Studio-transmitter link (STL) systems and methods
Studio-transmitter link (STL) systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, a STL system is provided that includes a STL transmitter comprising a first STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over a first transmission path to a STL receiver, and a second STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over a second transmission path to the STL receiver.
1. A studio transmitter link (STL) system comprising:
a STL transmitter comprising:
a first STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over a first transmission path to a STL receiver; and
a second STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over a second transmission path to the STL receiver.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission path is a main transmission path and the second transmission path is an auxiliary transmission path, such that program content is transmitted over the main transmission path during normal transmissions and program content is transmitted over the auxiliary transmission path in the event of a failover condition of the main transmission path.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission path is one of a radio frequency (RF) communication link and an Internet Protocol (IP) communication link and the second transmission path is the other of a RF communication link and an IP communication link.
4. The system of claim 1 , the STL transmitter further comprising a transmitter control logic component that receives quality metrics associated with transmissions of program content and adjusts transmission parameters if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is below a first predetermined threshold.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the adjusting transmission parameters comprises at least one of increasing transmission power and reducing payload data rate.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the reducing payload data rate comprises scaling down on the QAM modulation level and/or increasing the channel coding rate and/or reducing the amount of channels transmitted.
7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the transmitter control logic component increases the payload data rate if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is at or above the first predetermined threshold and not at a desired payload data rate.
8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the first transmission path is a main transmission path and the second transmission path is an auxiliary transmission path, such that program content is transmitted over the main transmission path if quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is at or above the first predetermined threshold and the data rate of the main transmission path is above a second predetermined threshold and program content is transmitted over the auxiliary transmission path if the data rate associated with the transmission of program content over the main transmission path is below the second predetermined threshold.
9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a STL receiver that comprises receiver control logic that determines quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content from the STL transmitter and one of transmits the determined quality metrics over a returned control path to the STL transmitter and determines which path to employ in decoding program content based on the determined quality metrics.
10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface coupled to the STL system that allows a user to define at least one of quality metrics to be monitored, desired quality thresholds, parameter adjustment profiles and failover conditions.
11. A studio transmitter link (STL) system comprising:
a STL transmitter comprising:
a first STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over a main transmission path to a STL receiver;
a second STL transmitter interface that transmits program content over an auxiliary transmission path to the STL receiver, such that program content is transmitted over the main transmission path during normal transmissions and program content is transmitted over the auxiliary transmission path in the event of a failover condition of the main transmission path; and
a transmitter control logic component that receives quality metrics associated with transmissions of program content and adjusts transmission parameters if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is below a first predetermined threshold.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein main transmission path is one of a radio frequency (RF) communication link and an Internet Protocol (IP) communication link and the auxiliary transmission path is the other of a RF communication link and an IP communication link and the quality metrics are received over the IP communication link.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the adjusting transmission parameters comprises at least one of increasing transmission power and reducing payload data rate and the transmitter control logic component increases the payload data rate if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is at or above the first predetermined threshold and not at a desired payload data rate.
14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a STL receiver that comprises:
a first STL receiver interface that receives program content over the main transmission path from the STL transmitter;
a second STL receiver interface that receives program content over the auxiliary transmission path from the STL transmitter; and
receiver control logic that determines quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content from the STL transmitter and one of transmits the determined quality metrics over a return control path to the STL transmitter and determines whether to decode program content received from the main transmission path or the auxiliary transmission path based on the determined quality metrics.
15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a user interface coupled to the STL system that allows a user to define at least one of quality metrics to be monitored, desired quality thresholds, parameter adjustment profiles and failover conditions.
16. A method of transmitting program content within a studio transmitter link (STL) system, the method comprising:
transmitting program content from a STL transmitter to a STL receiver over a first transmission path; and
transmitting program content from the STL transmitter to the STL receiver over a second transmission path in the event of a failover condition of the first transmission path, wherein the first transmission path is one of a radio frequency (RF) communication link and an Internet Protocol (IP) communication link and the second transmission path is the other of a RF communication link and an IP communication link.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving quality metrics at the STL transmitter from the STL receiver over a return control path; and
adjusting transmission parameters if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is below a first predetermined threshold, wherein the adjusting transmission parameters comprises at least one of increasing transmission power and reducing payload data rate.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising increasing the payload data rate if the quality metrics associated with the transmission of program content is at or above the first predetermined threshold and not at a desired payload data rate.
19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising receiving quality metrics at the STL transmitter over the auxiliary path.
20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising user defining at least one of quality metrics to be monitored, desired quality thresholds, parameter adjustment profiles and failover conditions to employed by the STL system.