Accsoon awarded US patent for Dual-Band wireless video transmission system - but how does it work?

Since its inception, Accsoon has been a technology leader. The company has dedicated a huge amount of time and money to the development of stable, long-range WiFi-based video transmission systems. Today, Accsoon is delighted to reveal that this hard work has been recognised with the awarding of a US patent for the company’s unique Dual-Band wireless video transmission technology.

The unique Accsoon Dual-Band system was first introduced with the CineEye 2 Pro model in 2020. Then came the hugely popular CineEye 2S Pro in 2021. They were immediately recognised as breakthrough products with a reputation for reliable wireless transmission and long 1000+ ft range. The subsequent CineView SE, HE and Quad models continued to develop and optimise the technology. The upcoming CineView 2 SDI has refined the system again to offer even greater range and ultimate performance.

Transmission systems equipped with Accsoon Dual-Band are recognised as having better range and superior interference rejection than rivals in numerous independent reviews. These systems are the only ones to officially use the patented Dual-Band technology and it is not licensed to any competitors.

Accsoon's CineEye & CineView models are based on the same WiFi technology found in consumer and professional devices worldwide. It was chosen because it is a mature tech that offers an excellent combination of cost and performance. Using WiFi also opened the door to professional wireless monitoring on smartphones and tablets using iOS and Android apps, an area where Accsoon also leads the way with the most fully-featured solutions.

Conventional WiFi systems suffer from excessive latency and are vulnerable to interference. No matter how well a conventional WiFi connection is implemented, in a complex wireless environment it will always be subject to interference - and this is where the Accsoon Dual-Band patented technology steps in to solve things.

There are two common frequencies WiFi operates in: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 2.4GHz frequency has a longer wavelength, giving it better reflection and penetration on surfaces and walls, but with a lower data rate. The 5GHz band has much more bandwidth due to the use of a much shorter wavelength, but these higher radio frequencies have a shorter range and are easier to obstruct. Domestic and office WiFi routers commonly use a ‘combine’ or ‘merge’ feature to optimise performance. When near the router a device automatically adopts the 5GHz connection, while at greater distances the connection might be better over 2.4GHz. The device will judge and switch to 2.4GHz for a better internet connection automatically. These techniques do improve wireless performance but still do not solve the problem of interference.

In 2019, Accsoon’s engineers were determined to solve this conundrum. Their solution: why not send a simultaneous connection on both bands at the same time?

Essentially, the Accsoon Dual-Band system takes the same video frame and sends it on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time. The receiver is also set to receive both at the same time. Because of the physics of radio waves it is hard for any single interference source to influence two connections on different frequencies distributed quite far apart. By sending the same information on two bands simultaneously, the chances of both being over-crowded and subject to excessive interference becomes very low.

Because identical video data packets are sent at the same time, even if one or both of them become partially corrupted they can still be compared and re-combined, keeping the correct slices and dumping the corrupted ones, ultimately restoring the original intended image. These technologies are the heart of Accsoon's Dual-Band Transmission.

To make this all work requires four antennas - for the same reasons that advanced domestic and office MIMO routers now also have multiple antennas. MU-MIMO (Multiple User - Multiple Input Multiple Output) greatly improves the quality and channel capacity of the wireless connection. To leverage the benefits of MIMO a device will need at least two antennas for one band wireless connection, so to use MIMO on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz connections mandates the use of four antennas.

Of course, this explanation of Accsoon’s Dual-Band technology is an oversimplification and the actual implementation is much more complex. There are numerous issues: How to maintain synchronisation of the data? What kinds of model should be used for the reconstruction of a corrupted slice? And how do you optimize for multiple receivers? It took the Accsoon team two years of hard work to solve all these issues and bring the system to life in the CineEye 2 Pro in 2020. They continue to work on refining and improving performance with each subsequent release.

In recent times there has been some confusion over the way the term ‘Dual-Band’ has been applied to wireless video systems. Some competitors may label a product as dual-band when they are in fact referring to inferior systems that automatically switch between two frequencies (Dual-Band Seamless Handover), but do not receive both simultaneously and re-combine in the way the Accsoon system does. A tell-tale giveaway is if the transmitter and receiver lack the four antennas required for the Accsoon system. These four antennas are the foundation of a stable and interference-resilient Dual-Band WiFi wireless video solution.

Accsoon believes its WiFi based Dual-Band solution is the most universal solution for better wireless monitoring. To reiterate, the patented Accsoon Dual-Band technology is not licenced to any competitors.

While others only imitate, Accsoon has constantly innovated. The company spends a large proportion of its income on R&D and this has given birth to their Dual-Band technology, as well as the innovative SeeMo line of iOS adapters, and now the new SeeMo 4K.

Accsoon listens to its users, especially at gatherings like NAB, CineGear and IBC where the Accsoon booth is always a hive of activity. Partnering with other innovators like Frame.io, Lightcraft Jetset, Switcher Studio, TVU and many others puts it at the heart of the filmmaking industry.

The award of this US patent for Dual-Band technology is a validation of the Accsoon team’s hard work and drive, but Accsoon would also like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to its customers, distributors and resellers for their continued support and encouragement.

For more information visit www.accsoon.com​

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Images from this release can be downloaded here.