The broadcast and streaming industry is under constant technology changes, presenting challenges in managing a growing range of media formats and transport protocols. Today’s IP-based workflows must accommodate both uncompressed formats like SMPTE ST2110 and compressed formats such as JPEG-XS, each with its own requirements for latency, bandwidth, and quality assurance. At the same time, protocols like SRT ensure secure and reliable delivery across unpredictable networks. These complexities require precise and efficient monitoring systems to detect issues in real-time without overburdening operators with unnecessary alarms.
Taming complexity with Scalable Solutions
The key to managing these varied workflows is using a single, adaptable monitoring solution that allows all formats and protocols—from high-bandwidth uncompressed streams to bandwidth-efficient compressed formats—to be monitored seamlessly within one system. Effective monitoring systems should seamlessly integrate compressed and uncompressed streams while maintaining real-time oversight. As the industry continues migrating toward IP-native and cloud-based infrastructures, the ability to scale and manage these workflows within a unified system becomes increasingly more important.. Alarms must also be actionable, ensuring that when thresholds are breached, operators have a clear path to resolution, while less critical issues can be analyzed later using historical data.
The TAG solution allows operators to monitor a variety of protocols, both compressed and uncompressed, within a single platform. This approach reduces the complexity associated with managing multiple systems and ensures real-time detection and efficient monitoring without needing separate systems for each format. Consistent Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be applied across all formats, eliminating the need to toggle between systems and simplifying troubleshooting. Furthermore, TAG’s platform is designed to grow with broadcasters’ needs, supporting the integration of new formats and protocols, such as ZIXI and NDI, without necessarily requiring additional hardware or software. This scalability makes TAG’s system both adaptable and future-proof, enabling broadcasters to keep up with technological advancements while minimizing complexity and costs.
Risking Alarm Fatigue
To address these challenges, effective alarming must be built on a foundation of precision, scalability, and flexibility. Alarming precision ensures that operators are alerted only when issues truly require their attention, reducing the risk of “alarm fatigue,” where too many false positives can lead to critical issues being overlooked. Scalability is essential in an industry where the volume of streams can fluctuate dramatically, requiring a monitoring solution that can scale up or down as needed without compromising performance. Flexibility, meanwhile, allows for the customization of alarms based on the specific requirements of different stream formats, ensuring that each type of content is monitored appropriately.
Best Practices for Implementing Effective Alarming
1. Set those thresholds carefully- Alarms should be configured to trigger only when predefined thresholds are crossed, ensuring that operators are not overwhelmed by constant notifications of minor issues. For example, uncompressed formats like SMPTE ST2110 might require stricter thresholds due to their critical nature, while compressed formats could be monitored with more leniency.
2. Adaptive Monitoring allows adjustments- Adaptive monitoring allows the system to adjust its monitoring intensity based on the current conditions. For instance, during periods of low traffic or when certain streams are deemed less critical, the monitoring system can reduce the frequency of checks, conserving resources while still maintaining effective alarming.
3. Monitoring by Exception identifies the issues- Monitoring by exception eliminates the need to scan every single stream constantly at full intensity. The system focuses on streams that have shown signs of issues, allowing operators to concentrate their efforts where they are most needed. This approach not only reduces CPU load but also ensures that critical problems are addressed promptly.
Trends Driving the Future of Monitoring and Alarming
Looking forward, the incorporation of AI and automation into monitoring and alert systems shows great potential. AI-driven analytics can enhance alarm accuracy by leveraging past incidents and adjusting thresholds dynamically to reduce false positives. Automation can further streamline the monitoring process, allowing systems to automatically escalate issues or even resolve them without human intervention.
Cloud and hybrid workflows are also set to play an increasingly important role. As more broadcasters move to cloud-based solutions, the ability to monitor and alarm across both on-premises and cloud environments is becoming more essential. These hybrid workflows will require monitoring solutions that are not only flexible and scalable but also capable of seamlessly integrating with a variety of cloud platforms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, effective alarming for monitoring streams is becoming increasingly important for modern broadcast and streaming operations to not only remain competitive but achieve and maintain success. The diversity of stream formats, from uncompressed to compressed, demands a versatile and robust monitoring solution that can handle all formats without being siloed. With continuous innovation, the TAG Realtime Media Platform ensures adaptability to keep up with the pace of change in the industry, seamlessly integrating new transports, codecs, and formats as they emerge. Precision, scalability, and flexibility are key to ensuring that alarms are both effective and manageable, reducing the risk of alarm fatigue and missed critical events.
When considering solutions for effective monitoring and alarming, choose one that is IP-native, 100% software, and capable of running on Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware. It should not rely on GPU compute resources but instead use CPU compute, offering a unique advantage in terms of scalability and efficiency. A system capable of handling the full spectrum of stream formats without compromise will ensure comprehensive coverage and reliable performance across the board and unlock unlimited potential for Broadcasters and streaming providers.
