ACENet - ASTi Support
Contents
1. A Yes The ASTi system can directly connect to the ACU2 and ACE RIU with a crossover Category 5e cable between the device and ASTi system Alternatively ACENet compatible switches may be added to extend the distance from the ASTi system to ACENet audio devices and increase the number of operators Both configurations are illustrated in the figure below ACENet with Ethernet Switch ACENet without Ethernet Switch ASTi System ASTi System Cat5e Cable Max Length 100 meters Crossover CatSe Cable Max Length 100 meters ACENet NETGEAR Cat5e Cable Max Length 100 meters ACE RIU e Q Can I use a hub instead of an Ethernet switch A No Hubs are not supported e Q Can I connect a router between my ASTi system and the ACENet audio device and route ACENet packets over a WAN A No Routers are not supported e Q Can I daisy chain switches together to extend the distance from the ASTi system to ACENet audio devices ACE RIUs and ACU2s A Yes Multiple hops links between 2 nodes are supported ASTi has tested ACENet with up to 6 hops 5 switches between an ACENet audio device and ASTi system ASTi System 1 Hop ACENet Switch ACENet Compatible Amp 8ch e Q Does ACENet support multiple ASTi systems Voisus No Each Voisus system must have its own ACENet T4 In most cases yes ACENet on a T4 system can accommodate multiple Telestras except when a Crown or Ashly amplifier2. gigabit link to a Cisco 3500 series switch in an OPs room The Cisco 3500 series switches support the OPs rooms in this building or other buildings nearby e OPs Rooms Each OPs room has a single Cisco 3500 series switch There is a fiber connection that connects the switch back to the main Cisco 6500 series switch and ultimately to the ASTi system The Cisco 3500 switch also has 100M Ethernet ports for the ACE RIUs within that room In terms of data flow it creates a port based VLAN this must be transparent to the system and ACE RIUs that consists of the systems Ethernet port Cisco 6500 1000M Ethernet port Cisco 6500 Fiber port Cisco 3500 Fiber port and 1 Cisco 3500 100M Ethernet port for each ACE RIU that the system controls 10 ASTi System 1 ASTi System 2 ASTi System 3 l I 6500 Series Cisco Switch Ethernet amp fiber i Gigabit Ethernet Blade e l MM Fiber Blade I 1 a ao ral ae aa cae ne aaa i Room 1 Room 2 Room 3 Room 4 l I l l 1 I l I l 3500 Series i i l Cisco Switch l i i l i UC Seo OU sooli 1 ACE RIU l ACE RIU l ACE RIU l ACE RIU l 3 l La a 1 aA 1 l La aoon l I ACE RIU i ACE RIU l ACE RIU ACE RIU i l 1 ae TERR I ee I i ACE RIU i ACE RIU ACE RIU ACE RIU i l i I 1 I l I Room 1 ACE RIUs 3500 system 1 6500 port s are on VLAN1 Room 2 ACE RIUs 3500 system 2 6500 port s are on VLAN2
3. Appendix B Incompatible Switches The following switches are incompatible with the ACENet architecture Table 2 Incompatible Switches Switch Part Number 3COM 3C16478 Packet dropouts possibly due to 802 1 prioritization 7 Appendix C ACENet Fiber Option ACENet natively runs over an Ethernet based 1000BASE T connection that is provided by the ASTi system interface LOOOBASE T ACE RIU ACU2 interface LOOBASE T and an ACENet compatible switch 1000BASE T However ACENet compatible switches with fiber connections may successfully extend the reach of ACENet Important ACENet fiber network connections are not sold as a product and have not been fully tested by ASTi Each ACENet configuration will form a set of complex variables which must be tested together in their functional environment under operational conditions From experience each program has a unique set of issues dependent on the equipment software and simulation deployed Therefore ASTi cannot guarantee success when using fiber within ACENet 7 1 ACENet Fiber Example The following scenario is an example of how fiber networking may be used in an ACENet configu ration e Server Room The Server Room has four ASTi systems There is one Cisco 6500 series switch that has various blades for different ports and connections including Gigabit Ethernet 48 port blades MM fiber blades and a 100M Ethernet Blade The Cisco 6500 series switch connects via MM fiber
4. Room 3 ACE RIUs 3500 system 3 6500 port s are on VLAN3 Room 4 ACE RIUs 3500 system 4 6500 port s are on VLAN4 EE Fiber CATSe 100 Base T CAT5e 1000 Base T 11
5. to ACENet audio devices e Category 5e Cable All cabling connections on the ACENet network must be Category 5e grade or higher 3 1 Network Requirements To preserve low latency ACENet requires a closed network consisting of e ASTi servers see the FAQs for restrictions on multiple servers in ACENet e ACE RIUs ACU2s Ashly amplifiers or Crown amplifiers with their associated peripherals e Optional ACENet compatible Ethernet switches ACENet connects to the ASTi server via the Eth1 interface No other traffic should be present on ACENet 3 2 ACENet Switch Requirements A list of recommended switches is provided in Appendix A chapter 5 All ACENet compatible switches must adhere to the following core requirements Specifications e Gigabit capable 1000 Mbps e OSI Layer 2 switching device e LAN switch not a router or hub Settings e Auto negotiate speed and duplex type e Disable all advanced Layer 2 protocols These include but are not limited to 802 1p q spanning tree and QoS 3 3 ACENet Cabling Requirements Homemade cables are the primary reason for product performance issues ASTi highly recommends using only commercially manufactured premium grade cable e Category 5e cable or better e 100 meters 328 feet maximum length per cable e Wire according to 1OOOBASE T specifications 4 Frequently Asked Questions FAQs 4 1 Networking e Q Can I connect my ASTi system directly to the ACU2 and ACE RIU
6. ACENet Advanced Simulation Technology inc 500 A Huntmar Park Drive Herndon Virginia 20170 U S A Tel 703 471 2104 Fax 703 471 2108 www asti usa com Contents 39 ACENet Switch Requirements 3 3 ACENet Cabling Requirements 4 Frequently Asked Questions FAQs 4 1 Networking pry 2 lo Appendix B Incompatible Switches 7 Appendix C ACENet Fiber Option 7 1 ACENet Fiber Example 4 2 Ethernet Switches 4 3 Additional FAQs for T4 ACE Software versions 4 17 and later 5 Appendix A ACENet Compatible Switches 1 Introduction The Audio Communications Environment Network ACENet is a low latency network for remote audio and I O distribution ASTis AACE RI i ACUJ Ashly Amplifier and Crown Amplifier known as ACENet devices distribute audio to a variety of user interfaces including military headsets PTT devices HHT Hand Held Terminal speakers and live radios To ASTI server T4 or Voisus ACENet Compatible Switch Ashly Amplifier ACE RIU ACE RIU serial This guide will provide an overview of ACENet architecture For information about specific ACENet devices view their individual manuals 2 ACENet Features e Remote Distribution ACENets network based hub and spoke architecture provides digi tal audio and I O distribution across a wide area hundreds of feet from ASTi systems e Ethernet Based Architecture ACENet uses CO
7. TS network cabling and network switches ASTi qualified for easy connectivity and wide extensible distribution e Scalable Architecture ACENet supports applications ranging from a single operator to large multi operator installations ACENet compatible switches may be used to extend the distance from the ASTi system to ACENet devices and increase the number of operators e Flexible Audio and I O ACU2s and ACE RIUs provide configurable audio serial analog and discrete I O interfaces to accommodate a wide range of peripherals such as military and commercial headsets audio amps speakers microphones recording equipment press to talk PTT units simulated communications panels Hand Held Terminals and other peripheral devices High Fidelity Audio ACENet supports synchronized 48kHz digital audio distribution for high fidelity realistic sound and communications simulation e Low Latency ACENets closed network architecture and customized real time distribution software means extremely low transport latency which is essential for realistic simulation and elimination of delay related audio issues 3 ACENet Reqgirements The following are required for optimal ACENet performance e Closed Network ACENet requires a closed network consisting of only ASTi systems ACENet devices and ACENet compatible Ethernet switches e Gigabit Ethernet Switch Up to 5 Gigabit Ethernet Switches can be added to extend the distance from the ASTi system
8. ck all other Targets from using it So you would need to uninstall or stop the project on the first Target to allow another Target to gain access to that ACENet channel e Q Is there a limit to the number of ACENet devices that can exist on the ACENet network 7 A No There is no limit unless Crown amplifiers are present Up to four Crown Ampli fiers can be placed on an ACENet network with one Target e Q What effect does the number of ACENet devices have on the Target s real time CPU loading A The number of ACENet devices a Target can see over the network will affect the overall loading of the Targets RT CPU This is true whether or not the ACENet device is included in the project that is running on the Target In other words the number of ACENet devices should be taken into account for a multi Target ACENet Contact ASTi for project specific requirements Q My ACENet device channels have valid digital analog I O but there is no audio I O What is wrong A This symptom is seen when a Target using a software version prior to 4 17 is trying to use ACENet devices with firmware version 2 x There are two solutions either upgrade to ACE software version to 4 17 or greater or downgrade the ACENet firmware to 1 x ASTi strongly recommends upgrading to ACE software version 4 17 or greater e Q I received an error while upgrading my ACENet firmware What does this mean A Occasionally errors occur when upgrading se
9. is present on the network Then it will only support one Telestra e Q If a Crown amplifier is present on ACENet will it support more than one Telestra system A No If a Crown amplifier is present on ACENet it will only support one Telestra Any other configuration is unreliable and is not supported 4 2 Ethernet Switches e Q Do you have a list of approved switches that have been tested by ASTi A Yes Refer to Appendix A in this document e Q Can I connect my ACU2 and ACE RIU to the same ACENet switch A Yes The ACENet network supports mixing ACU2s and ACE RIUs on the same switch All ASTi ACENet devices can interact on the same ACENet network Each device must have a unique device name and device number e Q Can my Ethernet switch run at 10 or LOOMbps A No it must run at 1000 Mbps Attaching 10 Mbps devices to the ACENet network may disable the network e Q I have a large switch 48 ports for example and would like to use part of that switch for ACENet Is that feasible A Yes This configuration is acceptable as long as you are able to logically dedicate N ports for ACENet and these ports DO NOT see traffic from the other ports This is sometimes referred to as a port based VLAN e Q Can I use VLAN tagging within ACENet A Can I use VLAN tagging within ACENet e Q My switch can be configured to run various advanced protocols such as 802 1p 802 1q port priority spanning tree etc Ca
10. n I use these protocols Are they required A No Advanced Layer 2 protocols are not supported In almost all cases the switch should run with its default settings Possible exceptions exist if the above or similar were to be configured by default 4 3 Additional FAQs for T4 ACE Software versions 4 17 and later The following FAQs apply to T4 ACE software versions 4 17 and later T4 ACE software versions 4 17 and later work exclusively with ACENet devices that have firmware version 2 x T4 ACE software versions 4 16 and prior require firmware version 1 x All devices sharing a local ACENet must have the same firmware version This section does not apply to Voisus system software e Q Can multiple Targets co exist on an ACENet network A Yes as long as they communicate with different sets of ACENet devices e Q Can multiple Targets share channels on an ACENet device A No Each ACENet device ACE RIU ACU2 Crown Amplifier can only communi cate with one Target at time A secondary Target trying to access the channels on that device will report a Channel Reservation Error in RMS e Q Why does my ACENet device have a Channel reservation error A A channel reservation error occurs when two separate Targets are trying to reserve or use the same channel on the ACENet device As a rule the first Target to install a project that contains that ACENet channel component will exclusively reserve the channel and blo
11. veral ACENet devices at one time Try upgrading the devices a second time If the device is still in boot mode you do not need to power cycle it before repeating the upgrade attempt Q What is a Device Number A The Device Number is a configurable parameter that determines the address space used by the device for ACENet network communications By default each device is assigned a value between 1 and 4096 and every device on a given ACENet network segment must have a unique Device Number Q Why does my ACENet device have a Duplicate Device Number error A A duplicate device number error occurs in the rare case when two or more ACENet devices on the network have the same device number This condition will hamper audio communications between the Target and the ACENet devices that exhibit the error To fix this condition use RMS to assign a new unique number between 1 and 4096 to the device s in question 5 Appendix A ACENet Compatible Switches Table 1 ACENet Compatible Switches Switch Part Number SMC SMCGS24 SMC SMC 8508T SMC SMCGS16 SMC SMCGS8 Netgear GS105 Netgear GS108 Netgear GS605 Netgear JGS516 Netgear JGS524 Hawking HGS5T Linksys EG005W Cisco Catalyst 6500 series Cisco Catalyst 4900 series Cisco Catalyst 4500 series Cisco Catalyst 3500 series Cisco Catalyst 2960 series HP ProCurve 2800 series SMC switches are not supported if manufactured in 2012 or later due to functionality changes 6
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