Network Slicing: Taking the Audience To The Heart Of Sports

Many industries are discovering how network slicing unlocks 5G monetization of both enterprises and consumers. However, one that recently caught my excitement is the media industry's use of network slicing for remote broadcast production of significant sporting events. Although broadcasters are not yet using slicing commercially, this new and rapidly evolving 5G use case can take a sporting event audience into the heart of their favorite sports spectacular!

Today's sports broadcasters face the challenge of acquiring and delivering compelling live sports content to a global audience. That audience also expects to enjoy the highest possible audio and video quality, including in-depth video analysis of the action, instant replays, and "what if" simulations of what could have been. From the broadcaster's point of view, all of these services must meet the high quality that today's fans expect and at a cost that makes commercial sense. These requirements are especially true with remote-production workflows where the video, audio, and data feed from the venue to an offsite production facility, where the program content gets its finishing touches. This process includes video mixing, audio mixing, adding graphics, inserting commercials, and sometimes adding remote commentary.[1]

The traditional way of addressing a live sports broadcaster's business requirements has been through mobile video production trucks. These "production studios on wheels" house the entire production team with all the necessary high-tech equipment in a parking lot near the sports venue. These trucks can even insert the finished product directly into the respective network's video stream.

In today's hypercompetitive world of live sports broadcasting, however, the onsite production vehicle is rapidly giving way to remote production workflows. While top sporting events like NFL, NHL, or Football premier league network slicing technology is not needed. For smaller events, like news feeds, side feeds, or localized team fan feeds, network slicing can avoid the expense of transporting people and equipment to and from a venue. By minimizing time spent in transit, smaller-scale broadcasters can better utilize their highly skilled staff and expensive equipment. One production team may also be able to cover multiple events in one day from a single location. This method also reduces or neutralizes the carbon footprint. A desire to minimize event coverage's cost and environmental impact has made remote workflows essential to the media industry.

This shift doesn't come without its challenges, though. Remote production challenges include:

• Maintaining synchronization between all video, audio, and metadata feeds.
• Design a robust solution capable of handling real-world operational challenges such as transmission links dropping out or equipment failing and being replaced by a backup unit.
• Addressing a desire to minimize end-to-end latency in the production and distribution chain for live sports coverage.
• The number and criticality of remote control tasks which could include camera control, video and audio mixing, and returning video and audio to the venue; and
• Availability, variability, and cost of data bandwidth at a venue

Aside from operational challenges, the broadcast team must also resolve the many technical network issues. Given the latency requirements of remote production, fiber connectivity is considered an absolute prerequisite, especially if remote control of the onsite equipment is required. Although large venues may have fiber, this service may not be available for all broadcasters. Another alternative to direct fiber connectivity is the use of mobile networks. The challenge here is obtaining and maintaining sufficient bandwidth during the event, particularly when the crowd arrives and use their mobile phones. There was at least one instance when an operator bonded eight 4G/5G mobile network links to support 200 cameras!

If sufficient bandwidth exists between the venue and the production facility, sending uncompressed video and audio offers the highest quality and lowest latency for remote production. However, an accelerating move towards ultra-high definition (UHD) shows may make providing sufficient bandwidth scarce and often cost-prohibitive.

If sufficient bandwidth is not available or the cost of the bandwidth is deemed too high for light compression, a higher-performance video codec is required. This option can deliver huge bandwidth savings but at the price of increased latency.

Matt Stagg, Director of Mobile Strategy for BT Sports, also cites often overlooked problems caused by personal broadcasting. This issue arises because modern sporting events could draw upwards of 30,000 attendees, with thousands of them dramatically reducing any available bandwidth through personal broadcasting over social media (periscope, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Matt, however, knows how to overcome this challenge because, with the support of Ericsson, his team demonstrated the first live sporting event produced remotely using 5G technology.

Accomplished during the live broadcast of the Wembley Cup, this event was a charity football tournament played at Wembley Stadium in London. Held annually?since 2015, this year, BT Group's EE and BT Sports aired the event over 5G in Wembley Stadium to London's ExCeL Exhibition Centre. The broadcast was then produced remotely by the BT Sport production crew at BT Sport's base in Stratford, East London.

Using Ericsson 5G network slicing capability, they could create broadcast-grade WAN capability over the public wireless infrastructure. With over 60% of the network's traffic being video, the Network Slicing for Remote Broadcasting & Production offering provided the guaranteed connectivity and bandwidth essential for live event coverage. The event also demonstrated how a communications service provider (CSP) could test the commercial value of 5G services for enterprises & consumers by executing an early deployment that aligns with consumer and industry trends.This approach represents an exciting new business model for CSPs looking to monetize 5G network slicing and internet of things (IoT) services. Business models for remote live broadcast & production using network slicing and 5G include:

• Slice-on-a-SIM: The CSP sells premium service package options where the broadcaster only pays the amount of GB used under a per-camera subscription model.
• Resource reservation service: Similar to Satellite on-demand services, the CSP provides an interface for broadcasters to reserve dedicated resources (slices) at specific times & places. The customer receives a SIM capable of spinning up a dynamic slice at any time, and the CSP charges a premium for the SIM based on usage through an as-a-service model
• Bespoke production solutions: The CSP becomes a solutions integrator (SI) or media service provider (MSP) and sells a slice as part of an overall solution to all tiers of broadcasters. The solution can be a fully managed service or a mix of kit, installation, SaaS, and on-demand crew.
• Productized Production Solutions: The CSP provides standard solutions to small broadcasters, acting as a channel/ecosystem orchestrator to pull together pre-packaged service bundles.

A BT and BBC Commonwealth Games partnership also used this unique 5G capability. During the 2022 event, a private 5G network delivered higher operational capabilities at a lower cost. Soon considerable value could also be delivered to smaller events that cannot be economically covered today. Obvious use cases include smaller sporting events, news gatherings, corporate live events, and influencers/video bloggers.

To learn more about 5G network slicing for remote live broadcast & production, explore the recent Ericsson report.

[1] https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/06/23/op-ed-the-future-of-live-sports-broadcasting-challenges-and-opportunities-in-remote-production/

Ericsson Digital sponsored This article.

Please take a look at an excerpt from a recent episode.