Building the backbone

Dubai-based A/V integration firm, Aesthetix, has pulled around 400km of SMPTE, triax, single mode fibre, video, audio and Cat-6 cables to form the broadcast backbone of the Meydan horseracing facility. This is the first full HD broadcast infrastructure in the Middle East.

For the project, Aesthetix was tasked with installing the structured cabling and termination throughout and enabling connectivity for everything from the TV boxes to the control room. ‘We installed 200 SMPTE points and 200 triax for the broadcast infrastructure,’ said Aesthetix project manager Senthilnathan M. ‘It was a very big job.’

It was a very short time-frame for the installation. Aesthetix were contracted for the job in December 2009 with the system needing to be in for the first race on January 28 and completely installed for the World Cup on March 28 to enable the telecast. ‘It was a very tough job involving nearly 200 people working day and night,’ recalled Aesthetix general manager Krishnamoorthy NS. ‘We sourced cables and connectors from all over the world, and from one particular place we had to charter a flight just for the cables because there was no other way to bring them here in time.’ Multiple cable suppliers were used for the project, but the main two were Belden and Draka.

‘All seven races were broadcast live in full HD by various channels around the world from the Meydan feed. 32 radio stations from around the world also used the infrastructure to broadcast live commentary,’ explained Mr Senthilnathan. Added to this, the broadcast infrastructure was also used to feed pictures after post production to the giant LED screen, hotel room TVs and displays installed around the facility via IP TV.

TV boxes are distributed for cameras to connect minimum two SMPTE, two triax and two opticalCON quad connectors. ‘The longest cable run is 2km which all needed to be laid, tested and terminated. The maximum length for SMPTE, triax cable is 1km so we needed to make some joints to get it to the camera tower,’ said Mr Senthilnathan.

The cable backbone runs not only around the racetrack, paddock and receiving barn. But also through the grandstand and hotel. ‘We set up the infrastructure so that people can set up and broadcast from where ever they want around the whole facility,’ explained Mr Senthilnathan. This setup also means the infrastructure can be used to record small events, such as weddings, that take place in the function rooms of the hotel.

‘The broadcast infrastructure we have is mainly for three functions,’ said Imad Al-Mur’ib, Meydan’s network architect. ‘The first is to cover the races with cameras for the stewards and judges – this is vital to the functionality as without them you cannot have a race. The second part of the broadcast is to feed the media. For this we have around 100 camera boxes supplying connectivity to more than 250 cameras from 400 points. We cover HD cameras and legacy SD. It’s new in the industry to have SMPTE compatible with HD cameras which is why we have so many cables from SMPTE, triax, fibre, and multiaudio and Cat-6,’ He continued. The Meydan TV control room has an area of 180 sq-m with an OB Van parking area and media production rooms connected to the control room.

‘The other purpose for the broadcast infrastructure is to cover off-season events. We have 40-50 rooms used for all sorts of activities. Sometimes the event organiser has its own cameras so they can use the broadcast infrastructure to film their events.’

One of the standout points about Meydan’s broadcast infrastructure is that it is integrated with the IT system. ‘That means from the control room we can connect any camera from any of those 400 points to any of the TVs – because they are all IP TVs – or any computer, and we can take it over wireless,’ explained Mr Al-Mur’ib. ‘We encode everything from the cameras to IP then send it to the data centre. From the data centre we can take it everywhere within the building.’

The idea behind the whole system is future proofing the facility to ensure it can cope with any needs it faces. ‘We have a lot of ISDN connections – we still use this because most of the media companies use ISDN to provide coverage. However, we have direct fibre to the ISP and we have a connection to the local media provider here. This means reporters can send radio broadcasts through ISDN, over the internet, or even using fibre via the service provider,’ explained Mr Al-Mur’ib. ‘We have set up the facility so that any media professional can come here and they will have everything they need to do their job.’

The setup has also been designed to cope with multiple simultaneous events. ‘Once you have the right
 infrastructure, the possibilities are endless. It’s just your imagination and what sort of equipment your budget allows you to have. Normally the limitations come either when there is no infrastructure to support what you are trying to do, or you don’t have the right budget to bring in new equipment.’

During the season, Meydan rents the broadcast equipment for its control room. This way it can ensure it always has the best quality equipment and it gets the best value for its facility during the off-season.

The whole of Meydan was designed to have systems running over IP. From access control and building management to fire safety everything runs over IP. ‘Because broadcast is different, we couldn’t have it on IP. But at the TV control room we have the right gear to decode it into IP and integrate the IP system to this system,’ explained Mr Al-Mur’ib. ‘From there it’s very flexible, all you have is fibre and high-speed broadband cables where you can connect any sort of equipment.’

While many suggest Mr Al-Mur’ib has been key to the success of implementing the infrastructure at Meydan, he is more modest about his own role and prefers to highlight the work done by others. ‘Many people put their thoughts into the broadcast system, I just did the project management for the execution of the project. We had the right vendor, we had the right people with us and we also had the right support from our management.’

One of the major benefits Aesthetix has got out of this project is the knowledge and training with Lemo connectors. Engineers from the company have now become Lemo certified for the termination of Lemo SMPTE Connectors. Further to this, Mr Krishnamoorthy believes Meydan will be a big reference for the company and that broadcast infrastructure is the right market to be in at the moment. ‘Stadium and infrastructure works are not going to be affected by a recession, so it is a good business to be in. Broadcast is now one of our main focuses.’

www.aesthetixsolutions.com

www.meydan.ae