
F E A T U R E D P R O D U C T S
T H E I P L I N K
14 ExtroNews 15.1 Spring 2004
sors and support for open protocols make
IP Link highly scalable. Increasing the number
of monitoring and control points is as simple
as adding one or more IP Link interfaces
anywhere on the network.
The IP Link family of products was designed
from the ground up to enhance the applica-
tions important to A/V personnel, facilities
managers, and IT managers.
Hardware: At its core, each IP Link Ethernet
network interface is a small, high performance
By David Libman, Director of Software Product Development
It's All About The Network
T
he merging of IT and AV control opens new possibilities for centralizing, extending, and
automating system management. However, incorporating Ethernet functionality into
A/V means more than simply adding the right connectors. What's needed is a solution
designed specifically for managing professional A/V systems over an IP network. Extron's
IP Link
™
technology incorporates the very best qualities of IP networking: distributed
processing, support for IP protocols, and easy scalability. IP Link Web-based monitoring,
scheduling, and control fully extends the power and benefits of IP networking to A/V
system management.
Web server with robust computing power.
Each one contains a very fast processor, with
a latency, or delay, of less than one millisec-
ond from the time it receives a command to
the time it acts on that command. As a result,
Web pages are served many times faster than
similar products, so data is refreshed at a con-
sistently high speed. IP Link fully supports IP
networking capabilities, meaning messages
and commands are automatically rerouted
and retransmitted whenever necessary.
Each IP Link interface has 1.25 MB of flash
memory available to users to store the Global
Viewer asset management application along
with any other user customized Web pages.
IP Link also supports the IEEE 802.3af
Power over Ethernet (POE) protocol. POE de-
livers power to network devices over the data
cable, in accordance with the IEEE standard.
PoE capability gives system designers greater
freedom in locating IP Link interfaces.
Every element of IP Link's hardware design
supports integration into an existing network
infrastructure, including the configuration of
the connectors and the front-side location of
the diagnostic LEDs.
Software: The IP Link operating system
supports standard Internet protocols like
DHCP for dynamic IP addressing, SMTP for
sending e-mail, and many others, ensuring
full functionality on existing IP networks.
The IP Link Global Viewer
™
is the Web-based asset managment application supplied
with IP Link
™
enabled products.
IP Link: Distributed, Open,
and Scalable
It's the distributed nature of IP networks
that makes them reliable and resilient. The
distribution of processing power through-
out the network is inherent in the design of
IP Link technology. As a result, the failure of
any single IP Link interface on the network
has little or no impact on the entire sys-
tem. In addition, the use of non-proprietary
IP protocols, or sets of rules, ensures that
IP Link interfaces will function on any exist-
ing IP-based network. Distributed proces-
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