Operation Manual

 Line Rate: This column replaces the TS Rate column in the Advanced view. It indicates

the actual Ethernet line rate for the stream, including the MAC, IP, UDP, RTP and FEC

overheads.

 Null Padding: The configured value of this parameter (shown as No, Auto, or Manual).

 TOS: The configured value of this parameter.

 TTL: The configured value of this parameter.

 DF: The configured value of this parameter.

 Destination MAC: The destination MAC address for this IP Output. For multicast

destination addresses, this is derived from the destination IP address using the rules from

RFC 1112. For unicast destination addresses, this is obtained using the ARP protocol. If

this entry is the word Unknown, the B264 has failed to obtain a destination MAC address.

The IP Output is not streaming. A more detailed description of the unicast MAC address

algorithms used in the B264 is presented below.

Managing Unicast MAC Addresses

When the B264 is configured with a unicast destination address, it needs to obtain a

corresponding MAC address (corresponding to either the final destination, if it is in the same

subnet, or to the default gateway). These MAC addresses are obtained using the ARP protocol.

The B264 uses a custom MAC address management algorithm, designed specifically for MPEG

operation.

When an IP Output stream with a unicast destination address is created, the B264 immediately

starts attempting to obtain a MAC address for it, using standard ARP requests. These requests

are issued every two seconds until answered. No packets will be transmitted on that IP Output

until a MAC address can be obtained. Note that this process will happen even if the stream is

configured to be in the disabled state.

Once a MAC address is obtained, the B264 will cache it for about 5 minutes, as it is usual for IP

devices. Unlike other IP devices, the B264 will keep on using the MAC address until a response

is received, to avoid stream interruptions. If no response is received at that time, the B264 will

raise a yellow alarm. This alarm can be seen in the IP Output Statistics tab, described in detail

below.

The current state of the B264 current streaming ARP cache is available in the Advanced View of

the Active IP Outputs table, described above.

IP Outputs: Statistics Tab

The Statistics tab for the IP output ports contains a summary of each stream status. There are

two sub-tabs: one for Ethernet 1, and another for Ethernet 2. The tab is depicted below: