Using Dante™ devices with Telos Alliance devices

Updated by Bryan Jones

Scope

This document describes background information useful for the integration of Livewire+ AES67 devices with Dante* devices running in AES67 compatibility mode.

It is important to note that the Telos Alliance is not a Dante partner, and our products do not support Dante natively. However, Dante has some support for AES67. We believe AES67 will continue to see wide adoption and support in the broadcast audio space.

General Steps

While the specific steps for each Dante device and Telos Alliance device may vary slightly, some foundational steps must be in place for interoperability:

  • a Precision Time Protocol version 2 (PTPv2) clock source must be available to all devices using AES67
  • each Dante device that is sending or receiving AES67 streams must be in AES67 mode
  • Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) advertisement must be present for all sources and destinations that need to appear in Dante Controller

PTPv2 Clock Source

You will need to have a device that provides a PTPv2 clock signal. Livewire+ devices and Dante devices will use as a reference. There are a few common sources of this clock signal described below.

Each device sending or receiving streams must have a standard timebase reference. A "common" reference does not mean that all devices must exclusively use PTPv2. It is quite possible (and expected) for multiple clock signals to live in harmony on the same network. It just means that each master, for each clock type, must be synced to each other. For example, If you are using a dedicated grandmaster clock to generate PTPv2, you can set the xNode acting as the Livewire master clock to slave itself to that PTPv2 grandmaster. In this scenario, some devices can use Livewire clock, and others can use PTPv2, and it does not matter -- because both the master xNode and the Grandmaster PTPv2 clock are synced.
Dedicated PTPv2 Grandmaster

If available, a dedicated PTPv2 grandmaster clock is the ideal clock source for AES67 devices. In many cases, this grandmaster clock will be GPS-disciplined, providing a highly stable absolute time reference.

These PTPv2 grandmaster clocks are also generally capable of responding to a very high rate of peer delay requests, allowing your AES67 network to grow in the future.

When adding PTP to an existing Livewire network, you can set an xNode to be a PTP slave + Livewire master.

xNode

A Telos Alliance xNode can generate a PTPv2 clock signal if desired. The xNode can simultaneously be a Livewire master + PTP master.

Dante Device

A Dante device in AES67 mode can simultaneously generate both PTPv2 (for AES67) as well as PTPv1 (for traditional Dante devices not in AES67 mode). Traditionally, you would also set this device to be the Preferred Master in Dante Controller.

When adding PTP to an existing Livewire network, you can set an xNode to be a PTP slave + Livewire master.

SAP Advertisement

For a source to appear in Dante Controller, SAP announcements that advertise those sources must be present. Dante devices natively generate these advertisements.

Some Telos Alliance devices automatically generate SAP advertisements for sources, while others require this functionality to be enabled in the configuration. Please refer to the product manual or contact us for assistance, as this functionality is rapidly being added to various Telos Alliance products.

Telos Alliance devices never generate SAP advertisements for destinations, only sources. Routing streams to Telos Alliance device destinations must be done via the device web UI or Pathfinder and cannot be done via Dante Controller.

Let us know how we can help

If you have further questions on this topic or have ideas about improving this document, please contact us.

*Dante™ and Dante Controller are products of Audinate Pty. Ltd.

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