Pleora Announces Industry’s First OEM Board Set for Transmitting Digital Video Over IP

High-performance board set delivers real-time, two-way conversion between standard definition digital video and IP (Internet Protocol) networks
Compact footprint is 27 times smaller than competing products, uses one-tenth the power

OTTAWA, CANADA, April 18, 2005: Pleora Technologies, in association with Japan’s NHK and NHK Engineering Services, Inc. (NHK-ES), today introduced the industry’s first OEM board set for transmitting digital video in real time over IP networks. Pleora’s compact PL1453A EtherCast™ Video IP Engine™ delivers broadcast-quality video-over-IP conversion in a footprint 27 times smaller than competing products, while using less than one-tenth the power.

Demand is growing among broadcasters for video-over-IP conversion equipment that routes digital video across economical IP facilities, reducing the need for specialized, more costly video networks. The PL1453A EtherCast Video IP Engine is the first product that meets this demand in an affordable OEM package.

Developed in collaboration with NHK and NHK-ES, the engine uses hardwired, purpose-built technology to reliably and efficiently transport SD-SDI (Standard Definition – Serial Digital Interface) and/or DVB-ASI (Digital Video Broadcast – Asynchronous Serial Interface) video across standard IP networks.

“NHK-ES gave us valuable insight into the video transmission requirements of today’s cuttinge dge digital broadcast systems,” said George Chamberlain, President of Pleora Technologies Inc. “We drew on their expertise to create a high-performance OEM design that allows IP connectivity to be added cost-effectively to a wide range of digital video equipment.” The PL1453A EtherCast engine is suitable for any system that distributes DVB-ASI/SD-SDI video, including equipment for outside broadcast, stadiums, airports, editing rooms, terrestrial and satellite routing networks, medical services, and remote education.

Compact, low-power design

Pleora’s PL1453A EtherCast Video IP Engine measures only 10.72 x 6.71 centimeters (4.22 x 2.64 inches) – 27 times smaller than DVB-ASI/SD-SDI conversion products from other vendors. It consumes less than 5 W (Watts) of power, an order of magnitude lower than the consumption of competing offerings. The compact design and low power requirement make it ideal for OEM applications.

Another key OEM feature of the PL1453A engine is its innovative, purpose-built design. The engine has no embedded operating system, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming programming during OEM integration.

High-performance video-over-IP conversion

The PL1453A has been tested by NHK-ES at its Tokyo labs. The engine takes uncompressed SD-SDI or compressed DVB-ASI data and converts it at high speed to IP packets for full-rate, 1-Gb/s transport across GigE. At the other end of the GigE connection, it performs the reverse, converting IP packets into the required SD-SDI or DVB-ASI format. Alternately, the IP-format video data can be streamed directly to PC memory using a Pleora developed high performance driver. The driver, which runs on standard Intel NICs (network interface cards/chips), uses only 1% of the computer’s processing power during this process.

In all operations, the PL1453A engine delivers the jitter control and low, predictable end-to-end latency (or delay) required for real-time, superior-performance video data transport. The engine’s PCR (program clock reference) jitter spec is exceptional – less than ± 100 ns (nanoseconds). This jitter performance, delivered by Pleora’s own algorithm, ensures correct timing recovery and accurate synchronization of the MPEG-2 DVB-ASI data. Latency is programmable, with configurations as low as 750 μs (microseconds). To ensure packets are not lost, the engine features a novel, sub-millisecond data resend scheme.

The PL1453A EtherCast Video IP Engine will be demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 18-21, 2005. To see the product in action, visit Pleora’s booth at SL3350 in Hall South 2.

About NHK Engineering Services, Inc.

NHK Engineering Services (NHK-ES) is a group within the research and development arm of NHK, Japan’s sole public broadcaster. NHK-ES manages technology collaborations, joint research projects, and technology transfers between NHK and external companies. NHK-ES is located in Tokyo, Japan.

About Pleora

Pleora Technologies is a leading global supplier of Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) connectivity solutions. Pleora’s iPORT™ and EtherCast products send imaging and/or video data over lowcost GigE connections with very high performance, while giving systems long-distance reach, scaleable processing, flexible networking, and unmatched ease of use. Pleora is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, visit www.pleora.com.

iPORT, EtherCast, and Video IP Engine are trademarks of Pleora Technologies Inc.