System Architecture

To maintain maximum flexibility for the intercom user and facilitate integration into system infrastructures, it is necessary to configure the host servers’ network and Docker IP addresses.

The configuration process only needs to be completed when Infinity VIP is first switched on. If the network addresses need to be changed or any of the system parameters detailed below need to be modified, then the configuration process will need to be re-run.

When the configuration is complete, Infinity VIP can be rebooted and will automatically reload all its setups and configurations without further input from the user.

Software

Infinity VIP uses the Docker platform to run each of the software components that make up the Infinity VIP intercom. Typically, these consist of Dashboard, Link16 for VoIP internet calls, and the virtual panels.

The software architecture and its interconnectivity are shown in Fig 1.1 operating on the Infinity VIP server, Linux metal server, or Linux virtual server. The righthand side of the diagram shows the host Linux components and the two network adapters, eth1 for the WAN and eth0 for the AoIP network. If the network administrator only wants to allocate one ethernet port connection, then eth1 (AoIP) can be used but must have access to the internet for Link VoIP internet voice calls as well as to comply with system licensing.

The boxes to the right under “Host Ubuntu OS Components” show the Nginx Web Server and other OS-level services to enable Docker and the VIP intercom to operate.

The boxes to the left under “Products (containers)” show the individual software components (containers) that make up Infinity VIP.

The internal multicast network box encompasses two elements, “telosmacvlan-gw” and “telosmacvlan (multicast IP network) which are software networks within the host server that facilitate the host server, Docker and management utilities for connectivity to the WAN and AoIP networks.

If Infinity VIP connects to other Telos Alliance AoIP products and systems or third-party AoIP products and systems, multicast IP addresses must be allocated to facilitate audio distribution over the IP network. These are independent of the device and panel control IP addresses.

If Infinity VIP does not connect to any other hardware panels or systems, then multicast IP is not required as all audio mixing and processing takes place in the Infinity VIP Server.

Audio to and from the virtualized panel running on a PC web browser is transferred in accordance with the HTML5 specification and is outside the scope of AoIP multicasting.

IP Allocation

Before installation can take place, it is necessary to allocate two network connections and IP addresses for the Infinity VIP Server, Dashboard, and each individual virtual intercom panel.

The table below shows a typical IP address allocation for an Infinity VIP system consisting of Dashboard with six VIP16 virtual panels and two VIP8 virtual panels. These IP addresses are for system and device control and are separate from the AoIP addresses that must be allocated during system configuration through Dashboard (as detailed later in this manual).

• The “Host Ubuntu Server” address is needed to maintain the host Linux server independently of the Docker platform and container services that make up Infinity VIP. This is required by IT network and system administrators who require access to the server independently of any services that may be running on it.

• “Portainer Access” is an open-source software utility (detailed later in this manual) that provides management monitoring, control, and configuration for the Docker container applications that make up the Infinity VIP system.

• “VIP Server” Sends invitations to connect to Infinity VIP; it also handles authentication from uses and must be running for remote users to connect.

• The VIP16 and VIP8 virtual panels are the user panels operating on computers, laptops, tablets, and cell phones.