Audio Specs; The Conductor - Crown IQ-PIP-USP3 Reference Manual

IQ-PIP-USP3/CN
Figure 5.5 Multi-Star Topology
In larger Fast Ethernet networks, additional hubs, concentrators, and other network hardware
are used to form a larger network, as shown in Figure 5.5.
Today, commonly available networking cards are 10/100Base-T capable, which allows them
to be used on either 10BaseT or 100Base-T networks.
Fast Ethernet distance limitations apply to CobraNet installations: 100 meters over Cat-5
copper cable, 2 kilometers over multimode fiber. Proprietary Fast Ethernet via single mode
fiber solutions can reach even further.

5.3.2 Audio Specs

CobraNet implements a fixed sample rate of 48 kHz. Each channel may be selected to trans-
mit 16-, 20- or 24-bit audio data as desired. The transmitter and receiver buffering required
for reliable transmission is fixed at 256 samples yielding a network transmission latency of
5.333 ms (256 samples at 1/48 kHz per sample).

5.3.3 The Conductor

A CobraNet system is coordinated by one of the devices called the conductor. When two or
more CobraNet devices are interconnected properly, one of the devices will be elected the
network conductor based on a priority scheme. The Conductor indicator will light on the
CobraNet device that is serving as the conductor.
Deterministic transmission on Ethernet is enabled by a protocol that implements a "Conduc-
tor" for control of time-division multiplexing and clock recovery. The "Conductor" periodi-
cally broadcasts a well-defined "beat" packet onto the network for each transmitter and
receiver to recover synchronous timing information. The "beat" also includes information as
to which addresses can transmit at certain time slots within the "beat" period.
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Reference Manual