Harman's BSS Audio GS724T Ethernet AVB Switch Now Shipping

Harman BSS Audio announces that the GS724T 24-Port Ethernet AVB switch is now shipping. The BSS Audio GS724T is co-branded with NETGEAR, Inc. a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions and represents the world's first AVB (IEEE Audio Video Bridge) switch for networking multichannel audio and video over standardized Ethernet.

Standardized multichannel audio and video over Ethernet, enabled by AVB, provides AV professionals and their customers with considerable cost-per-node savings in deploying complex AV systems, while advancing integration, ease of use and system functionality and control.

HiQnet System Architect 3.0, launched at InfoComm 2011, includes the ability to add representations of the BSS Audio GS724T to the system design and add them to equipment racks if required. By specifying IP addresses for the GS724T devices represented within System Architect, designers are able to double-click on a GS724T and launch its web-management interface in the computer's default web browser.

The IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging Task Group is an IEEE initiative comprising engineers from a host of technology leaders in the semiconductor, enterprise computing, automotive, professional AV, consumer electronics and networking solutions markets. The group has developed protocols to allow vendors to build a standards-based network with the appropriate quality of service for high-quality audio performance and production.

The IEEE 802.1 Audio Video Bridging standards provide three major enhancements for 802-based networks:

• Precise timing to support low-jitter media clocks and accurate synchronization of multiple streams

• A simple reservation protocol that allows an endpoint device to notify the various network elements in a path so that they can reserve the resources necessary to support a particular stream

• Queuing and forwarding rules that ensure that such a stream will pass through the network within the delay specified by the reservation

The enhancements enabled by IEEE 802.1 standards require no changes to the Ethernet lower layers and are compatible with all the other functions of a standard Ethernet switch (a device that follows the IEEE 802.1Q bridge specification).