XMOS To Demonstrate Ethernet AVB Solutions At Infocomm 2013

Ethernet AVB is set to become one of the defining standards in multimedia communication, and makes some very specific hardware demands. The XMOS range of xCORE multicore microcontrollers provides the industry’s leading solution to these demands: xCORE devices not only offer vendors the deterministic, low-latency performance required to implement Ethernet AVB products, but also allow for a rapid, simple development process.

XMOS is already established as the natural choice for developers of Ethernet AVB products. The company’s AVB technology has been used by customers and partners including DSP4YOU, Echo Digital Audio, EMBAS, and Pivitec, as well as beyerdynamic, which recently disclosed that it has used XMOS technology in its Quinta AVB conferencing solutions.

On the AVnu Alliance booth (#459) XMOS will be helping to demonstrate the maturity and rapid adoption of Ethernet AVB technology via an interoperability demo involving fellow AVnu members Echo Digital Audio, Waves, Avid, and Lab X. The pavilion-style booth will feature 17 members of the Alliance. In addition to XMOS these will include Analog Devices, AudioScience, Avid, Barco, Biamp, Echo Digital Audio, Extreme Networks, Harman, Lab X, Riedel, Sennheiser, Shure, Uman, Vitesse, Waves, and Yamaha.

Visitors to the Pavilion will be able to see a variety of demonstrations of audio visual devices that make up the growing AVB ecosystem. The Alliance Pavilion will also allow visitors to learn more about the certification and interoperability testing for AVB-enabled networking bridges and professional audio endpoints, available to AVnu Alliance members.

Ali Dixon, Co-Founder and Product Marketing Director, XMOS commented: “The xCORE multicore microcontroller architecture lends itself perfectly to the low latency and precise synchronization needs of Ethernet AVB. For that reason we are seeing significant interest and demand in applying our Ethernet AVB solutions to a range of demanding applications requiring real time concurrent AV processing across Ethernet connections.

“XMOS offers the lowest cost complete AVB solution on the market; our unmatched flexibility and scalability means that we can offer our customers the fastest time to market, with a solution which is easy to use and highly programmable.”

XMOS Ethernet AVB solutions allow the routing of over 40 channels of audio via a single Ethernet connection. Other benefits include:

• Fully AVB compliant
• Scalable from one to 40 channels
• Software-based: code efficient compilation from high-level languages such as C
• 100 Mbit/s full duplex Ethernet interface via MII
• Support for 1722.1 discovery, enumeration, command and control: ADP, AECP (AEM) and ACMP
• Simultaneous 1722 Talker and Listener support for sourcing and sinking audio
• A library of free software-peripherals extending well beyond AVB functionality

In addition to AVB systems, xCORE solutions feature in a range of audio devices including products from Meridian Audio, Native Instruments and Sennheiser.

Speaking about the Quinta conferencing system, Marcus Rembold, Product Manager Conference, beyerdynamic commented: “We're convinced that AVB has the potential to become the standard for transmitting audio data signals on a network, and XMOS has allowed us to get ahead of the curve. XMOS technology has, in effect, allowed us to steal a march on our competitors, bringing out a unique conferencing solution ahead of the rest of the market.”

Infocomm attendees can visit XMOS on the AVnu Alliance booth (#459).