Cisco

Video: P4 Tutorial

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

P4 is a powerful programming language which runs on network switches themselves allowing realtime manipulation of the data traffic. In broadcast, this can be used to alter SMPTE 2110 video in real time as demonstrated by Thomas Edwards at the EBU Network Technology Seminar year and that can be seen in this short video. “This shows how even on an ethernet switch now, we can program it to make these switching decisions based on any header [including] the application layer of the broadcast data”

This video explains what P4 is and how it works taking us all the way from the core principles to ways of programming it and harnessing its power. Watching the beginning of the video is sufficient for most in order to get a feel for P4 and how it could be (and is) applied to broadcast.

The speakers, from Cisco and Barefoot Networks (who work with Thomas Edwards from Fox), cove these topics:

  • What is the Data plane
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN) & Openflow
  • Benefits of programming your own dataplane
  • Typical Applications of P4
  • Novel Applications
  • Basics of the P4 language
  • P4 Software tools

Watch now!

Speakers

Antonin Bas Antonin Bas
Software Engineer,
Barefoot Networks
Andy Fingerhut Andy Fingerhut
Principal Engineer,
Cisco Systems

Video: AES67 Open Media Standard for Pro-Audio Networks

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

AES67 is a method of sending audio over IP which was standardised by the Audio Engineering Society as a way of sending uncompressed video over networks between equipment. It’s become widespread and is part of SMPTE’s professional essences-over-IP standards suite, ST 2110.

Here, Conrad Bebbington gives us an introduction to AES67 explaining why AES67 exists and what it tries to achieve. Conrad then goes on to look at interoperability with other competing standards like Dante. After going into some implementation details, importantly, the video then looks the ‘Session Description Protocol’, SDP, and ‘Session Initialisation Protocol’, SIP which are important parts of how AES67 works.

Other topics covered are:

  • Packetisation – how much audio is in a packet, number of channels etc.
  • Synchronisation – using PTP
  • What are SDP and SIP and how are they used
  • Use of IGMP multicast
  • Implementation availability in open source software

Watch now!

For a more in-depth look at AES67, watch this video

Speakers

Conrad Bebbington Conrad Bebbington
Software Engineer,
Cisco

Meeting: IBC 2018 Review

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Date: Wednesday 10th October, 2018.  18:00 for 18:30 start.
Location: IET, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL

If you were unable to make it to IBC this year, this RTS event that will bring you up to speed on the highlights of the Exhibition and the Conference.

The panel of experts will guide you through the through the most exciting exhibitors and give you an overview of the hottest sessions and timely topics featured in the Conference which this year had more than 400 Speakers over five days.

Register now!

Speakers:

Muki Kahan Chair – Muki Kulhan
Executive Digital Producer/Managing Director, Muki-International
Keith Underwood Keith Underwood
Chief Operating Officer, Channel 4
David Short David W A Short
Vice Chair of the IET Multimedia Communications Network
Aradhna Tayal Aradhna Tayal
Director Radio TechCon/IBC’s ‘What Caught My Eye’ Social Media speaker
James Lovell James Lovell
Territory Account Manager for UK Media, Cisco

Register now!

Video: DOCSIS 3.1 – An In-depth Overview

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

An in-depth talk explaining DOCSIS 3.1 from SCTE by Cisco’s Ron Hranac. DOCSIS 3.1 is the latest Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications.

The presentation will include information on the following:
– Why DOCSIS 3.1?
– Basic principles of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM).
– Spectrum allocation.
– FEC performance enhancements.
– New Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) measurements.

CableLabs released version I01 of the new specification in late October 2013. DOCSIS 3.1 introduces a new physical layer, improved Forward Error Correction (FEC) and other features for high-speed data transmission on cable networks. Scalable to 10+ Gbps in the downstream and 1+ Gbps in the upstream, DOCSIS 3.1 supports services competitive with fibre to the home, but using cable’s HFC platform. Cisco’s Ron Hranac provides an overview of DOCSIS 3.1 from a physical layer perspective.

Watch now!