Vivivaldy was among the suppliers selected by Rai Way (Italian National Broadcaster) for the 5G Audiovisual Broadcast Broadband Network project, which recently debuted at the Torino Jazz Festival 2023. The project, funded with a 1 million euro grant from the Ministry of Economic Development (now the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, or MIMIT), aims to experiment with innovative technologies based on 5G for the production and distribution of audiovisual content. The use of the 5G technology at the festival allowed musicians and artists located in four different sites to produce their performance as if they were in the same place, while also enabling two different live projections, one virtual and one traditional broadcast, without any need for cables.
During the event, Vivivaldy was able to test its capabilities for multipoint audio transmission, achieving low latency, high quality, and glitch-free results. This time the technical team managed very small packets, only half a millisecond each, to increase fidelity and reduce the risk of information loss. Vivivaldy’s plug-and-play equipment was also easily integrated into the 5G Nokia-OpNet bridge after a quick initial configuration.
It is noteworthy that thanks to the 5G technology at the heart of the project, the user had the possibility to continue receiving the service even in areas outside the coverage of the broadcast service, through the broadband networks of 5G mobile operators. A truly revolutionary experiment.
Vivivaldy is therefore proud to have a part in the “5G Audiovisual Broadcast Broadband Network“, which – it is worth recalling – is the project in which RAI with its Technology Innovation and Experimentation Research Centers (CRITS) and the TV Production Center of Turin collaborate with Rai Way, and which won the 5G AUDIOVISUAL 2022 call for tender from the Ministry of Economic Development (today MIMIT) as the leader in July 2022, obtaining a funding of 1 million euros.
The project, which will last a total of one year from the award date, involves the testing of innovative technologies based on 5G in the audiovisual content production and distribution sector.
In the audiovisual production sector, innovative use cases will be developed by means of Private 5G networks, such as the above-mentioned live jazz concert, which involved synchronous contributions from musicians in different locations, recorded in immersive VR360 for live viewing in the Metaverse, and much more.
The distribution of live content in the cities of Palermo and Turin is based on 5G Broadcast and Broadband architectures and innovative technologies for mobile device viewing, in indoor, outdoor, and automotive environments.
The distribution of audiovisual content to the user in 5G Broadcast mode will take place on the 700 MHz frequencies granted by MIMIT for the purposes and for the duration of the experiment.
The 5G Audiovisual Broadcast Broadband Network project is conducted by Rai Way together with an aggregation of partners composed of RAI with its Technology Innovation and Experimentation Research Centers (CRITS) and the TV Production Center of Turin, the Municipality of Turin, Rohde&Schwarz, OpNet, Politecnico di Milano, MainStreaming, Impersive, Kinecar, RETESETTE, La Sicilia Multimedia, in addition to the collaboration with the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.