Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) Grows Its Management Team To Support Expanding Operation
CEI Promotes Experienced Industry Professionals To Meet Increased Project Requests From Digital Television (DTV) Broadcast Customers and WEBCasters
Newington, Virginia -- June 30, 2000 -- Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI), a turnkey television, radio, & multimedia design, engineering, and integration firm, has enhanced its management team to deliver the latest DTV and electronic media system solutions. Lawrence Brody, CEI President, announced, “As part of our ongoing efforts to grow CEI to better meet the needs of our clients, I am pleased to announce that the following personnel and organizational changes have been approved by the board of directors, and are effective immediately:”
John Wesley Nash, who previously held the position of VP of Engineering, has been promoted to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Nash has more than 28 years of broadcast industry management and engineering expertise involving a wide range of television/broadcast companies. Mr. Nash will oversee daily operations and corporate planning while investigating new technologies and developing new business contacts. Mr. Nash joined CEI in July, 1989.
David Giblin has been promoted to the position of Vice President and General Manager. Mr. Giblin brings over 23 years of broadcast industry experience. He will be responsible for monitoring and improving department efficiencies and recruiting additional personnel to meet CEI’s growth.
Jim Conley has been promoted to the position of Vice President Of Engineering. Mr. Conley brings more than 25 years of broadcast engineering experience and manages CEI’s design engineering processes. As the leader of CEI’s engineering management team, Mr Conley develops and maintains CEI’s engineering methods and standards.
Jay Brown has been promoted to the position of Director of Project Engineering. Mr. Brown brings over 18 years of broadcast industry experience in technical and management positions and will oversee CEI’s fulfilment of client project commitments across the country.
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Fox Sports Net (FSN) Selects Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) To Build Its National ATM-Based Content Contribution and Distribution Network
CEI to Deliver Turnkey Design Services To Integrate FSN Locations Into The Fox Video Network (FVN)
Los Angeles, CA -- April 21, 2000 -- Fox Sports Net has engaged Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) to design, engineer and build the new Fox Video Network (FVN) that links FSN’s local broadcast affiliates and is managed through the FSN Network Operations Center (NOC) to be constructed by CEI in Los Angeles. FSN’s new ground breaking technology will result in a redefinition of how a broadcast network operates by allowing all FSN locations to dynamically share and exchange MPEG-2 program information as data files using TCP/IP protocols. The system will augment existing conventional video transmission scenarios including satellite and land line distribution between their facilities.
Robert Dutcher, FSN Director of National Technical Operations, explains, “We are pleased to be collaborating with CEI on all aspects of this national ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) infrastructure buildout. The FVN integrated solution from CEI will help us leverage our national sports programming in a cost effective way and also deal responsively with the up-to-the-minute events inherent in our sports programming.”
Lawrence S. Brody, President of CEI, says, “The FVN network is a combination of leading edge technologies such as MPEG-2 video/audio compression solutions, ATM networking, LAN emulation and broadband connectivity all controlled and configured using specialized integrated software. It is critical that FVN’s network performance be managed and addressed for each FVN location with complete access to individual systems and components.”
The Fox Video Network and its ATM-based communications infrastructure will support the transfer of MPEG-2 content as data files or as live video transmissions in either point-to-point or point-to-multipoint configurations. The system allows real-time, faster than real-time and non-real-time transmissions. The NOC management and control software supports dynamic data interconnections between all FVN locations as well as full system status and alarm monitoring to help facilitate smooth network operations.
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Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) Builds The WETA TV, Washington D.C., Origination Facility For SDTV and HDTV Broadcast
“CEI Designed A State-of-the-Art Broadcast Plant That Will Support Our DTV Efforts For The Next 20 Years.”
Washington, DC -- February 17, 2000 -- Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association Inc., known as WETA Washington, D.C. to its television and radio audiences, has met the challenge of the future with its newly developed digital broadcast facility. Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) worked closely with the WETA radio and television technical teams to design, engineer, and build a combined TV & radio broadcast plant located in Arlington, Virginia.
Lew Zager, WETA Vice President of Technology, noted, “Our new plant provides WETA with a powerful digital foundation for our television, radio, and broadband future. Thanks to CEI we were able to implement a flexible state of the art design that puts WETA in a unique position to better serve the local and national public broadcasting community.”
Lawrence S. Brody, CEI President, commented, “Driven by the shared goals of WETA’s radio and television engineering groups, we delivered solutions that are innovative and also cost effective. A ‘virtual monitor wall’ allows WETA TV’s master control to flexibly display SD (4 X 3) and HD (16 X 9) program sources. WETA’s multi-channel operation utilizes servers, automation and a near-line tape library to deliver the programming schedules for the analog channel (26) and digital channel (27).”
The CEI/WETA engineering team addressed the following key facility design issues:
* the selection and strategy for major technical systems,
* integration of separate quality control (QC) solutions,
* ergonomics and viewing sightline considerations, and
* console design and technology controls layout.
Both 270 Mb/sec. and 1.5Gb/sec. SDI video and AES/EBU audio routing and distribution were built for WETA to support the expected future volume of SDTV & HDTV programming. Operators prepare programming for broadcast from a media preparation area adjacent to the master control room. Program content from network satellite feeds or videotape is recorded to Grass Valley Profile servers with appropriate information entered into a Louth automation database. The two Profile systems provide ingest and playout capability as well as redundancy to protect the on-air broadcast.
Presently WETA’s HDTV programming originates from D5 and HDCam tape machines providing playback to the GVG HD Master Control Switcher system. The HD SDI signal feeds a FlexiCoder™ ATSC Encoding System that incorporates a PSIP+™ generator. A Sencore 19.39 disk server is also used for the replay of pre-encoded HD programming.
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WETA 90.9 FM Transitions Into All-Digital Audio Production & Radio Broadcast Facility
“We Collaborated With CEI To Build A Technical Plant That Could Support Our Efforts For The Next 20 Years”
Washington, DC -- January 21, 2000 -- Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association Inc., known as WETA Washington, D.C. to its PBS TV viewers and NPR radio listeners, has met the challenge of the future with its newly developed digital broadcast facility. Communications Engineering, Inc. (CEI) worked closely with the WETA radio and television technical teams to design, engineer, and build a combined TV & radio broadcast plant located in Arlington, Virginia.
Dan Devany, WETA 90.9 FM Program Director, said, “We are very excited about the chance to develop our traditional classical programming with the latest audio tools. Thanks to CEI, we now broadcast from an automated, server-based facility that allows WETA 90.9 FM to innovate in the rapidly evolving world of the internet and converging media marketplace.”
Lawrence S. Brody, CEI President, commented, “Driven by the shared goals of WETA’s radio and television engineering groups, we designed infrastructure systems that deliver an efficient, cost effective facility. A custom source ID talley system integrated into the radio and TV control rooms, multiple synchronous digital audio routers, automation, and a shared HVAC/UPS system supports each operation’s efforts to provide higher quality programming to their respective audiences.”
WETA 90.9 FM's technical architecture delivers links between most areas of the radio operations and includes:
