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A pioneer in video compression solutions, Harmonic develops innovative system architectures including
the world’s first all IP-based closed-loop statistical multiplexing solution, DiviTrackIP™. Harmonic was the
first company to introduce products based on MPEG-2 over IP technology to transport broadcast-quality
video on cable or IPTV networks. The overwhelming success of this solution relative to any other transport
technology (such as ATM or DVB-ASI over SONET) started a paradigm shift within the industry, including a
complete migration of the broadcast and video-on-demand services to Gigabit Ethernet. In order to help
operators further take advantage of the benefits of IP, Harmonic developed DiviTrackIP, the latest addition
to the market leading statistical multiplexing solution
DiviTrackIP provides significant operational advantages and cost benefits by connecting encoders and multiplexers via a switched IP network rather than port-to-port ASI interconnects. As a result, any encoder anywhere in a centralized or distributed system can efficiently be part of any multiplex, essentially creating a “virtual headend”. The result is a more flexible, scalable and cost-effective architecture than ever before.
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DiviTrackIP supports the high efficiency DiviCom® family of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) encoders and allows operators to quickly and efficiently launch video services while providing the highest quality viewing experience. The underlying architecture is based on a closed- loop system with a dedicated return channel to each encoder to enable the multiplexer to orchestrate the process. The transport stream output from each encoder carries MPEG-2 streams encapsulated over IP as well as video complexity statistics to the ProStream™ 1000 multiplexer. The multiplexer collects and processes the statistics and, via an upstream IP-based connection, provides the encoders back with rate allocation messages to synchronize the video at the optimal bit-rates. Both the encoders and the multiplexer use IP multicast to enable services to be dynamically assigned to output transport streams.
The patent-pending timing and buffering algorithm of complexity and rate messages enables the encoders and the multiplexer to synchronize their outputs to the very tight tolerance required to produce an efficient statistical multiplexing, even though these messages are exchanged over a network that is subject to unpredictable delay and jitter.
Backed by Harmonic’s track record of innovation, system interoperability and exceptional support, DiviTrackIP is the most advanced statistical multiplexing solution for satellite, cable or terrestrial applications available
today.
Benefits of DiviTrackIP
Outstanding video quality performance
Leveraging Harmonic’s industry-leading video compression technology, DiviTrackIP allows operators to provide the highest quality viewing experience at ultra-low bit-rates.
Versatile “any service to any multiplex” encoder/multiplexer connectivity
No permanent physical mapping of encoders to multiplexers is required. Using IP switching techniques, routing of any incoming service to any multiplexer input is easily achieved.
Remote statistical multiplex
IP networks eliminate the distance constraints associated with ASI routing infrastructures. Operators can build “virtual headends” with remote statistical multiplexing using encoders and multiplexers located in different sites.
Improved bandwidth efficiency
Through the use of optimized VBR pools, bandwidth efficiency is improved in distributed content aggregation architectures.
Support for multiple services and pools
DiviTrackIP supports up to 24 services per pool and up to three statistically multiplexed pools in a single transport stream, extending the variety of content delivery models.
Reduced cost of ownership
Ethernet hardware is used throughout the data networking industry and enjoys virtually unlimited economies of scale.
Self-managing routing infrastructure
Using multicast and IGMP, a multiplexer may dynamically request streams generated by different encoders, without requiring that any intervening routing or switching equipment be reconfigured.
Enhanced system scalability
Adding additional services is as easy as connecting new encoders to any available Ethernet port in the IP network and correctly configuring the Network Management System (NMS).
Improved redundancy
Operators usually choose N:1 encoder redundancy schemes, such that a system of M multiplexers requires M redundant encoders. The flexibility of an IP routing infrastructure means operators can use a pool of redundant encoders to protect the entire headend, as opposed to one or more redundant encoders per multiplexer, achieving a significant costs savings.
Network management
Harmonic’s NMX Digital Service Manager™ simplifies mass configuring, monitoring and automated redundancy in both centralized and distributed architectures.
Self-healing network
IP networks include features such as automatic path finding and route provisioning that allow restoration of the network without user intervention. Network redundancy is provided in a variety of ways, depending on the operator’s system requirements and preferences.
Density
DiviCom Electra™ SD or HD 1-RU encoders supports up to 4 channels streamed over a dual GbE port. The 1-RU ProStream 1000 multiplexer aggregates video feeds from a single GbE port. As a result, DiviTrackIP dramatically reduces space requirement by approximately 70% versus traditional systems and significantly decreases racking and cabling cost and complexity.
Highlights
- Third generation closed-loop statistical multiplexing
- Versatile IP-based encoder-multiplexer connectivity
- Multi-format and multi-codec support - SD/HD, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)
- LAN- or WAN-based system architecture
- Remote statistical multiplexing support
- Site load balancing
- Dynamic channel line-up configuration with “any encoder to any multiplex” routing
- Unequalled network resiliency with up to 50ms network delay/jitter latency and ProMPEG COP3 FEC support
- Up to 24 channels per VBR pool
- Up to 3 pools per MPEG-2 transport streams
- Up to 8 MPEG-2 transport streams per multiplexer with scrambling support support
- Seamless VBR-CBR transition
- Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and/or DVB-ASI multiplexer output with scrambling support
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