The AoIP implementation supports Livewire (including Livewire Clock and Livewire Routing Protocol), SMPTE ST 2110-30 / -31 Level A, and AES67. It is capable of generating multicast streams with between 1 - 8 audio channels per stream. Support for up to 64 audio channels per stream is planned for a future release.

Expand the Senders (TX) (A) portion of the AoIP menu, revealing the ADD/DEL buttons (B). Clicking ADD generates a new stream with the default settings and name. Clicking DEL deletes the selected individual stream. Each Sender (C) has its own configuration and status page.

Protocol (D)

Selects the type of AoIP stream. Choices include Livewire, AES67, and ST2110.

Status (E)

• Session Status - Displays the status of the current session.

• RTP Status - Displays the status of the Real-time Transport Protocol.

• SDP - Shows the Session Description Protocol (AES67 and ST2110 only).

• Provisional Stream Status - Displays live status information for the stream.

• Reset Sender Status - Resets the live status information shown in the Provisional Stream Status window.

• Interface 1 and Interface 2 - Displays the RTP status of the individual interfaces.

Settings (F)

• Enable - Enables or disables the stream.

• Stream Name - Allows for a unique name for the stream.

• Channel Count - Displays the number of enabled audio channels present in the stream.

• Packet Time - Selects the packet time; options vary depending upon the selected protocol.

• Seamless Protection Switching - When enabled, specifies the reconstruction of the original stream in case packets are lost in any path per SMPTE 2022-7.

• Codec - Selects the desired codec (AES67 and ST2110 only).

• DSCP - Selects the Differential Code Service Point.

• Auto RTP Payload Type - When enabled, automatically selects the RTP payload type regardless of what is specified in the RTP Payload Type field.

• RTP Payload Type - Allows the RTP payload type to be specified (AES67 and ST2100 only)

• RTP Port - Specifies the port used for RTP.

• TTL - Sets the Time to Live (packet lifetime) value.

• Media Interface 1 / Media Interface 2 - Enter the multicast destination address of the sender in the Destination IP Address field. When the Livewire protocol has been selected, an additional field for the Livewire Channel number appears.

Selecting Interfaces from the Main Menu adds a column next to the Main Navigation menu which shows all available I/O interfaces and, depending on the particular interface, sub-menus for settings and status.

Each interface is explained in detail in the dedicated sub-sections below.

When setting up a large number of receivers and senders, entering the information once in the New Stream Defaults section pre-populates the most common fields and eliminates the need to repeatedly enter the information with each new addition.

Protocol (A)

Selects the type of AoIP stream. Choices include Livewire, AES67, and ST2110.

Receiver (B)

Some values may ybe pre-selected based on the protocol, while others are initially blank to allow for a customized value. When you anble the settings they will appear in the Receivers and Senders stream setups in the following chapters. To ease the assignmment of multicast addresses for receiving streams you can set a Start Destination Address Prefix.

If Seamless Protection Switching is used you can set this address for streams for Media Interface 2 as well.

Sender (C)

• Seamless Protection Switching - ON/OFF

• Codec - Select the type of codec for 2110 / AES67 streams

• Auto RTP Payload Type - the paylaod type will b eautomatically set depending on the selected protocol

• Start Destination Address Prefix

The SDI Interface menu contains sub-pages for Status, Setup, the De-Embedder, and the Embedder.

Status

Select Status (A) from the Interfaces > SDI menu.

Displayed information includes:

• SDI Status (B) - Shows the status of the internal clock as Locked or Unlocked.

• Video Format (C) - Indicates the video format as SD, HD, 3G, or N/A.

• Video Standard (D) - Displays the actual decoded standard (e.g., 1080i50), no SDI lock, or TAG last valid.

• Overview (E) - Graphically shows the status and potential issues within the SDI signal path. For example, If there is no SDI reference present, the input portion of the graphic will turn red.

• Audio De-Embedder Status (F) - Indicates the format of the de-embedded signal as PCM, Dolby E, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, MPEG-4 HE AAC, MPEG-4 AAC, or N/A.

• VANC Metadata De-Embedder Status (G) - The indicator turns green when the SDID is detected in the stream; the pre-selected stream as established in the de-embedder setup stream is also identified.

• Audio Embedder Status (H) - Indicates the status of the embedder as follows:

  • AUTO Embedding - A new group will be built.

  • AUTO Replace - The structure of the group from the input is retained and the audio content is simply replaced.

  • Delete - The group from the input is deleted.

  • OFF - The embedder for the group is disabled.

• VANC Metadata Embedder Status (I) - Shows the status of the embedder as Enabled or Disabled (for details, see the SMPTE ST 2020-2 standard).

• ARIB STD-B39 Control Data Status (J) - Indicates the status as Available or Not Available along with the Audio Mode; for more information on the ARIB Japanese standard, see "Structure of Inter-Stationary Control Data Conveyed by Ancilliary Data Packets" at https://www.arib.or.jp/english/std_tr/broadcasting/desc/std-b39

• Embedder Metadata Errors (K) - Indicates metadata errors including No Show, Overwrite, Overwrite Block, Overflow, and Audio Sync errors plus the status of the test pattern generator.

Setup

Select Setup (A) from the Interfaces > SDI menu.

The SDI Bypass section (B) contains two controls:

• The SDI Relay Bypass, when enabled, de-activates the bypass relay which serves to connect SDI-IN directly to SDI-OUT1 in the event of a power failure. It also disconnects the de-embedder from the SDI input.

• The SDI Embedder Bypass, when enabled, will pass embedded audio data from the de-embedder directly through to the embedder 1:1, preserving the original Ancillary Data structure.

The Video Delay section (D) sets the video delay in whole frames to compensate for any latency incurred in the audio chain. "0" turns off the delay function.

The Level B Stream Select dropdown in the 3G SDI Mode section (E) allows Stream 1 or Stream 2 to be used for the embedded audio per SMPTE 425M for details should the 3G-SDI signal contain two HD sub-streams.

The Test Pattern Generator section (C) offers a test generator to either check downstream connections during installation or for use when there is an input source failure. It can also be used to move 16 independent audio channels over a single coax cable from point to point.

The Mode menu includes OFF, AUTO (Input Loss), and Always ON.

The Video Format menu sets the generator's desired output format (resolution and frame rate) and whether it displays color bars or a black frame.

De-Embedder

Select De-Embedder (A) from the Interfaces > SDI menu.

The HD SDI standard allows for asynchronous audio, which may require the use of an embedded Wordclock, and is critical in applications that synchronize the audio transport from the SDI de-embedder.

The Audio Sync Source section (B) sets the Embedded Wordclock source.

• Auto - Asychornous audio is automatically sync'd to the Wordclock of De-Embedded Channel 1.

• DEM1 - Asynchronous audio is manually sync'd to the incoming SDI signal.

The VANC Metadata De-Embedder section (C) enables or disables the metadata de-embedder; when enabled, the Stream Select menu chooses the individual stream source for the metadata (SSID 1 - SSID 9).

Embedder

Select Embedder (A) from the Interfaces > SDI menu.

The Audio Embedder Section (B) contains the following controls:

• Delete Existing Data - Choices include ALL, New HANC Structure, and OFF.

• Each Group, 1 - 4, has its own Embedding Mode menu. Choices include:

  • OFF - Disables embedding altogether.

  • AUTO - Embedding

  • AUTO - Replace Audio

  • Delete

• The AES Channel Status menu offers a choice of Transparent or Professional.

VANC Metadata can be embedded using the following controls in the VANC Metadata Embedder Section (C).

• Enable - Enables and disables the metadata embedder.

• Delete Existing Metadata - All / OFF.

• Stream Select - Determines into which stream the metadata is inserted (SSID 1 - SSID 9).

• Vidoe Line - Selects which line number receives the metadata, which varies depending upon the video standard employed and how many lines are available for data insertion.

Each embedded audio signal can be delayed independently in the Embedder Audio Delay section (D). This feature is useful for maintaining lip sync when if a video delay is used. Values are in milliseconds (ms) with a range of 0 - 340.

Device

Select Device (A) from the Interfaces > SDI menu.

The Parameter Version (B) and Firmware Version (C) of the SDI interface are displayed.

Expand the AoIP portion of the Interfaces menu, then select Setup.

AoIP (A)

• Enable - Enables or disables the AoIP interface.

• Sync Source (B) - Displays the sync source and indicates if the clock is locked (green dot) and shows the name of the interface where PTP is received.

• Leader ID (C) - shows the MAC address of the current PTP leader

Management Interface (D), Media Interface 1 (E), Media Interface 2 (D)

All three interfaces work identically.

• Interface - Selects the respective LAN interface by its system name.

• Link State - Indicates the status of the selected LAN interface (green = Up).

• IP Address - Displays the IP4 address of the selected LAN interface.

Livewire (G)

• LWRP (Livewire Routing Protocol) Password Status - Indicates whether or not a Livewire password has been set or not set.

• LWRP Password - The field in which a password may be entered. Toggling the "eye" symbol to the right of the text field allows the password to be visible. Click <APPLY> to save the password. If done the Apply button changes to <CLEAR PASSWORD>.

• 256 Ch Extension License (I) The flexAI core license limits the number of audio channels to 256 for the receivers and the transmitters. If you must use more that this number you must acquire another such license. The field Claimed Extensions below shows the respective number.

• Packet Processing With the introduction of the new High-Efficiency Audio-over-IP (XDP), the user can optimize the system's performance. In general, once the XDP mode is enabled (J), the system load reduces significantly, and packet sizes of 0,125 ms, 0,25 ms and 0,5 ms are unlocked on the transmitter end. However, as the load on an AIXpressor can still be high due to the high packet density, we have introduced a switch <Interval> that allows the user to balance the system between speed and CPU load. The decision is influenced by whether the short packet sizes are needed to optimize latency or if it's solely about transmitting a high number of channels per stream.

  If the goal is a high number of channels, it may be sufficient to transmit packets every 1 ms (several packets in burst mode), significantly relieving the system. On the other hand, if low latency is crucial, the packets must be sent at the same interval as the set packet size, but this simultaneously increases the system load. Rule of thumb for Packet Sizes below 1 ms:

  Small Packet Size + Small Packet Processing Interval = Low Latency + Higher System Load

  Small Packet Size + Large Packet Processing Interval = Slightly Higher Latency (corresponding to interval setting) + Lower System Load. For Packet Sizes equal or above 1 ms the interval setting has no relevance.

NMOS Registry (K)

This colume is meant to set the NMOS IS-04 Discovery Mode. I.e. how the device finds a NMOS registry in the network.

Status (L)

• Connection - Connected (green dot) / Unconnected (red dot)

• Host - IP address of the NMOS registry host

• Port - of the IP connection to the host

• Version - of the registry implementation

Settings (M)

• Discovery Mode - - Multicast DNS-SD (mDNS) flexAI is looking for a NMOS Registry Server by using mDNS. - Unicast DNS-SD flexAI is looking for a NMOS Registry Server by using Unicast DNS within the selected Domain - Manual You may set the host IP4 address and the port number of the Registry Server to query

• Domain Domain name of the network for manually connecting to a NMOS regestry

• Host IP address of the NMOS regestry for manually connecting

• Port Port number of teh NMOS regetry for manually connecting

• Query Registry ON / OFF

Receiver (N)

• Remaining Licensed Channels

• Remaining Licensed Streams

Auto Link Offset / Delay (O)

Will be used by the receiver when Auto Link Offset is turned on, to automaticaally deal with the network latency. Should be set in relation to the duration, in microseconds, of the latency present in the network. See AES67-2018 (page 20) that illustrates the link offset definition. Generally speaking, setting a value of three times the packet time selected in the Sender will provide more robust timing though with a small increase in overall latency. Separate fields are provided for each of the supported packet time options.

Stream Naming (P)

One may use the name from the sender stream or set an own stream name

Discovery (Q)

• Discovery Protocol Filter - The Discovery Protocol Filter can be set to either look for Livewire, SAP/AES67/ST2110, or NMOS/AES67/ST2110 when searching for streams in the network.

• Default Name Filter field is provided to assign the filter a unique name to be used in the stream setup process.

Sender (R)

• Remaining Licensed Channels

• Remaining Streams

Auto DSCP (S)

Allows for selecting the appropriate QoS - Differentiated Services Code Point for each of the supported packet time options.

AIXpressor has a 6.3mm (1/4") front-panel analog headphone jack.

Select Headphones (A) from the Interfaces menu to adjust the output volume. Set the output volume by clicking and dragging the Headphone Gain slider (B). Enabling High Gain (C) boosts the headphone output to drive high impedance headphones.

The source for the headphone output is selected in the Signal Routing menu.

Headphone volume can also be adjusted on the front panel by touching the Headphone symbol (A) from the home screen, then using the slider.

AIXpressor has four AES3 interfaces proving a total of eight I/O audio channels. It may also be configured as four inputs and twelve outputs to support the monitoring of immersive audio formats.

Select AES3 (A) from the Interfaces menu.

Displayed information includes:

• Relay Bypass (B) - Enables or disables the hard relay bypass for the AES3 input. When enabled, AES3 I/O routing will default to the configuration set by the jumpers near the I/O connector. See the AES3 I/O Relay Bypass portion of the Technical Data section for details.

• AES Status Pair (C) - Indicates the status of the AES3 receiver (OK or Fail).

• Signal Status Pair (D) - Shows the signal status for each stereo pair.

• SRC Stereo Pair (E) - Enables or disables the sample rate converters for each of the four stereo pairs.

• I/O Mode (F) - Selects either the eight input/eight output mode or the four input/twelve output mode.

• Output Force Channel Status (G) - Options include Transparent, Auto, Prof PCM, Prof Non-PCM, Cons PCM, and Cons Non-PCM.

AIXpressor has two independent optical interfaces which can be configured for tieLight and/or MADI.

tieLight is a proprietary Jünger interface providing high channel count and low latency - up to 1,024 bi-directional audio channels with a total latency equalling four samples. It is designed to daisy-chain multiple AIXpressor units and/or flexAI servers.

AIXpressor has a built-in tieLight interface, while flexAI servers use an optional PCIe card available from Jünger.

Select Setup (A) under tieLight / MADI from the Interfaces menu. Use the Interface Transmission Mode dropdown (B) to set the mode for both interfaces. Choices include:

• MADI independent - Both interfaces use MADI but operate independently from one another.

• MADI redundant - Both interfaces use MADI but are configured identically to provide redundancy.

• tieLight independent - Both interfaces use tieLight but operate independently from one another.

• tieLight redundant - Both interfaces use tieLight but are configured identically to provide redundancy.

• IF1 MADI, IF2 tieLight: Interface 1 uses MADI; Interface 2 uses tieLight.

• IF1 tieLight, IF2 MADI: Interface 1 uses tieLight; Interface 2 uses MADI.

When using tieLight, PTP sync distribution across multiple devices can be set in the tieLight PTP Role dropdown (A). Choices include Master, Slave, and Passive.

SFP Status Pages

SFP 1 and SFP 2 each have independent but identical status pages (A).

Displayed information includes:

• RX Status (B) - Shows the current status of the selected optical input as reported from the SFP module.

• Signal Status Stereo Pair (C) - Indicates the presence of a signal for each pair as well as the type of signal (PCM, Dolby E, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, MPEG-4 HE-AAC, MPEG-4 AAC, and N/A). This information is gathered and analyzed by the core FPGA router using the signal headers of adjacent odd and even signals (stereo pairs). In addition to simply showing status, the information can be used globally for other functions including event management or muting processor inputs.

Expand the Receivers (RX) (A) portion of the AoIP menu, revealing the ADD/DEL buttons (B). Clicking ADD generates a new stream with the default settings and name. Clicking DEL deletes the selected individual stream. Each Receiver (C) has its own configuration and status page.

Protocol (D)

Selects the type of AoIP stream. Choices include Livewire, AES67, and ST2110.

Status (E)

• Session Status - Displays the status of the current session.

• RTP Status - Displays the status of the Real-time Transport Protocol.

• Provisional Stream Status - Displays live status information for the stream.

• Interface 1 and Interface 2 - Displays the RTP status of the individual interfaces.

Settings (F)

• Enable - Enables or disables the stream.

• Stream Name - Allows for a unique name for the stream.

• Channel Count - Displays the number of enabled audio channels present in the stream.

• Seamless Protection Switching - When enabled, specifies the reconstruction of the original stream in case packets are lost in any path per SMPTE 2022-7.

• SDP - Allows the Session Description Protocol information to be entered (AES67 and ST2110 only). SDP information will be gathered and displayed in the Discovery section and may be copied and pasted here.

The parameters below are available when Show Expert Settings is enabled:

• Codec - Selects the desired codec (AES67 and ST2110 only).

• Auto Link Offset - Enables or disables auto link offset.

• Link Offset - When Auto Link Offset is disabled, allows a specific link offset value to be added to the minimum RTP offset to keep the RTP offset value positive.

• Ignore RTP Payload Type - When enabled, the RTP payload type will be ignored.

• RTP Port - Specifies the RTP port.

• Interface 1 and Interface 2 - Enter the multicast destination address of the receiver in the Destination IP Address field. When the Livewire protocol has been selected, an additional field for the Livewire Channel number appears.

Discovery (G)

The Discovery section shows the senders available via Livewire, AES67, and ST2110. When highlighted, the details of each stream will be displayed. A Filter field provides a means of entering a stream name or keyword to minimize the amount of scrolling required on a large network. Clicking the Apply button will copy the announcement information to the current receiver.

The Dante interface provides 32 AoIP streams with a total of 64 audio channels to and from the Brooklyn II module on the Jünger DT-100 board. All settings can be performed via the Dante Controller software available for download from the Audinate website:

Figure 13 below shows an example of the routing matrix of the Dante Controller where transmit and receive channels from various Dante interfaces are connected. The interface is color-coded. Red indicates the module resides in a different subnet. Blue represents non-Dante interfaces discovered on the AoIP network that provide AES67 multicast streams (such as Ravenna). Black represents native Dante interfaces operating in either Dante or AES67 mode. Note that if two Dante modules operating in AES67 mode exchange audio signals, the streams will default to Dante Unicast mode.

We strongly recommend studying the numerous documents available from AIMS and the Internet Engineering Task Force to familiarize yourself with the terms used in AoIP networks from PTP over mDNS to Layer 3 routing. For Dante-specific documents are available on the , and imparting such knowledge is beyond the scope of this manual.

When a Dante interface is installed, it will be automatically named by AIXpressor.

Status

Select Status (A) from the Interfaces > Dante menu. The following information is displayed in the status screen (B):

• Device Name - The name of the Dante interface used by the Dante controller software to locate it.

• Sync Source - The AoIP network to which the Dante interface is connected.

• Sync Status - Indicates whether the interface sync is locked or unlocked.

• Preferred Master - Indicates whether this Dante interface is set to be a preferred master for other Dante devices.

• Network Audio Sample Rate - Indicates the sample rate for AoIP audio.

• Device Latency Setting - Defines the size of the buffer size in milliseconds (ms) required to handle network-related latencies.

• AES67 Enabled - Indicates whether or not the interface can connect to both Dante and AES67 networks.

• Device Access Lock - Shows whether the interface is unlocked or locked to prevent authorized access to the module.

Receiver

Select Receiver (A) from the Interfaces > Dante menu. The following information is displayed:

• Channel Label (C) - These are the labels for the 64 transmit channels; they display as numbers from 01 to 64 by default but can be customized using the Dante Controller.

• Connection Status (D) - Shows the connection to each channel as OK, Fail, or N/A.

• Signal Status Stereo Pair (E) - The routing FPGA analyses the signal headers of adjacent odd and even signals that may form a stereo pair. This status information can be used globally for event management or to mute processor inputs. The type of signal is also displayed (PCM, Dolby E, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, MPEG-4 HE-AAC, MPEG-4 AAC, or N/A).

• Connected to (F) - Receiver channels must be routed (connected) to transmit channels within the AoIP network. The Dante Controller must be used for signal routing. The receiver shows the transmission channel label and the device name separated by an "@".

• Subscription Status (G) - This indicates whether the receiver is subscribed and if so, to which type of connection. Options include Connected (Unicast), Connected (Multicast), No Subscription, and Subscription Unresolved.

Transmitter

Select Transmitter (A) from the Interfaces > Dante menu. The following information is displayed:

• Routing Label (B) - The routing label is automatically assigned by AIXpressor and serves as a reference in the Routing matrix of the Dante Controller.

• Channel Label (C) - The channel label must be specified and assigned in the Dante Controller.

Primary Network

The Dante interface has two network connectors that may be configured as redundant or switched.

In redundant mode, the interface can be connected to two independent AoIP networks to provide "Seamless Protection Switching" as defined in SMPTE 2022-7.

In switched mode, both networks ports combine to build an Ethernet switch using the built-in Brooklyn II Ethernet interface.

Select Primary Network (A) from the Interfaces > Dante menu.

The Connection Status (B) section shows the following information:

• Network Status - Indicates if the interface is connected to an active network and at what speed (Connected 1G, Connected 100M, Offline, Pending, N/A).

• PTPv1 and PTPv2 Status - Shows the status of the PTP clocks (Startup, Initializing, Faulty, Disabled, Listening, Pre Master, Master, Passive, Uncalibrated, Slave, NA).

The Current Network Status (C) contains the following information:

• Current Mode - Redundant or Switched.

• Current Enable DHCP - On or Off.

• Current IP Information - Including IP address, Netmask, DNS Server, Gateway, and MAC Address.

The Change Network Settings(C) section allows the following information to be changed:

• Request New Mode - Redundant (the default setting) or Switched.

• Config IP Information - Allows changes to DHCP (enabled by default), IP Address, Netmask, DNS Server, and Gateway values.

Secondary Network

Settings for the Secondary Network are identical to the Primary Network with one exception in the Request New Mode setup. If the Secondary network port is not connected or the Primary port is set to "Switched," the network status changes to "Offline" and no PTP status is available.

AIXpressor's built-in analog interface provides a total of eight inputs and eight outputs. It may also be configured as four inputs and twelve outputs to support the monitoring of immersive audio formats.

Select Analog (A) from the Interfaces menu.

Displayed information includes:

• Headphone Status (B) - Indicates whether or not headphones are connected.

• I/O Mode (C) - Selects either the eight input/eight output mode or the four input/twelve output mode.