PRESS RELEASE: As an important engine for driving digital transformation in different industries, 5G technologies have promoted the launch of many featured applications. On the first anniversary of the release of “the 5G Application Action Plan (2021-2023)“, the Wireless Filming Private Network for new media jointly built by ZTE, China Mobile Hunan Branch, and Mango TV was selected as a representative use case of 5G application in new media.

Mango TV, one of the leading pioneers of the Internet new media, has always been at the forefront of the era. However, the process of filming is a pain point for the entire media industry. In a traditional filming site, cameras often send audio and video data in a wired manner to a live production system, and then the data is viewed, edited, and stored by a director and other staff. For a large quantity of filming sites that involve indoor and outdoor scenarios, a wired manner has problems of construction difficulty, time consumption, and high costs. In addition, cameras move at the filming sites, which makes the wired manner very inconvenient to photographers.

Previously, some new media companies used 4G or other similar technologies to transform the filming network. However, due to poor connection stability, insufficient coverage, and low uplink rate, the transformation result was not that satisfactory. With the development of 5G CampSite in the industry, the pain point of the new media has finally been solved.

The core equipment in the 5G wireless filming private network is the 5G CampSite, composed of four parts – 5G RF Module, Backhaul Unit, Edge Computing Engine, and Auxiliary Equipment.

Composition of a 5G CampSite

The RF Module, using commercial lightweight micro equipment, provides 5G coverage for many kinds of filming sites. The Backhaul Unit is responsible for the interconnection between the CampSite and its core network. The Edge Computing Engine, which is the core of CampSite,  is embedded in the BBU to provide local traffic offloading at the gNB level, saving transmission resources and significantly reducing the time delay. The Auxiliary Equipment enables the convenient movement for the whole CampSite.

5G CampSite at Work

In the brand-new wireless filming private network, only a movable 5G CampSite near the filming site is sufficient to provide 5G coverage through the RF Module. The cameras in the site are connected to the CampSite through an externally mounted encoder and 5G terminals. Finally, the audio and video data stream generated by cameras is uploaded to the CampSite, identified by the Edge Computing Engine and offloaded to the live production system for directors and other staff to view, edit and store. To ensure the security and reliability of the private network, the CampSite only allows the access of specified cameras. The key operation indicators of the entire wireless filming private network are displayed on the independent screen in the live production system through the unique SLA function of the Edge Computing Engine for technical staff.

In terms of performance, with the powerful local traffic offloading function of the Edge Computing Engine, the 5G filming private network can keep the MEC network latency less than 20 ms, and the transmission latency of the entire system merely 80 ms. With the 1D3U uplink frame structure used, the maximum uplink rate of the private network can reach about 636Mbps, and the average rate is stably above 550Mbps, which fully meets the application requirements of large-bandwidth video and audio intensive access. Theoretically, the private network can take more than 100 channels of 6Mbps IP streams. As of now, the trial access of more than 25 channels in the filming private network has been achieved.

With the strong support from all parties involved, the project has successfully passed the early stage, and is gradually put into use in shows, such as the second season of “Call Me by Fire” and “Moments in Vocal Studio”. At the “Call Me by Fire” filming site, 9 channels of 8Mbps HD video streams are uploaded in parallel. The Mango TV gave the feedback that “The performance is much better and the stability is very good”.

Peak and average uplink rate of the 5G CampSite

On Site of Show “Call Me by Fire” in July 2022 (Cameras with encoders and 5G terminals)

On Site of Show “Call Me by Fire” in July 2022 (Live Production System)

The implementation of the new wireless filming private network for Mango TV marks the entry of ZTE 5G CampSite into the new media field in industrial applications. Prior to this, CampSite emerged in a variety of applications, such as video backhaul, eSports, and industry expo, making more and more industry users experience the value brought by 5G+ applications. In the future, ZTE and China Mobile will deepen the use of 5G CampSite in scenarios such as fire control, concerts, and mining industries, and further advance the use of 5G CampSite in scenarios, scales, standards.