Communications in the field

After a full year of planning and preparation, Riedel Communications supplied a dozen organizations and equipped approximately 40 locations with 50 tons of communication equipment during the 2004 Summer Games held in Athens.

In total, Riedel's equipment used 80 matrix systems, more than 2,000 digital intercom control panels, 3,000 digital transmitters and 1,000 analog radio transmitters; 200 Ri Face radio interfaces, 5,500 headphones and more than 200 kilometers of cable and fiber. During all competitions, service teams were on standby to supply backup units, in case of breakdowns.

AOB which supplied the images for all television stations in the world used more than 800 analog and digital radio transmitters, including Riedel hearing aids. The Artist S digital matrix system provided the connections between AOB's headquarters and the teams working at the different locations. In addition, around 200 RiFace interfaces provided the integration of wired and wireless intercom systems. Riedel engineers not only installed radio systems for cameramen, sound engineers and directors, but also a complex network of filters to ensure interference-free operation, even under heavy loads caused by other radio operators.

Initially, Riedel became involved with Sports Events 2003, the official tests for the Olympic Games, when the company worked alongside its Greek pts systems partner Pierides TechnoSystems Ltd. The reliability of the intercom and radio applications was confirmed and planning for the supply of the Summer Games began.

In addition to the two "Olympic" missions, a significant number of Riedel teams were present at the Greek facilities. Alfacam, the largest European truck operator -OB and long-time user of Riedel equipment, was present with its multimedia platform Artist. In Greece, Artist allowed the installation of a huge intercom system for AOB's production equipment, consisting of several trucks, taking advantage of its particular ability to be connected in a decentralized manner by a fiber network.

Riedel will continue to attend global events in the future. "We use events of this magnitude as a source for our product development. Not only are we manufacturers of intercom technology, but we are also committed to maintaining our users' equipment. Our goal is to develop practical solutions from our practical experiences. That's a benefit for all of our customers, from the smallest business to the largest," says Riedel.

In an atmosphere of maximum speed, where poor communication can cost victory or a life, Riedel's Artist intercom matrix has been adopted by the Formula 1 world organisation, FIA, and the Formula 1 teams, as the standard communications platform in all 18 races of the Formula 1 World Championship. Riedel's Artist matrix is used in all races to communicate with employees, pit staff and drivers.

The geographically dispersed Grand Prix races take place from the beginning of March to the end of October, and are held on five continents. The different climates of the places where you run and the difficulties in the transport conditions, demand a robust communications system, capable of operating at its maximum optimal level in extreme weather conditions: rain, excessive heat, cold and humidity.

The system configuration consists of 16 Artist S nodes, approximately 50 boards (RCP-1012E, RCP-1028E, DCP-1016E), a digital radio system with digital receivers and analog radio repeaters with analog receivers all equipped with Max hearing aids, and six Riface radio interfaces for connecting digital radio channels, the same as analog radios, to the Artist.

An Artist node is installed in each pit, on a shelf isolated from bad weather conditions, with at least one board connected to each node. Additionally, the internal radio signals of each equipment are connected in these nodes.

Artist nodes are also used in FIA machine shops and trucks. Also, in the control center of the race, additional boards and recording systems are connected to hard drives, as well as data recording. A board is installed on the starting platform, where the light signals are activated and the start and finish flags are displayed.

Artist allows teams to communicate remotely with race control while receiving information from the race director. "One of the main reasons why Artist has been chosen for Formula 1 racing is its security in privacy. It eliminates the possibility of interception and of communications being listened to indiscreetly. It is impossible to violate the system, since all communications are digital and resistant to being heard by third parties. If another cable is connected somewhere or cut, an alarm is triggered," said Thomas Riedel.

Riedel's Max hearing aids, developed especially for Formula 1, are another critical component in the system's composition. Max headphones have been designed to allow clear communications, even if all cars in the race pass through the same place at the same time.

The board of each equipment is also equipped with a flashing light, controlled by the local GPI contact of the board. A call from race control to a team is signaled by this flashing light. Otherwise, an incoming call would be impossible to detect due to the noise of the competition. With the help of logical functions, the system is programmed in such a way that when the race control calls a team (or vice versa), the key flashes and the audio is only transmitted once someone acknowledges receipt of the call by pressing a key.

Riedel designs, produces and distributes the most sophisticated radio and intercom technology for customers worldwide, for the communications transmission, professional audio, events, sports and theater industries. The products reflect today's cutting-edge technology, expanding conventional concepts for tomorrow's applications. The Riedel group of companies also includes a large leasing division, which provides complete radio and intercom services, as well as fiber optic-based audio and video transmission systems. The company, founded in 1987, today employs more than 100 people spread across five locations in Europe and North America.

Challenges in Riedel's words
Andreas Hilmer, marketing and corporate communications manager at Riedel Communications GmbH, answered the following TV and Video questionnaire.

Generally, the process of designing and implementing intercom systems for sporting events is always quite similar. The difference lies in the selected architecture, which depends on the event, the sport and the client's requirements. In Athens, the challenge was mainly the logistics to provide services in 48 different competitions in 37 events with a maximum distance of 500 kilometers, while in Formula 1 it is the complexity of the system.

The requested functionality of the system is based in advance on existing teams in a Formula 1 team or previous experiences (such as the Salt Lake or Sydney Olympic Games). For example, the main mission in a Formula 1 team is to ensure communication in the pits or pits to the race drivers. This mission must be perfected through knowledge of the structure of the team and the communication channels within the team, to elaborate the design of the system and the basis for programming the matrix. It is important to know that the system cannot be assembled once for everyone. The communications system is a living unit that must maintain its flexibility throughout the 18 races of the season. It must be as flexible as the car, the racing driver and the team, to react to any unexpected circumstances.

In the case of the Athens Olympics, the main structure of the communications system already existed since the Sydney Games. Riedel's mission was to adapt it to different locations, to the change of (sports) rules and to new users, including their requirements within a completely new system, which had not been applied before in Olympic Games. Using Artist S as the central matrix, and the new Digital Beltpack C2, allowed the matrix design team and engineers to react immediately to user needs and problems simply by programming the matrix. This made the wiring changes obsolete and saved a considerable amount of time.

From our point of view, the main technological innovations of intercom systems are the concepts of decentralized digital matrices without a master's degree that provide increased scalability, reduce the cost of personnel and wiring and allow the integration of different types of media in a single platform, the link of main units by means of fiber that allows to mount these decentralized matrix systems and the digital beltpack , which Riedel recently introduced at IBC in Amsterdam. The digitization of beltpacks, finally, brings the quality of partyline audio to the broadcast level and, therefore, offers the integration of broadcast and intercom applications.

Each Artist head unit provides standard Ethernet to integrate the system into TCP-IP environments. The setup is done by the Director software, which runs on standard personal computers (PCs). Due to the decentralized structure of the Artist platform, the PC does not have to be directly connected to the desired main unit, but can be connected anywhere on the Artist network. Configurations of any host can be made from anywhere on the system. IP also plays a role in integrating the array with the public network infrastructure. In addition to the Connect Digital Telephone Hybrid, Riedel also offers voice via IP interface.

As already mentioned, Riedel provides voice through an IP interface, which allows the integration of VoiP-based equipment with the matrix. Another thing: existing CAT5 structured cabling networks can easily be used to connect control boards (e.g. 1000 series boards) or beltpacks (the C2) to the matrix. In this way, a CAT5 infrastructure saves time and money on system wiring.

Of course. This matrix system accommodates any kind of event. You can consider a basic system working independently, composed of an Artist S main unit and some control boards. As your needs increase, you will be able to link several systems by means of fiber until you achieve a huge matrix system.

No, not directly. There is no compatibility of Artist components with elements and systems of a third party when you think about integrating control boards or matrices of a third party. That's because Riedel is the only company that provides fiber, decentralized, master-free main unit connections. To accomplish this, Riedel has developed its own protocols and standards to be able to achieve the necessary transmission speeds. But Riedel offers a broad spectrum of interfaces that allow third-party products to be integrated with the matrix. For example, with the Artist 1D (which has not yet been officially announced), the Artist platform will be able to connect to the Yamaha PM1D. Another example: Adat's ADT-208 interface for the Artist S head unit (presented at IBC 2004), provides Toslink input and output for connection to a wide spectrum of digital mixing consoles, routers, multitracks, preamplifiers, etc.