ABC's central switching center
Mar 1, 2011 12:00 PM
Winner of new studio technology - HD
Submitted by
Disney/ABC
Runner-up:
NBC
Submitted by Utah Scientific
ABC's new HD central switching center (CSC) is designed to simplify and improve routing, signal distribution and transmission operations, while remaining format-agnostic (SD, HD, 1080p/60 and possibly full-res 3-D).
The heart of the entire plant is an Evertz 1152 × 1152, format-agnostic, core router with fiber I/O that replaces the existing SD plant router and also serves as a tie-line router to connect the satellite routers together in a hub-and-spoke topology. The tie-line quantities were sized to avoid a “tie-line busy.” This topology, together with advanced router control, creates a router “cloud,” making every source available to any destination regardless of what router they are connected to. To support a mix of SD and HD sources throughout the plant, the control system is designed to be aware of source signal formats, routing signals through Harris up/downconversion as required to deliver the appropriate signal to the requesting destination.
Audio is embedded in the new facility, router tie lines and patchable trunks. Signal conversion occurs at the edges of the fiber plant using Ross Video mux/demux cards with fiber I/O. Trunks with a mix of Evertz and Ross conversion gear at each end were designed to permit conventional patching for additional signal distribution throughout the plant.
The new transmission workstations include integrated monitoring, routing and processing control. An Evertz 512 × 512 plant input router with audio breakaway feeds 110 Miranda signal processors (frame sync, signal processing, up/down/crossconvert, up/down audio mix and ARC) for inbound signal routing to the core router. Monitoring is driven by Miranda KX monitor wall processors fed by an Evertz 576 × 576 monitor wall router. Input and monitor routing as well as processing control are accomplished by Miranda RCP-200 control panels under iControl.
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