Q-SYS Plugin: Multicast Switching and Video Wall Control

• Overview
• Download
• Requirements
• Implementation
• Versions
• Changes
• About

Overview

Just Add Power has engaged Chowmain Software & Apps to produce a straight-forward and reliable plugin for QSC Q-SYS, designed specifically for the commercial network A/V marketplace.

While Just Add Power's unique and powerful approach to HDMI Network Switching involves the active manipulation of managed network switch VLAN configuration to control the flow of HDMI traffic, this method has presented a tangible barrier to implementation in some commercial network applications.

Listening to our customers, Just Add Power has expanded our switching approach to also include a more familiar method for Network HDMI signal management by altering the multicast subscription of the Receiver devices. This addition to our firmware arsenal included with justOS (BX.X.X) is intended for use in those commercial environments where a powerful network infrastructure already exists and is managed by a team of professionals who require full control over the traffic on their network, or where industry standards dictate usage limitations.

Please see the full section on Multicast Switching to view how to setup the Just Add Power system to work with the Q-Sys driver.

Download

Download Driver

Requirements

Just Add Power

1. Just Add Power devices
   • MaxColor system on any firmware
   • 3G Ultra or 2G Omega system on justOS version B1.2.1 or later
2. All Just Add Power devices configured with AMP Multicast

Network

1. Gigabit managed network supporting jumbo-frames, IGMP snooping, IGMP filtering, IGMP fast-leave (immediate leave), and with adequate bandwidth and forwarding capacity to accommodate ~500Mbps of data per active Transmitter video stream.
   • Get information about Multicast Switching with Just Add Power
   • Download a switch configuration file for common switches
2. Qualified Network Administration with a thorough understanding of their institution's switch configuration, limitation, and multicast best-practices.
3. All Just Add Power devices configured to be in the same layer-2 VLAN
4. At least one of the following:
   • Layer-3 isolated VLAN to allow for inter-vlan communication between the Q-SYS system and the Just Add Power Receivers
   • Multicast filtering rules to either explicitly allow Just Add Power multicast ranges out member ports, or to deny Just Add Power multicast ranges out non-member ports

Implementation

Standard integration notes are included with the Q-SYS plugin download below. A basic understanding of how to implement Q-SYS plugins and use the Q-SYS Design software is assumed and required. For specific implementation questions not covered in the integration notes, please email [email protected].

Versions

v1.0.0.6

Release Date: 2019-Dec-16

Changes

• Corrects a socket timeout error with the plugin. Connection no longer drops every 10 seconds.

About the Developer

Chowmain Software & Apps is one of the world's leading software developers for home automation system apps, drivers, modules and plugins. For more information, visit https://www.chowmainsoft.com/.