Broadcast Facilities Research Articles

New Integrated Workflows for Broadcast Facilities

SMPTE's S22–10 group has been working diligently on standardizing the flow of schedule data, content metadata, and requests for content movement. The working group, consisting of over 80 members, has produced BXF (Broadcast exchange Format), as a result. With the involvement of so many key industry players in its development, it appears certain that BXF will not only be implemented rapidly in systems, but will have a dramatic impact on workflows in broadcast facilities everywhere in fairly short order.

Maintaining Quality of Service (QoS) of Video over IP Services

Internet Protocal (IP) is now being widely deployed for internal distribution in broadcast and network operations facilities. Test and analysis for this can be distinctly different than IP delivery directly to the home (IPTV). Test strategies during IPTV initiation, establishment, and rollout will vary, but all will be targeted to ensuring quality of service.

From [formula omitted] to [formula omitted]: A simple bounded quiescent reliable broadcast-based transformation

Failure detectors in the class ⋄ W ensure that every crashed process is eventually suspected by a correct process, and eventually there is a correct process that is never suspected. Failure detectors in the class Ω ensure that eventually all the processes trust the same correct process. This paper presents a very simple and efficient algorithm that transforms any failure detector of the class ⋄ W into a failure detector of the class Ω . The simplicity of the transformation is due to its modular design—it is based on an underlying reliable broadcast facility. It is quiescent and requires each message to carry only one process identity, in addition to the control information appended to a message by the reliable broadcast mechanism (namely, a sequence number and the identity of its sender).

Bahrain’s Formula-1 racing circuit: energy and environmental considerations

The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and complex, at latitude 26.00N and longitude 51.54E, was built in 483 days and cost 150 million US$. The circuit consists of six different individual tracks with a 3.66 km outer track (involving 10 turns) and a 2.55 km inner track (having six turns).The complex has been designed to host a variety of other sporting activities. Fifty thousand spectators, including 10,500 in the main grandstand, can be accommodated simultaneously. State-of-the art on-site media and broadcast facilities are available. The noise level emitted from vehicles on the circuit during the Formula-1 event, on April 4th 2004, was acceptable and caused no physical disturbance to the fans in the VIP lounges or to scholars studying at the University of Bahrain’s Shakeir Campus, which is only 1.5 km away from the circuit. The sound-intensity level (SIL) recorded on the balcony of the VIP lounge was 128 dB(A) and was 80 dB(A) inside the lounge. The calculated SIL immediately outside the lecture halls of the University of Bahrain was 70 dB(A) and 65 dB(A) within them. Thus racing at BIC can proceed without significantly disturbing the academic-learning process. The purchased electricity demand by the BIC complex peaked (at 4.5 MW) during the first Formula-1 event on April 4th 2004. The reverse-osmosis (RO) plant at the BIC provides 1000 m 3 of desalinated water per day for landscape irrigation. Renewable-energy inputs, (i.e., via solar and wind power), at the BIC could be harnessed to generate electricity for water desalination, air conditioning, lighting as well as for irrigation. If the covering of the BIC complex was covered by adhesively fixed modern photovoltaic cells, then ∼1.2 MW of solar electricity could be generated. If two horizontal-axis, at 150 m height above the ground, three 75m bladed, wind turbines were to be installed at the BIC, then the output could reach 4 MW. Furthermore, if 10,000 Jojoba trees (a species renowned for having a low demand for water, needing only five irrigations per year in Bahrain and which remain green throughout the year) are planted near the circuit, then the local micro-climate would be improved with respect to human comfort as well as the local environment becoming cleaner.

Review Article: Reading Guerrilla Radio in Wartime Liberia

Numerous writers have acknowledged the importance of radio communications and hate propaganda in the Liberian civil war (1990–1997), but none have explored the subject in depth. A wide variety of related issues have been neglected, including military efforts to seize control of broadcast facilities, the deliberate manipulation of public information and perceptions, and the implications of both for wartime atrocities and post-war justice. In the following essay, I identify and discuss six general strands of thought on guerrilla radio broadcasting and communications in wartime Liberia. The first looks to the relationship between mass media and the state in the pre-civil war era. The second covers the cooption of the wartime free press. Three further themes – Charles Taylor's cultivation of personal power, the relevance of broadcasting for rebel command and control capabilities, and Taylor's media dominance during the 1997 Presidential campaign – demonstrate the strategic and public roles of radio communications and broadcasting. Finally, I look to written survivor memoirs for elite responses to wartime media monopolies, guerrilla propaganda, and psychological warfare. I conclude with some notes on indicators for future research, and their implications for historical and contemporary issues in Liberia.

An introduction to oracles for asynchronous distributed systems

This paper is an introduction to oracles the aim of which is to help solving distributed computing problems in asynchronous distributed systems prone to process crash failures and fair lossy channels. Actually, the combination of asynchrony and failures makes a lot of problems impossible to solve in unreliable asynchronous distributed systems. Hence, those systems have to be extended with appropriate oracles in order these problems become solvable. Using two such problems (namely, the design of a quiescent uniform reliable broadcast facility, and the consensus problem), this paper presents appropriate oracles allowing to solve these problems. In that sense, the paper is a guided tour to the definition of oracles suited to unreliable asynchronous distributed systems.

College Radio Station Web Sites: Perceptions of Value and Use

It seems everyone has a favorite Web site these days. There are thousands of sites that appeal to our need for entertainment, information, news, gossip, escapism, and the list goes on. There are even World Wide Web sites that will allow a user to find a long lost high school friend (snowball.com, 2000) no matter where in the world she or he may be. The emergence of the World Wide Web has made our world smaller and the Global Village the Canadian seer Marshall McLuhan (1964) envisioned is upon us. Traditional media have embraced the Web and there is an audience for these sites. Users of media pages have the ability to read electronic versions of hometown newspapers, listen to distant radio stations via audio streaming, and go to television sites that provide streaming video and information about local communities (Bates, et. al., 1996). The technology, in many instances, can be as entertaining as the information. In June 2000, at least 350 colleges and universities had Web sites for their radio stations (M.LT., 2000) and that number is still growing. Apparently these institutions, for whatever reason, are finding value in the integration of Internet sites with their broadcast outlets, and people are surfing these sites. Advisers of these stations, in many cases, may be at a loss as to what content to put on the sites. To this point, no one has asked what people like about college radio sites, or why people use them. Literature review Student-run college radio is seen as the training ground for those students trying to establish careers in the broadcasting industry (Brant, 1981; Thompsen, 1992; Pesha, 1997). Sometimes viewed as unprofessional, college stations have the reputation of playing music that is left of center (Esparza, 1999). College radio also has the perception as being raw and cutting edge. College radio Web sites are often leaders in programming trends like promotional activities and use of innovative Internet technology (McClung, 1999a). The student body is an integral part of any campus station and these stations and their accompanying Web sites are generally staffed and run by students. These Web sites offer a particular challenge for the faculty and advisers who are charged with overseeing the operation of these pages. Cyberspace has been a challenge for journalism and mass communication programs around the country on several fronts. Legal and ethical issues are at the forefront of curricula consideration (Smethers, 1998). Programs are also working to teach students Internet design issues and strategies. Of course, there is always the issue of content. Do the people who are teaching the Internet component of mass communication know what audiences are using student cyber-media for? College students naturally make up the core audience of a broadcast facility on a campus and generally college radio audiences are teens and people in their early to mid-twenties. That is not the case with the college radio station Web site, however. While the core audience (50%) of a college radio station Web site ranges in age from 18 to 25, nearly 45 percent of users of these Web pages are from 26 to 40 years old (McClung, 1999b), an age range that is considered to be non-traditional for college students. While this age range doesn't fit the typical college radio station user profile, it is more typical of an Internet user (Pitkow, 1999). With the noted differences in age ranges across both mediums, the question is raised, Why are older users heading to college radio station Web sites? The genesis of mass media research deals mostly with mass media effects, however there were a few researchers in the 1940s that began looking at how audiences used the media. Based mainly on psychological constructs, these studies were contributing to the groundwork that would become the uses and gratifications theory. Cantril (1942) found sets of appeals to audiences in radio quiz programs and each set had unique audience gratifications. …

Living with Video Servers in a Digital Broadcast Facility

The Disney Channel has been playing to air from video servers since November 1, 1996. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, all programming and promotional materials play to air from a pair of redundant video servers under the control of an automation system. Living with video servers is becoming a reality for all broadcasters. Whether servers are used facility-wise or only in isolated areas, broadcast engineers must understand how to use them effectively and be aware of their particular failure modes. Experience with computer operating systems and modern computer networking techniques is not only helpful, it is essential. The Disney/ABC Cable Group's Network Operation Center (NOC) in Burbank, CA., was built in the summer of 1996. The NOC went into operation in November 1996, with the origination of the Disney Channel from a new all-digital facility with ITU-R 601 digital component video and four channels of AES/EBU digital audio. Many rules have changed in moving from the analog VTR world to the digital server world. Simultaneous introduction of a digital facility, automated network playback system, and video servers taught the Disney engineering staff many lessons. In this paper, we intend to relate our experiences to help others plan and understand the coming change to server-based facilities.

A Broadcaster's Guide to WAN Connectivity

For years the vast majority of audio/video assets have been moved between locations using both streamed audio/video and tape. With the advent of local area networking (LAN) and wide area networking (WAN) technology and associated infrastructure, new ways to move assets are available to augment the existing methods. This paper gives motivation for broadcasters to use WAN methods for moving media files. Several very compelling reasons for using WAN technology as part of a broadcast facility are outlined. A brief overview of WAN technology is given with emphasis on the salient points for the broadcaster. Six different WAN technologies are compared. Some favorable trends are presented with a view to the future.

SXnet: A Practical Approach to Digital Video Networking—A Migration Path to Digital Video Distribution as Applied to the Broadcast News Operation

The arrival of digital video equipment in the broadcast industry brought high expectations of increased efficiency and convenience in addition to improved picture quality. Many believed that video and audio material would be treated similarly to computer files for managing, processing, and transferring via computer networks and servers. This analogy to computer data systems–as used in office automation, for example–is too simplistic and cannot be applied directly to the demanding video and audio system architecture of a broadcast facility. Stringent requirements must be placed on broadcast A/V systems to deliver high volumes of data, in continuous streams, to a multitude of users. Realtime throughput and predictable delays are all essential for on-air applications. While many approaches are available, this paper discusses the concept and implementation of a novel peer-to-peer networking system that addresses the specific requirements of the news broadcast environment. The paper emphasizes the merit of a simple solution to manage A/V material between MPEG-2 4:2:2 MP@ML Betacam SX workstations.

Acquisition and Management of Digital Assets for the Transitioning Broadcast Facility

Acquisition and Management of Digital Assets for the Transitioning Broadcast Facility

The therapeutic use of electromagnetic fields in plastic surgery

Before the 20th century, humankind was almost never exposed to sources of radio frequency (RF), electromagnetic fields (EMFs) other than those of the sun, or occasional blasts from other stellar sources. In this century, especially in recent years, there has been an explosion of uses of electromagnetic fields in the home, community, and workplace. Common sources of RF fields include computer monitors, AM radios, industrial induction heaters, RF heat sealers, medical diathermy, FM radios, mobile telephones, TV broadcasts, radar, and microwave ovens1 (see Table). An EMF can produce beneficial or adverse health effects, which may vary depending on the frequency spectrum of the source and its harmonics, the power of the devices, the duration of exposure, and the distance of the person from the source. View this table: Table Common sources of EMF and their frequency In the home, microwave ovens, mobile telephones, burglar alarms, TV sets, and hair dryers are a few of the devices that emit EMFs of up to 10 W/m2. In the community, the most common sources are commercial radio and TV broadcasting and telecommunication facilities, which in the average US urban center radiate a field of 50 W/m2. In the workplace, dielectric heaters used for wood lamination and the sealing of plastics, industrial electric heaters, and medical diathermy expose workers to greater than tens of W/m2. In medicine, the primary sources of exposure and overexposure exclusive of radiology are medical diathermy equipment to treat pain and inflammation and electrocautery devices. These medical devices are regulated in the United States and internationally.2–6 Claims that static magnets may …

An Open Model for Audio Elementary Stream Encoding in a DTV Distribution Chain

This paper addresses issues of audio distribution for modern digital television (DTV) systems focusing on digital broadcast systems. In particular, a model is described for handling audio and video elementary streams in existing distribution networks. The model supports new system architectures that allow audio and video coding to take place at many points in the distribution chain. It covers both physical and logical interface formats, synchronization with associated video signals, and carriage of metadata associated with the audio. The model also demonstrates that many audio features of new digital delivery formats can be exploited by existing broadcast systems with minimal additional equipment investment. It makes use of existing AES and SMPTE standards; however, new standards and recommended practices to support the open model may be desired by the industry. Specific recommendations are discussed. In addition, examples of systems applying the model to DTV broadcast facilities are described, including examples of products that implement the audio coding function using the model.

Implementing a Market‐Based Spectrum Policy

The spectrum auctions were a step toward the Herzel‐Coase vision of a flexible and efficient market for spectrum. This article examines what remains to be done. Spectrum must be unbundled from broadcast and transmission facilities. The “commoditization” of spectrum will facilitate standardization, price discovery, and open access to diverse users. A liquid secondary spectrum market will lower transactions and entry cost, making telecommunications markets contestable. Auctions should be used to elicit a supply of spectrum from licensees as well as to allocate it to new users. In closing the spectrum commons, Congress granted use to a privileged few. Unbundled spectrum property rights, commoditization, and open markets will give the public access to this public resource.

Implementing Server-Based Systems in the Broadcast Environment

This paper will focus on the practical considerations of implementing a server in a broadcast facility. Beyond the selection process of the hardware and software involved, a successful installation and operation of a server-based solution involves a number of factors to be taken into consideration. These factors will be discussed, and a real-world case study will be presented as an illustration. Broadcasters moving into the server-based production and playback arena also need to be cognizant of the impact a server will have on the daily operation of their facilities ; usually there is an impact on the way work is accomplished, primarily to take advantage of the new capabilities that a disk-based server offers to the broadcast facility. A re-evaluation of job functions and work flow is usually an integral part of the planning process prior to a server implementation. A framework for this process, as well as a case study for examination, will be offered.

ドームのテレビ中継設備と放送について

ドームのテレビ中継設備と放送について

２１世紀に向かって動き出したディジタル放送 ディジタル放送技術の現状 ディジタルテレビ放送局

２１世紀に向かって動き出したディジタル放送 ディジタル放送技術の現状 ディジタルテレビ放送局

A hardware and software environment for parallel processing with PCs

This paper describes the construction of a scientific parallel computer system using IBM compatible personal computers as the node processors; and the development of suitable system software which enables applications, such as molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics calculations, to be run on the parallel computer. Performance figures are given for molecular mechanics calculations. A major feature of the host and node processors is the use of multiple, low-cost, interprocessor communications links, which have hardware broadcasting facilities.

Programming Replicated Systems in Ada 95

This paper considers the programming of passive (cold and warm standbys) and active replicated systems in Ada 95. We show that it is relatively easy to develop systems which act as standbys using the facilities provided by the language and the Distributed Systems Annex. Arguably, active replication in Ada 95 can be supported in a manner which is transparent to the application. However, this is implementation-dependent, requires a complex distributed consensus algorithm (or a carefully chosen subset of the language to be used) and has little flexibility. We therefore consider two extensions to the Distributed Systems Annex to help give the application programmer more control. The first is a via a new categorization pragma which specifies that a RCI package can be replicated in more than one partition. The second is through the introduction of a coordinated type which has a single primitive operation. Objects which are created from extensions to coordinated types can be freely replicated across the distributed system. When the primitive operation is called, the call is posted to all sites where a replica resides, effectively providing a broadcast (multicast) facility. We also consider extensions to the partition communication subsystem which implement these new features.

Prefix computations on a generalized mesh-connected computer with multiple buses

The mesh-connected computer with multiple buses (MC-CMB) is a well-known parallel organization, providing broadcast facilities in each row and each column. In this paper, we propose a 2D generalized MCCMB (2-GMCCMB) for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of executing some important applications of prefix computations such as solving Linear recurrences and tridiagonaI systems, etc. A k/sub 1/n/sub 1spl times/k/sub 1/n/sub 2/ 2-GMCCMB is constructed from a k/sub 1/n/sub 1spl times/k/sub 1/n/sub 2/ mesh organization by enhancing the power of each disjoint n/sub 1spl times/n/sub 2/ submesh with multiple buses (sub-2-MCCMB). Given n data, a prefix computation can be performed in O(n/sup 1/10/) time on an n/sup 3/5spl times/n/sup 2/5/ 2-GMCCMB, where each disjoint sub-2-MCCMB is of size n/sup 1/2spl times/n/sup 3/10/. This time bound is faster than the previous time bound of O(n/sup 1/8/) for the same computation on an n/sup 5/8spl times/n/sup 3/8/ 2-MCCMB. Furthermore, the time bound of our parallel prefix algorithm can be further reduced to O(n/sup 1/11/) if fewer processors are used. Our result can be extended to the d-dimensional GMCCMB, giving a time bound of O(n/sup 1/(d2(d)+d)/) for any constant d; here, we omit the constant factors. This time bound is less than the previous time bound of O(n/sup 1/(d2(d))/) on the d-dimensional MCCMB. >