Subject: [Detnet] AMWA IS-06 Network Control API

From: Thomas Edwards <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2019 20:39:49 +0000

Dear DetNetters,

I wanted to let the group know about AMWA IS-06 Network Control API, as it addresses some issues that DetNet is looking into.  I have been the co-chair of this effort.

Having not found an existing solution for real-time media networks, the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) created a RESTful northbound SDN controller API to provide guaranteed bandwidth and access control in media networks, IS (Interface Specification)-06:

https://github.com/AMWA-TV/nmos/wiki/IS-06

The goal was to allow different “broadcast controllers” to issue configuration commands with a common API to an SDN controller, which in turn would use whatever southbound SDN API was appropriate to control network devices.  IS-06 interop has been demoed at the Video Services Forum (VSF) VidTrans conference and the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference with support of Cisco, Mellanox, Net Insight, Macnica, and Sony.  It is not clear if there are actual shipping products at this point, however.

My personal thought is that while everyone agrees that the ability to guarantee bandwidth between network endpoints is essential, getting actual commercial support for a common, multi-vendor solution is more challenging.  Most IP-based, real-time video production installations going in now (using SMPTE ST 2110 uncompressed video, for example) are “green field” and tend to be a single network device vendor using that vendor’s control system, or there is a single control vendor directly writing to specific control interfaces of the network devices (such as OpenFlow or proprietary schemes).  I believe an API like IS-06 will become more interesting once there are “organically grown” installations with multiple vendors for both network devices and control systems, and the value of a common API can be realized.

Network latencies have been less of a problem for most real-time production media LANs, as the 10 Gbps+ switches have very little latency.  The proper control of bandwidth avoids congestion delays due to buffering, of course!  Back in 2014, I measured latencies of several commercial 10Gbps Ethernet switches running just under total capacity at 1 to 4 microseconds, and today there are a number of sub-microsecond latency 10 Gbps switches available.  Latency might be more of an issue for WANs, where there is more opportunity for packets to not take the shortest path.

-Thomas

--
Thomas Edwards
VP Engineering & Development
Walt Disney Television
[email-masked]
+1-310-369-6696
10201 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035