Model 5401A User Guide
Issue 4, August 2021
Studio Technologies, Inc.
Page 19
Model 5401A
DANTE LEADER CLOCK
provide Dante device timing across different subnets
for complex or especially large applications. For more
in-depth control of these clocking issues the Dante
Domain Manager (DDM) software application can be
very useful.
Dante Sync Status:
The Model 5401A can simultane-
ously serve as a Leader clock for both Dante primary
and Dante secondary networks and is capable of
supporting both PTPv1 (IEEE 1588-2002) and PTPv2
(IEEE 1588-2008). As such the unit is capable of
acting as four independent Leader clocks: PTPv1 for
Dante primary, PTPv2 for Dante primary, PTPv1 for
Dante secondary, and PTPv2 for Dante secondary.
While the PTP processes are asymmetrical, they do
share the same internal timing reference. The Model
5401A can also act as a PTPv1 and PTPv2 clock fol-
lower but that would typically be utilized only for test
purposes. Standard and Redundant Dante (no AES67
support) uses PTPv1 and that is always enabled in
the Model 5401A. AES67 utilizes PTPv2 clocking
and if support for AES67 is desired within the Dante
environment it must be enabled using a configuration
setting in the Dante Controller application.
The Model 5401A’s Main menu has four fields that
display the real-time sync status of the PTPv1 and
PTPv2 functions for the Dante primary and Dante
secondary interfaces. If the network configuration in
Dante Controller for this specific Model 5401A has
been selected for Switched or SMgmt the
clocking status of the Dante primary interface will be
displayed. In this situation, the Dante primary PTPv1
interface will show Leader, Follower, Link Down, or
Error (with the latter showing in red text). If AES67
support is enabled in Dante Controller then the same
choices will also be displayed in the primary PTPv2
field. If AES67 support is not enabled then Disabled
will show in the primary PTPv2 field. Since Dante
secondary is not enabled then the secondary PTPv1
and secondary PTPv2 fields will show Disabled.
If the Model 5401A’s network configuration has been
selected for Redundant or ReMgmt then
both the primary PTPv1 and secondary PTPv1 sync
status fields will display their respective sync status.
They will show the same choices as described above:
Leader, Follower, Link Down, or Error (with the latter
showing in red text). If AES67 support is enabled in
Dante Controller then the same choices will also be
displayed in the primary PTPv2 and secondary PTPv2
fields. If AES67 support is not enabled then Disabled
will show in both the primary PTPv2 and secondary
PTPv2 fields.
Should Leader be displayed in a specific field it would
indicates that this specific Model 5401A is acting as
the Leader clock for the Dante network and clock func-
tion associated with that field. If Follower is displayed
this indicates that this specific Model 5401A is obtain-
ing its timing reference from another Dante device on
the network. This would be the current display if this
specific Model 5401A was serving as a “hot” standby
Dante Leader clock.
If Link Down is displayed this will indicate that a valid
Ethernet connection has not been made to the RJ45
jack associated with that field’s Model 5401A’s Eth-
ernet interface. A display of Error would indicate that
this specific Model 5401A is having a permanent or
temporary issue with its internal circuitry. There may
be occasions where Error would display for a few
seconds while Model 5401A circuitry first becomes
active.
