Arista Networks, Cisco Systems Inc., EVS Broadcast Equipment SA and The Telos Alliance have all joined AIMS (the Alliance for IP Media Solutions), the alliance of broadcast and media industry suppliers, formed to promote open standards and interoperability in the transition to IP.
These four companies, join founding member companies, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Lawo, Nevion and Snell Advanced Media in the newly formed independent trade association. The alliance was formed last month with a mandate to bring IP solutions to market that offer complete interoperability, are based on open standards, and integrate seamlessly into media workflow environments to foster industry innovation and efficiency.
"The AIMS alliance and Arista Networks share a common vision on driving open standards and API's to enable a migration of the broadcast world to IP infrastructure which promises to enable new media workstreams and deliver cloud economics to the broadcast industry," says Ed Chapman, vice president of business development and alliances, Arista Networks, Inc.
“Cisco joined AIMS to catalyze the media industry transition to IP and cloud. We strongly support that the industry and developer community be based on open standards, open source and open APIs / platforms to make this transition. The creation of reference recommendations and solutions to move the community from SDI to IP is a key step forward to avoid the hurdles of the past,” says Dave Ward, CTO of engineering and chief architect, Cisco.
“EVS’ IP4Live initiative demonstrates our belief that openness and standardization are key to the success of video over IP in hybrid or end-to-end IP broadcast and live production workflows,” Benoit Fevrier, CTO at EVS. “We see the launch of AIMS as a crucial step forward to achieving this.”
AIMS’ efforts will be focused on promoting the adoption, standardization, development and refinement of open protocols for media over IP, with an initial emphasis on VSF TR-03 and TR-04, SMPTE 2022-6 and AES67. Broadcasters and other media companies are seeking to leverage IP to increase the flexibility of their networks, help streamline workflows and improve agility to better compete in a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Open standards are the key to protecting current investments and ensuring long-term interoperability.
"We helped to create AES-67 because we have long believed in open standards,” said Marty Sacks, vice president of sales, support, and marketing at Telos. “We are excited to join AIMS and help speed the adoption of IP based workflows throughout the broadcast sector."
Open standards work for the IP transition is already underway by the 74-member Video Services Forum (VSF), with the support of organizations such as SMPTE and the EBU. AIMS endorses the work of the VSF and will continue to lend support in the development of a standard approach to IP. More than 30 broadcast equipment manufacturers are actively testing and validating the VSF’s approach today.
AIMS provides specific guidance in its bylaws to its members and to the media industry via the AIMS Roadmap. The organization endorses an IP transition plan that includes support for SMPTE 2022-6, AES67 and VSF recommendations TR-03 and TR-04.
A number of solutions are already on the market to help media companies begin the transition by introducing IP components to an SDI workflow. The transition represents a significant investment and will not happen overnight. An open standards approach allows media companies to implement the technology over time and transition at the pace that makes sense for their businesses.
Membership in AIMS is available to all individuals and companies that support open standards and share a commitment to the group’s founding principles.
For more about the importance of open standards and interoperability in the broadcast and media industry, visit the alliance website and download the Alliance for IP Media Solutions’ white paper “An Argument for Open IP Standards in the Media Industry.”
