System Design
Broadcast system design: architecture, CAD layouts, cable schedules, signal flow and redundancy, plus power, thermal and acoustic analysis.
System design turns an operational requirement into documentation that engineers can build from. For a broadcast facility that means deciding how every signal enters, moves through and leaves the building: cameras and contribution feeds into the router, through vision and audio mixing, out to monitoring, recording and transmission. Intraframe designs galleries, studios, MCRs, NOCs, equipment rooms and headends, along with the infrastructure that connects them.
Good broadcast design is mostly about the details that are hard to fix later. Tie-lines between areas, spare capacity in routing and patching, redundant paths for anything carrying on-air signals, intercom and tally that follow the production workflow, KVM so operators can reach equipment kept out of the room, and enough technical power, UPS and cooling for the racks that will be installed. Each of these is settled on paper first.
Designs are vendor-independent. Because Intraframe is not tied to any equipment manufacturer, hardware and software choices follow the requirement, whether that is an SDI system, a SMPTE ST 2110 IP facility or a hybrid of the two. The output is a full documentation set of schematics, rack elevations, room layouts and cable schedules that feeds straight into procurement and the build.
Our process
Workflow review
Working through how the facility will be operated, by whom and for what output, we agree the formats, standards and level of resilience it needs.
Architecture and signal flow
High-level block diagrams set out the core routing, processing, monitoring and control, and show where redundancy is required.
Detailed schematics
Every device and connection is drawn in CAD, with signal flow, tie-lines, intercom, tally and control paths documented.
Rooms, racks and power
Room layouts, rack elevations and technical furniture are designed alongside power, thermal and acoustic loads, so the building services match the equipment.
Cable schedules and equipment lists
Cable schedules with wire-run calculations, and a full bill of materials, go directly into procurement and pre-fabrication.
Review and as-built updates
Drawings are reviewed with your engineers before build, then updated during installation so the final set reflects what was actually installed.
Key deliverables
- Full architectural schematics and CAD layouts
- Cable schedules and wire-run calculations
- Acoustic, power and thermal load analysis
- Signal flow and redundancy mapping
- Rack elevations and equipment room layouts
- Technical furniture and control desk layouts
- Network design for broadcast and corporate systems
- Technical power distribution design
- Bill of materials, including connectors, sundries and consumables
- As-built drawing set issued at handover
System Design: FAQ
Do you design for SMPTE ST 2110 as well as SDI?
Will you push particular equipment brands?
Can you document a facility that is already built?
Planning a system design project?
Tell us about the facility, the timescale and what has to stay on air.