Arena installs Lawo SMART IP control system on its new mobile unit

The British audiovisual services company's new mobile unit will be showcased at IBC, demonstrating the potential of Lawo SMART's possibilities to easily monitor IP media flows over the IP network itself.

The audiovisual services company Arena Television, based in Redhill (United Kingdom) has just installed the control and telemetry system in its new IP-based mobile unit Lawo SMART (System Monitoring and Realtime Telemetry Solution). The company is already an extensive user of the IP transmission control system of Lawo VSM establishing comprehensive unified workflows through the IP infrastructure of the different mobile units.

With vsmSOUL, VSM introduces an advanced IP orchestration together with traditional control functions, such as vsmTally, in a single, fully integrated solution.

Lawo's SMART range includes the smartDASH system monitoring and real-time telemetry through an all-IP, fully SDI, or hybrid WAN/LAN transmission infrastructure, and smartSCOPE's Deep Packet Inspection and Network Analyzer, a high-density, media-proof analytics platform for IP flows in live production and delivery.

SmartDASH offers a Complete view of the network and media streams. It derives data from the media network, comprehensively documents the network and supporting infrastructure. As for SmartSCOPE, it processes data packets for service fulfillment and analyzes the status of the delivery network for a clear demarcation between delivery and processing, thus reducing repair time.

Dafydd Rees, Arena Television's Deputy Chief Operating Officer, highlights that with "with the purchase of SMART, Arena Television now has a unique ability to extensively monitor and control our equipment, while realizing significant operational benefits. One of the challenges we aim to solve with SMART is to offer operators the ability to easily monitor IP media flows over the IP network. This will bridge the gap between traditional video and audio monitoring tools and network switcher monitoring tools, unifying both into a simple dashboard and providing a single view of media streams as they pass through the network. It will also enable engineers to proactively detect and diagnose faults before they occur, further increasing the quality of service we offer our customers."

It should be noted that Arena Television's expansions and new units are based on a powerful IP core developed in partnership with Grass Valley and Cisco. This approach is much more flexible than traditional baseband. With IP technology, data is transmitted over fiber optic cables, while Quad-HD requires 4 HD signals over bundled copper wires to create a single UHD image.

Arena will be demonstrating its brand new mobile unit, with SMART installed and running, at IBC at booth 9.A02.

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