All India Radio's New NEXUS-based Control Room
September 2002, Berlin / New Delhi: A NEXUS signal router manufactured by STAGETEC is the core component of the new digital radio broadcasting center of the All India Radio (AIR) government broadcasting service based in Delhi. The service is moving to a brand new complex housing 27 radio studios. With its new programmable NEXUS system for signal routing and distribution, AIR can now fulfill its role more efficiently as the core provider of news and information in the world of radio broadcasting in India.
The routing system comprises ten individual NEXUS base devices, each of which may be used »stand alone« as a full local routing unit. Interconnected by fibre-optic cables, NEXUS builds an audio network mesh. This makes the concept of de-centralized switching possible. Unlike European broadcasting centers where a central control room performs all routing and signal-monitoring tasks, AIR enthusiastically follow this de-centralized approach: the radio studios are not directly connected to a control center but connect to the control center via five so-called control booths. This distributed switching concept with divided responsibilities has been proven over decades using analog techniques. In the digital era it can be implemented most effectively using NEXUS.
The designers of the AIR broadcasting center also appreciated other benefits of the NEXUS: its unbeatable reliability and the »hot-swap« feature (I.e. replacing module boards during operation). These aspects of NEXUS reduce the need for hardware maintenance and allow for in-house first level support.
In addition to the NEXUS, AIR will deploy a unique software for the main switching rooms called MATRIX CONTROL. This software has been developed by ASPA Madrid and is currently used by several private radio stations in Spain. It is typically used for programming automated routing, triggered by time schedules. Other functions tailored for control rooms include protection options for on-air cross-points and scheduled routing of a single input to multiple outputs. These features were highly significant for AIR as their news is broadcast with a complex time schedule for reuse by various regional Radio Transmitters of India.
In future, MATRIX CONTROL will perform the majority of the routine switching and routing; manual switching will only be performed in the manned control booths.
In specifying the equipment for this giant leap into the digital age, All India Radio has opted for a proven technology used in many comparable installations. This large broadcasting service is, after all, the first one in India to design and construct a digital radio broadcasting center, and they did not want to take any unnecessary risks. The factory acceptance tests of the STAGETEC NEXUS system undertaken by AIR engineers in Berlin proved AIR had made the right decision. NEXUS provides a tailor-made and reliable broadcasting-center platform not only for European, but also Indian requirements.