Bonding Functionality for Live Video Streaming over 5G networks

Since inception, large parts of the broadcasters' industry have envisioned 5G as the new era in which Uplink (UL) live video quality transmission over a single cellular modem is possible. Even more so, at a very low latency. 5G, mainly StandAlone (SA) but also Non-SA (NSA) architectures, both Non-Public-Network (NPN) and commercial public network, was hailed as the solution enabling TV and media newsgathering, sports coverage and similar live events with a simple single off-the-shelf 5G modem. Results of this paper, which are based on real testbeds, shed light on potential weaknesses in the effort of delivering a reliable professional live UL video transmission in field production utilizing a single 5G modem. On the other hand, the tested bonding technique that uses multiple 5G modems for UL video transmission, enhances the 5G Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) rather than exhausting each of them. Bonding technique is a key enabler for live news and live sports productions, resulting not only in increased UL rate, but also in stability and reliability as shown in this work. Several additional insights are touched upon in this work, about the benefit in Time Division Duplexing (TDD) UL pattern, 5G SA UL when bonded with its 4G network and more.