vsmStudio - Cross-Point Centric (CPC) Processing

With Release 2020-2, vsmStudio comes with a fundamental change in the internal processing and visualization of source-to-destination connections: Cross-Point Centric (CPC) Processing.

CPC is an adapted method of processing and visualization of cross-points within vsmStudio, reflecting the drastically changing technical prerequisites in IP infrastructure setups. It aims to provide immediate confirmation of cross-point triggering actions to VSM users operating IP environments where controlled devices may not respond in time.

Why is this important? Switching an essence flow in an IP environment involves multiple systems, managed by a central controller, to establish a proper routing path. When media data travels from a sender to a receiver across the network, the controller triggers at least the receiver and the network (directly or via SDN) to ensure a route. More systems may get involved, depending on signal workflows. These systems exchange their status separately and with different timings with the controller, which in turn coordinates all statuses and responses to visualize the cross-point status. Instead of waiting for the last device to provide its response to the initial routing trigger, VSM’s implementation of CPC factors in the reaction times of controlled systems and provides operators with immediate feedback to their actions – for the operator, every cross-point switch feels like before, while VSM manage the systems underneath.

In summary, CPC applies the mechanisms which handle the asynchronous status of multiple controlled systems, and provides a summarized cross-point status to the user as an immediate, transparent response to their actions on hardware and software panels. The CPC mechanisms include various methods to recover flows across a network, should they encounter issues during initialization or runtime. 

vsmGadgetserver - NMOS IS-05 Compatibility

With the increasing availability of NMOS compatible devices on the market, vsmGadgetServer now includes a driver which provides generic NMOS IS-05 support (connection management) for VSM. With this new functionality, VSM can control NMOS compatible devices for the purpose of connection management using a unified, industry-wide specification — without the need to build and maintain custom device drivers. VSM controls these devices right alongside other IP edge nodes and legacy gear which are managed through proprietary APIs, further adding to VSM’s outstanding compatibility with 3^rd party devices. This new functionality is already at work in several recent VSM project installations.