HOME

CONNECTED. SECURED. MANAGED. PROCESSED.

WHAT IS HOME?

HOME is a management platform for IP-based media infrastructures. It is designed to connect, manage and secure all aspects and instances of live production environments. HOME provides the tools and centralized services for swift and effective interaction of engineers with their tools.

HOME is cloud-native by design and ready to run anywhere, irrespective of the system’s size. With HOME, the cloud starts on your campus, private and locally. It turns an array of devices, setups, sites, hubs and data centers into a powerful, agile network — quickly and in a perfectly secure way.

Inside HOME, discovery of devices is automatic, while registering and admitting them to the network is only a button press away.

With the adoption of IP well underway, the focus of operators has shifted from whether to adopt IP to how to use its potential with minimal effort and maximum effect. This is where HOME shines: it addresses all pressing issues real-world operators face today and tomorrow. In one place and via a single, platform-agnostic, intuitive user interface.

HOME is also the platform that allows »HOME Apps users to manage their containerized, generic-server-based processing apps.

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You connect everything, you push a button and it configures itself.

WHAT HOME ADDS TO YOUR SETUP

Device Discovery and Registration

System Security

Device Management

Agility

Scalability

DISCOVERY & REGISTRATION

Any seasoned system architect or operator will confirm that today’s (and tomorrow’s) most pressing issues are not about leveraging as many resources as possible in a public cloud. Registration and discovery of existing solutions and simplifying the deployment of setups are much higher on the agenda. Time is money and agile management is key.

HOME solves this IP complexity conundrum with the automatic discovery of compatible devices (lives@HOME), which are registered in one central location with their name, location, status and type. This applies to both Lawo and “first-class” third-party solutions as well as NMOS IS-04- and IS-05-compatible devices. HOME successfully passed the JT-NM Self-Test in the Controller & Registry category in August 2022. See also below.

Devices unknown to HOME will get quarantined when they appear in the network, to guard the network against undesirable effects. See also the security section below. All registered resources show up in an inventory list, which acts as the entry point into device-specific configurations. As a logical next step, users can now replace existing, but faulty, devices in their HOME environment in the blink of an eye.

All current Lawo video and audio products—including a few that recently reached end of life—are HOME natives. Watch HOME in action at all top-tier events and in countless broadcast facilities!

Powerful multi-dimensional filters reduce the device list to what you are looking for. 
Registered devices are displayed in a comprehensive inventory list with their names, locations, admission and status. 
Every device in the list can be clicked to display more details.
The list shows Lawo devices and NMOS IS-04* compatible devices.
DEVICE MANAGEMENT

In today’s hectic live broadcast environments, operators are reliant on a speedy, unified device configuration routine, especially when it comes to setting generic device parameters or configuring senders and receivers. Possibilities to save and recall configurations are highly welcome, too.  

Based on its cloud-native architecture, HOME becomes the mission control for these processes. It provides fast access to device parameters through a unified user interface made for easy tweaking, irrespective of the end point being controlled.

In addition, HOME is the UI of choice for spinning up and managing Lawo’s innovative »HOME Apps that run on standard servers, anywhere.

The device management dialog provides device-specific information, access to generic and more specific device details, and a lot more. 

…and helps to identify and pair processing cores.

HOME can be used to assign virtual mixer processes with physical surfaces….
OPERABILITY
With the required stream connections in place, operators can control device parameters directly via HOME’s intuitive user interface, without the need for a separate controller. This speeds up operations and makes you more efficient.

HOME does not replace the broadcast controller: it complements VSM and helps to speed up configuration and operation.

The extensive array of aspects that can be edited within HOME includes settings on the routing page, audio parameter control, connecting virtual mixers to physical surfaces, channel mapping and stream parameterization, labeling, and license management, to begin with.

Other applications like the creation of snapshots and multiviewer control (through HOME Apps) will soon be in place. HOME is also the place where users can manage optional licenses for the .edge software-licensable Hyper-Density SDI/IP Conversion and Routing Platform feature set.

The latest version of HOME is furthermore able to perform runtime-centric health checks and to display the findings both in a list and by means of instant pop-up banners as soon as a new issue is identified. A Grafana Loki logging repository running in the background can be consulted for more detailed information.

SECURITY

The content created by a production crew and transported over a network is your operation’s most valuable asset that deserves adequate protection, whatever its origin and route. While a robust security system needs to cover all aspects of media infrastructure and content creation, the key lies in its simplicity, its initial design and deployment as well as in its on-going maintenance and support.

HOME provides a 3-tier security strategy based on the following key areas: 

Network Protection

User Authentication

Transport Security

Security starts on-premise by protecting the operational network from undesired collateral damage. Unknown devices get quarantined as they come online. After being manually admitted, they can exchange signals with the HOME network. Methods used are based on network segmentation following IEEE802.1X routines.

HOME uses a system-spanning authentication strategy based on a centralized user management* system, with dedicated user roles, groups and rights. This Active Directory- and LDAP-based service allows users to authenticate either locally – within HOME – or via their own corporate IT infrastructure, e.g. Microsoft® Active Directory.

(*) Under construction.

HOME’s architecture is prepared for managing services such as transport layer security for user interfaces, control data and media essences. Well-established IT security mechanisms are utilized, including HTTPS, RADIUS, MACsec and IPsec. 

HOME provides a 3-tier security strategy based on the following key areas:

Network Protection

Security starts on-premise by protecting the operational network from undesired collateral damage. Unknown devices get quarantined as they come online. After being manually admitted, they can exchange signals with the HOME network. Methods used are based on network segmentation following IEEE802.1X routines.

User Authentication

HOME uses a system-spanning authentication strategy based on a centralized user management* system, with dedicated user roles, groups and rights. This LDAP-based service allows users to authenticate either locally – within HOME – or via their own corporate IT infrastructure, e.g. Microsoft® Active Directory.

(*) Under construction.

Transport Security

HOME’s architecture is prepared for managing services such as transport layer security for user interfaces, control data and media essences. Well-established IT security mechanisms are utilized, including HTTPS, RADIUS, MACsec and IPsec. 

UI DESIGN

HOME has been designed and built from the ground up using LUX—the Lawo Unified Experience. It is a framework for conceiving, designing, and building solutions that put you first and defines the standard for user experience and design across the Lawo portfolio.

As you would expect, the UI supports both light and dark modes so it’s comfortable to use regardless of the environment you are in or the device you are using. Slide from left to right to see the difference for yourself.

Gradual Exposure of Complexity

The capabilities provided by HOME are not limited to a single, independent UI. Workflows are optimized for the most common objectives and made as simple and as efficient as possible, even if you are not a technical expert. But if you are, complex technical details and powerful low level functions are quickly in reach if you need them.

Seamless Integration

The capabilities provided by HOME are not limited to a single, independent UI. For example, mc² control surfaces integrate HOME functionality right where you need it, and now take advantage of the LUX design language. The familiar Signal List has been updated to reflect the new interaction patterns. While it is still instantly recognizable, it is now more powerful and flexible.

Context is Everything

Context switching kills productivity. HOME presents common information and actions across different contexts, avoiding the need to switch back and forth between different screens to achieve a certain task.

ARCHITECTURE

Good news for line managers and CFOs: using cloud-based functionalities does not automatically mean that services must be outsourced to an external service provider whose meter is running 24/7, which is bound to yield nasty surprises. 

With HOME, the cloud starts on your campus, private and locally, and ready to expand when you want it to.

The HOME platform is designed to manage functional blocks of microservices, which are self-contained and supply functionality to operators or other services. On top of this architecture, HOME provides the corporate user interfaces to manage the infrastructure, e.g. to configure a V__matrix, or to set an A__line end node’s parameters. 

Whenever a system is required to scale, either in size or geographically, HOME automatically scales with the system. Should there be a need for a larger discovery and registration capability, because the installation grows, additional instances of the required resources can easily be added. Or, if new locations are added, more HOME instances can be added and networked with each other to ensure that all resources can be accessed from anywhere.

The same mechanism applies when it comes to increasing system resilience. Services hosted by HOME run in load-balancing mode, always ready to take over from other services that suddenly go offline. 

HOME’s cloud-native architecture is detached from any hardware constraints. This gives you the freedom to extend your setup not only across your sites and locations, but also into data centers or third- party service providers. This can be the perfect way to bridge operations of services hosted in private clouds on-premise or remote. 

One of the core principles of HOME is that it focuses on open standards wherever possible for broadest compatibility. This makes HOME a future-proof management solution for IP-based media production environments with maximized flexibility and resource utilization.

Cloud-native by design, 
Scalability in its genomes 

HOME complements a broadcast control system like VSM

Robust redundancy strategy

Containerized architecture, ready to
spin up entirely cloud-based

Missed the launch of HOME?

At NAB Amplify we debuted HOME, an innovative new management platform for IP based media infrastructures. Did you miss the launch and want to rewatch the presentation? No Problem!

About HOME’s NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 Compatibility

In August 2022, Lawo’s HOME management platform for IP infrastructures successfully passed the JTNM-TESTED program for AMWA NMOS/JTNM-TR-1001-1 controllers. The program’s aim is to provide an impartial assessment of a device’s or solution’s ability to meet the official NMOS specifications for a number of scenarios. It is entirely based on standardized tests.

HOME was submitted to the tests of the “Controller” category for IS-04 (Discovery of Media Nodes) and IS-05 (Connection Management) applications, and was found to be compliant.

Specifically, the tests in question confirmed the following use cases:

  • HOME is is able to locate and process information coming from third-party NMOS IS-04-compliant edge devices and other resources through a central registry.
  • HOME is able to display and process status changes to the currently available NMOS edge devices and their resources.
  • HOME is able to connect, and disconnect, flows between IS-05-compatible senders and receivers. It also displays the current status of all existing IS-05 connections.

Lawo would like to point out that HOME’s NMOS compatibility was successfully tested with software version 1.4.0 and will be supported by all future software releases of HOME.

NMOS Registry Service within HOME 

HOME provides a built-in NMOS IS-04 Discovery and Registration service, which is managed by its central, internal registry that supports both HOME-native and NMOS IS-04-compatible devices. Hybrid scenarios remain possible, however: HOME’s NMOS controller functionality can be pointed to an external registry service (RDS) to allow operators to manage the RX and TX resources of their NMOS-compatible audio and video devices separately. (HOME-native Lawo and third-party devices are always managed via HOME’s internal registry, to preserve HOME’s extended feature set.)

HOME’s NMOS IS-04 Registry functionality is entirely built upon the open-source “easy-nmos toolkit” developed by NVIDIA and recommended by AMWA as best-practice implementation of the NMOS specifications.

The easy-nmos registry, hosted on an SN2000/SN3000-series Mellanox Ethernet switch, passed the JTNM-Tested Program in 2020. Within HOME, the easy-nmos IS-04 registry container runs natively as a separate service. Given that the toolkit already passed all registry tests in 2020, Lawo decided to reference HOME’s IS-04 registry compatibility against these earlier successful test results (pages 39~41). 

Southbound and Northbound Integration

NMOS Importer (optional license)

NMOS devices registered by an NMOS RDS registry, which can be either an external or—optionally—an NMOS RDS service within HOME itself, can be added to the HOME environment, albeit with a more compact feature set, which is dictated by the more succinct NMOS specification.

The RDS service’s data are translated by HOME to make them intelligible to HOME’s Discovery and Registration service. Once this IS-04-based registration is in place, HOME’s routing page allows users to route streams to connected NMOS devices through NMOS IS-05. Stream routing can go from NMOS devices to other NMOS devices, or indeed from NMOS devices to HOME-native devices—and vice versa.

NMOS Exporter (optional license)

This is the opposite of the above: HOME-native devices are translated into an outgoing NMOS representation by a so-called Export service. This comes in handy for broadcast control systems that only understand NMOS-compatible information and applies to both NMOS IS-04 and IS-05.

HOME-native devices whose information is translated to NMOS can be addressed through HOME’s IP address and an incremental port number.
Example: http://HOME_IP:10008.

Assigned port numbers are persistent and therefore not reshuffled when certain HOME-native devices are deselected for NMOS export at some stage. This is important to ensure addressing consistency for the northbound broadcast control system.

The NMOS RDS used for registering “exported” HOME devices needs to be external.

NMOS Exporter

(Click the picture to enlarge.)

Note: This northbound Export translation is only necessary for broadcast control systems that do not support NATS. Systems that do are Lawo VSM, Atos bncs and EVS Cerebrum and can therefore be fed by a northbound NATS API.

Note: To avoid mixed representations, Lawo does not recommend using Southbound and Northbound interfacing via the same RDS. On the other hand, users are free to work with several RDSs (one for import, one for export, one for audio devices, one for video devices, etc.)

SPECIFICATIONS
System Management and Admission
  • Built-in DHCP server
  • Built-in DNS
  • Definition of address ranges for device IP addresses and automatic assignment
  • Automatic VLAN port allocation based on port function
Network management
  • Supports OpenConfig
  • Retrieval of network configuration information
User Authentication
  • Support of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)* for connection to directory services (e.g. Microsoft AD)

(*) Under construction.

Device Authentication
  • Built-in RADIUS
  • Based on IEEE802.1X
  • Automatic quarantining of unauthorized devices: unauthenticated devices are kept off the media network (Available for native HOME devices)
WebUI frontend
  • Platform-agnostic (also runs on mobile devices)
  • HTTPS-enabled secure transport
Device Discovery and Registration
  • NATS-based device discovery and registration for first-class citizen devices (e.g. Lawo and lives@HOME third-party devices)
  • NMOS IS-04/IS-05 compatibility for device discovery and registration (JT-NM-tested using HOME V1.4)
Supported Streaming Standards
  • SMPTE 2110, RAVENNA, AES67
Device Compatibility
    • Power Core (Audio Production)
    • .edge
    • V__matrix C100
    • A__line range
    • A__stage range
    • A__UHD Core
    • mc² consoles
    • LCU commentary unit
    • Nova73*
    • R3LAY

 

Third-Party Devices

  • “lives@HOME” devices (API)
  • NMOS IS-04 & IS-05
Architecture/Redundancy
  • Turnkey solution, built as a microservices architecture
  • Designed to run in clustered setups (three concurrent active instances, no master/slave redundancy)