SSL Adds Console I/O Unit, Enhances Redundant I/O Capability

Solid State Logic is exhibiting its new Alpha-Link Live-R console I/O unit and expanded redundant fiber connectivity at Booth C3310 at the NAB Show. Alpha-Link Live-R adds a set of redundant MADI optical-fiber connections to the existing Alpha-Link Live low-cost console I/O unit. The new Loop Redundancy Mode, part of the forthcoming C10 HD V3 and C100 HDS V4 Software release, reduces the number of cables required for redundant fiber-system installation and doubles the number of audio signals that can be passed between the C10 or C100 digital broadcast console and the modular B-RIO I/O unit.

“In live broadcast operations, signal integrity is of the utmost importance,” says CEO Piers Plaskitt. “The new Loop Redundancy Mode expands SSL’s MADI fiber redundancy for all our I/O and makes a redundant solution more affordable with Alpha-Link.”

Loop Redundancy Mode uses a Loop MADI optical-fiber connection between the console’s main and backup Blackrock processors to halve the number of cables required to install a redundant I/O configuration. Main and backup fibers connecting to both main and backup processors in a redundant system are no longer required. With Loop Redundancy, the main fiber will connect to the main Blackrock, the backup fiber to the backup Blackrock. In the case of a main-fiber failure, the Alpha-Link Live-R or MORSE Stagebox will switch to its backup port, and the audio and control will be routed via the Loop fiber connection from the backup Blackrock to the main Blackrock, providing an elegant solution for both fiber and processor redundancy. The resultant reduction in consumption of MADI ports effectively doubles the maximum connectivity between console processors and a B-RIO unit.

Each Alpha-Link Live-R unit provides 24 balanced analog inputs and outputs (with high-quality 24-bit analog conversion) and 12 AES input and output pairs (with eight channels of high 24-bit sample-rate conversion). Alpha-Link Live-R is connected to the console using MADI over fiber, ensuring absolute signal integrity. Alpha-Link Live-R includes redundant PSUs, all fitted into a compact 2RU.