什么是细胞键合?

虽然我们中的许多人对5G的可能性感到兴奋, 这些可能性目前大多尚未实现. 在流媒体方面, the higher data rates promised with 5G are not as important as the new bands/frequencies that enable a given tower to serve more active connections, as opposed to being completely blocked up with hundreds of other cellular users trying to push or pull data at the same time.

在没有广泛的高带宽5G可用性的情况下, one technology that has been with us for several years remains the most reliable solution for getting your streams to the cloud when Wi-Fi and wired connections are unavailable: cellular bonding.

关系是如何建立的

For those unfamiliar, cellular bonding is a process whereby multiple connections to the internet—e.g., multiple cellular carriers—are all used, simultaneously, to send and receive data. 这与拥有多个广域网(wan)非常不同。, or a Multi WAN router that can use multiple internet connections at the same time, 甚至在它们之间切换并提供一些故障转移. Sending office VoIP traffic over one WAN connection and customer internet browsing over a second WAN connection is not bonding. Having one primary connection and then having everything drop to a second connection if the first one fails is also not bonding.

Bonded video service is a process that involves two distinct halves of a whole. 最常, 这是一项付费服务, and there is a key reason why true bonding has a price—the “de-bonding” service, 我是这么说的.

不管谁制造或品牌你的连接路由器, each of these devices is designed to connect to a server and service at the other end. 让我解释一下原因.

当你的视频进入设备时, 它被压缩成数据，数据被分成包(1), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…). 每个包都是分发的, 或者应该分配, like playing cards at the poker table—a packet to each connected service. 每个包都有编号. 这些数据包中的每一个都通过空气或电线飞行, 或者在城市或国家之间来回穿梭, 并到达接收服务器. 无论是Teradek Core, LiveU服务器, Kiloview服务器, 或者Peplink的SpeedFusion, 这些数据包有一个非常特定的目的地. Because each route they take is different, they will never, ever, arrive in order.

细胞键合示意图

You cannot “bond” your video directly to YouTube, or Facebook, or Vimeo, or to any delivery network.

These de-bonding servers exist to receive the packets, in whatever order—e.g., 3, 1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 7, 8...—as they arrive by postal carrier, UPS, carrier pigeon, tied to a rock, etc. 服务器“解除绑定”数据包并将它们按顺序放回原位, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,然后, 有一个可靠的快速连接到互联网, 然后，它将这一数据流发送到预期的目的地. This de-bonding service requires a computer to dedicate itself to processing your video, 而且租用别人的电脑来完成这项任务是有成本的.

有时，这些服务器也用于对流进行转码. 例如，如果绑定设备发送HEVC/H.265是非常有效的数据, 但并不是所有的内容分发网络(cdn)都直接接受HEVC, so then the de-bonding server takes the received HEVC and transcodes it to MPEG-4/H.264发送到目的地. This transcoding process takes server horsepower, and thus often adds cost to the service.

Another common feature of the de-bonding server is multicasting: You send one stream from your bonding device to the server, at which point the server splits it and casts it to multiple destinations. This again saves on data being sent because you’re only sending one stream, 但它最终会变成2, 5, 10, 或者更多不同的目的地. 再一次。, 分裂的过程, 管理连接, 发送这些数据流是, 在几乎所有的情况下, 付费服务的一部分.

如果你有一个键合装置, 而且你不需要为任何bond服务付费, it may behoove you to look more closely into whether you are truly getting bonding service, 或者是否有别的事情发生.

可靠性

You’ll note a recurring theme: using as little data as possible to send the stream. 无论是利用HEVC还是云广播, there is a key reason why these tools strive for the lowest-bitrate data stream possible. 原因就是可靠性. Consider sending one 3 Mbps HEVC stream that is multicast to 10 destinations, 直接发送10个单独的出站6 Mbps H.264年流. 这将需要60 Mbps的流量, ,通常, 数据波动, 你想要的是流的两倍, so you’d really need at least 120 Mbps upload bandwidth to handle that first mile reliably.

为企业, 或广播, 通常有足够的资金来确保大带宽的存在, 而且可能还有更多的空闲时间. 对于绝大多数独立制作人和自由职业者来说, 然而, 大带宽通常不存在. +, when using cellular connections—especially when moving—you are at the mercy of what the towers can provide to you (and everyone connected to the same towers) at that second. So, 越低你就能保持你的需求, 你就越不需要坚持下去, and the more likely it is that all your packets will make it through in a timely manner.

结论

每天都有越来越多的内容流媒体, everyone from broadcast producers to individual users has a vast assortment of technologies available to them to ensure that their program can reliably reach viewers around the world. 关键在于理解什么是真正的亲密关系, 如何实现, 它提供了什么优势. Then you can compare services more thoroughly and understand what it is you need, 以及你所比较的服务如何满足你的需求. You can also assess whether new technologies like SRT or buffering can provide the reliability you want, 不需要真正的粘合服务.

不管你怎么看, 多亏了键合和这里讨论的其他一些技术, 发送故障的日子, 给观众的缓冲视频应该在我们后面. 有很多选择, 在各种各样的价格点, to ensure that streaming professionals can deliver the best video possible.