Lawo .edge Unleashes Edge Computing at IBC 2023, Booth 8.B90
Hyper-Density SDI/IP Gateway and SDI Router Replacement
Lawo’s IP Video Infrastructure Platform .edge (read: dot edge) is first and foremost a flexible hyper-density SDI/IP gateway. Its compact 2RU housing accommodates up to four 25/100 GbE processing blades and rear I/O plates, for up to 192 SDI inputs and outputs and best-in-class signal conversion density.
Hyper-density SDI/IP Conversion
Each rear I/O blade provides 48 HD-BNC connectors for SD/HD/3G/UHD SDI interfacing, resulting in 192 SDI/IP conversions per 2RU. Even though the physical footprint remains the same, users have the option of starting out small, with one processing and one rear-panel blade, using only 8 SDI inputs and as many outputs. More I/O can be activated via additional licenses.
The same applies to features like 3G UHD Gearboxing, Input Frame Synchronization and 100GbE port activation. Not all clients need these, and so it would be unfair to have them pay for features they never use. But they still have the option to change their minds later on. This agility is called “software-licensable infrastructure”.
.edge provides full support for the SMPTE ST2110 suite of standards, with ST2022-7 redundancy built in, providing not only advanced essence-based handling but also ensuring seamless protection switching of audio, video and ancillary data streams in both local and wide-area network operations.
The .jpegxs option allows users to compress streams before they are transmitted, to avoid network congestion. The .proxy option creates several downscaled picture sizes and transmits them—along with the original resolution—to the required destinations. Both options work inside .edge, and so at the network’s edge, to save bandwidth. Again, these are licenses users can—but do not have to—purchase.
.edge is designed from the ground up to be a HOME-native client. It is automatically discovered and registered and benefits from all of HOME’s next-generation management features: user access control, quarantining of unknown devices, network security, sweet-spot parameter tweaking and real-time health monitoring.
Baseband-like Routing in IP
Video is switched on the IP packet level, in one of two ways: “make before break” (MBB) and “break before make” (BBM). Audio signals are switched in MBB mode using a V-fade curve for clean and quiet transitions. .edge’s local loop support allows users to route local inputs to local outputs, while the packet replication capability allows a packet received once to be used many times without additional stream management or logic operations: packets in the packet buffer are available to any SDI output.
Software-Licensable Infrastructure
Each .edge blade can be used in a variety of scenarios simply by unlocking the required feature sets via a flexible licensing system. In addition to its base license for 16 BNC connectors, there are options to unlock up to 48 BNCs per rear-panel blade. More feature licenses are available for Input Frame Synchronizers, 100GbE port activation and 3G UHD Gearboxing with Lawo’s unique “UHD Link Rotate” feature, which automatically reshuffles the legs of a four-wire 3G-SDI link whose cables were connected in the wrong order.
Easy drop-in SDI Router Replacement
For .edge as easy drop-in SDI router replacement, all-in bundles are available for 288 x 288, 576 x 576 and 1152 x 1152 matrix capacities, complete with customers’ choice of network switches and a fully-clustered HOME license. To broadcast control systems, the .edge/HOME bundle behaves like a traditional SDI router, with no changes to users’ UIs or workflows. This allows broadcasters to keep all their existing SDI gear in operation while migrating to a no-limits IP backbone.
“With .edge you immediately benefit from an easy one-step migration to IP by saving rack space, weight and power consumption,” says Andreas Hilmer, Lawo’s Chief Marketing Officer. “An .edge-based SDI router can scale according to your needs. If your requirements grow, you simply connect more .edge I/Os to the network—in any location. Based on IP, your future-proof router can be distributed across the facility. Put I/Os where they are needed and save significant cabling costs. Users can distribute their .edge routing infrastructure across multiple facilities, across the country or even across continents.”
