G E N E R A L I N F O R M A T I O N
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WheatNet-IP
/ Aug 2011
audio input jack could be an “input” or “source,” but less obvious is the fact that
an audio mix bus output is also a WheatNet-IP source because it is generating a
unique signal (the mix) and making it available to stream throughout the system.
Likewise, PCs streaming audio from a file via the WheatNet-IP driver can clearly
be seen as a “source.”
3. Destination. A destination is the opposite of a source. It is a signal that can
accept any WheatNet-IP stream. A destination can take the received WheatNet-IP
stream and convert it to a physical analog or digital output, or, in the case of a
PC, a virtual output that subsequent PC application programs can convert to an
audio output at the PC’s speakers, or lay down as an audio track on the hard disc.
Destinations can be audio, logic, or both. A logic destination might be a logic
port wired to a lamp or relay. We avoid using the term “output” for WheatNet-IP
signals. While it is clear that a WheatNet-IP destination wired to an output jack
is an “output,” control surface fader channels would not normally be considered
“outputs” but they are “destinations” in the WheatNet-IP system, because you
can route a WheatNet-IP audio stream to them.
4. LIO. Shorthand for Logic Input or Output. In the WheatNet-IP system,
an LIO signal is a signal that either generates or receives logic state information
created either physically via a logic port or virtually via some state change within
a mixing control surface. In the WheatNet-IP system logic information can be
routed and cross connected just as audio can be.
5. GUI. Shorthand for Graphical User Interface. A method of providing for
user interaction with the system using a special computer program that displays
information in the form of images and text on the computer screen and accepts
user input via typing and mouse clicking within the computer program. The
WheatNet-IP Navigator is a computer program that provides a GUI.
6.
Web Server. A special computer program running on WheatNet-IP devices.
Its intention is to provide for user interaction with the system by means of com-
mon place computer programs called “Web Browsers” that the user is likely to
have on their PC and be familiar with because of their use accessing web pages
over the World Wide Web via the Internet. The web server and Navigator GUI
provide similar functions but in opposite ways: the Navigator GUI provides user
access via the special program that must first be installed and then run on a par
-
ticular PC, while the web server is a special program installed on every BLADE
to provide user access via commonplace programs from any PC. Why do we
provide both? Each has it advantages. A Browser is a general purpose program
designed for viewing many different web pages and, as such, is best suited for
general viewing functions such as seeing status, version, or logging information,
while the Navigator GUI is a special program written specifically to control the
nuances of a WheatNet-IP system. A browser is easier to use because you don’t
have to install any special programs, so any network connected PC should be
capable of accessing the system, but the WheatNet-IP Navigator GUI is more
powerful because it was designed from the ground up to control a WheatNet-IP
system. Since each method of user access has some advantages, we have provided
for both methods in the WheatNet-IP system.
