Pathway Ssacn (Secure Sacn); Domain Auto Ssacn Password; Custom Ssacn Password - pathway VIA PWVIA RM P12 User Manual

Rack-mount ethernet switches

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PATHWAY ssACN (Secure sACN)

Pathway ssACN (Secure streaming ACN) is a protocol developed by Pathway using much of ANSI E1.31, but adds a layer

of authentication. This feature requires device firmware version 6.0 or later.

Receiving devices, like Pathport DMX/RDM gateways, share a secret password with known controllers in the venue, to

verify the data source before driving the lighting rig. A cryptographic hash message is added to each E1.31 packet, verifying

the authenticity of the source and the sequence of the data. Any invalid packets are ignored; only the correct lighting data is

used during your performances.

If you have disabled security on a device, you will not be offered the ssACN protocol for Tx or Rx.

"Bad actors" cannot spoof a DMX source and send denial-of-service or ransomware attacks as the packets on their unsecured,

unauthenticated protocols will be completely ignored by the lighting rig.

When devices are added to a Security Domain, Pathscape generates a secret Domain Auto ssACN password, and creates

transactions to send this data to each device in the domain. Each Security Domain will have a unique secret Domain Auto

password created for it.

NOTE: these transactions will also appear for devices already part of a domain, after upgrading those devices to firmware

version 6.0 or later.

NOTE that the Domain Auto password is NOT the same as the Domain password. Recall that the Domain password is

the password you chose when creating the domain, used for logging in. Pathscape generates the Domain Auto password

based on an algorithm. It is NOT possible to uncover the "•••••••" and see the value of the password, however all devices

on the domain know what it is. This is how the authentication is possible.

While in most scenarios the Domain Auto ssACN password will be all that is required, it is possible to specify your own custom

ssACN password. See below for details on how to set custom TX (Transmit) and RX (receive) passwords.

This is useful in a few situations:

• If you need to send DMX data across different Security Domains: specify a custom ssACN TX password, and

enter the same password on the receiving devices under ssACN RX passwords. The receiving devices will then be

able to authenticate that data. Domain Auto passwords, as noted above, are unique per Domain, and will work only with

devices on the same domain.

• If you have a network with multiple consoles: specify a different TX password for each console, and set the

appropriate receiving devices to receive only one password or the other, effectively having them "listen" to traffic from

the desired console only.

PWVIA RM P12 Ethernet Switches - Manual

July 2021

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