Networking Now
It’s Time to Get On-Air With SSL Over IP
Audio-over-IP solutions are now in regular use
around the world and in a wide range of criticalapplications. The installed sound market has
been relying on IP transport for many years
already, and now many broadcasters are
implementing facility-wide AoIP technologies.
More recently, with the conversation moving tothe implementation of complete (Audio + Video)
networked production infrastructures, videoover-IP has taken centre-stage in the on-coming
standards discussions. This succession has richprecedence in our industry: Audio cassettes
appeared before VHS, CD’s preceded DVD’s, andSpotify came before Netflix. However, inthe case of IP, the networked video revolution
faces significant additional challenges - higher
data rates, more varied formats, and greatertransition costs.
So, while standards discussions continue inthat domain it is worth reminding ourselvesthat the solid foundation of Ethernet and TCP/
IP infrastructure is independent of the standards
it carries, and that the benefits of an IP-based
future cannot be overstated. These are lessons
that have already been learned in audio...

Infrastructure & Hardware
Where an IP infrastructure replaces a traditional
analogue studio wiring scheme, the basic
hardware advantages are plain. A single Cat5/6
or fibre cable can replace hundreds of analogue
connections and a single RJ45 Ethernet connector
can replace a large I/O panel, with connections
available wherever a Network I/O device isplugged in. Redundancy provision would double
the connections in a traditional patched systemof, say, 100 connections, to 200 connections,whereas an IP system would only double thenetwork connection count to two, no matter how
many channels you need.
Thus, wiring is greatly simplified, the cost of wall
panels is eliminated, and audio performance isimproved (no capacitance issues from long cableruns).
Keeping track of cross-patched numerical IDs
from a multitude of XLR sockets to a multitude of
console inputs and outputs is the bane of manystudio engineers. By routing in the IP domain,
every input or output of every networked device
can have a label that persists no matter where
the device is plugged in. In a network with a
discovery mechanism, such as Dante, devices
automatically register their presence to every
other device on the network and expose theirability to provide or receive signals.

1000’s of audio connections can be made with just a single off-the-shelf network switch.

Diverting resources from one location to another,or to multiple locations, is simply a matter ofchoosing the I/O on the network. Because I/O
is attached to the network and not directly toa processing core, all I/O on the Network isavailable anywhere, to any another device. Thereis no more physical patching, no expensive
cross-point routers in the way, and no studio,
console, or system-specific I/O - all I/O can bedeployed anywhere. All those costs disappear– reduced to IT industry standard switches fromvendors like Cisco, and only the I/O that youneed. And expansion is linear - simply add a
new device to the port on a switch or add a newswitch. Traditional cross-point router expansion
requires square-law increments, which brings
complexity and expense.

console, the network continues to function,
the routes between other devices continue
unaffected, and new routes can be made.
In this, we can also profit from IT standards, as
the mirrored configurations for parallel networks
are integral to high quality switches and provide
additional redundancy.

The discoverable network also provides inherent
permanency. There is no single point of failure.
If you remove an I/O device or turn off the mixing

There are now over 1000 Dante devices from over 350
manufacturers, all offering automatic network registration anddiscovery services.

System T - SSL’s fully networked AoIP-based broadcast audio production environment.

solidstatelogic.com/SystemTNetworking Now
It’s Time to Get On-Air With SSL Over IPStandards & Interoperability
A TV station’s infrastructure must knit together
a wide variety of systems and processes, and it
is inconceivable that one protocol could service
all of these. However, an IP network, or a set ofinterconnected networks, can. Ethernet andTCP/IP protocol are well defined, and thenetwork is simply a transport mechanism for anydata, so different media transports and control
protocols can live alongside each other to deliver

Registration is necessary for discoverability.
As we move forward after the SMPTE 2110
transport standard is ratified, it is likely that
NMOS IS-04 will be the preferred registration andcapability discovery mechanism. Again, this is
not an issue when you remember that multiple
media types and data from multiple applications
can co-exist in a networked infrastructure.
A great thing about SMPTE 2110 is that audio
data is separately packetized and so using it inaudio infrastructures will be seamless - unlike

Network Standards

IP infrastructure can carry data from multiple applications as well as media data.

the required functionality. They can interact asmuch as they need to, or not at all, and different
applications can access the content as required.
For example, in audio the AES has agreed AES67
as a standard. AES67 defines an IP transport
protocol for audio and is a useful way to connect
different AoIP technologies. AES67 does notinclude a single discovery mechanism (fourdifferent approaches are listed for considerationin the document), and it does not incorporate acontrol layer. However, a complete technology
such as the Dante AoIP protocol can incorporate
AES67 compatibility because of the Ethernet andTCP/IP foundation that underpins both.

the resource-hungry and expensive process ofembedding and de-embedding to and from SDI.
Of course, while GBit ports can transmit andreceive up to 512 audio channels at 48kHz,
video typically requires at least 10Gbit ports withassociated technical and cost constraints - oneof the big challenges for uptake of Video over IP
networks.

The SSL Audio Approach

The Future is What You Want

The three main elements of transport,
discoverability, and control are required to fully
realise the benefits of an IP-based infrastructure,
so at SSL we have chosen to use the Danteprotocol - a technology based on the IEEE andIETF standards that combines audio transport,registration, and control in a complete technology
solution. SSL Dante devices are ASE67
compatible and profit from an API that enables
other applications to manage devices and routing,and - importantly - the protocol is widely adopted.

IT infrastructure is agnostic to the standards
deployed on it. The entire industry does nothave to adopt a single standard when it adopts
an infrastructure technology that can carry
multiple standards. SSL understands this.

As such, it follows in the footsteps of manyother successful proprietary technolgies, suchas Dolby-E, CD, HDMI, and so on. It’s a protocolthat works and is properly supported by a large
community of experts. Over 350 manufacturers
now use Dante, and the number devices available
recently passed the 1000 mark (April 2017).

In the meantime, SSL is delivering a complete‘natively IP’ based production environment,with direct AoIP routing control of its own
devices and those from any of the many othermanufacturers of Dante products, as well as useof the network to flexibly locate and configure
control surface and processing components.
Our System T consoles and infrastructure started
shipping shortly after last year’s NAB and areon-air in the US, the UK, France, Denmark, Japanand Brazil among others.

The TV industry is changing faster and faster.
This is not a good time to be waiting for thedevelopment of standards, which althoughhelpful to the Video-over-IP transition, do nothave an immediate bearing on proven audio
solutions that are available now. So, SSL isalready deploying networked audio systems
operating on standard IT infrastructure using
complete, reliable technology, and will embrace
future standards as they develop.

SSL is a member of the AES, the Media Network
Alliance, and AIMS, and is closely engaged withall the standards discussions. We will embrace
confirmed standards as they emerge in order tosupport our customers’ workflows.

Even though new video-over-IP production
protocols are just emerging, broadcasters canbe confident that adopting Ethernet and TCP/IP
infrastructure for audio transport and routing is
not a blind leap, but an informed step into now,and into the future.

SSL is a member of the AES, the Media Network Alliance, andAIMS, and is closely engaged with all the standards discussions –ready to embrace standards as they emerge.

solidstatelogic.com/SystemTNetworking Now
It’s Time to Get On-Air With SSL Over IP
Networking Now Case Study: Canal Factory, Canal+

SSL recently installed a complete IP-based
production environment at Canal Factory, arecently developed production facility for daily
live programming and live music events from
French premium subscription channel Canal+
and free-to-air channel C8.
The facilities include two main audio control
rooms, three production stages, and a music
pre-mix studio. All audio I/O is connected to androuted around the facility’s IP network using theDante networked AoIP protocol via ‘Commercial
Off The Shelf’ (COTS) Cisco network switches.
This provides comprehensive, ultra-low latency
distributed routing with full device discovery andmore than 6000 x 6000 system channel capacity.
The Dante Network has also been extended to
the Canal+ Lumière studios via a fibre link, sothat studio’s existing MADI infrastructure is now
incorporated into the new network.
The Canal Factory also hosts a 100% networkbased video system that includes multiviewers,

processing, and edge routing technology, using
SMPTE 2022-6 (7 to come).
The two audio control rooms at Canal Factoryeach feature a 64-fader System T control surface,
an additional 16-fader pre-mix surface, and PCbased T-SOLSA control software with a 16-fader
panel, all connected to SSL Tempest AudioEngines. Dante system-wide routing can becontrolled directly from the console, or via thecontrol system routing panels in each room.
Those Tempest Engines (four in total) are in the
Machine room. SSL’s OCP network which handles
communication between Tempest Enginesand control interfaces is carried via the same
standard Cisco switching hardware as the Dantenetwork. The Machine Room also has network
interfaces for analogue and SDI, MADI and AES
digital signals, plus servers for Dante control
services and and other controllers.
The entire facility connects 120 Dante I/O devices
from SSL and several different manufacturers, allon the same network.
Charles Lesoil, Head of Engineering at Canal+,
commented: “The project has been a great
success... This facility is proof that a largescale AoIP network infrastructure can servea sophisticated round-the-clock broadcast
operation.”

More Information
More details on System T - SSL’s
networked audio broadcast
production environment - isavailable on the SSL website
here.

More detail on the SSL Network
I/O range of Dante based audio
interfaces is available on the SSL
web site here.

The SSL Systems Team bring
decades of broadcast systems
design to the challenges ofleveraging AoIP tehcnology
for broadcast. They can offer
expert guidance on the designof broadcast infrastructure using
AoIP technology. Click here forhelp and advice.

solidstatelogic.com/SystemT