User Manual

CHAPTER
103
12 Networking
OVERVIEW
The Audio Video Bridging (AVB) network port on
the 8pre-es opens up a world of possibilities for
creating expanded, customized audio network
systems.
About AVB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
MOTU’s AVB implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Networking examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
A quick guide to networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Setting up a MOTU interface for networking . . . . . . . . . . 107
Mapping audio to network streams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Mapping computer channels to network streams. . . . . 107
Device presets and AVB stream connections . . . . . . . . . . 108
Bridging to Ethernet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The MOTU AVB Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Connecting directly to a Mac host. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
ABOUT AVB
Audio Video Bridging (AVB) is an extension of
the Ethernet standard developed by the IEEE
(802.1 standards committee) specifically to add
high-performance audio and video networking.
☛ You may also hear AVB referred to as
AVB/TSN or simply TSN because the IEEE is in
the process of renaming the standard to Time
Sensitive Networking to accommodate the
expanding scope of the specification to
applications beyond audio and video.
AVB brings together the worlds of networking
technology and high-end audio. Here is a brief
summary of some of the immediate benefits of
AVB for you, as a MOTU interface user:
■ An open industry standard — AVB has been
developed by the IEEE as an international
standard specification. It is not proprietary or
controlled by one company.
■ High channel counts — AVB provides hundreds
of network channels.
■ Extremely low latency — AVB guarantees low-
latency, real-time performance.
■ Guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) — AVB’s
Stream Reservation Protocol provides Guaranteed
Quality of Service for each and every audio
stream. If the network cannot continuously
maintain every bit of every sample in the audio
stream, it will not allow you to make the network
connection in the first place. AVB streams are
prioritized over other network traffic to ensure
high performance.
■ Network-wide clocking and sync — AVB
devices all clock together over your network for
better-than-sample-accurate phase lock across all
connected devices. Timing accuracy is down to
the nanosecond.
■ True plug-and-play operation — AVB has been
designed from the ground up to provide automatic
device discovery, enumeration, and connection
management. Just plug the 8pre-es into a standard
AVB switch and go. If you wish to make stream
connections and have the ability to select media
clock, you must use the web app, or some other
AVB controller. You don’t need an IT professional
to configure the network. AVB is a self-managing
network protocol.
■ Bridging to standard Ethernet — AVB
cooperates with standard Ethernet networks, for
connecting traditional Ethernet devices like
wireless routers, switches, or any other non-AVB-
aware device.