How CBC/Radio-Canada Tested Media-over-IP Devices to Build its New Facility

The shift toward Media-over-IP (MoIP) promises to bring enormous flexibility, on the one hand, but increases the configuration complexity, on the other. Apart from new skill sets, new tools are needed to test, validate, and monitor new devices based on SMPTE ST 2110 and Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) TR-1001-1, and ensure interoperability. Moreover, in a large system, there is a significant need for thorough testing that can be repetitive, leading to wastage of precious time. In addition to creating consistent tests and reporting, automation is needed to speed up the work. This article elaborates how Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada faced the challenges in evaluating the compliance and performance of many new devices from different manufacturers for the production facilities at its new headquarters in Montreal. It covers the test plan that was developed by CBC’s lab team and the tools used to complete the titanic task. To cover its testing requirements, CBC collaborated with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Live IP Software Toolkit project team by contributing additional functionalities not found in other available tools and to automate the verification of the streams. Being involved in the development of this open source solution has the benefits of building a deep understanding of the standards within the engineering teams and providing an openly documented recipe for measurement as a benchmark for the industry.