Kraken has come a long way since its introduction into the Haivision solutions portfolio back in 2011. Powerful and versatile, it has evolved into a solution that goes far beyond transcoding and has fast become the linchpin of ISR and defense workflows around the world. In this post, we’re summarizing common challenges faced in these workflows along with the newest feature available in Kraken 3.5: GigE Vision input support.

Addressing Transport Constraints

Kraken is a comprehensive software-based transcoding, stream routing, and encoding platform that aggregates feeds and optimizes transport of live Full-Motion Video (FMV) and metadata. Developed to address the challenges inherent to many ISR video distribution topologies, Kraken deployments can accommodate:

• Unpredictable and/or limited bandwidth
  Transport constraints are a universal truth in deployed/first mile ISR video contribution systems. In fact, in our recent Haivision ISR Virtual Summit, we polled attendees about the biggest video challenge they faced in their ISR workflows. The top response with 45% of the vote was dealing with unpredictable and/or limited bandwidth. Highly flexible toolchain configuration and streamlined management afford the highest levels of confidence in successful operations.
• Preservation of video quality and latency
  Maintain high quality video at very low bandwidths in real-time, through efficient compression pipelines.
• Downstream compatibility
  Bridge systems with disparate video capabilities through video codec and container manipulation.
• KLV metadata processing
  Preserve, manipulate or remediate contextual telemetry for exploitation

What is GigE Vision and What Does it Do?

GigE Vision is a global camera interface standard developed using the Gigabit Ethernet communication protocol for transmitting high-speed video and related data over ethernet networks. GigE Vision cameras are deployed extensively across both defense and commercial ISR facilities. Designed to unify protocols for industrial cameras and make it easier to develop compatible software and hardware, GigE Vision can transmit 5Gb/s of video over a 100-meter ethernet cable.

As GigE Vision video consumes a large amount of bandwidth, it’s simply too high for most transmission links to handle and cannot be easily transmitted outside of a local facility. The latest release of Kraken (3.5) can ingest streams from a GigE Vision source via ethernet, enabling a MISP-compliant solution that significantly reduces the bitrate of GigE Vision streams for distribution over the internet and datalinks with limited bandwidth. High bitrate GigE Vision streams can be encoded using either AVC/H.264 or HEVC/H.265 and distributed from Kraken as low bitrate IP transport streams over UDP or SRT.