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Comrex BRIC-Link II, Product Manual

The Comrex BRIC-Link II user manual is available for free download on our website. This Quick Start Manual provides essential information about the product, ensuring a seamless setup and operation experience. Visit manualshive.com to access the manual and unlock the full potential of your BRIC-Link II.

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Algorithm Comparison Chart for BRIC-Link 

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Codecs

Required 

Bitrate

Coding 

Delay

Audio 

Bandwidth

AAC

͗WƌŽǀŝĚĞƐŶĞĂƌƚƌĂŶƐƉĂƌĞŶƚĂƵĚŝŽĂƚƌĞůĂƟǀĞůLJŚŝŐŚĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞƐ͘ĞƐƚƵƐĞĚŽŶŶŽŶͲĐŽŶƐƚƌĂŝŶĞĚ

ĚĂƚĂŶĞƚǁŽƌŬƐͲĨŽƌƐŝƚƵĂƟŽŶǁŚĞƌĞůĂƚĞŶĐLJŝƐŶŽƚŝŵƉŽƌƚĂŶƚ͘

64 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D1 Mono

96 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D2 Stereo

128 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D3 Dual Mono

ĂůůŽǁƐŝŶĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶƚƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵŝŶŐƚŽďĞƐĞŶƚŽŶďŽƚŚ>ΘZĐŚĂŶŶĞůƐ

128 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D4 Stereo 128Kb

256 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D5 Dual Mono 256Kb 

ĂůůŽǁƐŝŶĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶƚƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵŝŶŐƚŽďĞƐĞŶƚŽŶďŽƚŚ>ΘZĐŚĂŶŶĞůƐ

56 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D6 Mono 56Kb

96 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D7 Mono 96Kb

160 kb/s

ϲϵŵƐ

20 kHz

D8 Stereo 160Kb

HE-AAC

͗WƌŽǀŝĚĞƐŶĞĂƌƚƌĂŶƐƉĂƌĞŶƚĂƵĚŝŽĂƚůŽǁĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞƐͲĨŽƌƐŝƚƵĂƟŽŶƐǁŚĞƌĞůĂƚĞŶĐLJŝƐŶŽƚ

ŝŵƉŽƌƚĂŶƚ͘

48 kb/s

ϭϰϲŵƐ

20 kHz

E1 Mono

64 kb/s

ϭϰϲŵƐ

20 kHz

E2 Stereo

96 kb/s

ϭϰϲŵƐ

20 kHz

E3 Dual Mono

ĂůůŽǁƐŝŶĚĞƉĞŶĚĞŶƚƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵŝŶŐƚŽďĞƐĞŶƚŽŶďŽƚŚ>ΘZĐŚĂŶŶĞůƐ

Linear PCM:

ĞůŝǀĞƌƐƚƌĂŶƐƉĂƌĞŶƚĂƵĚŝŽǁŝƚŚŶŽĐŽŵƉƌĞƐƐŝŽŶĂŶĚǀĞƌLJůŽǁĚĞůĂLJͲĨŽƌƵƐĞŽŶŚŝŐŚ

ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚƉƵƚŶĞƚǁŽƌŬƐ͘

768 kb/s

ϭϵŵƐ

20 kHz

F1 Mono

1536 kb/s

ϭϵŵƐ

20 kHz

F2 Dual Mono

512 kb/s

ϭϵŵƐ

15 kHz

F3 Mono

1024 kb/s

ϭϵŵƐ

15 kHz

F4 Dual Mono

HE-AAC V2

͗WƌŽǀŝĚĞƐŵĞĚŝƵŵƋƵĂůŝƚLJ,ͲŝŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƟŽŶƵƐŝŶŐ^ƉĞĐƚƌĂůĂŶĚZĞƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶ͘

18 kb/s

ϮϭϮŵƐ

12 kHz

G1 Mono 18Kb

24 kb/s

ϮϲϵŵƐ

12 kHz

G2 Stereo 24Kb

ĂĚĚƐWĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ^ƚĞƌĞŽƚŽ^ZĨŽƌŚŝŐŚĞƌƋƵĂůŝƚLJĂƵĚŝŽĂƚůŽǁĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞ

32 kb/s

ϭϴϰŵƐ

20 kHz

G4 Stereo 32Kb

ĂĚĚƐWĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ^ƚĞƌĞŽƚŽ^ZĨŽƌŚŝŐŚĞƌƋƵĂůŝƚLJĂƵĚŝŽĂƚůŽǁĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞ

48 kb/s

ϭϴϰŵƐ

20 kHz

G3 Stereo 48Kb 

ĂĚĚƐWĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ^ƚĞƌĞŽƚŽ^ZĨŽƌŚŝŐŚĞƌƋƵĂůŝƚLJĂƵĚŝŽĂƚůŽǁĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞ

56 kb/s

ϭϴϰŵƐ

20 kHz

G5 Stereo 56Kb 

ĂĚĚƐWĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ^ƚĞƌĞŽƚŽ^ZĨŽƌŚŝŐŚĞƌƋƵĂůŝƚLJĂƵĚŝŽĂƚůŽǁĚĂƚĂƌĂƚĞ

FLAC:

&ƌĞĞ>ŽƐƐůĞƐƐƵĚŝŽŽŵƉƌĞƐƐŝŽŶƉƌŽǀŝĚĞƐƚƌĂŶƐƉĂƌĞŶƚĂƵĚŝŽǁŚŝůĞĐŽŶƐĞƌǀŝŶŐďĂŶĚǁŝĚƚŚ͘

&>ďŝƚƌĂƚĞŝƐǀĂƌŝĂďůĞĂŶĚďĂƐĞĚŽŶĂƵĚŝŽŝŶƉƵƚ͘

~537 kb/s

ϮϲŵƐ

20 kHz

K1 Mono

~1075 kb/s

ϮϲŵƐ

20 kHz

K2 Dual Mono

~358 kb/s

ϮϲŵƐ

15 kHz

K3 Mono

~717 kb/s

ϮϲŵƐ

15 kHz

K4 Dual Mono

Opus: 

ŶĞǁĞƌŽīĞƌŝŶŐƚŚĂƚĐŽŵďŝŶĞƐůŽǁĚĞůĂLJĂŶĚůŽǁŶĞƚǁŽƌŬƵƟůŝnjĂƟŽŶ͘KƉƵƐŝƐŝŶĐůƵĚĞĚ

ƉƌŝŵĂƌŝůLJĨŽƌĐŽŵƉĂƟďŝůŝƚLJǁŝƚŚƐŽŌƉŚŽŶĞĂƉƉƐĂŶĚ/ŶƚĞƌŶĞƚĐŽŶŶĞĐƟŽŶƐƵƐŝŶŐtĞďZd͘;^ƉĞĐŝĂů
ZŵŽĚĞƐĂƌĞŽīĞƌĞĚĨŽƌĐŽŵƉĂƟďŝůŝƚLJǁŝƚŚdŝĞůŝŶĞƉƌŽĚƵĐƚƐͲĂǀŽŝĚƚŚĞƐĞŝŶŽƚŚĞƌĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐͿ͘

ϯ͘ϬͲƉϵĮƌŵǁĂƌĞĂŶĚŚŝŐŚĞƌ;Eϰ͘ϭсĞĨĂƵůƚWƌŽĮůĞĨŽƌϰ͘ϬĮƌŵǁĂƌĞͿ

48Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϰ͘ϭDŽŶŽϰϴŬďƉƐ

56Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϰ͘ϮDŽŶŽϱϲŬďƉƐ

64Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϰ͘ϯDŽŶŽϲϰŬďƉƐ

64Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϱ͘ϭ^ƚĞƌĞŽϲϰŬďƉƐ

96Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϱ͘Ϯ^ƚĞƌĞŽϵϲŬďƉƐ

128Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϱ͘ϯ^ƚĞƌĞŽϭϮϴŬďƉƐ

48Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϲ͘ϭZDŽŶŽϰϴŬďƉƐ

64Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϲ͘ϯZDŽŶŽϲϰŬďƉƐ

64Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϳ͘ϭZ^ƚĞƌĞŽϲϰŬďƉƐ

96Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϳ͘ϮZ^ƚĞƌĞŽϵϲŬďƉƐ

128Kb/s

ϰϭŵƐ

20 kHz

Eϳ͘ϯZ^ƚĞƌĞŽϭϮϴŬďƉƐ

VoIP:

'͘ϳϭϭĂŶĚ'͘ϳϮϮĐŽĚŝŶŐĂůŐŽƌŝƚŚŵƐĨŽƌĐŽŵƉĂƟďŝůŝƚLJǁŝƚŚ^/WͲƐƚLJůĞsŽ/WƉŚŽŶĞƐ͘

64 kb/s

ϯϱŵƐ

3 kHz

yϭ'͘ϳϭϭĂͲůĂǁ

64 kb/s

ϯϱŵƐ

3 kHz

X2 G.711 

μ

ͲůĂǁ

64 kb/s

ϯϱŵƐ

7 kHz

X3 G.722

Summary of Contents for BRIC-Link II

Page 1: ...Product Manual ...

Page 2: ...BRIC Link II June 2021 ...

Page 3: ... ...

Page 4: ... ...

Page 5: ... ...

Page 6: ... ...

Page 7: ... ...

Page 8: ... ...

Page 9: ...Corpora on is warranted by Comrex against defects in material and workmanship for one year from the date of original purchase as verified by the return of the Warranty Registra on Card During the warranty period we will repair or at our op on replace at no charge a product that proves to be defec ve provided you obtain return authoriza on from Comrex and return the product shipping prepaid to Comr...

Page 10: ... Link II offers a robust stereo or mono Linear mode that does not compress audio In addi on unique to real me audio codecs BRIC Link II offers FLAC lossless compression reducing network throughput by 30 40 with absolutely transparent coding and no tandem coding concerns For situa ons where further reduced bandwidth is desired BRIC Link II offers AAC HE AAC modes as standard allowing superb audio qual...

Page 11: ...n 4 0 or higher on each end of the link CrossLock connec ons can be made via the Comrex Switchboard func on as men oned above or manually For manual connec ons CrossLock requires extra se ngs to assure connec ons are only made within your known group of codecs Firmware version 4 3 and higher also supports CrossLock when using very data intensive algorithms like Linear PCM and FLAC Users running fi...

Page 12: ...Output Delivers professional level balanced analog audio 5 Ethernet 1000baseT Connec on for network connec ons 6 Contact Closures Provides for 4 contact closure triggers and 4 open drain style contact clo sure outputs 7 RS 232 Provides serial data I O across the IP link Data rate is configurable 8 Power 4 pin connector for a achment of Comrex approved DC power adapter Requires 15 VDC 1 A 9 Card Sl...

Page 13: ... Status LED Bi color LED shows Ethernet carrier loss Red or valid connec on state Green 17 Reset Bu on Issues a hardware reset to the system when pressed momentarily MONO VS STEREO Because BRIC Link II can encode and or decode in stereo and mono modes it s important to understand how the audio inputs and outputs are handled in each mode While in stereo mode le and right inputs and outputs correspo...

Page 14: ...presents 20 dBu 22 Vpp PINOUTS AES3 When configured via the DIP switches the le input and output become AES3 digital ports The jack connectors are wired as follows 1 Ground 2 AES3 3 AES3 To use AES3 the front panel DIP switches must be set appropriately AES3 input connec ons can be at 32 44 1 or 48 kHz On the BRIC Link II the output audio sample rate automa cally locks to the input sampling rate I...

Page 15: ...tact closures are available via the 9 pin mini DIN connector on the rear panel of the BRIC Link II Inputs are triggered by shor ng the respec ve input to Pin 9 Outputs consist of an open collector circuit which when inac ve will offer a high impedance path to Pin 9 and when ac ve will offer a low impedance path to Pin 9 These outputs are capable of sinking up to 200 mA at a voltage up to 12 V Pin Ou...

Page 16: ...tory Reset This func on connects the send and receive audio together before it touches the encoder the audio is digi zed and converted back to analog but not compressed or converted to a stream RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULT USING DIP SWITCHES To factory reset your device using DIP switches follow these steps 1 Put DIP switches 7 8 up 2 Press the RESET bu on once then wait un l the Le Right and Power LE...

Page 17: ...C Link II support page of the Comrex website As shown in Figure 3 running the Device Manager and clicking the Scan for Devices bu on will produce a list of all Comrex IP codecs found on the LAN Refer to page 20 for more informa on about Device Manager LOGGING IN A er determining the IP Address of BRIC Link II open any computer s web browser on the same network as BRIC Link II Type the IP address i...

Page 18: ...hich are available for public test connec ons for Mono and Stereo audio respec vely Add a new Connec on by clicking the Add new remote bu on and entering the IP address of the unit you wish to connect to You can choose a default audio profile or one you have created Refer to page 32 for informa on about crea ng profiles Find the new remote you added in the Connec ons Tab and click the Connect bu o...

Page 19: ...ed with Switchboard connec ons to other codecs in a user s Switchboard account are simple Go to the lis ngs on the bo om that appear with a Gear icon on the le side Any units with a Green Gear icon are available for Switchboard connec ons Highlight the one you want to connect to and select the Connect bu on on the right side of the screen to ini ate a connec on RECEIVING INCOMING CONNECTIONS By de...

Page 20: ...ould be used for configura on As shown in Figure 7 running the Device Manager and clicking the Scan for Devices bu on will produce a list of all Comrex devices found on the LAN If the default password has changed Device Manager will prompt for the password to BRIC Link II a er the scan Figure 7 shows the four tabs that appear on the right hand pane a er Device Manager has logged in The fourth tab ...

Page 21: ...To change the Ethernet IP addressing to sta c select the default loca on at the bo om of the list as shown in Figure 8 and change the IP Type to sta c The system will prompt a list of sta c se ngs as shown in Figure 9 As can be seen in Figure 9 the staƟc IP address the Netmask the Gateway Address and at least one DNS Server Address must be configured in the proper fields to set a sta c IP address ...

Page 22: ...TWORK RECOVERY MODE Since the Ethernet se ngs are made with a web connec on keying in incorrect sta c IP informa on can result in losing access to the Network Manager interface en rely If this happens it is possible to be locked out of the unit i e unable to log in Device Manager has a network recovery tool to help with this Network Recovery Mode For security reasons Network Recovery Mode is only ...

Page 23: ...Once the IP address is setup via the Device Manager the rest of the setup and opera on of the BRIC Link II is done via the Web User Interface This process is addressed in the following sec on ...

Page 24: ... shows the Product Type Unit Name and Current Firmware on the le side The Meters on the right side display audio levels for ac ve connec ons to the BRIC Link II The far le side contains a Hamburger bu on which provides quick access to certain se ngs This banner and the Configura on Tabs below will remain on screen as you navigate the interface Configura on Tabs 2 These tabs control which func on o...

Page 25: ...en audio profiles and input output wiring 2 Comrex Lab Voice This provides a talk feed mono input from the Comrex headquarters in Massachuse s USA for tes ng remote connec ons 3 Comrex Lab Music This provides a music feed stereo input from the Comrex headquarters in Massachuse s USA for tes ng remote connec ons CREATING NEW REMOTES To add a new remote unit to the list click the Add a new remote co...

Page 26: ...output closure remote The input closure boxes also func on as bu ons to trigger closures locally 3 The Ac ve Connec ons sec on gives an indica on of any currently ac ve connec ons If more than one connec on is ac ve they will display in a list here 4 Switchboard status Public IP and router informa on are displayed in the status box 5 A quick view of the codec s receive stats are presented in the l...

Page 27: ... of the Ji er Buffer Manager The area of most interest is the light blue area as shown in Figure 18 which illustrates a spread of ji er values referenced to the current play out pointer over the last second If this area covers a large span the rela ve ji er is high If the light blue sec on of the graph is small or invisible over a me period less ji er is present Based on the historical value of thi...

Page 28: ...le on the Ac ve Connec ons graph however the CrossLock Stats show finer details about network performance in both direc ons CrossLock stats are shown for both the data being transmi ed from the local codec and the data being received by the local codec All relevant stats are available for both direc ons PACKET LOSS GRAPH The Packet Loss Graph as seen in Figure 20 indicates in percentage terms what...

Page 29: ...e than one network device is in use the u liza on graph will be color coded indica ng the rela ve u liza on of each network device A color code key for network devices appears below the graph Overlayed on the network u liza on graph is a gray line This is the encoder target rate which reflects the bitrate chosen in the profile used in the connec on This is treated as a maximum value so u liza on s...

Page 30: ...rently being addressed The sliders will reset when a CrossLock connec on ends In either Auto or Manual mode a series of color bars are overlayed on the slider to signify delay zones of safety As shown in Figure 23 furthest le is the red zone which indicates a buffer level that is too low for stable transmission The yellow zone indicates a delay buffer that may have stability issues and the green zon...

Page 31: ... These factory profiles are locked for edi ng to avoid losing access to their basic func onality but the Profile Manager tab allows for crea ng custom profiles when necessary Please remember though that these profile se ngs only apply to connec ons ini ated from the local BRIC Link II Incoming connec ons from another unit are defined by that unit s profile se ngs Profile crea on is segmented into ...

Page 32: ... profile s Name This name is used to iden fy the profile when selec ng from the list in the Connec ons Tab and should be unique to avoid confusion Next is the Channel op on which allows for selec ng between a standard Comrex IP connec on BRIC Normal or one of the other connec on modes offered by BRIC Link II Note that when using the CrossLock reliability layer BRIC Normal mode is chosen here as thi...

Page 33: ...s whether the selected encoder local or remote is actually sending any data By default Transmission on all encoders is turned on but there may be circumstances where one way opera on is desired e g Mul streaming as described on page 81 Turning off the local encoder transmission disables outgoing audio and disabling the remote encoder transmission disables incoming audio ADVANCED LOCAL REMOTE OPTION...

Page 34: ...ion se ng is a way to instruct the manager not to a empt to drive the delay below a certain value For example if the delay cushion is set to 500 ms this amount of fixed delay will be added to the buffer If the ji er manager needs to increase the buffer it will do so but will not go below the 0 5 second level Delay Limit The inverse of the Delay Cushion this parameter instructs the manager not to win...

Page 35: ...en automa cally and with no audio interrup on Step down conges on avoidance is not enabled in the Linear PCM mode UDP Reliability UDP the Internet protocol used by BRIC Normal connec ons does not have any inherent error correc on capability UDP Reliability adds an intelligent algorithm that requests packet resends when appropriate above the base UDP level This UDP Reliability is useful on some wir...

Page 36: ...s BRIC Link II must know this password and apply it to the outgoing stream Leaving the field blank will disable this func on Note Connec ons made with Switchboard do not use this func on Always Connect to Remote This field is available to designate a remote for always on opera on This is useful in nailed up environments where a signal is required across the link 24 hours a day To assign an always ...

Page 37: ... This op on will allow the system to reduce the bitrate of encoded media when network condi ons deteriorate Disabling this op on will prevent the system from lowering the quality of the encoded media but will also significantly reduce the ability of the system to handle networks with variable performance This se ng is set to Yes by default HotSwap CC Indicator When enabled this se ng will ac vate ...

Page 38: ...ategories are displayed SECURITY Remote Control This enables remote control and firmware update func onality This op on may be changed in the System console only and is View Only in the Web Interface Remote Diagnos cs When ac vated this op on allows for remote diagnos cs capability The default se ng is Off Web Server Port This controls the port that the UI web server uses when remote control is ena...

Page 39: ... Default is set to None BRIC NORMAL SETTINGS IP Port This op on defines the incoming UDP port the number to be used for incoming IP connec ons The default is UDP 9000 Crosslock connec on is defaulted to UDP 9001 Note that since most BRIC Link II codecs a empt a connec on on this port number changing it can mean the remote units in the field must dial specifically to the new port number in order to...

Page 40: ...ote This se ng is not enabled when using a registered SIP proxy User Agent Blacklist List of SIP user agents that are not allowed to communicate VIP QC Password For legacy purposes with the VIP QC app which has been deprecated RTP IP Port The port used for audio transfer during EBU3326 SIP mode Since this port info is transferred during the nego a on process it can be changed without breaking comp...

Page 41: ... on both TCP and UDP ports and chooses the first to arrive If a TCP call is detected BRIC Link II will a empt to use the same TCP link to transmit in the reverse direc on Accept Incoming Connec ons This allows turning TCP Auto Answer on and off Disabling this func on means only outgoing TCP calls can be established IP Port Users have the op on of se ng the incoming TCP port number which can be diffe...

Page 42: ...s services used by BRIC Link II The primary Ethernet port for BRIC Link II is configured for DHCP by default In this configura on BRIC Link II will be assigned an IP address from a pool of available IP addresses from the network router upon boo ng If BRIC Link II is connected to the Internet it should display connec on informa on for the Ethernet Port including IP and DNS server addresses If it do...

Page 43: ...ng a direct Public IP address For users who wish to have a consistent Sta c IP address for their BRIC Link II this can be configured by edi ng the se ngs for the Default Network Loca on First click to expand the Default se ngs under Network Loca ons 1 in Figure 29 Next select IP Type 2 in Figure 29 to open the Adjust Device Se ngs panel on the right side of the screen Then select the drop down lis...

Page 44: ...r opera on in mul ple physical loca ons i e different studios etc without overwri ng the network configura ons set for previous places For example when opera ng in a new studio in New York City a user can create a Loca on called New York and apply the necessary IP se ngs for just that studio then BRIC Link II can be brought back to its own studio in Paris and simply change the Ac ve Network Loca on...

Page 45: ...C Link II See page 74 for more details on using HotSwap When a Comrex Connect Modem with an ac vated SIM card is plugged into BRIC Link II a new entry will appear in the Select Network Device panel of the Network Manager see Figure 31 4G connec ons generally populate Device Se ngs automa cally as Cellular connec ons are SIM specific It is possible to modify the APN se ng if the default is not corr...

Page 46: ...tly it is possible to be locked out of the BRIC Link II and you will then have to use the Device Manager program s Network Recovery Mode discussed on page 22 in order to log into it Use With CrossLock This op on allows for specifying whether this Ethernet port will be used for CrossLock connec ons and is enabled by default It may be valuable to disable this se ng in select circumstances such as wh...

Page 47: ...igure 32 Without CrossLock ac ve a codec will make BRIC Normal connec ons to BRIC Link II on port 9000 Audio and connec on data are then sent over this single network port across the public internet to be decoded on the far end Alterna vely when CrossLock is used it establishes a Virtual Private Network VPN between the hardware on both the transmi ng and receiving end before a connec on is establi...

Page 48: ...on opposite side of the link In other words each codec must have a Remote entry containing the Switchboard ID of the other unit in order to create a successful CrossLock VPN Note A typical connec on involves a calling unit and a receiving unit and the remote entry is usually only needed on the calling unit because it ini ates the connec on Manual CrossLock connec ons differ in that the receiving un...

Page 49: ...ncoding algorithms to use but will use the system s Default Profile if nothing else is chosen BRIC Link II includes several factory profiles to choose from each of which enables a full duplex link Factory provided profiles offer commonly used encoders and se ngs but are locked for edi ng to avoid losing access to their basic func onality Depending on use and environment custom profiles can be made ...

Page 50: ...t in the link Login to the Web User Interface of the receiving unit and follow the same process as described above to add a new remote using the Switchboard ID MAC address of the calling unit An IP address is not required for this For applica ons where connec ons will always be ini alized from one end this new remote entry will remain in the connec ons list seemingly unused The entry is however us...

Page 51: ...pter When two Ethernet cables are detected both networks will be added to the CrossLock VPN and used for media transfer unless specifically disabled for CrossLock use During an ac ve CrossLock connec on the Performance Tab on the Web User Interface will show the ra o of data being applied to networks on both the send and receive direc on Default Network Bonding By default data is appor oned betwee...

Page 52: ... 2 will connect on 9002 and instance 3 will connect on 9003 These are the default BRIC Normal ports used on the Mul Rack side but any codec a emp ng to connect to these instances must account for these ports as if they were non standard The CrossLock connec on between the Comrex hardware happens over a single port 9001 but the BRIC Normal connec ons take place virtually on their usual legacy ports...

Page 53: ...Link II can be ac vated for use on Switchboard through the purchase of a Switchboard Traversal Server License Contact an authorized Comrex dealer for more informa on This sec on of the manual describes the procedure for making and receiving connec on on BRIC Link II via the Comrex Switchboard server This is the easiest but not the only way to make BRIC Link II connec ons As described in the previo...

Page 54: ...mmed into the receiving codec and will be required on the outbound side for proper connec on Since Switchboard provides its own connec on filtering passwords are not normally used in this mode Profile Choose one of the factory supplied or custom built profiles for this connec on This defines encoders used in both direc ons along with a long list of other parameters See the Profile sec on in the se...

Page 55: ...o a Switchboard account as described in the next sec on of this manual FOLLOWING MULTIPLE CONTACT LISTS Part of se ng up a Switchboard Account involves managing a feature called Contact Lists see page 60 Adding units to a Contact List allows codec users to find and connect to any unit on that list as long as that codec is set to follow that Contact List When a codec is set to follow more than one ...

Page 56: ...the screen or double click the Contact List to open that List Units on that List will now be displayed with their familiar Gear icon Figure 44 A new header also appears above the Connec ons list displaying the name of the opened Contact List and a Back bu on used to close the current Contact List and display all available Lists again Connec ons to units on the opened Contact List can be made as us...

Page 57: ...sed as Master List containing all units on an account that List will now only show peers not already available in another Contact List If the same peer is in several followed Contact Lists it will typically only show up in the alphabe cally first List Following mul ple Contact Lists is especially useful when receiving Shared Lists from other accounts as described in the next sec on ...

Page 58: ...ef overview of how to set up and configure a basic Switchboard Account online For more detailed informa on and advanced setup instruc ons see the Switchboard Setup for Audio Codecs guide available on Comrex s website www comrex com LOGGING IN TO SWITCHBOARD In order to use Switchboard users must first have an account with the server This account can be obtained by contac ng Comrex at 978 784 1776 ...

Page 59: ...n be obtained from the Web User Interface see page 55 or by u lizing Comrex s Device Manager program see page 20 A er entering the Switchboard ID and clicking Add New Unit the next dialogue box will ask which Contact List the unit should use and which Contact List it should be added to Figure 47 Contact Lists are a method for Switchboard to determine which units can see which other units within an...

Page 60: ... can manage which units appear on each Contact List using this Tab AUTO DEFAULT LIST New Switchboard accounts will have one built in Contact List called Auto Default List For a basic setup this list works well as a Master List and should include all units on an account In some situa ons it might not be desirable for every codec to be able to see and connect to every other codec in a fleet To help ...

Page 61: ...ed click the Create new Contact List bu on to save the new List This Contact List will now appear on the Contact Lists Tab and units on the account will now be able to Follow this List from their Unit InformaƟon Page on the Audio Codecs Tab SHARING TAB The Sharing Tab displays a list of Shares that have been set up for the account as seen in Figure 51 and allows new Shares to be created a new acco...

Page 62: ...ppears in that account s Switchboard page A er naming the Share selec ng units to share and designa ng a des na on account to Share to click the Add New Share bu on to save this Share locally The op on to Ac vate this Share is selected by default and enables the new Share to show up on the Sharing Tab of the des na on account This op on can be unchecked and ac vated later if a Share is being creat...

Page 63: ...ers Tab displays a list of users who can log in and manage the account as shown in Figure 54 and allows more users to be added a new account will show only the current user Switchboard allows mul ple users to be added by entering a unique username a secure password and a valid email address User entries added here can also be removed from the account any me if they are no longer needed ADDING NEW ...

Page 64: ... is the number that gets applied to the des na on field of an IP packet so internet routers can determine how best to send it along its way Second traffic can o en be blocked or lost along the way even if the IP address is known Every device that connects directly to the public Internet must have an IP address However when web browsing or sending email this informa on is usually hidden from the user...

Page 65: ...e stack is o en temporary and able to change at any me Before deployment of Switchboard the answer to this dilemma was to assure that the codec located in the studio had a fixed public IP address This meant that the address was allocated exclusively by the ISP and that address was entered manually into the configura on of the codec and not subject to change This scenario worked because IP calls ar...

Page 66: ...grated into the codec s connec on address book Codec users see the whole address book as it is updated in the background and are given easy to understand icons depic ng the presence and connec on status of the remote units made available to them by Switchboard The address book may s ll contain entries made manually by entering IP addresses into the codec but those are signified by different icons i...

Page 67: ... through them and they may change source port numbers at will The term Network Address Transla on NAT refers to the ability of a router to translate requests from computers or codecs within its LAN into formats usable on the public internet On its most basic level this involves replacing the private source or return IP address in each packet with the true public IP and remembering where that packe...

Page 68: ... protocol called STUN Simple Traversal of UDP through NAT The system works well in all environments except one when both users are si ng behind a symmetric NAT In this situa on calls will fail even with Switchboard The only op on in that environment is to resort to port forwarding on one side of the link Overall Switchboard takes the complexity of interac ons between public and private internet an...

Page 69: ...ils and is later restored the packets stream will be restored to the decoder For most broadcas ng applica ons it s useful to simulate a connec on oriented stream so BRIC Link II uses a low bandwidth sub channel to deliver informa on back to the encoder about overall connec on status It does this in its applica on layer rather than the transport layer where UDP exists By default it monitors the hea...

Page 70: ...Connect To op on can be found by selec ng Connec ons in the System Se ngs Tab as seen in Figure 59 Select the drop down menu currently set to None to display a list of available remotes Selec ng any exis ng remote will set BRIC Link II to maintain constant connec on to that remote whenever possible Figure 60 A er selec ng a remote click the Apply Changes bu on to save changes and ini ate the 24 7 ...

Page 71: ...rop down menu currently set to None to display a list of available op ons These op ons will determine what BRIC Link II does in the event of a connec on meout Select a backup op on from the list and click Apply Changes as shown in Figure 62 One of these op ons is Keep retrying this remote If a connec on is lost for longer than the meout value default is 60 seconds using this mode will allow the un...

Page 72: ...a 24 7 environment the value is s ll calculated when making persistent connec ons and plays an important role in handling connec on interrup ons As an example a BRIC Link II can be set to Always Connect To a codec at a transmi er site with a Backup remote set in case the primary remote loses power If lightning strikes and the primary remote goes offline BRIC Link II will keep trying to connect to th...

Page 73: ...outgoing data are expected to differ the values may be set accordingly Local Timeout for outgoing data and Remote Timeout for incoming data A er making changes to any profile be sure the intended profile is actually being used by the Remote entry in the Connec ons Tab and that any ac ve connec ons using that profile are disconnected and reconnected to apply the new changes See page 48 for more deta...

Page 74: ...ry network in a dormant state Ethernet can be designated as either the primary or the backup network 4G connec on is supported on BRIC Link II as the secondary backup network only and only when using a Comrex Connect Modem BRIC Link II does not support the use of other 4G or 3G modems Since HotSwap is an alternate mode of the CrossLock reliability layer connec ons between codecs must be establishe...

Page 75: ...lid IP se ngs see page 42 for details on configuring networks Once a second network is installed and enabled HotSwap is configured in two steps First the Secondary Network must be set to Backup mode then the system wide CrossLock se ngs must be taken out of normal Bonding mode CONFIGURING A BACKUP NETWORK Select the intended Secondary Network and open the Use with CrossLock op on under Device Se n...

Page 76: ... the primary network fails Be sure to enable a Backup Network first to avoid unintended network usage CONFIGURING CONTACT CLOSURES FOR HOTSWAP When HotSwap is enabled and the Primary Network fails BRIC Link II can send a contact closure signal to indicate the failed network state The contact closure will ac vate when the Backup Network is in use and can be configured to ac vate on either the Remot...

Page 77: ... previous contact closure assignments made in the system se ngs Next select the HotSwap CC Unit op on as shown in Figure 68 Choose which end or ends of the link should receive the contact closure signal when the Backup Network is in use and click Apply Changes ...

Page 78: ...rithm is to produce AAC comparable quality at a lower bit rate It does this by encoding lower frequencies to AAC and higher frequencies using Spectral Band Replica on SBR SBR is a technique that par ally synthesizes these high frequencies HE AAC is trademarked by other companies as AACPlus HE AAC and close deriva ves is o en used as the main audio codec for digital radio and satellite networks HE ...

Page 79: ...thm used in some VoIP telephones and codecs It is provided for compa bility purposes and is not considered a superior algorithm for audio codecs OPUS A newer offering that combines low delay and low network u liza on Opus is included primarily for compa bility with so phone apps and Internet connec ons using WebRTC see Technotes about WebRTC on the Comrex website Special CBR modes are offered for co...

Page 80: ...ŚĞƌ ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ ĂƵĚŝŽ Ăƚ ůŽǁ ĚĂƚĂ ƌĂƚĞ 32 kb s ϭϴϰ ŵƐ 20 kHz G4 Stereo 32Kb ĂĚĚƐ WĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ ƚĞƌĞŽ ƚŽ Z ĨŽƌ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ ĂƵĚŝŽ Ăƚ ůŽǁ ĚĂƚĂ ƌĂƚĞ 48 kb s ϭϴϰ ŵƐ 20 kHz G3 Stereo 48Kb ĂĚĚƐ WĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ ƚĞƌĞŽ ƚŽ Z ĨŽƌ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ ĂƵĚŝŽ Ăƚ ůŽǁ ĚĂƚĂ ƌĂƚĞ 56 kb s ϭϴϰ ŵƐ 20 kHz G5 Stereo 56Kb ĂĚĚƐ WĂƌĂŵĞƚƌŝĐ ƚĞƌĞŽ ƚŽ Z ĨŽƌ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ ĂƵĚŝŽ Ăƚ ůŽǁ ĚĂƚĂ ƌĂƚĞ FLAC ƌĞĞ ŽƐƐůĞƐƐ ƵĚŝŽ ŽŵƉƌĞƐƐŝŽŶ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞƐ ƚƌĂŶƐ...

Page 81: ...k II can also only run one decoder so it s important that in a Mul stream environment a maximum of one stream is sent in the reverse direc on This means that users interested in hearing a Mul stream must turn off their encoders The diagram in Figure 70 shows a BRIC Link II Mul stream arrangement Codec A is the Mul streamer with Codecs B C and D listening to the same audio Codec B is set to return a...

Page 82: ...re the serving BRIC Link II accepts all incoming connec ons all the profiles are built on the Remote BRIC Link IIs Codecs B C and D Codec B will use a Duplex profile by defining the encoders in each direc on and assign it to Codec A this can be a factory profile Then Codecs C and D will each define a Simplex profile with their Local Transmit turned Off and assign them to Codec A Codec B should conn...

Page 83: ... concepts of setup and opera on of the network and will thus focus on how to configure BRIC Link II for Mul cast mode MULTICAST PROFILES To configure BRIC Link II for Mul cast a custom Audio Profile must be created in the Profile Manager Tab for either a Mul cast Sender or a Mul cast Receiver As shown in Figure 72 when defining a new profile there is the op on to choose a Channel for the audio str...

Page 84: ...onnec ng to the designated IP address as the Receiver will pull the stream from the network and decode the audio as normal The network provides the stream to any number of units that request it meaning addi onal codecs can connect as Receivers without any addi onal workload on the part of the Sending codec TIME TO LIVE Time to Live TTL is a variable set by Mul cast encoders to determine how long a...

Page 85: ...rop down under Alternate Modes The first op on Accept Incoming Connec ons should be changed to Yes The default port for serving streams is TCP 8000 To create a custom port change the HTTP se ng labelled IP Port Note that this port will need to be referenced in the URL provided to listeners Next select an encoder for use by the streaming server Only the encoder choices that are compa ble with the m...

Page 86: ...Player input the IP address like this h p 192 168 1 75 8000 stream asx using the actual IP address and port number of course SIMULTANEOUSLY CONNECTING BRIC LINK IIS AND STREAMING BRIC Link II can stream while connected to another Comrex codec in BRIC Normal mode as shown in Figure 74 If the BRIC connec on is using an AAC algorithm supported by media players when an HTTP stream is requested it will...

Page 87: ...ge Session Ini aliza on which is the handshake that takes place at the start of an IP codec call The most commonly used protocol is called SIP which is used extensively by VoIP phones and therefore was a logical choice SIP carries the advantage of making BRIC Link II compa ble with a range of other non broadcast products like VoIP hardware so ware and even mobile phone apps EBU3326 IN BRIC LINK II...

Page 88: ...ver similar to a URL for websites The SIP server assigns a fixed alphanumeric name to each subscribed account For example an Iptel user may be assigned the user name comrex_user URIs consist of a SIP user name followed by a domain delineated with the symbol like an email address Comrex s Iptel user URI would be comrex_user iptel org Comrex devices do not use the designa on sip before a SIP address...

Page 89: ...ress of the registra on process When complete this will display Online If the box does not display Online a er a short me it means that registra on likely failed It s best to go back and carefully check the registra on info It might also be useful to ensure the registra on informa on is valid by configuring a VoIP phone or so phone with it and a emp ng registra on ...

Page 90: ...y SIP connec ons are supposed to use UDP port 5060 to nego ate calls between devices and between servers and devices Note that this is only the nego a on channel actual audio data is passed on the RTP ports Changing this port number will change which incoming ports are used to ini ate connec ons and to which ports connec on requests are sent The change must be made on both devices and this change ...

Page 91: ...ublic IP address OUTGOING CALL ISSUES A unit making an outgoing call must populate the return address field But any codec si ng behind a router has a private IP address and does not know its public address A codec will populate its private IP address e g 192 168 x x style into that return address field The called codec will a empt to connect to that address and fail as its private IP Address can t...

Page 92: ...t in the SIP address field as it might if using STUN it may not translate ports as expected and it s likely that the call will fail When in doubt the best technique is to try a SIP call with STUN turned off and if the return channel fails try enabling STUN FIX OF LAST RESORT Finally there s a brute force op on available on Comrex Codecs when STUN ports are blocked by a firewall or are unusable for ...

Page 93: ...bu on of this so ware BRIC Link II makes use of open source and or free so ware with the following copyright restric ons ncurses Copyright 1998 1999 2000 2001 Free So ware Founda on Inc See further Copyright no ce below dropbear Copyright 2002 2004 Ma Johnston Por ons copyright c 2004 Mihnea Stoenescu All rights reserved See further Copyright no ce below libxml2 Copyright 1998 2003 Daniel Veillard...

Page 94: ... in the documenta on and or other materials provided with the distribu on 3 The names of the authors may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this so ware without specific prior wri en permission THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE...

Page 95: ...RPORATION AND OR ITS SUPPLIERS TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID AS PART OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT COMREX CORPORATION AND ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO WARRANTY EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED THAT ANY USE OF THE PRODUCT WILL BE FREE FROM INFRINGEMENT OF PATENTS COPYRIGHTS OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS THE SOFTWARE OWNED BY...

Page 96: ...y func oning Traversal Server deployed on the Internet Comrex has deployed and provided you account details for a Switchboard TS account on our server located at h p switchboard comrex com Comrex provides this service free of charge and at will As such Comrex offers no warranty as to availability of this server or of its func on Comrex reserves the right to discon nue availability of this service a...

Page 97: ...al Equipment Technical Requirements for Connec on of Terminal Equipment To the Telephone Network July 2001 Thomas O Hartne Vice President Comrex Corpora on Note This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protec on against harmful interference when the equipment ...

Page 98: ...n conformity with the essen al requirements and other relevant requirements of the R TTE Direc ve 1999 5 EC This product is compliant with the following standards and other norma ve documents European EMC Direc ve 89 336 EEC EN 55022 1998 A1 2000 Class A Conducted and Radiated Emissions EN55024 1998 A1 2001 A2 2003 Immunity ITE Equipment Low Voltage Direc ve 2006 95 EEC EN 60950 1 2001 Contact per...

Page 99: ...gits represented by in the product iden fier US DXDMD BACCRK US DXDMD BACCRK If the Comrex BRIC Link II causes harm to the telephone network the telephone company will no fy you in advance that temporary discon nuance of service may be required But if advance no ce isn t prac cal the telephone company will no fy the customer as soon as possible Also you will be advised of your right to file a comp...

Page 100: ...o any Luci compa ble mode in the Systems Se ng sec on Outgoing Connec ons Build a profile using the Profile Manager Tab on the BRIC Link II and select a Channel Mode of Standard RTP Then choose a Luci compa ble encoder for the outgoing call The Luci so ware will control what type of stream if any is returned to the BRIC Link II 2 Zephyr Xstream Xstream Firmware version 3 2 0 and higher support an ...

Page 101: ...Then choose an Xstream compa ble encoder for the outgoing call The Xstream will control what type of stream if any is returned to the BRIC Link II 3 Standard RTP This mode is set to receive a basic unforma ed AAC stream within a standard RTP UDP structure At present this mode does not offer compa bility with other industry devices ...

Page 102: ... that uses the Standard RTP channel mode in the Profile Manager Tab Choose an outgoing encoder along with any other special a ributes in the Profile Se ngs Name the profile something descrip ve like Simplex See page 32 for more details on crea ng a new profile Next create an outgoing Remote entry in the Connec ons Tab Apply the new profile to that entry Any connec on made with that entry will conn...

Page 103: ...stom online updater u lity This update process is password protected and requires access to TCP 80 and TCP 8081 In addi on to the password protec on the update data itself must have a valid cryptographic signature from Comrex or else it is rejected INCOMING SERVICES Port Service Default TCP SSH Off On for products shipped before July TCP HTTP control On TCP Firmware upload Open only during upgrade ...

Page 104: ...ng the Switchboard ID or primary Ethernet MAC address for each unit into a Remote entry on the codec on opposite side of the link Each unit in the link must have a Remote entry containing the Switchboard ID MAC address of the other unit in order to form a CrossLock connec on ACCESS Mul Rack instances 2 5 have special Switchboard IDs consis ng of the primary Ethernet MAC followed by a x suffix e g 00...

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