MUMBAI: With the aim of expanding its programme lineup and maximising bandwidth efficiency Nanjing Radio and Television Network has done a deal with BigBand Networks which provides network platforms for video, voice and data services in China.

Nanjing has deployed the BigBand Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR) for its digital television services. The operator, one of China's largest, is using extensive functionality of the BigBand Digital TV Management solution to deliver live programming in its network with more than 800,000 subscribers.

This BMR platform deployment will also allow Nanjing to introduce more advanced services and functionality. Nanjing states that it chose BigBand Networks as it distinguished itself from alternatives with a complete and flexible solution design that accesses content from various sources, achieves total control over program lineups and bandwidth efficiency, and performs the necessary processing for reliable delivery to Nanjing subscribers.

The BigBand BMR provides a complete solution for Nanjing's current needs and also has next-generation capabilities to evolve with our expanding initiatives such as Gigabit Ethernet networking between facilities. The Nanjing deployment utilises multiple BigBand Digital TV Management functions for end-to-end delivery. The modular port flexibility of the BigBand BMR is leveraged to access content from a variety of program source types, including satellite downlinks, terrestrial broadcast feeds and local storage.

The operator determines which of the accessed programmes to carry and what channel lineups to utilise, which is realised through statistical remultiplexing with RateShaping bit rate adaptation maintaining video quality while maximising bandwidth efficiency. The content is modulated by broadcast QAM modules on the BMR for robust delivery to any digital subscriber device including support for DVB Simulcrypt security.