WOODLANDS, TEXAS—The Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM), which presented the results of its JT-NM Tested Program at the IP Showcase during the 2019 NAB Show in April, relied on test and measurement equipment and software, reference senders and receivers and network switches from a variety of sources for its March 18 tests held at an event hosted by Fox Networks in Woodlands, Texas.
The aim of the program, organized by both JT-NM and the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), is to give broadcasters, post-production firms and other M&E industry entities thinking about adopting SMPTE ST 2110 and SMPTE ST 2059 standards better perspective on how the equipment of vendors align with the standard, JT-NM said.
“This program is not a certification program; rather it is a snapshot in time of how vendor equipment conforms to key parts of SMPTE standards, providing prospective purchasers and users with a reference as they begin their equipment evaluation and qualification process,” says the JT-NM website.
Among the companies and organizations providing test and measurement hardware and software for the Woodlands test, were BridgeTech, the EBU, Meinberg, Packetstorm, SDPoker, Tektronix and Wireshark. The EBU and IRT administered use of the equipment.
In addition to supplying equipment for the tests, Tektronix helped in their development and dispatched experts to the Woodlands site to assist.
“Every architecture, implementation or customer application is different,” said Mike Overton, principal engineer at Tektronix. “By establishing trust in which devices meet the test criteria, we’re helping strengthen confidence in the standards and, ultimately, advancing their effectiveness.”
Tektronix provided it SPG8000A as the PTP grandmaster clock for the media IP network, its Prism IP/SDI hybrid monitoring and analysis platform and its WFM8300 waveform monitor to monitor video and audio signals to ensure correct decoding of streams.
Other T&M equipment and software used included: BridgeTech’s VB440 IP probe; EBU’s Live IP software toolkit; Meinberg’s PTP Track Hound network traffic capture tool and analyzer; Packetstorm’s CRS capture and replay system, network emulator and VIP media over IP analyzer; SDPoker’s CLI tool and library for ST 2110 SDP files; and Wireshark’s network protocol analyzer.
The results of the JT-NM Tested Programs were presented in a report that is available as a PDF download.
