Ottawa, Canada (19 April 2006) -- Trial paves way for new class of broadcast video transport services based on low-cost equipment and affordable, dedicated Ethernet connections

Pacific Northwest (PNW) Net, PacketExchange, and Pleora Technologies today announced the successful conclusion of a rigorous, two-way transcontinental trial testing the ability of Pleora’s low-cost PL1453A EtherCast™ Video IP Engine™ to transport broadcast-quality video over long-haul Ethernet VLANs (virtual local-area networks).

Dedicated Ethernet VLANs cost significantly less to implement, own, and manage than facilities traditionally used to transport broadcast-quality video, such as satellite links, ATM (Asynchronous Transport Mode) networks, or fiber-based SONET/SDH (Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) networks. However, until now, the high price of reliable video-over-Ethernet transmission equipment has dampened the value of VLANs for high-quality video.

“Pleora’s engine delivers reliable DVB-ASI (Digital Video Broadcast – Asynchronous Serial Interface) transport over VLANs for less than one quarter the per-port price of equipment from other vendors,” said Pat Holland, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of Pacific Northwest Net, a global video transport service provider. “This product, together with the growing availability of private VLAN connections, allows us to deliver a new class of video services that gives broadcasters and other enterprises an affordable, practical way to transport broadcast-quality digital video.”

“This trial demonstrated that PacketExchange's global network delivers the superiorperformance Layer 2 connectivity required to transport latency-sensitive IP video traffic, without touching the public Internet,” said Kieron O‘Brien, Chief Executive Officer of PacketExchange, an international high-speed connectivity and IP transport service company based in London, England. “We look forward to working further with PNW Net and Pleora to expand our level of video service traffic.”

“Massive deployment of metro-Ethernet networks has made Layer 2 VLANs available to points of presence in just about every major center worldwide. At the same time, companies like PacketExchange are making the global infrastructure robust and reliable. Our EtherCast Video IP Engines meet demand from service providers, carriers, and broadcasters for affordable products that leverage these low-cost networks for broadcast-quality video,” said George Chamberlain, President of Pleora Technologies.

The trial was conducted last week over a dedicated VLAN provisioned by PacketExchange between one of its London network nodes and PNW Net’s facility in Seattle, Washington. Pleora’s EtherCast Video IP Engines streamed an ASI-encoded 19.39-Mb/s ATSC/HDTV (Advanced Television Systems Committee/High-Definition Television) signal in real time from Seattle to London and back again for a continuous 24-hour period.

The EtherCast engines performed flawlessly. The transfers were lossless and the video quality was excellent. Moreover, the picture was delivered back to Seattle with a round-trip latency of only 0.5 seconds. This low latency reflects the ultra-efficient, purpose-built hardware in the PL1453A engine and the high quality of the PacketExchange VLAN connection.

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