At the Australian Open, a U.S.-based AV-IT integrator designs a converged network to ensure tennis fans see more than just a good match.
CHALLENGE: Feed the world's die-hard tennis fans real-time, graphical data from the season's first Grand Slam tournament via broadcast channels, digital signage, and the Internet.
SOLUTION: Build a dedicated network with custom graphical templates and plug it into a variety of media outlets for seamless AV-IT integration.
CLOCKED AT NEARLY 150 MPH, ANDY Roddick's serve was the fastest recorded at last January's Australian Open tennis tournament. But that speed was no match for the integrated network that distributed the radar gun's data throughout Melbourne Park, the sprawling sports facility that hosts the Grand Slam event. Within seconds of the ball leaving the American pro's racket, fans everywhere saw what just happened.
The 14,820 on hand at Rod Laver Arena for the match saw the serve speed immediately displayed on a dedicated, IBM-branded LED board positioned right on the court. Almost simultaneously, thousands of others in and around Melbourne Park's sprawling tennis grounds saw the speed flash on the myriad closed-circuit display devices dispersed throughout the 18-court tennis grounds, as well as in the adjacent hotels.
But the speed reading didn't stop there—within seconds, it was all over the globe.
The broadcast announcers calling the match for calling some of the 2 billion television viewers worldwide had access to this data, too. So did subscribers to Tennis Australia, the interactive TV channel that allows viewers to browse statistics while they watch a match. And so did the portion of the 6.6 million unique visitors to the Australian Open Web site who were logged on at the time.
At the heart of this data transfer was an end-to-end integrated scoring system installed by the tournament's longtime technology partner, IBM, and the subcontractors that work with the company.
And serve speeds are only a small part of the story. In a nutshell, this system takes real-time scoring data that's punched into a laptop computer by statisticians and chair umpires sitting courtside, then distributes that information—packaged in a wide variety of custom-designed analog and digital templates—to a range of interested sources both locally and around the globe. It's a specialized AV-IT network that requires a range of expertise and technology.
“We bring all the network hubs, servers, laptops, and applications needed to set up the network,” explains Gary Pinkien, director of event technology for Information & Display Systems (IDS), the Jacksonville, Fla.–based systems integrator that's worked for IBM on the Australian Open almost every year since the technology giant first partnered with the tourney in 1993.
For IDS—a 24-year-old company that specializes in setting up of computer-based scoring systems for sporting events, including those put on by the NBA, NHL, and PGA—conducting such an endeavor involves not only skilled network integration, but intricate logistical planning and a bit of sports-broadcasting savvy.
PREP WORKPreparation for the Australian Open starts months in advance, with IDS programmers tweaking proprietary software applications to meet the needs of the tournament and its various broadcast partners. For example, the various TV production crews covering the Open that plan to embed IDS scores and stats into their graphics will require that this data be packaged with a specific look.
“We write our own scoring system, and we create our own graphics based on what the tournament look is,” explains Pinkien, who coordinates the interaction among all IDS departments. “We have to make sure it all works and that the computers are imaged properly before we ship out.”
Once all the various software tools are modified to fit the needs of the tournament, several hundred notebook computers (for the last Open, IDS deployed 300 IBM notebook computers, mostly newer-model ThinkPad T43s) are loaded into an ocean liner along with, as Pinkien lists them offhandedly, “power-strip extension cords, printers, LED displays, monitors, Cisco hubs and switches, graphics machines, and a ton of other stuff.”
For an Aussie Open, Pinkien's team will pack about 40 network switches—Cisco models 2950, 2940, 3620, 3550, 3560, and 3524, plus about 10 TV One CS-450 scan converters to help serve TV broadcasters and close-circuit operations. Two IBM BladeCenter servers (model 8678-51X) are also shipped to provide the network's backbone, with one serving as a backup. IDS also packs up a number of 40-inch Barco displays for the on-site team that monitors network operations.
For this most recent Australian Open assignment, IDS shipped everything out in early October, about three months before the first tennis ball was served. “This way, we could have everything down there and cleared by customs right after Christmas,” Pinkien explains.
