The Switch Selects Miranda Technology to Power Expansion of Services

Miranda Technologies, a Belden Brand, a global provider of integrated solutions for production, playout and delivery systems for television broadcasters and multi-system operators, has announced that The Switch has chosen Miranda’s NVISION routers and iControl monitoring and control solutions to power an expansion of the company’s video distribution and fiber switching services.

The Switch provides customer-controlled, uncompressed HD distribution services for domestic and international television networks, common carriers, and local broadcast stations as well as producers and distributors of sports, entertainment, news, and other programming.  The company is nearing completion of the most recent phase of a 50-city expansion to deliver its switching services to major media markets in the United States and key international locations. The Switch relies on Miranda’s NVISION routers, as the core of its growing network to provide mission-critical switching for its customers, because of the routers’ leading reliability and redundancy characteristics.

“Our network’s service is fundamentally based on NVISION routers,” says David Anderson, chief technology officer for The Switch. “We had a good history at our five original sites using Miranda hybrid routers. When we committed to expand our network to 50 cities, we knew we wanted to stay with a routing technology that was proven, familiar and trusted. What’s more, our network requires Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) certification, which Miranda was willing to undertake. Many other companies will simply not extend themselves to meet NEBS standards.”

The NVISION 8144 Hybrid routers installed by The Switch combine performance with efficiency, due in no small part  to their integrated audio processing capabilities. They also offer simplified, high-density cable management, direct fiber connectivity, a full complement of redundancy options, and audio concentrators. The NVISION 8500 Hybrid router range spans multiple frame sizes, which for The Switch constitutes a 144 x 144 matrix in a single, compact 8RU frame and Miranda’s NV9000 advanced router control system, which provides router control and matrix management via software and hardware control panels.  The Switch also implemented a system-wide deployment of Miranda’s iControl for remote monitoring and control.

Anderson says, “Routers tend to be considered a commodity, but the NVISION hybrid series provides much more than off-the-shelf functionality, particularly in view of the integrated audio processing. The implementation of iControl to tie it all together is also a critical component, providing truly integrated control and monitoring. As a network that provides transactional video distribution directly under customer control, we rely heavily on the Miranda solutions to meet our unique technical and operation needs.”

Austin, Texas-based systems integrator, Beck Associates, is providing racks and ancillary equipment to support the latest installation of NVISION 8144 routers, which are currently being shipped to 11 new sites in The Switch’s expanding network.

Miranda’s Scott Murray, senior vice president, Core Products says, “The Switch provides exceptionally high program distribution quality, and the combination of hybrid routing and advanced control keeps that quality flowing, uninterrupted, which is precisely what The Switch customers expect. To be entrusted as the foundation of such an undertaking is ample evidence of the confidence placed in our technology, service, and support.”