ALC NetworX launches Ravenna
Published: PRODUCTS
ALC NetworX, together with partner companies from the pro audio market, used IBC to introduce Ravenna, a technology for real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based network environments aimed primarily at the broadcast market.
Ravenna uses standardised network protocols and technologies to operate on existing network infrastructures. Its performance and capacity scale with the capabilities of the underlying network architecture.
The manufacturer reports that Ravenna’s key features include media clock distribution as defined by AES-11; sample-accurate play-out alignment of all nodes across the network; concurrent support of multiple media clocks; signal transparency; latency feasibly in the sub-milliseconds range; full redundancy support through dual network interfaces; stream configuration for data format, number of channels and bandwidth; unicast and multicast mode supported on a per-stream basis.
As an IP-based solution, Ravenna is in general infrastructure-agnostic and can be used on most existing network technology and topology. Streaming is based on the RTP/RTCP protocol, as it is widely used and supported by numerous applications and comes with a large number of standardised payload formats. DiffServ has been selected as QoS mechanism as it is widely supported by most modern managed switches. Synchronisation across all nodes is achieved through IEEE1588-2008 (PTPv2 Precision Time Protocol). System configuration and device discovery can use Zeroconf or DHCP / DNS methods for configuration in small networks or support for fully managed administration in complex network environments.
Ravenna is an open technology standard without a proprietary licensing policy. ALC NetworX has already teamed-up with companies from the pro audio market to present a variety of Ravenna-powered technology prototypes: Genelec, Lawo, Merging Technologies, Innovason, DirectOut, LSB / VSM Control and DSA Volgmann are amongst the early adopters.
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