The early developments of wireless links, 3G or HSPA, had longer round-trip delays (in many cases due to poor “back haul” connection to the Internet), but nowadays the LTE (4G) deployment used in most countries has amazingly reduced the delay to a few milliseconds.
Reliability:
Multiple users are now sharing large but not infinite wireless networks (Obviously this can be more cost effective than over ISDN). But sharing does mean “contention” which can happen whilst streaming audio. Although this is hardly an issue for web browsing, it can produce unwanted effects when used for “live” contribution. The chances of contention significantly increase in crowded surroundings (e.g. sport arena), but can be mitigated by using multiple connections from different suppliers as detailed below.
Assessing the different ways of accessing wireless networks, using Wifi typically from a phone based device (2.4GHz or 5GHz any 802.11 flavor) would present the highest probability of “contention” for network access. Plain RTP or SIP protocol streaming (with or without FEC), as typical smartphone apps support would not overcome the contention issues. The recommendation here would be to use a connection protocol featuring re-transmission of any audio information lost in transmission; PRODYS “BRAVE Bonding” protocol fulfils this function. Although the re-transmission method would increase the delay and data bandwidth requirement, it does in practice enable a smoother audio experience in heavily contended environments.
The contention over LTE networks is not as significant, but still possible under some circumstances. The reliability over LTE is further increased to a professional grade if more than a single LTE network is utilized for the connection. This method is used within the PRODYS “BRAVE Diversity” or “SIP Diversity” protocols. From two to four LTE networks can be combined without adding extra delay, so this can be as quick as single network connection with the added bonus of increased reliability.
The field reporter can switch between BRAVE Diversity and BRAVE Bonding methods without changing settings at the receiving end. The receiving codec will just match the incoming pattern & protocol.
PRODYS, well known for its high end Audio Codecs has engineered and manufactured multichannel wireless IP codecs for over 10 years. The current codec family “QUANTUM”, inherits all this experience and now introduces the QUANTUM LITE which is a remarkable handheld codec providing four network interfaces
(2x LTE 4G + 1x Wifi + 1 Ethernet). Other multiuser PRODYS portable codecs which handle all of the issues discussed above are the QUANTUM W and Quantum XL products designed for 3/4 contributors.
For UK product support & distribution contact:
Audio & Design Reading Ltd
Tel: (0)118 3240046.
Email: sales@adrl.co.uk
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