Cinegy Stream Switcher Control

Reading time ~5 minutes

Introduction

Cinegy Stream Switcher channel represents a configuration of Cinegy Air with the following settings: two playout servers (main and backup sources) receive RTP streams and the main playout server performs the broadcast. In case of main playout server failure the broadcast is switched to the backup playout server. Switching to backup source is performed according to the specified alerts settings.

Configuration

Stream_Switcher_Cfg_icon

To launch this application, go to Start > All Programs > Cinegy > Stream Switcher Control or use the corresponding desktop shortcut. The following window will open:
Stream_Switcher_Control

  • Stream Switcher server – specifies the computer where Cinegy Stream Switcher service is installed. Enter the computer name via the keyboard or use the "…​" button and select it from the list of available computers in the network:

    Browse_for_Computer

  • Port – specifies the Cinegy Stream Switcher control port.

    Note
    		 This value should be equal to the "Stream Switcher control port" value set in Cinegy Stream Switcher Configurator. Otherwise, connection will not be established.

Use the "Disconnect" button to disconnect from Cinegy Stream Switcher service. The button will turn into "Connect" button. Press this button to establish connection.

The connection status is shown in the "Status" field.

Stream Settings

To add a new channel to the list, press the Button_add button; the following "Stream Settings" window will open:

Stream_Settings
Note
 Incorrectly filled in or empty fields are highlighted with a red bounding box. The "OK" button is grayed out and the settings cannot be applied unless all values are valid.

Here define the following settings:

  • Stream name – specifies the channel name.

  • Main source – specifies the source stream from the master playout server. Enter the address in the following form: rtp://<IP>:<port>. Alternatively, you can use the "…​" button to select the desired stream.

    Important
    		 Refer to the Stream Selection paragraph for detailed information about stream selection.

  • Backup source – specifies the source stream from the slave playout server.

  • Output – specifies the output stream.

  • Max UDP delay – defines the maximum delay time of UDP packets in milliseconds. If the actual UDP packets delay exceeds this value, the stream is considered to be absent.

  • Max RTP packets loss – defines the maximum number of missing RTP packets allowed per stream.

Having configured the necessary parameters, the window will look as follows:

Stream_Settings_defined

Stream Selection

The main and backup source channels can be defined manually via the keyboard or using the corresponding "…​" buttons. To be able to browse streams, Cinegy Route Browser should be installed on your machine.

Important
 Cinegy Route Browser is one of the Cinegy Route software components. Refer to the Cinegy Route Browser article in the Cinegy Route Manual for details.

Press the "…​" button, the following window will open:

physical_source

Select the stream from the "Physical Sources" tree and press the "OK" button.

Alerts

The "Alerts" tab allows you to set up the actions in case of particular problems with the stream:

Stream_Settings_Alerts

Select the desired alert in the right column and in the corresponding "Action" drop-down list select the action that will be performed:

Stream_Settings_Actions

  • Nothing – no action is performed;

  • Notify – the SNMP trap is sent to the preconfigured destination;

  • Switch to backup – the stream is switched from master to slave playout server.

The most common configuration is as follows:

Stream_Settings_Alerts_common

Switching to backup source is performed in case of stream absence and when the number of missing/dropped packets per stream is exceeded. The boundary parameters for these two alerts are set up on the "Settings" tab. The other alerts are DVB tables data specific and can be configured according to your needs.

Important
 Please refer to the DVB standard definition for details about DVB parameters.

Having configured all the necessary settings press the "OK" button to apply them. The configured channel will be added to the "Channels" list.

Operating

This paragraph contains the description of work with Cinegy Stream Switcher channels.

Channels List

The configured Cinegy Stream Switcher Control shows the status of the channels and allows to manually switch and start/stop the source streams.

Stream_Switcher_Channels

Button_add

To add a channel from the list, use the "Plus" button.

Button_remove

To remove a channel from the list, use the "Minus" button.

Button_up Button_down

To change the order of channels in the list, use the "Up" or "Down" arrow buttons.

Select the desired channel in the "Channels" list, its configuration and status will be displayed in the "Status" panel.

To change the channel settings use the Channel_settings_button button for the corresponding channel from the list or use the "Change settings…​" button on the "Status" panel.

Switching to Backup Source

The "Active channel" field shows the currently active playout server: main or backup. In case of stream loss the channel will be automatically switched to backup. The yellow sign indicates that there are problems with the main source and backup source is now active:

Stream_Switcher_Channels_backup

To manually switch to backup source, press the "Backup" button.

Stream Status

The "Stream status" field shows whether the stream is started or stopped. To manually stop the stream, use the corresponding button. You will be asked to confirm your intention to stop the stream with the corresponding message:

Stop_stream_confirm

The red sign indicates that the stream is stopped:

Stream_Switcher_Channels_stopped

Use the "Start" button to manually start the stream.

License Error

If the hardware dongle is not connected, not found or no license is available on a detected dongle, the "Stream status" field will indicate that no license is available.

Stream_Switcher_no_license