Expert Fibre Optic Transmit Signal Overview
Product Overview BC Series Modular Transport System
The BC Series is a compact and modular point to point fibre optic transport system for broadcast. The range is field proven with leading broadcasters and play-out centres around the world. Having supplied the industry since 1994 we believe that we are specialists in “point to point” fibre technology. The BC Series is the “often unseen” reliable backbone of many flagship broadcast infrastructures. The BC Series system is based around modular cards with a very compact 60 x100 mm footprint. Combined with the highest performance optical, video and audio components all international standards and certifications are met while still offering an excellent quality/price ratio. The BC Series provides a complete range of fibre optic links for Studios, Master Control, Transmission and Outside Broadcast. Individual datasheets and full product information can be found via the full product listing. Systems can be provided to transport;
| Video | 4K, 12G-SDI, 3G-SDI, HD-SDI, SD-SDI & DVB-ASI Composite, B&B, Tri-Level HDMI/DVI |
| Audio | Analogue AES/EBU MADI |
| Data/GPI | RS232, RS422, RS485 |
| Ethernet | 10BaseT, 100BaseT, Gigabit |
Using any or combinations of the following technologies;
| Electrical | Time Division Multiplexing |
| Optical | Wave Division Multiplexing |
| Optical | Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing |
| Optical | Dense Wave Division Multiplexing |
New card designs are being introduced all the time, some of the latest additions to the range provide the following fibre transport.
The flexibility of the BC Series modular system allows many different applications to be covered, often using individual cards as “building blocks” to create large optical networks.
Cards can be used to provide different solutions including Drop/Insert/Add, Wavelength Management as well as CWDM and DWDM.
All the Bluebell passive optical modules (CWDM, WDM) use the same footprint as the standard BC Series cards. This allows them to be used with any combination of active interface cards in a 19” frame for the highest packing density. They can also be housed in separate stand-alone passive frames like the BC160P and the single, dual and triple slot enclosures.
All the key parameters of the cards and frames can be monitored over SNMP by the optional BM102 network card. The MIB file is available on request. A simple web interface allows users to remotely interrogate the status of cards and frames. The BM102 reports amongst other parameters, the card type and serial number, slot number, SFP type and wavelength plus temperature and power supply status.
The latest BC363 and BC364 cards offer a range of options including distribution, format conversion, monitoring and Wavelength Management including CWDM. The schematic below is just one example recently supplied.
Using combinations of the BC364 allows multiple cameras to be deployed during an event and connected over a single cable thus reducing rigging time. This solution is particularly compact and in this example 4 cameras can be deployed over one cable but 8 or even 16 cameras is readily achievable. The BC364 and BC160 combination above can also be used to ensure all signals are available at an event when the fibre count is reduced due to unforeseen circumstances.
The BC363, BC364 and BC368 all allow for the use of intelligent SFPs with in-built signal processing.
Full specifications and datasheets for each product are available to download via the full product listing.