Bridge Technologies' VB12-RF Receives Best Of IBC Award

Bridge Technologies has been awarded one of TVB Europe magazine's Best of IBC awards for its new VB12-RF portable broadcast-IP monitoring and measurement appliance for terrestrial and cable applications.
Launched at IBC 2010, the VB12-RF packs every interface required for RF, ASI and IP into a ruggedised chassis smaller than a laptop computer and features full TR101290 alarming and analysis, with support for all major media transportation codecs.
Simen Frostad, Chairman of Bridge Technologies, said: "This award from TVB Europe's judging panel tops off a hugely successful IBC for us. With the VB12-RF we took our usual approach of making tools that combine exceptional usability and sophisticated analysis capabilities and we pushed it to a higher level altogether. The result is a breakthrough in practicality for media operators and their engineers, and we are delighted to receive this accolade in recognition of our efforts."
Designed for the rigors of real-world use on the road, the VB12-RF is smaller, lighter and tougher than any comparable monitoring solution. Providing the engineer with all the interfaces needed for broadcast or IP analysis at any location in the transmission chain of both cable and terrestrial broadcast-IP digital media operations, the VB12-RF requires no external equipment or power supplies, is easy to handle and is robust enough to withstand severe physical shocks and harsh operating conditions.
The VB12-RF incorporates many of the most advanced patented technologies from the VideoBRIDGE end-to-end digital media monitoring system, building them into an ergonomic 114 x 41 x 335mm appliance that replaces a carload of equipment the engineer would otherwise have to bring to the site. The VB12-RF also completely integrates the tool set engineers need with a consistent interface that makes understanding of complex data much easier and minimises training requirements. The VB12-RF is designed to be used by an engineer for on-site analysis, or to be left in situ for continuous monitoring of that point in the network and remote analysis of the data.
For on-site analysis, the engineer can use the VB12-RF's management port to interrogate or download data, or use the VB12-RF's internal memory to store data that can then be analysed when the engineer returns to the device. For monitoring over a longer period, the VB12-RF can be left at the remote location from where it will provide continuous data over the Internet to a third-party network management system (NMS) or on to the VideoBRIDGE controller (VBC).
The VB12-RF can monitor 10 IP SPTS/MPTS services in parallel with optional expansion of streams in steps of 10 to a maximum of 50 services. The IP input, RF QAM/VSB input, and the ASI input have full parallel TR101290 alarming and analysis capabilities and the system incorporates an Elj (External integration interface) that allows the unit to be integrated easily into any third-party OSS/NMS system.
Each VB12-RF runs an integral HTTP server with the client as a Web browser and does not require the installation of custom software on computers needing access to the measurement data. Basic setup is achieved through the built-in USB-to-RS232 converter, eliminating the need for an external interface and allowing the setting of IP addresses for access to the VB12-RF. The VB12-RF can also be controlled remotely via TELENET or XML configuration commands.
(KMcA)