Amazon Web Services (AWS) is introducing AWS Elemental MediaConnect Gateway, a new cloud-connected software application to transmit live video between on-premises multicast networks and AWS.
Part of AWS Media Services, MediaConnect Gateway improves operations in hybrid environments, providing monitoring, security, and management of video feeds from the AWS Management Console, said the company.
The gateway enables users to build end-to-end live video contribution and distribution workflows in AWS at scale, integrating into their on-premises infrastructure.
MediaConnect Gateway enables users to view, monitor, and control live video stream transport in on-premises data centres directly from the AWS Management Console or by using the MediaConnect API.
“Hybrid use-cases are prominent in live video applications among our customers,” said Brian Stein, GM of AWS Elemental. “MediaConnect Gateway gives customers full control over deploying and monitoring their hybrid live video workflows, saving them valuable time and resources so they can instead focus on their core business.”
AWS said it expects MediaConnect Gateway to be used primarily for contribution and distribution of live video. For video contribution workflows, a content provider can originate live linear channels on premises. The provider sends the feeds to partners around the globe, using MediaConnect Gateway as a bridge between their multicast, on-premises network infrastructure and the cloud, said the company.
Each MediaConnect Gateway instance can subscribe to one or more multicast groups, where a group represents either a single channel or multiple channels multiplexed together in a multi-program transport stream (MPTS). Once subscribed, MediaConnect Gateway converts the network traffic to unicast, adds encryption, and sends the video to a MediaConnect flow in the cloud. Then a live streaming application is created using the feed, processing and delivering the video to end viewers using AWS Elemental MediaLive, AWS Elemental MediaPackage, and Amazon CloudFront, for example, or another software application.
For video distribution, MediaConnect Gateway can be deployed to build sophisticated networks that span hundreds or even thousands of end points on premises, said AWS.
MediaConnect Gateway runs inside Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) Anywhere, a service that allows customers to manage ECS containers on their servers.
