IEEE standard to enable audio/video streaming over 802 networks moves to sponsor ballot

PISCATAWAY, USA: IEEE announced today that the first standard in a project to synchronize audio and video communications has moved to sponsor ballot.

IEEE P802.1Qav, "IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks -- Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks -- Amendment: Forwarding and Queuing Enhancements for Time-Sensitive Streams," will improve streaming audio and video applications over bridged local-area networks (LANs) by providing performance guarantees that allow for time-sensitive traffic in a local area network and control delay, jitter, and packet loss for wired, wireless, and mixed wired/wireless L2 networks.

When completed, the standard will allow streaming audio, video and related content to be delivered with a very small and bounded delay. "Current proprietary networks are hard to configure and very expensive," says Michael Johas Teener, Task Group Chair for the Audio Video Bridging (AVB) task group within the IEEE 802.1 Working Group.

"Systems engineers want to use IEEE 802™ standards-based networks such as Ethernet and WiFi, but they also want a guarantee of low delay. They need a more self-configuring system, which the IEEE 802 AVB standards will provide without the need for time-consuming resource management."

"This standard has come together quickly thanks to the hard work and cooperation of the audio and video community," says Tony Jeffree, chair of the Higher Layer LAN Protocols Working Group, which is developing the standard.

"A wide range of groups has come together to develop the simplest and best approach, without any acrimony or controversy. This is a great example of how engineers can work together when they focus on solving a problem, and an excellent example of the IEEE standardization process at its best."

IEEE P802.1Qav is the first of the AVB standards going to Sponsor ballot. The next two are IEEE P802.1AS™, which specifies how to do precise synchronization (allowing, for example, multiple networked loudspeakers playing the same audio signal to operate in phase, synchronized within one microsecond), and IEEE P802.1Qat™, which specifies how to reserve resources in a network for delivery of video and audio streams.

IEEE P802.1Qav is sponsored by the IEEE 802 Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society.