Lawo introduces .edge IP video infrastructure platform
Lawo has unveiled its new .edge IP video infrastructure platform at NAB Show in Las Vegas. .edge’s compact 2RU housing accommodates up to four 25/100 GbE .edge processing blades and rear I/O plates with best-in-class signal conversion density.
Each rear I/O blade provides 48 HD-BNC connectors for SD/HD/3G/UHD SDI interfacing, resulting in 192 SDI/IP conversions per 2RU. .edge provides full support for the SMPTE ST2110 suite of standards with ST2022-7 redundancy built in, providing not only advanced essence-based handling but also ensuring seamless protection switching of audio, video and ancillary data streams in both local and wide-area network operations.
“.edge complements Lawo’s established V__matrix video processing and multiviewer solution with a hyper-density SDI/IP gateway,” explained Phil Myers, Lawo’s CTO. “It’s designed from the ground up to be a Home-native client. It is automatically discovered and registered within our Home network environment and benefits from all of Home’s next-generation management features: user access control, quarantining of unknown devices, network security, parameter tweaking and real-time health monitoring.”
.edge’s board does not have an audio TDM bus or a video matrix in the middle of its architecture. Video is switched on the IP packet level in one of two ways: ‘make before break’ (MBB) and ‘break before make’ (BBM). Audio signals are switched in MBB mode using a V-fade curve for clean and quiet transitions. .edge’s local loop support allows users to route local inputs to local outputs while the packet replication capability means a packet received once can be used many times without additional stream management or logic operations: packets in the packet buffer are available to any SDI output.
Designed as software-licensable infrastructure, .edge can deliver maximum opex flexibility for a hardware-based tool. Each .edge blade can be used in a variety of scenarios by unlocking the required feature sets, via a flexible licensing system. In addition to its base licence for use of 16 BNC connectors, there are options to unlock additional I/O up to its full 48 BNCs. Additional feature licences are available for input frame synchronisers, 100GbE port activation and 3G UHD gearboxing, including Lawo’s UHD Link Rotate feature. This function automatically reshuffles the legs of a four-wire 3G-SDI link whose cables were connected in the wrong order.
For easy drop-in SDI router replacement, all-in .edge bundles are available for 288×288, 576×576 and 1152×1152 matrix capacities, complete with customers’ choice of network switches and a fully-clustered Home licence. To broadcast control systems, the .edge/Home bundle behaves like a traditional SDI router, which means that there are no changes to users’ UIs or workflows. This allows broadcasters to keep all their existing SDI gear in operation.
“With .edge you immediately benefit from an easy one-step migration to IP by saving rack space, weight and power consumption,” said Andreas Hilmer, Lawo’s chief marketing officer. “After migrating to an .edge/Home router replacement solution, you can do more: you then have an SDI router that can scale according to your needs. If your requirements grow you can just connect more .edge I/Os to your network switch. Since your core routing system is now based on IP, your router doesn’t have to stand like a monolith in one place. It can be distributed across the facility. Put I/Os where they are needed and save significant cabling costs. Users can distribute their .edge routing infrastructure across multiple facilities, across the country or even across continents.”