REPORT 051


Harman Professional CEO Blake Augsburger


protocol. IEEE 802.1 Qat – Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP); an end-to-end bandwidth reservation protocol within a bridged LAN. IEEE 802.1 Qav – Forwarding and Queuing for Time-Sensitive Streams; A/V traffic scheduling enhancements for a mainstream Ethernet and other network switches.


IEEE 802.1 BA – Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) Systems Why will AVB succeed?


on record as regarding ‘traditional’ automation and multiroom networking systems as being ‘too complicated for both end-users and installers to have longevity’. Harman has a unique take on AVB. This is partly down to the spread of its brands and partly because of its investment in its own HiQNet. “We put together the SDIG [Systems Development Integration Group] about eight years ago, and started really focusing on control and monitoring,” Augsburger said in a recent interview. “We were moving data around with CobraNet, then about two years ago we got very involved in the AVnu Alliance. Up to that point we were able to move data over an Ethernet cable - we knew it was going to get there but we didn’t know when it was going to get there; you’d have all sorts of jitter [sync] problems. What Ethernet AVB did for us was it solved that jitter problem and then it also allowed us to increase the bandwidth so we could move audio and video.” In the words of Product Application Specialist Tom Cram, who has long involvement in HiQNet’s development, “It was kind of like letting go - good for the industry but hard for Harman. Now it’s in the industry’s hands...”


Real-world networking


“The key for us - and I think the key for this business in general - is that we have to simplify the installation,” Blake Augsburger summarises. “Today, to do a Crestron or AMX system, you have to be trained and constantly stay up on the training. How do we simplify that whole process?


“Our goal is to make it easy-to-use, plug-and-play. That would mean guys [inte- grators] can lower their costs. If you look at a contractor on the professional side, if he’s going to put in a system he’s got to have somebody on his staff who’s an expert at every component,” he adds. “It’s the same thing for a residential installer. If he’s going to put a system in, he’s got to have somebody on his staff who knows everything.”


One of the key aspects to AVB’s operation is that it is an isosynchronous protocol - one that overcomes the synchronisation issues referred to by Augsburger by using its own clock. According to the specification, AVB allows the transmission of audio and video streams to be synchronised within a microsecond of each other, with low delay, and with minimal lost data due to network congestion. The range of delay and amount of lost data will depend on the particular network technologies (Ethernet, wireless...) on the stream path. AVB looks set to deliver the aims identified by Blake Augsburger, as it will sup- port the complexities of present (and desired) AV networks without demanding comprehensive knowledge of the complex configuration typically required today for infrastructure devices, such as gateways and switches. It also guarantees the necessary bandwidth of different communications for ‘forward communication’ - that is, traffic that has yet to be sent. If such a reservation request is granted, the traffic is protected from competing unreserved traffic. This is set against the system’s ability to protect itself from reservation requests that would cause the total to exceed a maximum percentage of the available bandwidth on any given link.


Because reservation requests are assessed at each network hop via the reservation protocol, there is no need for manual configuration of priority, VLAN, and Layer 2 multicast addresses in the infrastructure devices, as is currently required by some proprietary solutions. The core standards that AVnu Alliance is looking to are covered in the IEEE 802.1 Audio / Video Bridging (AVB) draft standards. These include: IEEE 802.1 AS – Timing and Synchronisation for Time-Sensitive Applications in Bridged Local Area Networks (LANs); a precision time synchronisation


AVB’s advocates are unanimous in their confidence. “AVB is the evolution of Ethernet,” states Lee Minich, President of Lab X Technologies and AVnu Alliance Marketing Workgroup Chairman. “Whereas other proprietary protocols have tried to work around the shortcomings of ‘legacy’ Ethernet, AVB makes the fundamental changes to the underlying infrastructure to make Ethernet AV media aware.” AVB is part of the established Ethernet standard, and is capable of supporting both audio and video networks - not only in pro audio and video applications, but using different manufacturers’ products in complex systems such that they can be treated as a single device. Furthermore, it is appealing to a variety of different industries - and this also is key, as some of those other industries are very large and will play a major part in driving AVB’s development forward, as well as bearing the brunt of the development costs. Under the hood, AVB connects devices in a ‘network style’, yet promises to be more flexible than point-to-point protocols. It will also be quick to set up, lower- ing installation costs and the level of expertise required to implement, operate and maintain an AVB-based installation.


It readily allows a network to be monitored, and to provide confidence monitoring, flagging of failures, and the splitting and sharing of signals. It also lends itself to remote control, so that installations can be programmed, monitored and controlled from distant sites. As well as the systems owners or operators, this could include third-party maintenance, further relieving operators of the necessity for in-house expertise.


President of Lab X Technologies, Lee Minich


As it stands, some manufacturers are already implementing AVB support in their equipment, with others announcing their intent to follow. This ready take-up looks likely to generate the critical mass to guarantee AVB’s success.


To close 2010, Lee Minich did a straw poll on Linked In, asking what the biggest impact of AVB was in 2010, and requesting AVB related predictions for 2011. The volume of response itself was a measure of current interest in AVB. And the comments made were a good reflection of people’s positions and concerns. Among them, Avid’s David Gibbons offered a balanced summary: “I’m very excited by the momentum that has gathered around AVB during 2010, and continue to feel good about Avid’s commitment in live sound to both the standard, and to the AVnu organi- sation,” he said. “I predict we’ll see continued acceleration in 2011, some significant AVB-based product introductions, solid progress and closure on standards ratifica- tion, and general consensus (particularly in pro audio) from both manufacturers and their customers that this is the right solution for everyone to get behind.”


www.ieee802.org/1 www.AVnu.org


http://tinyurl.com/LinkedIn-AVB


www.mondodr.com


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