Network operations
10
Network capabilities and network setting menus are
available only for K Series amplifiers equipped with a
KAESOP board.
KAESOP stands for K (as in Powersoft’s K Series) AES3
and Ethernet Simple Open Protocol. Powersoft’s KAESOP
is designed to provide high reliability to live applications in
harsh environments where Quality of Service must be guar-
anteed. Electromagnetic and radio frequency interference
(EMI and RFI) originating from a high power audio and light
system must not degrade audio quality or cause a control
link interruption. Moreover, a single cable or device failure
should not affect the overall system performance.
10 : 1.Introduction to AESOP
The AESOP standard can transport a single bidirectional
Ethernet 100 Mbps control data stream and two separate
AES3 digital audio monodirectional streams using one Cat5
cable.
All K Series amplifier with the optional KAESOP board
installed are equipped with at least two RJ45 connectors,
each of them being a single AESOP port, capable of send-
ing and/or receiving data and audio.
If the amplifier has only two RJ45 plugs, these will be
on the front panel. If four plugs are present, the rear two
will be “primary” ports, while the two on the front panel are
“secondary” ports.
Primary ports allow both data and AES3 streams;
secondary ports, on the other hand, are data-only ports,
allowing Ethernet connections only.
Cat5 standard twisted pair cables shall be used for con-
nections up to 100 meters (328 ft). RJ45 pinout must comply
to TIA/EIA-568-B and adopt the T568B scheme pinout, as
show in
TABLE 1
p. 22
.
Please note that even if crossed Ethernet cables
would work control wise, crossed cables are not
to be used for KAESOP connections: they will
not allow the AES3 streams to flow correctly.
10 : 1.1. Data stream
The data stream in the AESOP is implemented by a 100
Mbit Ethernet connectivity with auto-sense.
Each device can use a static IP address assigned by
the user. Alternatively, it can be set to automatically config-
ure itself without user intervention following the Zeroconf
protocol.
The dual port design in K Series amplifiers allows for
daisy chain and redundant ring topologies. A fault-bypass
built-in feature takes into account the possibility of loosing
an intermediate device or having a faulty cable link without
compromising the ring integrity.
The KAESOP board detects bad quality connections by
counting errors on the Ethernet control. Faulty connections
are automatically switched from 100 Mbit/s to 10 Mbit/s
to attempt to keep the link active even in the worst case
scenarios.
10 : 1.2. Audio
Audio is distributed to devices via the AESOP protocol
by 2 independent and separate AES3 streams labeled
AES3-A stream, AES3-B stream. These are carried by two
Cat5 wire pairs unused in the 100 Mbit Ethernet protocol.
AES3 is a license free and well known standard guar-
anteeing low-latency, high reliability and excellent audio
quality. A single AES3 stream can carry a stereo audio
signal. The AESOP protocol can therefore handle four audio
channels.
When a K Series amplifier is powered off or if it is una-
vailable, a passive high frequency relay circuit allows the
audio signal to pass through, preserving the network chain
connection integrity.
When the device is powered up, the internal circuits
automatically select the most appropriate AES3 stream di-
rection and bypass the relay, re-buffering actively the AES3
signal. The direction is maintained until errors are detected
on the AES3 receiver circuit. When errors or link failure are
detected, the direction is swapped, to build-up a new path
for the audio. In a fraction of a second (no more than 50ms),
some of the devices in a ring will swap to the other direction,
restoring the audio streaming.
10 : 1.3. Ethernet internal switch
All control data streams in the KAESOP system are
transported via an Ethernet protocol. Inside all K Series
amplifiers is an Ethernet switch connected to each RJ45.
This means that the bidirectional data stream can enter/
exit one port and exit/enter any other port, either alongside
AES3 streams or on its own.
Internal routing of Ethernet networking is automatic and
not user controllable. An internal switch provides packet
flooding block services in order to allow building networks
with a ring topology.
10 : 1.4. Forwarding and repeater modes
Each K Series amplifier can be configured to handle the
pair of AES3 streams embedded in the AESOP protocol in
one of two basic network modes: repeater and forwarder.
These are true connection “building blocks”; it is there-
fore important to understand these two modes thoroughly
before attempting to create or modify larger and more com-
plex amplifier networks.
The following are definitions of the terms used in this
section:
24 | K Series | User guide
