L-Acoustics AVB

Switch management via LA NWM

After launching LA NWM software open the LS10 Manager found in the Utilities section of the main menu (click on the L-Acoustics logo).

Network tab

The LS10 switch ships with a default static IP address of 192.168.1.200, the control PC must be in the same IP range for discovery. (Switch management can also be done via a micro USB connection on the rear panel.)

Select your desired network adapter then choose Scan to find any LS10 on the network, then Connect to open a management session with a switch. 

Status tab

The status tab includes:

• switch device information including FW and MAC address
• GPIO state
• power supply status    
• gPTP GM ID (showing the AVB network Grandmaster device, on an AVB network this will be a switch not an AVB endpoint)
• AVB stream count (number of AVB talker streams on network)
• VLAN count
• general fault state

Port status shows:

• port state, mode, and speed
• error count
• RSTP: state (forwarding or blocking), role (root, alternate, or designated), and tcDet (topology change detected true or false)
• gPTP capable (is this port connected to an AVB capable device?)
• Class A and B (does the connected AVB device support Class A AVB, Class B AVB, or both?)
• Total AVB bandwidth available (typically defaults to 75% of the port capacity)
• Reserved AVB bandwidth (how much AVB bandwidth is currently reserved by talker streams sourced from this port?)

Config tab

There are some user configuration options in the LS10, including:

• management IP address
• RSTP enable/disable (enabled by default) 
• gPTP priority ranking (LS10 is capable of acting as gPTP grand master)
• error auto-recovery, used in case of optical link disconnection in redundant network topologies
• configuration for fault reporting via GPIO
• propagation delay threshold

AVB clock hierarchy

When using 3rd party AVB hardware with Tesira attention must be paid to the AVB clock hierarchy to ensure all AVB endpoints are in sync.

Tesira AVB can be clocked to one of 2 sources:

• internally (a configured Tesira system elects its own AVB master clock device which provides an AVB pilot stream to all other Tesira devices in the system to maintain clock sync. A system may also contain Dante or CobraNet I/O cards and the designer may elect to use one of those media formats for the system master clock. If another media format is selected for media master clock then Tesira AVB clocks will be slaved to the other media type and any 3rd party AVB devices must be slaved to the Tesira AVB clock. In this scenario, failure to slave 3rd party AVB to the Tesira AVB clock will ultimately cause clock drift which will result in loss of audio.) (P1 should be set to "slaved to the clock of AVB Audio Input Stream")
• slaved to the clock of an AVB audio input stream (if Tesira is slaved to an external clock source via an AVB input stream then the Tesira DSP device hosting that AVB input block is elected the Tesira system's media master clock device. If the Tesira system also contains Dante or CobraNet interfaces they will inherit clock from the AVB media domain. In this scenario Tesira must be the master clock device for any connected Dante or CobraNet media networks.) (P1 should be clocked internally and Tesira's AVB clock must be slaved to the P1 output stream using an AVDECC controller software.)

The P1 can be clocked to one of 4 sources:

• internally
• slaved to an AVB media clock stream
• slaved to the clock of AVB Audio Input Stream 1
• slaved to the clock of AVB Audio Input Stream 2

For more detail on Tesira with multiple digital media interfaces refer to Using multiple networked audio protocols with Tesira.

Audio from Tesira to P1

When connecting a Tesira output to L-Acoustics devices, an 8 channel AVB output block should be added in Tesira (the block should be set as fixed in unit = true). In systems with multiple Tesira devices it can be helpful to add the last 6 characters of the Tesira AVB Primary MAC address to the stream name (e.g. - "P1-to-Tesira-15C12F" or "Tesira-13F2B0-to-P1") for device identification in Hive.

The P1 Media Clock Source can be set to automatically follow the clock of AVB Audio Input Stream 1. This will slave the P1's clock to Tesira's clock. If Tesira is to be slaved to the P1's clock see Slaving Tesira to an AVB stream clock from P1 using Hive.

The desired Tesira stream can be connected directly in Network Manager in the P1's Input Mode window. The connected stream format is shown in the Audio Input Stream drop menu. L-Acoustics controllers and Tesira AVB stream formats will only match for AM824 PCM24, 48 kHz, 8 channels. The P1 will only allow connection to matching stream formats using the drop menu.

Each Tesira will present 32 streams in the drop menu. Those associated with an IO block will be shown in black with a stream name, those which are not associated with an IO block will show Disabled in grey text. With multiple Tesira talkers it may be necessary to scroll down to find the desired active stream.

2 different AVB input streams can be connected to P1 and channels routed using the Stream Channel Mapping properties. This is helpful if multiple mixing consoles are connected to P1 but may be less common when sourcing content from Tesira. P1 allows a total of 8 active input channels from AVB.

If 2 AVB input streams are sourced from 2 unique Tesira systems then it is vital that the hierarchy of device network clocks is properly planned and managed. 

When the P1 is used to receive audio from Tesira the stream may initially be connected with only channels 1 and 2 routed. In the Stream Channel Mapping the AVB input channels are labeled AVB1, AVB2, ..., AVB8. Any unassigned channels will show anX, while connected channels will be populated in the formatS1.1 for input stream 1, channel 1. To edit or add input channel assignments click in the field below each channel name to manually enter a source stream, period, channel number. (e.g. - use the format 1.3 for input stream 1, channel 3)

Input Channel Mapping can also be done by right clicking on a Listener device name in Hive controller and choosing 'Edit Dynamic Mappings...' then wiring as desired.

Audio from P1 to Tesira

When connecting an L-Acoustics P1 output to Tesira devices an 8-channel AVB input block should be added in Tesira (the block should be set as fixed in unit = true).

In systems with multiple Tesira devices it can be helpful to add the last 6 characters of the Tesira AVB Primary MAC address to the stream name (e.g. - "P1-to-Tesira-15C12F" or "Tesira-13F2B0-to-P1") for device identification in Hive.

L-Acoustics and Tesira AVB stream formats will only match when AM824 PCM24, 48 kHz, 8 channels is selected in the P1's AVB Talker Selector: Audio Output Streams drop menu.

Output Channel Mapping can also be done by right clicking on a Talker device name in Hive controller and choosing 'Edit Dynamic Mappings...' then wiring as desired.

Connecting to Tesira

One AVB stream of up to eight channels may be connected to the amplified controller and up to four channels can be retrieved from this stream. Channel routing is done by manually typing the stream channel number into the correct field in the Stream Channel Mapping, or by right clicking on a Listener device name in Hive controller and choosing 'Edit Dynamic Mappings...' then wiring as desired.

L-Acoustics amplified controllers automatically sync their AVB clocks with the device providing their selected AVB audio input stream. 

When connecting an L-Acoustics device to Tesira an 8-channel AVB block should be added in Tesira (the block should be set as fixed in unit = true).

In systems with multiple Tesira devices it can be helpful to add the last 6 characters of the Tesira AVB Primary MAC address to the stream name (e.g. - "P1-to-Tesira-15C12F" or "Tesira-13F2B0-to-P1") for device identification in Hive.

The desired Tesira stream can be connected directly in Network Manager in the amplified controller's Input Mode window. The connected stream format is shown in the Audio Input Stream drop menu. L-Acoustics amplified controllers and Tesira AVB stream formats will only match for AM824 PCM24, 48 kHz, 8 channels. The amplified controllers will only allow connection to matching streams using the drop menu.