The PIM protocol that governs multicasting does not take into consideration the available bandwidth on the network, so if adequate bandwidth planning is not enforced, congestion could still occur.

Non-Blocking Multicast (NBM) is a protocol built on the PIM protocol that is bandwidth aware and so is capable of reducing the risk of congestion. Using NBM, engineers are notified if a link is going to be oversubscribed due to their routing decisions. Current methods rely on manual calculations that are error prone and difficult to implement.

Building on this, switch manufacturers are delivering full end-to-end management for compliant switches to provide advanced monitoring systems that meet the very special needs of broadcasters, especially when looking at high bandwidth continuous flows with the associated PTP timing characteristics. System integration allows broadcasters to now look at the detail of how their networks are operating to give them the kind of visibility they have become accustomed to with SDI and AES.

This guide is essential reading for broadcast network engineers and their managers, seeking a deeper understanding of new intelligent methodologies for network planning and operation.