AVnu Alliance teams with UNH-IOL to certify AVB products and unveils AVnu certification timeline

BEAVERTON, USA: AVnu Alliance has named the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent networking and data communications testing provider, as the first test house for the AVnu Alliance certification program of AVB devices. This agreement is a significant step forward in advancing the IEEE 802.1 AVB standards and bringing certified AVB networking products to the market.

AVnu Alliance has also announced the timeline for the AVnu certification program. Starting August 2012, alliance members can submit AVB-enabled bridges to UNH-IOL to begin certification testing. For professional audio products, the testing process will begin in Q1 of 2013. Products by alliance members Avid, Biamp, Extreme Networks, Harman, Meyer Sound, Riedel Communications, and others are expected to be in the first wave of devices submitted for full AVnu interoperability certification.

The UNH-IOL is a neutral, third-party testing service provider that works with other industry consortia including the Ethernet Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance and IPv6 Forum.

“UNH-IOL welcomes the opportunity to assist the AVnu Alliance in developing a validation program for AVB technologies," said Bob Noseworthy, UNH-IOL chief engineer. "The possibilities AVnu Alliance brings to establishing seamless digital A/V connectivity are compelling. This certification program provides confidence in the compliance and interoperability of early and future implementations."

AVnu Alliance includes more than 40 companies representing industries across automotive, pro A/V, and consumer electronics. AVnu-certified devices allow professional A/V providers to have one standards-based unified network that handles all voice, video, audio, and data, while reducing the costs and simplifying the optimization of an A/V network.

"We are very pleased to be working with UNH-IOL as a key part of our interoperability and conformance program," said Kevin Stanton, AVnu Alliance Technical Work Group chair. "UNH-IOL's long experience testing networked devices, especially Ethernet, along with the collective expertise drawn from the expanding AVnu Alliance membership, is quickly moving us toward certification of interoperable AVB networking and A/V products."