Milan is a standards-based, user-driven deterministic network protocol for professional media, that assures devices will work together at new levels of convenience, reliability and functionality.
Milan will enable a streamlined specification and certification process through Avnu Alliance that guarantees interoperability amongst Milan devices.
What It's For
With AV increasingly residing on the network, the Pro AV market has unique requirements for moving time-sensitive video, audio, and data across the network.
Two key requirements for networked audio platforms are delivery of high-quality audio and reliability. Market leaders in Pro AV support AVB as technically superior for guaranteeing deterministic delivery, ensuring that the network supporting their media can scale today, and in the future.
Milan was created to support interoperability at the application layer to provide reliable installation and configuration of products. Created over the course of 18 months by Pro AV market leaders in the Avnu Alliance, Milan is the first tangible solution for promising deterministic, reliable, and future-proof delivery of networked media. Milan combines the technical benefits of the AVB standard with Pro AV market-defined device requirements at both the network and the application layer for media streams, formats, clocking and redundancy.
Milan Enables Networked AV That Is:
Guaranteed
- Deterministic network assures on-time delivery
- Co-exists with other Ethernet traffic without risk of drop-outs or degradation of media
Open
- Not a risky proprietary standard that is controlled by a single entity
- Choice of hardware implementation
- Development extension managed openly by a collaborative group of industry leaders
- Supports any type of media
Future-Proof
- Certification of compliance with standards and interoperability specifications through Avnu Alliance
- Assurance of long-term viability as part of the IEEE network/IT industry
Easy-to-Use
- Enhanced time alignment features
- No switch configuration required
- Scalable and flexible
- Does not require IT expertise to manage things like QoS configuration
Key Features of Milan Include
Seamless Interoperability Amongst Devices
Every device will connect with any other device using a variety of agreed-upon formats and market-required definitions in the protocol. Milan is a market-defined protocol that provides a specific set of rules and directives for manufacturers to build products with the same requirements for media streams, formats, clocking and redundancy, and thus all work together as designed.
Future-Proof
Avnu Alliance and the members who created Milan are committed to supporting it, for future products and long-lasting implementations. Manufacturers can be confident in the protection of their investment - for themselves and their customers as Milan is long-term viability as part of the IEEE open standards.
For the Industry, by the Industry
Manufacturers themselves are taking the initiative and driving the development of Milan with the same energy, drive and investment that make their companies successful leaders in the market.
User-Driven Solution
We sell experiences to people – concerts, festivals, opera, theater, all amazing audio that will be remembered. Networking the audio is just the enabling technology that allows us to deliver those experiences. For a long time, we were focused on getting the technology and the standards right. Now, we’re focused on the solutions and delivering the best possible audio experience while making it easier, friendlier, more reliable and less challenging for end-users – exactly what the industry has asked for and needs.
Henning Kaltheuner, Head of Strategic Business Development, d&b audiotechnik
Creators
Pro AV market leaders support AVB as a superior network technology that guarantees deterministic delivery of audio, video, and data, and build their products based on its support.
The creators of Milan joined to build a new application layer on top of AVB for deployment and adoption by other manufacturers that can deliver a true solution with built-in interoperability.
AVB is an open standard that each manufacturer can use in their own implementation, but device interoperability isn’t guaranteed without certification. Avnu Alliance compliance testing and certification is ideal for network infrastructure switches and ensures interoperability at the network layer, but doesn’t outline specification requirements for the application layer such as media formats, media clocking, and etc. It doesn’t assure interoperability amongst Pro AV end devices. Milan does.
Milan is presented as the first solution for deterministic, reliable, and future-proof delivery of networked media. Milan streamlines implementation for manufacturers with defined device requirements to enable fool-proof interoperability via certification.
How to Get Involved
Avnu Alliance is a platform where like-minded companies can collaborate.
This kind of collaboration amongst competitors to develop Milan couldn't have been done without the framework provided by Avnu Alliance. Membership in Avnu gives manufacturers a voice to collectively define the market requirements to meet their unique development needs for a fully realized professional AV network solution.
Manufacturers that rely on the market’s proprietary technology are limited by one company's vision and decisions on development and support for that technology. With Avnu Alliance, manufacturers benefit from having a say in requirements and the refinement of standards, and they are not expected to share projections or product roadmaps with potential competitors to meet proprietary suppliers' business forecasts. Avnu Alliance provides a path to collaboration and knowledge-sharing with other leading industry experts in a safe environment.
Avnu Alliance Member Benefits
Participation
Participation in: Plugfests, Face-to-Face technical and marketing meetings, weekly and monthly marketing and technical segment workgroups.
Access
Access to market requirement documents, compliance tools, testing plans, and tools to expedite product certification depending on membership level.
Certification
Avnu Alliance members can submit products for certification testing including for Milan implementations in 2019.