve interoperability, these initiatives usually face resistance from vendors who view proprietary systems as beneficial for supporting their commercial advantage.
And so, even though the job of standardization committees is to promote uniformity, they sometimes make it harder for new ideas to come up in the industry.
Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) Protocol
The Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocol has gained popularity as a method for distributing and exchanging content over IP networks.
SRT gives secure connectivity through AES data encryption and allows reliable connections using forward error correction (FEC) and data retransmission. These features make the transmission of low-latency video data over IP links possible, including the public internet. It’s a valuable means for broadcasters.
Seeing this potential of SRT – many bonded cellular vendors have added the protocol to their platforms.
This lets them receive SRT streams with traditional bonded streams and export SRT streams to third-party networks, improving the flexibility and functionality of their systems.
Improving Bonded Cellular Systems with SRT
After the SRT protocol was added to bonded cellular systems, they were able to work together much better.
Proprietary protocols are still used for the initial connections, but SRT handles the content once it gets to the cloud. This method gets rid of problems with compatibility and the restrictions that come with separate systems.
With SRT, you can manage all streams with a single tool, no matter where they come from.
This unified workflow has many benefits:
- production teams can perform more usefully
- live content can be sourced from a wider range of providers
- camera crews gain the flexibility to use any brand of bonded cellular transmitter
Also, vendor lock-in is becoming less common, which means that the broadcasting industry can fully use the benefits of bonded cellular systems.
Vislink’s Adoption of SRT Technology
Vislink has been in business for more than 50 years and has added SRT to its line of products. Free-roaming camera systems, live event contributions, and network distribution solutions are all better off because of this integration.
Through the addition of SRT, Vislink has made its workflows more flexible – it’s easy for production teams to add wireless camera systems to remote setups. This cuts down on the need for staff on-site and lowers the cost of IP connectivity.
Vislink.com can also separate the RF receive infrastructure for roaming cameras from the video recording infrastructure at the broadcast center using SRT – the process becomes more efficient.
As companies like Vislink continue to integrate SRT into their products, the broadcasting industry will benefit from improved workflows, reduced costs, and greater flexibility, ultimately enhancing the viewer experience.