Avnu Alliance Launches Milan Advanced Certification Program

Avnu Alliance, the industry consortium driving open, standards-based deterministic networking, introduces a new Milan Advanced Certification Program for faster, more convenient, and less expensive testing and certification of Professional Audio Video (AV) end devices for its members. A first of its kind for the AV industry, the Milan Advanced Certification Program streamlines certification testing at independent test houses for end devices implementing the Milan network protocol. The Advanced Certification program introduces a significantly enhanced Certification Management System, new pre-certification validation test tools, and global access to test houses around the world, the company says.

Milan is a standards-based, user-driven deterministic network protocol for professional media, that through certification, assures devices will work together at new levels of convenience, reliability, and functionality. To guarantee interoperability amongst Milan devices from various manufacturers, Avnu's new Milan Advanced Certification Program delivers robust test plans and scripts that are performed at independent authorized certification labs around the world to ensure compliance with the Milan specifications and to guarantee seamless interoperability with all other Milan-Certified end devices and Avnu-Certified switches in the signal chain, regardless of function or manufacturer.

"This is a new approach to open standard certification for the Pro AV industry. There are other open standards in this industry, however, they don't guarantee interoperability on their own. Milan manufacturers have come together to invest their expertise, resources, and experience to ensure a system architecture that will work for the future of many ecosystems, all supported by a first-of-its-kind independent certification program. The new Milan Advanced Certification program makes testing and certification significantly easier and faster for members, which brings more manufacturers and Certified devices to the table, with the guarantee that those devices will work together to deliver the best experience for the end user," says Richard Bugg, Avnu Alliance Pro AV segment chair. "The new streamlined program is Milan's solution to enabling a long-term, stable, no-compromise network of future-ready devices that is easier and less expensive to implement and evolves with the market's requirements."

With this new program, Avnu Alliance also introduces tools to streamline the certification process for vendors. Available today, Avnu has launched a new low-cost validation test tool, the Avnu Express Test Tool, that vendors can use to internally verify device conformance prior to submission for certification testing, providing valuable insights into the product that can be used to optimize product development, increasing the probability of certification success, and saving manufacturers time, resources, and money. Vendors can also use the test tool, which bundles test control and test engine software along with a set of hardware equipment, to verify the performance of end devices using Certified modules. Avnu members can purchase floating licenses that allow teams across geographic locations to work using the same tool and the Avnu Express Test Tool will be automatically updated as new test plans become available.

"The new test tool significantly lowers the barrier for certification," says Genio Kronauer, Avnu Alliance Certification Work Group co-chair. "Now, we can enter the certification process with greater assurance that a device will pass and iterate new devices with far more efficiency. This tool will be a powerful catalyst for the growth of available Milan products."

Avnu has launched a new testing portal and comprehensive Certification Management System (CMS) with simplified and intelligent certification workflows for seamless, transparent communication. The new CMS provides Milan members with real-time visibility into the testing process with the introduction of a Debug ID, as well as the ability to track device testing progress and timelines, view results, and manage the public listing and marketing opportunities for newly Certified products.

Avnu member customers and end users also get access to a new Certified product registry with a robust database and advanced filtering capabilities, making it easier to find devices to design into networked AV systems.

The Milan Advanced Certification program is currently open for submission of Pro Audio end devices that meet Milan specifications. All Milan-Certified devices work with any Avnu-Certified switches. Companies interested in submitting devices for Milan Certification can join Avnu Alliance at the Milan Associate Membership level or manufacturers interested in joining workgroups within Avnu to collaborate with other members and collectively define Milan requirements for the future are welcome to join Avnu Alliance as a Promoter member to ensure their unique development needs are met.