IPTV Technology Featured Article

Harmonic Accelerates All-IP Headend Migration, Simplifies Re-Encoding

By Anuradha Shukla, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Harmonic has launched its DiviCom FLEX technology, which it says delivers on the promise of an all-IP headend. This new universal video and audio decoding module adds video decoding capabilities to Harmonic’s (News - Alert) DiviCom Electra and Ion encoders.

 

The DiviCom FLEX solution can be easily inserted into the existing Harmonic encoder chassis for a simple upgrade that enables full IP processing across all headend devices. By leveraging the dense single platform solution, operators experience a new level of agility with real-time “any–to-any” video and audio format re-encoding. Harmonic’s FLEX technology helps service providers to reduce capital expenses, power consumption, and overall system cost, while maintaining the video quality excellence that is a hallmark of Harmonic’s compression solutions.

 

Because FLEX also offers IP input functionality, it further enables deployment of geographically distributed headend architectures. The solution also allows operators to source content from IP networks or IP-ready RF demodulators/descramblers. Harmonic’s new DiviCom FLEX solution has the ability to support MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) streams in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) formats. Moreover, the solution also supports reuse of incoming stream information.

 

Elie Sader, Product Marketing Manager at Harmonic, said Harmonic’s broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco customers are embracing video over IP technology at a rapid pace, and they are looking to eliminate baseband audio and video wiring, switching, and routing in their operations.

 

Harmonic is transitioning to a model where content is acquired over IP networks or IP-enabled devices, and then translated into formats suitable for the operator’s delivery platform. Sader noted that Harmonic’s FLEX technology, combined with the Electra and Ion encoders, enables a fully IP-based infrastructure across the entire video processing chain from content acquisition to re-transmission. The integrated solution provides customers a powerful tool that lowers the cost and complexity of headend operations.

 

With FLEX, operators can quickly and efficiently launch new services and re-balance current lineups by enabling access to both IP and ASI-based content. Harmonics believe this solution is ideally suited for telco, cable, broadcast, and direct broadcast satellite operators that want a high quality, multi-format, multi-resolution re-encoding solution.

 

Sader pointed out that the introduction of HD and the continued rollout of new services have increased headend complexity. Operators receive content from multiple sources in various formats, which often must be re-encoded prior to distribution. Harmonic’s new FLEX technology provides a means to manage content delivered over IP or ASI, giving operators significantly greater flexibility and scalability in provisioning and expanding their channel lineups.

 

Harmonic explains that in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis, a fully optioned DiviCom Electra encoder with FLEX technology can decode and re-encode up to four full resolution HD or SD channels while simultaneously generating up to four low resolution services for picture-in-picture or multi-channel mosaic applications. FLEX can also support pass-through of up to eight audio services per video program.

 

Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering call centers, CRM and information technology. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

 

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