Switchable Yes Minimum latency 0.75 ms | Routable Yes | |
Manufacturer Axia Audio, a brand of The Telos Alliance Development date 2003; 14 years ago (2003) Ethernet data rates Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet | ||
Livewire is an audio-over-Ethernet system that was created by Axia Audio, a division of The Telos Alliance. Its primary purpose is routing and distributing broadcast-quality audio in radio stations.
Contents
The original Livewire was introduced in 2003. Livewire was superseded by Livewire+, which enables full AES67 interoperability. Designed as a superset of Livewire functionality utilizing common protocols and formats, Livewire+ is available as an open standard through Axia's Livewire+ Partner Program.
Livewire+ is interoperable with other Ravenna standards-based systems and equipment.
History
Before the advent of Livewire, the infrastructure of analog radio plants consisted of miles of multiconductor audio cable wired to walls full of punch blocks at each end. Installation and maintenance was time consuming and expensive. Telos founder and president Steve Church set out to find a better way.
He looked to computer networks for inspiration. If data could be divided into packets and routed on a single Ethernet cable, why couldn't the same thing be done with broadcast audio? There were many hurdles, such as latency, lost packets, and prioritizing audio over other traffic on the network. One by one, these and other problems were solved. The theory was put into practice, and workable products were developed.
Livewire made its debut in 2003 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. The original Liveweire-capable products included the SmartSurface console, Studio Engine, analog, AES, mic and GPIO nodes, as well as the Router Selector node.At the conclusion of the show, Livewire received two awards. Radio World bestowed its Cool Stuff award to Livewire, while BE Radio Magazine gave it a Pick Hit award. Both awards are given to the best new products shown at NAB.
Livewire, the new Audio-over-Ethernet solution introduced by Telos Systems, gathered awards from two major broadcast technology magazines at the 2003 NAB convention in Las Vegas.
Radio World’s Cool Stuff award and BE Radio Magazine’s Pick Hit award are given to the best new products shown at the NAB. Livewire’s unique approach to real-time networking of studio audio using standard Ethernet cabling and switched hubs earned awards from both publications.
The NAB premiere of Livewire marked the dawn of Audio over IP (AoIP). The concept caught on, and before long, other manufacturers were making their own AoIP broadcast equipment. Soon, there developed the need for a standard so AoIP gear from different manufacturers could communicate with each other. Telos worked with other manufacturers to develop the AES67 standard for AoIP interoperability. The Telos Alliance is a founding member of the Media Networking Alliance, which promotes adoption of the AES67 standard on behalf of the pro audio industry. Livewire+ was developed to bring the original Livewire protocol into AES67 compliance.
To date, there are over 80 Livewire+ Partner companies. Over 6,000 studios have been installed with Livewire+ worldwide, and there are over 60,000 individual Livewire+ devices in the field.
Benefits
Livewire+ provides routing of audio from 'anywhere-to-anywhere' using multicast sources and destinations of uncompressed PCM audio that is globally visible on a LAN. Distribution is via 8-conductor cables and RJ-45 connectors. These are smaller than the standard XLR interconnects, and improve flexibility while reducing the amount of wiring required for installations.
Protocol
The following table lists ports and protocols used in Livewire systems.