The sounds of Fast Ethernet - QSC Audio Products uses Fast Ethernet at Super Bowl XXXI - Company Business and Marketing

Communications News, Sept, 1997

At Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, 72,000 football fans were hearing things in an entirely new way. QSC Audio Products turned the Superdome into a showcase for a new use of Fast Ethernet technology. The sound for the House of Blues half-time show, pre-game show and trophy presentation were delivered to the audience over standard Ethernet hardware.

Based in Costa Mesa, Calif, QSC has been a pioneer in the use of Fast Ethernet for controlling and monitoring sound-system amplifiers. Traditionally, audio manufacturers have preferred a proprietary approach over standard networking technology.

Earlier generations of Ethernet were not able to deliver audio signals synchronously to multiple amplifiers in a large room, much less an enormous stadium. But more recent advances in Fast Ethernet technology convinced QSC's engineers that standard computer-networking products finally provided a viable platform for audio delivery systems.

Using Peak Audio's CobraNet technology, QSC developed a RAVE System that can distribute full-bandwidth audio over a standard Fast Ethernet network. The RAVE units digitize the audio signals and multiplex them onto 100 Mbps Ethernet.

Each handles up to 16 channels of audio input or output, and a Fast Ethernet hub can aggregate multiple units to allow distribution of up to 64 channels of audio signals on a single network.

THE DEBUT

An event like the Super Bowl makes for a high-profile debut. The underlying network had to be reliable and able to deliver signals with only a 7.6-millisecond delay to any point on the network. QSC chose equipment from Network Peripherals, Milpitas, Calif.

The Super Bowl sound system used two Ethernet networks to deliver audio to the seats in the upper and lower levels. On each network a RAVE161 received the mix signal, processed it, and sent it to a Network Peripherals FE-5108 hub. FE-200TF switches then converted the signal so it could be distributed across fiberoptic cable to the speaker arrays posted around the Superdome.

The FE-200TFs, two-port switches that serve as bridges between 100Base-T copper and 100Base-TX fiber cable, played a crucial role in the setup. Category 5 cable limits Fast Ethernet segments to 600 feet. The prospect of blanketing the world's largest indoor sports arena with enough copper cable to get the job done was both daunting and expensive.

Fiber extends Fast Ethernet's reach to as much as 1.25 miles, requires a much smaller conduit, is immune to RF interference, and will not conduct electricity from lightning strikes to the audio equipment.

"The equipment worked like a charm, and the performance has been outstanding," said Jimmy Kawalek, marketing manager for engineered sound at QSC. "Our RAVE System totally depended on the Fast Ethernet switches staying up and remaining fully functional at all times."