I/O, Clocking, and Reference

Configuring inputs, outputs, clock reference, delays, sample rate converters, and GPI/O.

Input and Output Routing

Connect your SDI, AES-3, and/or AES67 sources to the rear panel of the UPMAX ISC as required for your installation.

The UPMAX ISC can access any of the eight audio pairs carried in the incoming HD- or SD-SDI streams applied to SDI Input 1. Inputs and outputs for five stereo pairs via AES-3 are also provided.

Any visible and accessible AES67 networked audio source can be input into UPMAX ISC for processing then returned to the network via AES67, embedded into the SDI output, and/or sent to the AES-3 output. UPMAX ISC supports taking an input signal from one source type and sending the resulting audio or bitstream to another output type.

Initial I/O Setup

Log into the UPMAX ISC and click on the I/O menu (5-1A). Choose between SDI/AES-3/MADI or AES67 inputs and outputs in the Workflow menu (5-1D). Program (processed) routing, Passthrough (unprocessed) routing, or both can be viewed by toggling the Program/Passthrough switches (5-1E).

Much like the upmixing presets described in the Program menu overview in the Remote User Interface section, I/O presets can also be saved and recalled in the Preset menu (5-1B). Clicking on the I/O Preset management icon (5-1C) reveals a dropdown menu with the following options:

• Save: Saves the current I/O settings to the selected preset, immediately over-writing the previous settings associated with the preset; note that if there are no user presets saved, the “Save As” dialogue box will appear and prompt you to enter the name of the new preset

• Save As: Saves the current I/O settings to a new preset; a “Save As” dialogue box will appear and prompt you to enter the name of the new preset

• Delete: Permanently deletes the selected preset

• Import: Allows you to import an I/O preset that was previously exported and saved to the remote PC; this can be a handy tool when setting up multiple units that are configured in exactly the same way rather than setting each control individually

• Export: Allows you to export an I/O preset either for safekeeping as a backup should it accidentally get erased from the unit, or for making it available for uploading to other units requiring the same configuration using the “Import” feature described above

Routing a signal into the UPMAX ISC is a two-step process.

The first step is creating an input group from the available physical hardware inputs (5-2A). The second step is routing the audio from these inputs into the upmixer input (5-2B).

Routing a signal to the output is a similar two-step process which starts with creating an output group from the available physical hardware outputs (5-2D) and then routing the audio from upmixer output (5-2C) to the physical outputs.

The Delete All Groups button (5-2E) provides a quick way to – you guessed it – delete all groups simultaneously.

Creating an Input Group

Click on your first audio input source (5-3A) to highlight it, then right-click and select “Create Input Group.” You may enter a custom name for this source in the Label field (5-3F) and customize the color (5-3D) of the graphical routing lines.

Multi-channel groups can be created by holding the “Shift” key while selecting sources (Shift + Click).

Creating groups using non-contiguous channels is accomplished by holding the “Ctl” key while selecting sources (Ctl + Shift).

NOTE: The channel order must still follow the proper convention to be properly assigned. For example, L/R, C/LFE, Ls/Rs, Lfh/Rfh, Lrs/Rrs if setting up a 5.1-channel input on SDI 1-6 with height channels on SDI 13-16.

If the channels in the input group are destined to be upmixed, select “Program” in the View as switch (5-3E). If the input group is being established only to pair shuffle or to pass through content without upmixing, choose “Passthrough.”

To quickly route a physical channel pair to the corresponding input to the upmixer – for example, to route AES 7/8 to input 7/8 of the upmixer – you may click on the Align button (5-3B) in lieu following the steps below for routing. Clicking the Clear All button (5-3C) acts as an “escape” button in case you need to start over.

Click the Save button (5-3G) to save the configuration or the Cancel button (5-2H) if you need to start over without saving your configuration.

Routing Audio to the Upmixer Input

After creating and saving the input, it is necessary to route the physical audio input pair to the input of the upmixer. Click on the input audio pair (5-4A), drag the lines to the desired upmixer input pair (5-4B), then release the left mouse button.

To edit, delete or re-assign an existing group, or to add an additional assignment for the same input audio pair, right-click on the colored rectangle (5-5A) to the right of the appropriate pair. The Edit menu (5-5B) will appear and offer the following options:

• Add Assignment: Only one upmixing instance is available in this software version, but additional instances are planned for future versions at which point it will be possible to route a group to multiple upmixers with this control

• Remove All Assignments: Clears all current channel mapping for the selected input audio pair

• Edit Group: Allows the input name and color to be changed

• Delete Group: Completely clears the input group

Creating an Output Group

The steps for creating an output group are identical to creating an input group, but with the Outputs menu.

Routing Audio to the Program Output

Once the first output group has been created and saved, drag the output audio lines from the physical outputs to the desired output pair of the upmixer, then click “Save.”

GPI/O

UPMAX ISC features five GPI and five GPO functions through its rear panel DB-15 connector, activated by a momentary contact closure.

GPI/O Pinout

Latency and Delays

Latency through the UPMAX ISC varies depending on which inputs and outputs are used and whether or not SRCs are enabled. In any case, it will be necessary to compensate for any latency incurring in the encoding process. Please see the Specifications section of this manual for latency measurements for the current software version.

To compensate for the processor’s latency and avoid lip-sync issues, an SDI video delay is provided in the Delays sub-menu of the I/O menu (5-7A). Click on the millisecond and/or microsecond fields in the Video Delay section (5-7B) and type in the required value. If the output needs to be delayed by an even frame (the value of which will vary depending on frame rate), simply enter that number.

Note: Entering an even frame value will result in a situation where it is necessary to add additional audio delay to the AES67 and AES-3 outputs so that they match the timing of the SDI output signal. This can be accomplished by setting the Audio Delay (5-7C) to a value equal to the difference between a full-frame and the latency of the unit.

Sample Rate Converters

Sample rate converters (SRCs) are provided on each SDI input pair, each SDI output pair of the first SDI output, and each AES-3 input pair, for a total of 36 SRCs altogether. The AES-3 output is always synced to the active reference clock. There are no SRCs in the AES67 path.

The SRCs can be enabled and disabled per pair by clicking on I/O (5-8A), highlighting then right-clicking on the appropriate input or output pair, and then selecting Input Settings (5-8B) (or Output Settings as appropriate).

Use the SRC enable switch (5-8C) to enable or disable the SRC for each active pair.

A Used counter (5-8D) is provided to help keep track of how many SRCs are in use and how many are available.

The Configuration switch (5-8E) allows the SRCs to distributed in one of two ways: 20 can be made available for Input and 16 for Output, or all 36 can be reserved for only the Input.

Clock Reference

Because the UPMAX ISC supports multiple input and output formats, having a firm grasp of the clock sync (reference) requirements is critical.

Clock Reference Requirements

Sample Rate Converters (SRCs) are provided on both SDI inputs, the SDI 1 output, and the AES-3 input. The AES-3 output is always synced to the active reference clock. There are no SRCs in the AES67 path.

Reference clock source options include:

• Internal 48kHz

• SDI Input

• AES-3 Input

• MADI Input (when optional MADI card is present)

• PTP (AES67)

When all input sources are SDI and the output of the processor is routed to the embedded SDI output, the reference signal present on the SDI input must be used.

When using AES-3 I/O, the UPMAX ISC can be referenced to either the AES-3 clock (using the SRCs in the SDI path) or to the SDI clock (using the SRCs in the AES-3 path.

When using an AES-3 source without an accompanying reference, the UPMAX ISC’s 48kHz internal clock can be used as the system reference if necessary, providing the SRC on the AES-3 input is enabled.

Whenever AES67 audio is used either on the input, the output, or both, the UPMAX ISC must slave to an externally-generated PTP clock as it cannot generate its own PTP reference.

NOTE: The UPMAX ISC is set to operate in slave mode by default. There are controls in the Sync/ QoS sub-menu of the System menu to change this should the ability to operate as a clock master be introduced in future software versions, but only Slave Only mode is currently supported.

Setting Clock Reference

Click on the Clock menu (5-9A). Use the dropdown menus to choose a Primary Reference Clock and a Secondary Reference Clock (5-9C) and, if needed, a VRef clock source (5-9E).

A status field (5-9D) is provided for the selected Primary and Secondary Reference Clocks to the right of the dropdown menu. The absence or presence of a signal for each input type along with the format, resolution, and frame rate for incoming SDI signals is shown in the Input Status section (5-9B).

GPI/O

The UPMAX ISC offers five GPI and five GPO functions through its rear panel DB-15 connector, activated by a momentary contact closure. The configuration is done by first clicking on the GPI/O menu (5-10A).

GPI/O Actions

GPI Actions (5-10C) include:

• None

• Reboot/Reset Unit

• Hardware (Relay) Bypass

• Recall Preset

• Recall I/O Preset

GPO Events (5-10E) include:

• None

• GPI Passthrough

• Power Supply 1 up

• Power Supply 2 up

• Power Supply 1 down

• Power Supply 2 down

• Unit resetting

• Unit rebooting

• Unit powering down

• Unit above temperature

• Unit bypass (relay bypass) active

• Change in reference

• Primary reference clock is lost

• Secondary reference is lost

• Primary reference clock is active

• Secondary reference is active

• Internal reference is active

The State Indicator (5-10B) for each function will light green for the duration of the closure on GPIs. For GPOs, it will light green for the duration of the active event.

A choice of associated Parameters (5-10D) is displayed for applicable Actions. At this time, there are no user-defined parameters associated with any GPI or GPO. Should functions with such parameters be included in future software releases, they will appear in a dropdown menu.