Any Media over Any Network Part 4 - IPMX & ST 2110: Adapting to New IP Media Experiences

amd_adaptivecomputing · ‎04-12-2023

Editor’s Note: This content is contributed by Rob Green, Senior Manager - Pro AV, Broadcast, and Consumer.

In broadcast, the transition to IP networks and replacement of SDI (serial digital interface), especially in greenfield deployments, is already well under way, and much of the industry agrees that SMPTE ST 2110 should be the ubiquitous standard used for compressed and uncompressed media transport. ST 2110 enables the delivery of independent audio, video, and data streams on the network, which means each so-called essence can be handled and processed separately, with IEEE1588-based PTP synchronization and NMOS (Networked Media Open Specifications) network control and management. The Joint Taskforce for Networked Media (JT-NM), comprising consortia bodies SMPTE, EBU, AMWA and VSF, have done a tremendous job developing and rolling out a complete set of interoperable, robust standards and compliance testing with room for scalability and support for future video formats.

Based heavily on ST 2110, IPMX (Internet Protocol Media Experience) is an emerging and important set of standards aimed at the Pro AV market. Rather than SDI, it is currently and primarily based on transport of HDMI and includes handling of EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) and HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection). In ST 2110, PTP (Precision Time Protocol) is required, but in IPMX it is optional, so it can also work in the asynchronous modes required in Pro AV, and additionally uses JPEG XS for video compression. Like ST 2110, one of the main advantages of IPMX is that it is a completely open and vendor-independent set of standards. Defined by the AIMS Alliance, no one company drives its definition, and anyone can download the standards and build their own implementation in any suitable hardware or software. And because IPMX is so closely related to ST 2110, the worlds of broadcast production and Pro AV presentation can easily overlap, so that applications can span both industries and work together.

Figure 1: AMD IPMX demo at ISE 2023. Controlled by Matrox ConductIP, IPMX senders from Matrox, Village Island, and Adeas/Nextera Video connect to receivers from Adeas/Nextera Video to drive an HDMI monitor, and Megapixel VR to drive an ROE LED wall tile.

Adapting to Emerging Standards and Bridging Between Technologies

Reprogrammable in nature, AMD FPGAs and adaptive SoCs are playing a key role in the adoption of AV-over-IP technologies, in particular, the IPMX standard. For emerging standards that are still changing and updating, FPGAs are nearly always used to enable bridging between baseband video, audio, and Ethernet networks, whilst maintaining a high level of quality and low latency. They can also be used to implement advanced features, such as compression, encryption, and error correction on the same device, and to implement custom features that are specific to a particular application.

Options for ST2110 & IPMX Based on AMD Adaptive Compute Platforms

Various AMD ecosystem solution providers and customers have developed packaged ways to integrate IPMX and/or ST 2110 in your next design.

For those that just want to install a chip to enable an IPMX interface, Macnica Technologies has developed the ME10 SoC (System-on-Chip) that supports HDMI 2.0 4K 4:4:4 video, audio, and control data over 1GbE networks using JPEG XS and is available in a small, 23 x 23 mm BGA package.

For those wanting ST 2110 with SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable) sockets on your board, Riedel’s MuoN SFP modules may be just the solution you need. The MuoN SFP is software-defined hardware that supports a range of different input and output configurations, including ST 2110, SDI, fiber, or HDMI. Their EB82SOC1 IP-SDI SoC can ease your migration to IP with an integrated and JTNM-tested ST 2110 Gateway solution, configurable via SPI or a RESTful API (JTNM-based), NMOS or Ember+.

If you have a PCIe system needing ST 2110, how about considering DELTA-ip-ST2110 01 playout and DELTA-ip-ST2110 10 capture cards from Deltacast? Supporting up to four 1080p video channels over a single 10GbE link with a second 10GE port for seamless protection switching, it can offload the whole ST 2110 IP networking stack from the host CPU. Or if you have a NIC (Network Interface Card) such as the AMD Alveo™ U25N SmartNIC, Deltacast offers the IP Virtual Card, a software framework dedicated to high-performance video streaming using ST 2110.

For those want to integrate a complete set of IP cores for IPMX or ST 2110 alongside your current FPGA or SoC design, Adeas and Nextera Video have teamed up to provide a complete and JT-NM tested range of IP. Their fully modular solutions for ST 2110 or IPMX consist of FPGA cores, NMOS control software, and an end-to-end reference design, so you can start with a working system, customize to your needs, and get to market quickly.

Conclusion

ST 2110 is becoming the ubiquitous standard for AV-over-IP in broadcast and offers scalability, interoperability, and vendor-independence. IPMX uses ST 2110 as a foundation to build a similar transport mechanism aimed at the Pro AV industry, but it also enables a convenient, standards-based bridge between the worlds of broadcast-quality content production and AV presentation. Unlike ASIC and ASSP implementations which are fixed and could disappear or change direction away from your needs, ST 2110 and IPMX running on AMD platforms can adapt or change as the market evolves and provides a lower risk approach to AV-over-IP implementation. So, for your next designs, be sure to leverage the growing portfolio of ST 2110 and IPMX implementation methods that AMD partners are developing. Contact the AMD team if you would like us to make introductions or for more information.

References

------------------------------------

Third party marks are for informational purposes only and no endorsement of or by AMD is intended or implied.