ACN output questions

[neilric99]

How can I select which network the ACN traffix is destined to be multicast on. Also is it possible to select A Unicast network, as I will have multiple E1.31 devices that work better on Unicast to keep them from from having to process everthing on the network.

Neil
in So Cal

[Wissmann]

Hi neilric99,
.
sorry for the late late response.
The most of our team was on LDI and we was a litle bit busy there.
.
Please stay tuned until next weak where our ACN developer will back from vacation.

[neilric99]

thanks for response, I had intended to be at LDI all week, had to cancel due to another project commitment coming up.

If you need further information on the E1.31 requirement for Unicast, please dont hesistate to contact me for more information.

thanks

Neil
in So Cal

[nomis52]

Neil:

The devices you describe are not E1.31 devices. From the standard:

"E1.31 receivers of a universe shall subscribe to the multicast address defined in Table 2."

If the devices aren't joining the multicast group, they aren't E1.31 devices.


Simon Newton
(E1.31/E1.33 Task Group)

[neilric99]

Simon, Correct, these are the J1SYS devices that Ed extended to do unicast.

My original problem was that I could not direct the Multicast traffic to go out of the Network interface that was not the default one. After some playing with the windows routing I now have managed to setup so that the 224.0.0.0/4 subnet is routed to the 2nd NIC.

My 2 * EthConGateway's are now connected to a seperate switch and Madrix does cause the default network to slowdown to a crawl.

If there is a better way to do this or a different netmask that would be much appreciated

[nomis52]

Simon, Correct, these are the J1SYS devices that Ed extended to do unicast.

The less said about those the better. I tried to convince Ed to do the right thing but he decided to go his own way. The rest of the industry shouldn't have to add hacks so that his products work.

If there is a better way to do this or a different netmask that would be much appreciated

I may be mistaken but isn't there an option in Madrix to select the network interface? If it doesn't send the multicast traffic out the selected interface that sounds like a bug...

[neilric99]

you are right about standards Simon, Just like Microsoft everyone wants them but they tend to stray and do their own thing as well, as long as the product still works within the base of the standard then all is ok, and you are right that not every manufacturer is going to implement it or should they be expected to.

I havent found a parameter for the ACN multicast output to go to a diffenent Interface, hopefully the developer will be back this week and point me in the right direction, for now though the route workaround is working for me.

Now that I have purchased Madrix I have work to do in driving it from another sequencer to incorporate the matrix's I have into my sequences.

[Wissmann]

Hi neilric99,
.
Sven (our ACN developer) will be back on Wednesdays.
Today i have just a short phone call to him.
He means Streaming ACN is always about network 239.x.x.x , the data will always send by broadcast and the second ip number decide about the dmx universe.
So, currently there is no possibility inside MADRIX to select the network card for Streaming ACN.
.
But i do not like to confuse you, because i am not so familar yet with Streaming ACN, therefor i maybe understand something wrong.
.
Imedatley after Sven arrives here in the office he will read this thread and is able to told us his opinion.

[neilric99]

I think Simons comments are valid and E1.31 does not support Unicast IP, however the need to route the E1.31 to a different Network Adapter is valid, especially for the larger installations where load is a problem from a single NIC, or if someone needs to use the same LAN as everything else.

I currently have setup 12 ACN devices using Multicast for my 2 EthConGateway's and the network it is on gets swamped. I have a workaround by using the windows Route command, but you do need to understand your network to employ it.

[Wissmann]

Hi neilric99,
.
today Sven is back in the office.
First i have to correct one of my statements.
Streaming ACN is always about network 239.255.x.y !
The last two numbers decide the universe.
.
Currently there is no possibilty in MADRIX to define a target NIC for dedicadet devices.
The data are send by multicast to the whole network!
.
We gues, the issue that your primery NIC slowdown to crawl is because of the network stack. The routing manage the data only to the networks 224.0.0.0/4 but this happens inside the network stack, so the primary network do not get the data (which is usefull for all other clients in this network) but for your computer this makes no difference.
.
So in conclusion what we try to figure out for the future is, if there is a possibility to link Streaming ACN data to one or more defined NIC.
Currently we have no informations about that and do not know how this will work regarding the performance.
.
At last i have to say we worked together with the people from ETC to develop the Streaming ACN support, so the current way how MADRIX handle it, is our stay of knowlegde about this. For sure, if we get new informations to improve it, we will implement it in future releases.
.
The link to the American National Standard
E1.31- 2009
Entertainment Technology –
Lightweight streaming protocol for transport of
DMX512 using ACN
http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/docs/E1-31_2009.pdf