Harman Professional To Demonstrate Preview of End-To-End Ethernet AV At Pro Light & Sound

Harman SDIG Vice President, Rick Kreifeldt, will also present a paper on developments by the IEEE 802.1 Bridging Task Group on delivering uninterrupted audio and video over standards-based Ethernet.

Bringing to fruition over three years of research and development as well as comprehensive participation and leadership in the IEEE AVB 802.1 Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) Task Group initiative, Harman Professional today announced it will demonstrate Harman HiQnet™ products streaming Ethernet AV in a technology preview at Pro Light & Sound in Frankfurt, Germany on April 1, 2009. The company will showcase several new Ethernet AV products including a dbx SC 32 Digital Matrix Processor, and a Crown CTs amplifier all connected with an Ethernet AV switch at Stand G42 in Hall 8. An Ethernet AV architectural wall-plate from BSS Audio will also be on display.

The demonstration follows Harman’s participation in the IEEE 802.1 AVB workshop with AVB Task Group co-members at the 125th AES Convention in San Francisco. Presenters included Robert Boatright, Director of Research, Harman International, Matthew Xavier Mora, Software Engineer and Michael Johas Teener, Technical Director & Plumbing Architect, Broadcom Corp — all members of the IEEE 802.1 AVB Task Group. (http://www.aes.org/press/?ID=24)

“Today’s announcement is the product of considerable labor, remarkable inter-company cooperation and uncommon leadership by a group of dedicated engineers at the IEEE AVB 802.1 AVB Task Group,” said Rick Kreifeldt, Vice President, Harman System Development & Integration Group (SDIG). “Harman has long been a very active participant in this group and we’re very pleased to see the momentum this initiative has generated from such a diverse host of technology companies. We’re also very pleased to demonstrate working end-to-end Ethernet AV across products from three Harman companies at Pro Light & Sound next week.”

The IEEE 802 working groups, a coalition of leading technology companies from professional audio and video, semiconductor, networking, computing and consumer electronics have been working on protocols that allow the building of standards-based networks with the appropriate quality of service for high quality audio performance and production. This new set of standards, developed by the IEEE 802.1 (AVB) Task Group, provides three major enhancements for 802-based networks:

• Precise timing to support low-jitter media clocks and accurate synchronization of multiple streams

• A simple reservation protocol that allows endpoint devices to reserve the bandwidth in a path to guarantee quality of service for audio/video streams

• Queuing and forwarding rules that ensure that audio/video streams will pass through the network within the delay specified by the reservation

The enhancements enabled by IEEE 802.1 standards require no changes to the Ethernet lower layers and are compatible with all the other functions of a standard Ethernet switch. As a result, the entire Ethernet ecosystem is available to developers—in particular, the various high speed physical layers (up to 100 gigabit/sec in current standards), security features (encryption and authorization), and advanced management (remote testing and configuration) features.

Commenting on the announcement, Michael MacDonald, Harman Professional Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales noted, “The benefits of this technology will resonate widely to audio professionals in many disciplines from fixed install to broadcast to cinema, tour sound and beyond: networked systems will become easier to deploy and use and will become both more affordable and ubiquitous. I am certain that standards-based Ethernet AV will take professional grade audio — and audio professionals — to markets and opportunities our industry has never before addressed!”

Echoing this sentiment, Robert Boatright, Director of Research of Harman International’s Corporate Technology Group and Chair of the IEEE 1722 AVB Transport Protocol Working Group noted, “Ethernet AV brings a new level of simplicity, elegance, and interoperability to system design while delivering professional-grade performance. This technology will bring media networking to a wider array of applications than has ever been seen before. Working with my colleagues at Harman and peers on the IEEE (AVB) Task Groups to develop Ethernet AV has been a privilege. I’m looking forward to the near future where widely deployed audio and video networks are the norm and not just the top of the pyramid!”

On April 3, at 2:15PM in Room Symmetrie 3, Rick Kreifeldt, will present a paper entitled The use of IEEE AVB standard networking in professional A/V applications on developments by the IEEE 802.1 Bridging Task Group. The IEEE 802.1 community has been developing enhancements to Ethernet for guaranteed delivery of time synchronous low-latency high-performance audio and video. The features and benefits of this new technology will be presented with a special focus on how the challenges of large-scale Pro A/V applications are uniquely serviced. Details are available at

Patented Harman HiQnet™ is the world's first connectivity and control protocol that integrates all product categories in the signal chain for professional audio systems of all types, size, and applications. Harman HiQnet no longer requires the user to manage multiple disparate operating systems or be responsible for programming individual signal processors, speaker controllers, wireless microphone systems, and mixing consoles. HiQnet was developed by engineers from across Harman’s Professional Division and is coordinated by the System Development and Integration Group (SDIG), a team of dedicated systems specialists based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com), designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Harman International maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and employs more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”