AdderLink Innity and Innity dual
Experts in
Connectivity
Solutions
KVM Extension
Solutions
(1002, 2000, 2002 & 2020)
User Guide
Contents
Introduction
Welcome ................................................................................................................ 2
ALIF features .........................................................................................................3
Firmware version 3.3 (or greater) ...................................................................4
AdderLink Innity (1002) unit features ...........................................................5
AdderLink Innity dual unit features ...............................................................6
Supplied items - ALIF 1002 ................................................................................7
Supplied items - ALIF dual ..................................................................................8
Optional extras .....................................................................................................9
Installation
Connections ........................................................................................................10
Mounting ..............................................................................................................10
TX video link .................................................................................................11
TX audio links ...............................................................................................12
TX USB link ...................................................................................................12
TX AUX (serial) port ..................................................................................13
TX power in ..................................................................................................13
TX/RX high speed links ..............................................................................14
TX/RX Management port ..........................................................................15
RX video display ...........................................................................................16
RX microphone & speakers .......................................................................17
RX USB devices ............................................................................................17
RX AUX (serial) port ..................................................................................18
RX power in ..................................................................................................18
Conguration
Initial conguration ............................................................................................19
Manual factory reset ....................................................................................19
AdderLink Innity browser-based conguration utility .......................20
Performing an upgrade ......................................................................................21
Options switches ................................................................................................21
Operation
Front panel indicators .......................................................................................22
Further information
Getting assistance ..............................................................................................23
Appendix A - Transmitter (TX) unit conguration pages ..........................24
Appendix B - Receiver (RX) unit conguration pages ...............................31
Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units ....................39
Appendix D - Troubleshooting ........................................................................41
Appendix E - Glossary ......................................................................................43
Appendix F - Cable pinouts, video modes and general specications ...46
Appendix G - Fiber modules and cables .......................................................47
Appendix H - Mounting options .....................................................................48
Warranty ..................................................... .........................................................51
Safety information ..............................................................................................51
Radio frequency energy ....................................................................................52
Index
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
1
Introduction
WELCOME
Thank you for choosing the AdderLink Innity (aka ALIF) family of high capacity digital
extenders/switches. By encoding high quality DVI video, digital audio and USB data into
Internet Protocol (IP) messages, ALIF units offer exible ways to link peripherals and
systems via standard networks.
This guide covers the ALIF 1002 and ALIF dual (2002T, 2000R and 2020) models, all
of which can transfer single link DVI video, digital audio and USB signals across your
network. The ALIF dual 2002T, 2000R and 2020 models can also handle a second single
link DVI video stream; while 2002T and 2000R models can additionally transfer one very
high resolution Dual Link DVI video connection (or two single link DVI streams). The
capabilities are summarized below:
Model ALIF ALIF dual ALIF dual ALIF dual VNC
1002 T/R 2020 T/R 2002T / 2000R 2112T
Primary video Single link Single link Dual link Dual link
Secondary video x Single link Single link Single link
VNC support x x x Yes
Note: The ALIF dual VNC (2112T) unit is covered by a separate user guide.
ALIF 1002 and all ALIF dual variants both provide a choice of link connections. Each
supports both copper-based Gigabit Ethernet cabling as well as Fiber Channel over
Ethernet (FCoE). These can be used in parallel to provide up to 2 Gigabit connection
speeds with the added benet of link redundancy that can maintain operation in the
event of a failed connection. Additionally, all ALIF dual models also benet from a
Management port that makes conguration even more straightforward.
ALIF units promote sharing; you can arrange for a limitless number of screens and
speakers, distributed anywhere across the network, to receive video and audio. You can
also switch between any number of transmitter units using a single screen, keyboard and
mouse in order to monitor a potentially vast collection of remote systems.
Mixing ALIF dual units with the original ALIF 1000 series
ALIF dual (2000 series) are complimentary to the original ALIF (1000 series) models
which do not support dual DVI channels or ber optic linking. It is possible to mix ALIF
and ALIF dual transmitters and receivers on a network. However, whenever the two
types are cross connected, the extra abilities of the ALIF dual units will be temporarily
disabled.
The newer ALIF 1002 models now include the ability for a second Gigabit Ethernet or
Fiber Channel over Ethernet connection as per the ALIF dual models. ALIF 1002 units
can be mixed with all ALIF dual units without any loss of functionality.
One-to-one conguration
The simplest conguration links one RX unit to a single TX unit, either by a direct link or over much
greater distances via a high speed network. In both cases, Gigabit cable linking and/or ber can be used.
When both are deployed, connection speeds of up to 2 Gigabits are possible.
One-to-many conguration
Using multicast techniques, an unlimited number
of receivers* can receive video and audio data
streams from a single TX unit.
* A maximum of thirteen concurrent USB inputs (via
multiple RX units) are permitted to a single TX unit.
ALIF and A.I.M.
Where multiple ALIF units are used on a network, we have developed the AdderLink
Innity Management (A.I.M.) server to allow comprehensive and secure central
control of all transmitters, receivers and users.
When using an A.I.M. server to congure ALIF
units, it is vital that all ALIF units that you wish
to locate and control are set to their factory
default settings. Otherwise they will not be
located by the A.I.M. server. If necessary,
perform a factory reset on each ALIF unit.
Please also see Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units
AdderLink
MANAGEMENT SERVER
ADM
USR
UNC
ETH1
ETH2
PWR
ADM
USR
UNC
ETH1
ETH2
PWR
www.adder.com
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
2
ALIF FEATURES
AFZ lossless codec
The AFZ compression scheme is primarily focused on improving the performance for
“natural” images (i.e. photographs and movies) and is automatically selected whenever
there is a benet to do so. The AFZ codec is lossless and is very low latency (a small
fraction of a frame delay). It generally achieves 50% improvement (in compression) over
the RLE scheme for any areas of the screen that consist of images, gradients, shadows
etc., elements commonly found in modern desktop environments.
To maintain compatibility with non AFZ -enabled transmitters and receivers there is an
automatic switching method which will revert back to RLE compression when an ALIF
(1000) receiver is connected to the newer ALIF 1002 series or ALIF dual (2000 series).
New feature: AFZ+ codec
AFZ+ compliments the existing AFZ codec by providing greater compression for
increased speed where pixel perfect results are not the primary focus. The transmitter
video conguration page allows you to choose the required compression mode. Choices
are:
• ‘Pixel perfect’ - only uses pixel perfect AFZ,
• ‘Adaptive’ - guarantees frame rate, builds to pixel perfect,
• ‘Smoothest video’ - forces the maximum compression, or
• ‘Advanced’ - allows you to choose the mode:
• ‘AFZ only (pixel perfect),
• ‘AFZ+ Minimum compression’,
• ‘AFZ+ Middle compression’, or
• ‘AFZ+ Maximum compression’.
Magic Eye (anti-dither support added)
The Magic Eye feature increases performance and reduces network trafc when ALIF
units are used with Apple Macs and other host computers that have dithered video
output. It also improves performance if the video source is noisy (e.g. from a VGA-to-DVI
converter).
Dithering is a technique used by some graphics cards to improve perceived image quality
by continuously varying the color of each pixel slightly. This gives the illusion of more
shades of color than the display can really reproduce, and smooths the appearance of
gradually shaded areas in images. Unfortunately dithering is an issue for KVM extenders
such as ALIF because it makes the image appear to be changing all the time even when
it is static, thus creating much more network data than can be carried by a Gigabit
Ethernet. The result is a reduction in video frame rate, which the user sees as slow
mouse response.
Magic Eye works by ignoring small variations in the video from frame to frame. It is
enabled by default as it is not obvious to the user that his poor mouse behaviour is
caused by dithering. In most cases Magic Eye is invisible, but it can produce slight color
inaccuracies on the monitor. For full color accuracy, Magic Eye can be disabled (within the
transmitter video conguration page) for video sources which are not dithered or noisy.
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
ALIF 1002 and ALIF dual units support the industry standard Transport Layer Security
(TLS) protocol. This offers protection against eavesdropping and tampering by third
parties when data are transferred between ALIF transmitters and receivers across
networks (and also between ALIF units and AIM servers).
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
3
Teaming operation
The units have dual network interface ports that can be used in parallel to produce
important benets:
• Improved connection speeds up to 2 Gigabits per second, and
• Important link redundancy that can maintain operation in the event of a failed
connection.
Teaming offers immediate speed improvements in a one-to-one arrangement...
...and also in multicast installations:
FIRMWARE VERSION 3.3 (or greater)
IMPORTANT: Please read this section completely before attempting
installation or upgrades.
The basic rule for A.I.M.-controlled installations is:
If rmware version 3.3 (or greater) is to be used anywhere in an A.I.M.-controlled
AdderLink Innity installation, then it must be used everywhere.
For ALIF installations that do not use A.I.M. servers, it is possible to mix ALIF
rmware revisions, however, for best results you are recommended to upgrade all
ALIF units to v3.3 (or greater).
Important upgrade notes
• Always upgrade the A.I.M. server(s) to v3.3 (or greater) before attempting to upgrade
(or add) AdderLink Innity units at or above v3.3* – you will then be prompted to
upgrade the AdderLink Innity units.
• ALIF1002 units are only available with rmware starting at v3.3 (and cannot be
downgraded), so if you add one or more ALIF1002 units to your installation, it is
mandatory to upgrade A.I.M. to v3.3 or greater (earlier A.I.M. rmware versions have
no knowledge of the new product).
• ALIF2020 units are only available with rmware starting at v3.4 (and cannot be
downgraded), so if you add one or more ALIF2020 units to your installation, it is
mandatory to upgrade A.I.M. to v3.3 or greater (earlier A.I.M. rmware versions have
no knowledge of the new product).
• If an AdderLink Innity unit at v3.3 or greater is added, but you don’t want to upgrade
your A.I.M. server; simply upload the current rmware from your A.I.M. server to the
AdderLink Innity unit in order to downgrade it. This is not possible on ALIF1002 and/or
ALIF2020 units.
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
* If you add an AdderLink Innity unit at or above v3.3 to an earlier version of A.I.M.
and then upgrade A.I.M. to v3.3 or greater, the AdderLink Innity unit will not operate
after the upgrade. To rectify this, you will need to delete the record from the A.I.M.
database and factory reset the AdderLink Innity unit before it will reacquire.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
4
ADDERLINK INFINITY (1002) UNIT FEATURES
The ALIF 1002 units are housed within durable, metallic enclosures with most connectors situated at the rear panel -
the Ethernet ports are situated on the front panels. The smart front faces also feature the operation indicators.
ALIF 1002 transmitter - front ALIF 1002 receiver - front
INSTALLATION
• NET On when valid network link is present.
• SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active.
• AUD On when audio is enabled and active.
• USB On when the USB link with the connected PC is active.
• DV I On when a video input signal from the PC is detected.
• PWR Power indicator.
Power
input
Options
switches
(further details)
Teaming
port
These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation:
USB
port
Indicators
Video
input
System
(Gigabit
Ethernet)
port
Audio
line
in/out
AUX
(serial)
port
Teaming
port
Indicators
These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation:
• NET On when valid network link is present.
• SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active.
• AUD On when audio is enabled and active.
• USB On when USB is enabled and active.
• DV I On when DVI video is enabled and active.
• PWR Power indicator.
System
(Gigabit
Ethernet)
port
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
ALIF 1002 receiver - rearALIF 1002 transmitter - rear
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Power
input
Options
switches
(further details)
USB
ports
Video
output
Audio
line
in/out
AUX
(serial)
port
INDEX
5
ADDERLINK INFINITY DUAL UNIT FEATURES
The ALIF dual units are housed within durable, metallic enclosures with most connectors situated at the rear panel -
the Ethernet ports are situated on the front panels. The smart front faces also feature the operation indicators.
ALIF dual (2002 and 2020) transmitter - front ALIF dual (2000 and 2020) receiver - front
INSTALLATION
Management
port
These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation:
• NET On when valid network link is present.
• SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active.
• AUD On when audio is enabled and active.
• USB On when the USB link with the connected PC is active.
• DV I On when a video input signal from the PC is detected.
• PWR Power indicator.
INDOOR
OPTIONS
USE ONLY
21
ON
1 2
5V 2.5A
Power
input
Options
switches
(further details)
2020 version
only
USB
port
Indicators
DVI-D-1
Primary
video
input
COMPUTER
Secondary
DVI-D-2
video
input
Teaming
port
System
(Gigabit
Ethernet)
port
AUX
IN OUT
Audio
line
in/out
AUX
(serial)
port
Management
port
2020 version
only
Teaming
port
System
(Gigabit
Ethernet)
Indicators
port
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation:
• NET On when valid network link is present.
• SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active.
• AUD On when audio is enabled and active.
• USB On when USB is enabled and active.
• DV I On when DVI video is enabled and active.
• PWR Power indicator.
ALIF dual (2000 and 2020) receiver - rearALIF dual (2002 and 2020) transmitter - rear
FURTHER
INFORMATION
5V 4A
Power
input
USB
ports
DVI-D-2
Secondary
video
output
DVI-D-1
Primary
video
output
Audio
line
in/out
AUX
INDEX
(serial)
port
Options
switches
(further details)
6
SUPPLIED ITEMS - ALIF 1002
ALIF transmitter (1002T) package
ALIF1002T unit
Power adapter
(20W) and
country-specic
power cord
Information wallet
containing:
Four self-adhesive rubber feet
Quick start guide
Safety document
Combined DVI-D and USB
cable (1.8m)
Audio cable 2m
(3.5mm stereo jacks)
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
ALIF receiver (1002R) package
ALIF1002R unit
Information wallet
containing:
Four self-adhesive rubber feet
Quick start guide
Safety document
Power adapter
(20W) and
country-specic
power cord
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
7
SUPPLIED ITEMS - ALIF DUAL
ALIF dual transmitter (2002T/2020T)
package
ALIF2002T or
ALIF2020T unit
Information wallet
containing:
Four self-adhesive rubber feet
Quick start guide
Safety document
Power adapter
(20W) and
country-specic
power cord
Single link DVI-D to DVI-D video cable
2 x Audio cable 2m
(3.5mm stereo jacks)
Combined DVI-D and USB
cable (1.8m)
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
ALIF dual receiver (2000R/2020R)
package
ALIF2000R or
ALIF2020R unit
Information wallet
containing:
Four self-adhesive rubber feet
Quick start guide
Safety document
Power adapter
(20W) and
country-specic
power cord
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
8
OPTIONAL EXTRAS
Single mode ber SFP module
Part number: SFP-SM-LC
Single unit 19” rack-mount brackets plus four screws
Part number: RMK4S
Double unit 19” rack-mount brackets plus ten screws
Part number: RMK4D
Please refer to the table in Appendix F for
information about ber modules and cables.
Multi mode ber SFP module
Part number: SFP-MM-LC
Active copper SFP module
Part number: SFP-CATX-RJ45
Combined dual link DVI-D and USB (USB type A to B) cable
Part numbers: VSCD3 (1.8m length)
VSCD4 (5m length)
USB cable 2m (type A to B)
Part number: VSC24
Single link DVI-D to DVI-D video cable
Part number: VSCD1
Serial null modem cable 2m
Part number: CAB-9F/9F-NULL-MODEM
INSTALLATION
CONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
VESA mount bracket plus four screws
Part number: RMK4V
20W power adapter
Part number: PSU-IEC-5VDC-4AMP
Country-specic power cords
CAB-IEC-AUS (Australia)
CAB-IEC-EURO (Central Europe)
CAB-IEC-UK (United Kingdom)
CAB-IEC-USA (United States)
Audio cable 2m
(3.5mm stereo jacks)
Part number: VSC22
INDEX
9
Installation
CONNECTIONS
Installation involves linking the ALIF TX unit to various ports on the host computer, while
the ALIF RX unit is attached to your peripherals:
MOUNTING
Please see Appendix H for details about mounting options for the ALIF units.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Click a connection to see details
IMPORTANT: When using an AdderLink Innity Management box to congure
ALIF units, it is vital that all ALIF units that you wish to locate and control are set
to their factory default settings. Otherwise they will not be located by the A.I.M.
server. If necessary, perform a factory reset on each ALIF unit.
Please also see Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
10
TX video link
COM PUTE R
DVI-D-1
DVI-D-2
COM PUTE R
DVI-D-1
DVI-D-2
Standard ALIF (1002) units support one
Single Link video display at pixel clocks
up to 165MHz (equivalent to a maximum
resolution of 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz).
All ALIF dual units can simultaneously
support up to two Single Link high
resolution video displays at pixel
clocks up to 165MHz (1920 x 1200 at
60Hz maximum). ALIF2002 units can
alternatively support a single Dual Link very high Resolution video display at pixel
clocks up to 330MHz (equating to an example display mode of 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz).
To make a video link
1 Wherever possible, ensure that power is disconnected from the ALIF and the host computer.
2 Connect your digital video link cable(s) to the DVI-D socket(s) on the TX unit rear panel:
ALIF (1002) ALIF dual ALIF dual
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
To primary
video output
port
To video
output
port
video output
Note: When using one very high resolution DVI-D dual link display
(not ALIF2020), use a DVI-D Dual Link cable (such as the supplied
Adder part: VSCD3) to connect the primary video port of the
3 Connect the plug at the other end of the cable(s) to the corresponding DVI-D video output socket(s) of the host computer.
computer system to the DVI-D-1 connector of the ALIF dual. A dual
link cable must also be used at the RX unit.
Note: When using two single link DVI-D displays, connect an
additional video input from the secondary video port of the
computer system using the supplied secondary DVI-D link cable.
To primary
port
FURTHER
INFORMATION
To secondary
video output port
INDEX
11
TX audio links
AUX
OUT
IN
1 2
1
2
ALIF (1002) and ALIF dual units support
two way stereo digital sound so that you
can use a remote microphone as well as
speakers.
TX USB link
ALIF (1002) and ALIF dual units act as
USB 2.0 hubs and so can provide four
sockets at the RX unit with only a single
connection at the TX unit.
To make audio links
1 Connect an audio link cable between the IN socket on the TX unit rear panel and
the speaker output socket of the host computer.
Speaker link from
host computer
Microphone link
to host computer
2 [Where a microphone is to be used]: Connect a second audio link cable between the
OUT
socket on the TX unit rear panel and the Line In socket of the host computer.
To make a USB link
1 Connect the type B connector of the supplied USB cable to the USB port on the TX
unit rear panel.
USB link from
host computer
2 Connect the type A connector of the cable to a vacant USB socket on the
host computer.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
12
TX AUX (serial) port
AUX
INDOOR
USE ONLY
OPT
1
5V
2.5A
1
The AUX port is an RS232 serial port
that allows extension of RS232 signals up
to a baud rate of 115200. The port has
software ow control, but no hardware
ow control.
TX power in
Each ALIF unit is supplied with a power
adapter and country-specic power cord.
When all other connections have been
made, connect and switch on the power
adapter unit.
To connect the AUX port
1 Connect a suitable serial ‘null-modem’ cable (see Appendix F for pin-out) between a
vacant serial port on your computer and the AUX port on the right hand side of the
ALIF rear panel.
Serial (null-modem) link
from your computer
To apply power in
1 Attach the output lead from the power adapter to the 5V socket on the rear panel of
the unit.
Note: Ensure that
Options switches 1
and 2 are both in the
‘OFF’ (up) position
to enable normal
Power cord
from adapter
operation of the unit.
See Options switches
for details.
2 Connect the IEC connector of the supplied country-specic power cord to the socket
of the power adapter.
3 Connect the power cord to a nearby main supply socket.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Note: Both the unit and its power supply generate heat when in operation and will become
warm to the touch. Do not enclose them or place them in locations where air cannot circulate
to cool the equipment. Do not operate the equipment in ambient temperatures exceeding 40oC .
Do not place the products in contact with equipment whose surface temperature exceeds 40oC.
INDEX
13
TX/RX high speed links
ALIF (1002) and ALIF dual units can be either connected directly to each other or via a
high speed network. The connections can be copper-based Gigabit Ethernet as well as
Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). These can be used in parallel to provide up to 2
Gigabit connections speeds.
A single System port (Gigabit Ethernet) is provided as standard on the right side of the
front panel. Additionally, the Teaming port, located just to the left, allows you to insert
either an optional Fiber Channel SFP module or Active Copper SFP module. The chosen
module can then allow either a ber optic or additional Gigabit Ethernet link to be used
in parallel with the xed System (Gigabit Ethernet) port.
To link ALIF dual units using the Teaming port
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Please see Appendix C for important tips about networking ALIF units.
1 Insert the appropriate optional SFP module
(SFP-MM-LC, SFP-SM-LC or
SFP-CATX-RJ45) into the aperture on
the ALIF front panel:
Optional Fiber Channel or
Active Copper SFP module
2 Make your connection(s) between the chosen SFP module and either the other ALIF
unit or a suitable network switch:
Connect the transmit and receive
ber optic links to the sockets on
the Fiber Channel SFP module.
Then close the latch over the link
connectors to lock them into place.
Transmit and
receive ber links
or
Connect a CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 cable
to the socket on the Active Copper
SFP module.
CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 link
To link ALIF units using the System port
1 Connect a CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 cable to the System port socket on the front panel of the
ALIF unit.
CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 link either
directly from the other ALIF
unit or from a Gigabit Ethernet
switch
2 Connect the other end of the cable either to the other ALIF unit or to a Gigabit
Ethernet switch, as appropriate.
3 [For connections via a network] repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other ALIF unit.
Cable and ber details
• For direct links over Ethernet cable, the length of cable should not exceed 100
metres (328 feet). Network cables used for connections may be category 5, 5e, 6 or
7 twisted-pair cable. ALIF TX units have an autosensing capability on their network
interfaces, so for direct point-to-point connections, no ‘crossover’ Ethernet cable is
required.
• For direct links via ber, varying distances can be achieved depending on the module
and cable types used. Please refer to the table in Appendix G for detailed information.
The ber links must have crossovers.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
14
TX/RX Management port
(ALIF dual units only)
The Management port on each ALIF dual unit provides a consistent method to gain
access to the internal conguration utility of each ALIF dual. Although the conguration
utility is accessible via the System (Gigabit Ethernet) port and also the Teaming port;
if the ALIF dual units are being used in a point-to-point arrangement, then it would
be necessary to temporarily reconnect each unit to a network in order to make
conguration changes. The Management port allows the admin user to simply connect
a computer directly to each ALIF dual unit and access the conguration utility using a
consistent IP address - thus negating the need to know the main port addresses of each
ALIF dual unit in advance.
To connect a computer to access the conguration utility
1 Connect a CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 link cable to the Management port socket located on the
far left side of the ALIF dual front panel. The port automatically congures itself, so no
cross-over cable is required (but is supported if you do use one).
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
2 Connect the other end of the link cable directly to the network port of your
computer.
3 Use a web browser to gain access to the internal conguration utility. The standard IP
address of the Management port is 192.168.1.42
Note: This standard IP address can be changed within the conguration utility.
Please see the section AdderLink Innity browser-based conguration utility for
further details.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
15
RX video display
DVI-D-2
DVI-D-1
USE R CONSOL E
DVI-D-2
DVI-D-1
USE R CONSOL E
Standard ALIF (1002) units support one
Single Link video display at pixel clocks
up to 165MHz (equivalent to a maximum
resolution of 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz).
All ALIF dual units can simultaneously
support up to two Single Link high
resolution video displays at pixel
clocks up to 165MHz (1920 x 1200 at
60Hz maximum). ALIF2000 units can
alternatively support a single Dual Link very high Resolution video display at pixel clocks
up to 330MHz (equating to an example display mode of 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz).
To connect video displays
1 Connect the lead from the primary video display to the DVI-D-1 (DVI-D on ALIF 1002 models) socket on the RX unit rear panel:
ALIF (1002) ALIF dual ALIF dual
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
VSCD3 cable
to primary
video display
To video
display
secondary
video display
Note: When using dual link on DVI-D-1 (not ALIF2020), the DVI-D-2
When using two single link DVI-D displays, connect an
additional video cable to the DVI-D-2 port of the RX unit.
port will be disabled. If DVI-D-2 is already being used, then it must
be disconnected before dual link operation can occur on DVI-D-1.
2 (ALIF dual only) If required, connect the lead from the second video display to the DVI-D-2 socket on the RX unit rear panel.
To
To primary
video display
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
16
RX microphone & speakers
LINE I
USE R CON SOLE
MIC I
AUX
1
ALIF units can support a microphone as
well as speakers providing the necessary
connections have been made between
the ALIF TX unit and the host computer.
To connect a microphone (or line in) and/or speakers
1 Connect the lead from a mono microphone to the 3.5mm socket labeled on the
rear panel.
2 Connect the lead from stereo speakers to the 3.5mm socket labeled on the rear
panel.
RX USB devices
The ALIF RX unit has four USB ports
to which peripherals may be connected.
The ports are interchangeable. To
connect more than four peripherals, one
or more USB hubs may be used. The
total current that may be drawn from
the USB ports is 1.2A, which should
be sufcient for a keyboard, mouse (no
more than 100mA each) and any two
other devices (500mA maximum each). If
more power for USB devices is required, use a powered
USB hub.
To connect a USB device
1 Connect the lead from the device to any of the four
USB sockets on the rear panel of the ALIF unit.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Connection from
microphone or line in
from audio device
Connection from USB device
Supported USB Devices
The transmitter unit uses True Emulation technology to emulate the signals of certain
USB peripherals to the computer. This means that those peripherals appear to the
Link out to
speakers
computer to be permanently connected, even when the receivers are switched
elsewhere. This enables faster keyboard and mouse switching and allows for more than
13 identical USB devices. If the keyboards and mice are identical across the connected
3 Once the unit has been fully connected and powered on, access the RX System
Conguration page to check that the Audio Input Type setting matches the connection
that you have made to the port: line, mic or mic boost (the latter provides +20dB gain).
receivers, they are only enumerated once by the host. The following limitations apply:
• Keyboards, mice and other HID devices are supported.
• Storage devices (i.e. ash drives, USB hard disks, CD-ROM drives) are supported, but
FURTHER
INFORMATION
they may operate more slowly than with a direct connection.
• Isochronous devices (including microphones, speakers, webcams and TV receivers) are
not currently supported.
• Many other devices (such as printers, scanners, serial adapters and specialist USB
devices) will work, but due to the huge variety of devices available, successful
operation cannot be guaranteed.
• If a device cannot be made to work, please contact Adder technical support as a
special entry within the advanced conguration may solve it.
INDEX
17
RX AUX (serial) port
AUX
LINE OUT
INDOOR
USE ONLY
OPT
1
5V
2.5A
1
The AUX port is an RS232 serial port
that allows extension of RS232 signals up
to a baud rate of 115200. The port has
software ow control, but no hardware
ow control.
RX power in
Each ALIF unit is supplied with an
appropriate power adapter. When all
other connections have been made,
connect and switch on the power
adapter unit.
To connect the AUX port
1 Connect a suitable serial ‘null-modem’ cable (see Appendix F for pin-out) between the
AUX port on the right hand side of the ALIF rear panel and your remote serial device.
Serial (null-modem) link
from your computer
To apply power in
1 Attach the output lead from the power adapter to the 5V socket on the rear panel of
the unit.
Note: Ensure that
Options switches 1
and 2 are both in the
‘OFF’ (up) position
Power cord from
power adapter
to enable normal
operation of the unit.
See Options switches
for details.
2 Connect the IEC connector of the supplied country-specic power cord to the socket
of the power adapter.
3 Connect the power cord to a nearby main supply socket.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Note: Both the unit and its power supply generate heat when in operation and will become
warm to the touch. Do not enclose them or place them in locations where air cannot circulate
to cool the equipment. Do not operate the equipment in ambient temperatures exceeding 40oC .
Do not place the products in contact with equipment whose surface temperature exceeds 40oC.
INDEX
18
Conguration
INITIAL CONFIGURATION
ALIF units are designed to be as exible as possible and this principle extends also to
their conguration.
Direct linking
Where ALIF transmitters and receivers are directly linked to each other, very little
conguration action is required, provided that they have their factory default settings in
place. If the standard settings have been changed in a previous installation, you merely
need to perform a factory reset on each unit.
Networked linking
Where ALIF units are connected via networked links, you can either congure them
individually, or congure them collectively using an A.I.M. server:
• Conguring networked ALIF units individually - You need to specify the
network addresses of the ALIF units so that they can locate each other. This is done
by running the AdderLink Innity browser-based conguration utility on a computer
system linked to the same network as the ALIF units.
• Conguring ALIF units collectively - The AdderLink Innity Management
(A.I.M.) server allows you to congure, control and coordinate any number of ALIF
transmitters and receivers from a single application.
IMPORTANT: When using A.I.M. to congure ALIF units, it is vital that all units that
you wish to locate and control are set to their factory default settings. Otherwise
they will not be located by the A.I.M. server. If necessary, perform a factory reset on
each ALIF unit.
Please also see Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units
Note: Please read the important advice in the section Firmware version 3.3 (or greater)
before attempting installation or upgrades.
Manual factory reset
A factory reset returns an ALIF TX or RX unit to its default conguration. You can
perform factory resets using the AdderLink Innity browser-based conguration utility
or by using this direct manual method.
To perform a manual factory reset
1 Remove power from the ALIF unit.
2 Use a narrow implement (e.g. a straightened-out paper clip) to press-and-hold the
recessed reset button on the front panel. With the reset button still pressed, reapply power to the unit and then release the reset button.
AdderLink
Use a straightened-out paper clip to press
the reset button while powering on the unit
After roughly eight seconds, when the factory reset has completed, ve of the front
panel indicators will ash for a period of three seconds to indicate a successful reset
operation.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
19
INDEX
AdderLink Innity browser-based conguration utility
The browser-based conguration utility within all TX and RX units requires a
network connection between the ALIF unit and a computer on the same network.
The conguration utility allows you to perform many important functions. Please see
Appendix A for TX unit details and Appendix B for RX unit details.
It is possible to gain access to the internal conguration utility via any of the ports
located on the front panel of each ALIF dual unit. For temporary connections on ALIF
dual units, you are recommended to use the Management port. There is no Management
port on ALIF 1002 models, so use the System port instead.
To connect a computer to access the conguration utility
1 Connect a CAT 5, 5e, 6, or 7 link cable to either the Management (ALIF dual only) or
System port socket on the front panel. The port automatically congures itself, so no
cross-over cable is required (but is supported if you do use one).
ALIF dual ALIF 1002 (or dual)
To access the browser-based conguration utility
1 Temporarily connect the ALIF unit and your computer, as discussed left.
2 Run a web browser on your computer and enter the IP address of the ALIF port that
you are using.
The default settings are as follows:
TX units RX units
ALIF dual only
Management port 192.168.1.42 192.168.1.42
Û
System port 169.254.1.33 169.254.1.32
Teaming port 169.254.1.43 169.254.1.42
Note: Where the port addresses of a unit have been changed and are not known, providing it
is appropriate to do so, perform a manual factory reset to restore the default addresses.
The opening page of the ALIF conguration utility should be displayed:
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Temporary
link from your
computer to the
Management port
Temporary link
from your computer
to the System port
2 Connect the other end of the link cable directly to the network port of your
computer.
Use the menu options to choose
the required conguration page
You can nd further information about the conguration pages for the TX and RX
units within separate appendices later in this guide:
• Appendix A - Transmitter (TX) unit conguration pages
• Appendix B - Reciever (RX) unit conguration pages
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
20
PERFORMING AN UPGRADE
ALIF units are ash upgradeable using the method outlined here. However, for larger
installations we recommend that you use the AdderLink Innity Manager (A.I.M.)
to upgrade multiple ALIF units. When using the method below, the ALIF unit will be
upgraded in sequence.
IMPORTANT: Upgrades must be performed on both the transmitters and
the receivers at the same time. Mixed rmware operation is not supported.
WARNING: During the upgrade process, ensure that power is not
interrupted as this may leave the unit in an inoperable state.
If the upgrade process is interrupted and fails, it may be necessary to switch to the
backup rmware image in order to regain operation. See right for details.
To upgrade a single unit via network link
1 Download the latest upgrade le from the Adder Technology website.
Note: There are separate upgrade les for TX and RX units.
2 Temporarily connect the ALIF unit and a computer via a network (see AdderLink
Innity browser-based conguration utility section for details).
3 Run a web browser on your computer and enter the IP address of the ALIF unit to be
upgraded.
4 Click the Firmware Upgrade link. Within the Firmware Upgrade page, click the Choose
File button. In the subsequent le dialog, locate the downloaded upgrade le - check
that the le is correct for the unit being upgraded. The le contains main and backup
images, you can choose to upgrade either the Main or the Backup.
5 Click the Upgrade Now button. A progress bar will be displayed (however, if your
screen is connected to the unit being upgraded then video may be interrupted) and
the indicators on the front panel will ash while the upgrade is in progress.
6 The indicators should stop ashing in less than one minute, after which the unit will
automatically reboot itself. The upgrade process is complete.
OPTIONS SWITCHES
A pair of Options switches are located on the rear panel of every ALIF unit.
Switch 1 - rmware image select
Each ALIF unit retains a backup rmware image which can be used in situations
where the primary rmware becomes corrupted (most often through failed upgrade
operations). Using the backup rmware will allow you to regain operation of the unit.
Option switch 1 OFF Normal operation using the main rmware
ON Operate using the backup rmware image
Option switch 2 is reserved and must remain in the OFF (up) position for normal
operation.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Finding the latest upgrade les
Firmware les for the ALIF units are available from the Technical Support >
Updates section of the Adder Technology website (www.adder.com).
Note: It is possible to downgrade the AdderLink Innity rmware. After installing the
older rmware, perform a factory reset on each AdderLink Innity in order to clear the
conguration le.
Note: If you have an ALIF unit at v3.3 or higher, and you wish to downgrade its rmware
via A.I.M. v2.5 to v2.9 (so as to use it within an A.I.M. v2.5 system), this can only be done
via the copper interface and not the ber interface.
Note: Please read the important advice in the section Firmware version 3.3 (or
greater) before attempting installation or upgrades.
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INDEX
21
Operation
In operation, many ALIF installations require no intervention once congured. The TX and
RX units take care of all connection control behind the scenes so that you can continue
to work unhindered.
FRONT PANEL INDICATORS
The six front panel indicators on each unit provide a useful guide to operation:
Indicators
These six indicators clearly show the key aspects of operation:
• NET On when valid network link is present.
• SER On when the AUX (serial) port is enabled and active.
• AUD On when audio is enabled and active.
• USB On when USB is enabled and active.
• DVI On when the DVI Video channel is enabled and active.
• PWR Power indicator.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
22
INDEX
Further information
This chapter contains a variety of information, including the following:
• Getting assistance - see right
• Appendix A - Transmitter (TX) unit conguration pages
• Appendix B - Receiver (TX) unit conguration pages
• Appendix C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units
• Appendix D - Troubleshooting
• Appendix E - Glossary
• Appendix F - RS232 ‘null-modem’ cable, General specications.
• Appendix G - Fiber modules and cables
• Appendix H - Mounting options
• Safety information
• Warranty
• Radio frequency energy statements
GETTING ASSISTANCE
If you are still experiencing problems after checking the information contained within this
guide, then we provide a number of other solutions:
• Online solutions and updates – www.adder.com/support
Check the Support section of the adder.com website for the latest solutions and
rmware updates.
• Adder Forum – forum.adder.com
Use our forum to access FAQs and discussions.
• Technical support – www.adder.com/contact-support-form
For technical support, use the contact form in the Support section of the
adder.com website - your regional ofce will then get in contact with you.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
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23
INFORMATION
INDEX
APPENDIX A - Transmitter (TX) unit conguration pages
This section covers the browser-based conguration utility for the AdderLink Innity TX
(transmitter) unit. The TX utility has ten pages, titled as follows:
• System Conguration • System Messages
• Video Conguration • Statistics
• USB Settings • Firmware Upgrade
• Security • Reboot
• AIM Manager • About
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
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24
INFORMATION
INDEX
TX System Conguration
Unit Name
Name details that you can alter to distinguish this unit from all others. The name entered here will be read by
A.I.M. units (if used) for administration purposes.
Unit Description
Allows you to optionally add a description of the unit, such as its location. Useful when many ALIF units are being used.
System port
This section determines the IP address, netmask and gateway details for the main Gigabit Ethernet port located
on the right side of the front panel. The default IP address is 169.254.1.33 which is the zero cong IP address
that allows the unit to work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an
appropriate address in the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx
The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the private range, you are recommended to
change this to 255.255.255.0 The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1
Management port (ALIF dual models only - not shown in screenshot left)
Determines whether the port on the left side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details it should use.
The default IP address is 192.168.1.42. You are recommended to leave this address unchanged (or at least keep such
addresses constant across all of your ALIF dual units) so that all visiting engineers will know which address to use.
Teaming port
Determines whether the SFP socket on the right side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details
it should use. The default IP address is 169.254.1.43 which is the zero cong IP address that allows the unit to
work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an appropriate address in
the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the
private range, you are recommended to change this to 255.255.255.0
The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1 Note: Before the Teaming port can be used for connection via a network,
you need to ensure that the System port has been congured away from its zero cong IP address.
Enable options
These checkboxes allow you to determine which peripheral options will be used: Video, audio, USB and serial.
Serial port options
These allow you to match the serial conguration being used by the attached PC host.
Identify unit
When clicked, these buttons cause the front panel indicators to ash to assist with identifying the ALIF unit
within a rack.
• The Identify Unit (short) button ashes the indicators for ve seconds.
• The Identify Unit (long) button ashes the indicators for one hour but can be overridden by clicking the
Identify Unit (short) button.
Thumbnail
The Thumbnail shows snap shots of the video feeds that are connected and reports the video resolutions/color
depths that have been detected. Click the Refresh Thumbnail button to update.
Target Multicast Conguration
The items within this section are required if a multicast group is being arranged i.e. many receivers connected
to the one transmitter. For the video port(s) and/or audio channel, you need to enter the multicast IP
addresses. In each case, the rst address relates to the System (Gigabit Ethernet) port and the second address
to the optional Teaming port.
In previous revisions of rmware, the destination IP address for video was decided by the RX. If multiple RX
units requested the same video source then all had to provide the same multicast destination IP address. In
revision 3.3 and above, the TX now decides the destination IP address for video and automatically informs any
interested RX units. In a system with a mix of new and old units, both RX and TX units must be congured
with the same destination IP address for video.
Note: All multicast addresses for each service endpoint must be unique across the whole ALIF installation.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
INDEX
25
TX Video Conguration
Note: ALIF dual screenshot shown above. ALIF 1002 models will provide options for a single video port.
Peak bandwidth limiter percentage
The TX unit will employ a ‘best effort’ strategy in sending video and other data over the IP network. This means
it will use as much of the available network bandwidth as necessary to achieve optimal data quality, although
typically the TX unit will use considerably less than the maximum available. In order to prevent the TX unit
from ‘hogging’ too much of the network capacity, you can reduce this setting to place a tighter limit on the
maximum bandwidth permissible to the TX unit. Range: 0 to 95%.
Note: All of the following controls are available separately for each video port:
Background Refresh
The TX unit sends portions of the video image only when they change. In order to give the best user
experience, the TX unit also sends the whole video image, at a lower frame rate, in the background. The
Background Refresh parameter controls the rate at which this background image is sent. The default value is
‘every 32 frames’, meaning that a full frame is sent in the background every 32 frames. Reducing this to ‘every
64 frames’ or more will reduce the amount of bandwidth that the TX unit consumes. On a high-trafc network
this parameter should be reduced in this way to improve overall system performance. Options: every 32 frames,
every 64 frames, every 128 frames, every 256 frames or disabled.
Enable Magic Eye
This feature, enabled as standard, aims to reduce the effect of dithering - a technique used by some graphics
cards to improve the perceived quality and color depth of images by diffusing or altering the colour of pixels
between video frames. The Magic Eye feature increases the frame rate and eliminates unnecessary network
trafc by ignoring the color dithering where it occurs. If the video source is not noisy or dithered then you can
switch off Magic Eye to enable full colour accuracy.
Use Default DDC and Choose Default DDC
When the Use Default DDC option is unticked, AdderLink Innity will use the EDID that is reported by the
monitor connected to the receiver unit. However, if you tick the Use Default DDC option, you can then select
from a range of preset video resolutions from the Choose Default DDC drop down box. Once selected, the TX
will report itself capable of only supporting this one video resolution. Please note that all of the listed video
resolutions are single link DVI with a maximum pixel clock of 165MHz and a 60Hz refresh rate.
Enable Hot Plug Detect...
When this option is ticked, every time the monitor is changed at the receiver unit, a hot plug detect message
will be sent to the graphics card of the PC attached to the TX unit.
Period of Hot Plug Detect signal
This is the length of time that a hot-plug detect signal is applied. The default of 100mS is sufcient for the
majority of graphics cards, however, a small minority may need to be given a longer a period.
Frame skipping percentage
Frame Skipping involves ‘missing out’ video frames between those captured by the TX unit. For video sources
that update only infrequently or for those that update very frequently but where high delity is not required,
frame skipping is a good strategy for reducing the overall bandwidth consumed by the system. Range: 0 to 100%.
Compression
Determines the (AFZ and AFZ+) compression method used for video transmission. Choices are:
• ‘Pixel perfect’ - only uses pixel perfect AFZ,
• ‘Adaptive’ - guarantees frame rate, builds to pixel perfect,
• ‘Smoothest video’ - forces the maximum compression, or
• ‘Advanced’ - allows you to choose a xed compression mode:
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 If necessary, click the Video Conguration link.
• ‘AFZ only (pixel perfect),
• ‘AFZ+ Minimum compression’,
• ‘AFZ+ Middle compression’, or
• ‘AFZ+ Maximum compression’.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
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INDEX
26
TX USB Settings
TX Security
Enable Dummy Boot Keyboard
When ticked, the TX unit reports a virtual dummy boot keyboard to the attached PC to ensure that a
keyboard is always reported when the PC boots up. The dummy boot keyboard uses one of the 13 USB
endpoints, therefore if all 13 endpoints are required elsewhere for USB devices (or a KVM switch only supports
two HID devices) then it can be disabled by deselecting this option. See also Reserved Port Range below.
Disable Hi-Speed
This option allows you to force the system to run at the low/full USB speed of 12Mb/s, thus forcing USB 2.0 Hi-
Speed devices to adapt to the lower rate.
Hub Size
Using this option you can select whether the transmitter should report itself as a 13 or a 7 port USB hub.
Some USB hosts are only able to support 7 port USB hubs. If this option is set to 7, then only 7 USB devices
are supported by the PC.
Reserved Port Range
For some devices, e.g. touch screens, you may wish to ensure that they are always reported to the same USB
port number so that the USB driver will always nd the device. This option allows you reserve up to 8 ports
for certain devices. At the RX unit, the devices are assigned to the reserved ports. If a port reservation is to be
applied, then the dummy boot keyboard should be disabled. The default value for this option is ‘0’, i.e. disabled.
See Port Reservation on RX unit for further details.
USB Encryption
This setting determines whether encryption should be applied to the USB data passed across the link. Note
that video data is never encrypted.
Control Encryption
This setting determines whether encryption should be applied to the control data passed across the link. Note
that video data is never encrypted.
Secure Web pages with password
When ticked, this option enables https security so that the conguration pages are only accessible to the admin
user with a password.
Change/conrm password
These options allow you to change the admin password for the system.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click either the USB Settings or Security links, as appropriate.
INDEX
27
TX AIM Manager
TX System Messages
Enable AIM Control
Click this button to allow an A.I.M. (Adder Innity Manager) box to take control of this TX. When the button is
clicked, the TX unit will be rebooted to allow the A.I.M. box to discover and control it.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Enable system messages
Tick to allow the creation of status and error messages by the unit.
Send system messages to remote Log Server
Choose this option to send the system messages to a remote server via the network. Provide the IP address of
a suitable server here also.
AdderLink Innity servers use the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for all Syslog trafc.
Store system messages in unit
When ticked, this option will store system messages within the memory of the unit. Click the View messages
button to view the list or the Clear messages button to delete the list.
Update Now
Click to save and implement any changes that you make.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click either the AIM Manager or System Messages links, as appropriate.
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INDEX
28
TX Statistics
TX Firmware Upgrade
Enable collection of bandwidth statistics
ALIF units can record data transfer statistics from the System port and plot them on a graph for
troubleshooting and optimization purposes. When you enable this option, you will rst be presented with a pop
up from which you can choose which aspects you would like to graph: Data throughput, various packet rates
and/or frame rates.
Submit
Click this button after ticking the above checkbox to plot the chosen statistics on a pop up graph.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Upgrade
Use this page to upgrade the main or backup rmware image on the unit. Please see the section Performing an
upgrade for details.
TX Reboot
Reboot
Use this page to perform a reboot or a factory reset. Please see the section Manual factory reset for details.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click either the Statistics , Firmware Upgrade or Reboot links, as appropriate.
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29
TX About
About
This page displays key information about the TX unit that may be requested by Adder Technical Support.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.33 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click the About link.
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30
APPENDIX B - Receiver (RX) unit conguration pages
This section covers the browser-based conguration utility for the AdderLink Innity RX
(receiver) unit. The RX utility has nine pages, titled as follows:
• System Conguration • Statistics
• USB Settings • Firmware Upgrade
• Security • Reboot
• AIM Manager • About
• System Messages
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
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INFORMATION
INDEX
RX System Conguration (1 of 2)
Unit Name
Name details that you can alter to distinguish this unit from all others.
Unit Description
Allows you to add a description of the unit, such as its location. Useful when many ALIF units are being used.
System port
This section determines the IP address, netmask and gateway details for the main Gigabit Ethernet port located
on the right side of the front panel. The default IP address is 169.254.1.32 which is the zero cong IP address
that allows the unit to work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an
appropriate address in the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx
The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the private range, you are recommended to
change this to 255.255.255.0 The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1
Management port (ALIF dual models only - not shown in screenshot left)
Determines whether the port on the left side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details it should
use. The default IP address is 192.168.1.42. You are recommended to leave this address unchanged (or at least keep
such addresses constant across all of your ALIF units) so that all visiting engineers will know which address to use.
Teaming port
Determines whether the SFP socket on the right side of the front panel is enabled and which IP address details
it should use. The default IP address is 169.254.1.42 which is the zero cong IP address that allows the unit to
work immediately in point-to-point mode. You are recommended to change this to an appropriate address in
the private IP range 192.168.xxx.xxx The default netmask is 255.255.0.0. If you change the IP address to the
private range, you are recommended to change this to 255.255.255.0
The default gateway address is 169.254.1.1 Note: Before the Teaming port can be used for connection via a network,
you need to ensure that the System port has been congured away from its zero cong IP address.
Enable options
These checkboxes allow you to determine which peripheral options will be used: Video, audio, USB and serial.
Audio Input Type
Choose ‘line’ for stereo line input, ‘mic’ for mono microphone or ‘mic boost’ for a mono microphone that
requires extra gain (+20dB).
Enable Video Compatibility Check (for DVI-D 1 and 2 on ALIF dual models)
If enabled, this option compares the EDID reported by the PC graphics card and determines whether the
display connected to the RX is capable of displaying the chosen video resolution. If not, an error message is
generated and the connection is not made.
Force Video Refresh Rate to 60Hz
If enabled, the receiver frame rate is held at 60Hz regardless of the video input frame rate. The Video Switching
options (below) cannot be altered when this option is enabled.
Video switching
Provides two options for video switching:
• Fast Switching (default state) - Retains the same frame rate (at either 50Hz or 60Hz) depending upon which
video resolution was displayed rst.
• Match Frame Rate - Follows the source frame rate and will change the frame rate every time this changes even
if the video resolution doesn’t change. If you have one receiver switching between 1920x1080@60Hz and
1920x1080@50Hz then this setting will change the frame rate from 60Hz to 50 Hz every time that you switch.
Identify unit
These buttons cause the front panel indicators to ash. The (short) button ashes indicators for 5 seconds; the
(long) button for one hour. Click the (short) button to override.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 If necessary, click the System Conguration link.
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RX System Conguration (2 of 2)
Target Transmitter Unit Settings
This section is where you congure the IP address details of the ALIF transmitter(s) that this receiver will
connect with. You can quickly set all peripheral feeds (video 1/2, audio, USB and serial) to use the same primary
(and secondary) locations using the IP Address (System port) and IP Address 2 (Teaming port) entries.
For normal one-to-one connections enter the IP address(es) that match the System IP Address and Teaming
Port IP Address settings of the target transmitter unit in this section. However, if this receiver is to take part
in a multicast connection then you need to enter the IP address(es) that are set within the transmitter’s Target
Multicast Conguration section.
Alternatively, click the arrow to expand the section as shown bottom left.
In the expanded view, for each peripheral feed, the rst IP address is that of the targeted TX unit’s System port
(to match the address(es). IP Address 2 corresponds to the optional Teaming port (when used).
The use of the Teaming port as a parallel secondary link offers a degree of redundancy for your ALIF installation.
With the Teaming ports of the TX and RX units connected in addition to the System ports, if one of the links
should fail for any reason, there will be a short delay for a few video frames (and possibly some on-screen
corruption) as all the data packets are rearranged to be sent down the other link. Obviously the bandwidth will
be halved and frame rate will automatically drop, but a fully usable system will remain.
[ALIF dual only] The Video No. for DVI-D-x option allows you to determine which video feed is sent to each
output port. By default, the primary video feed is presented at port 1 while the secondary feed goes to port 2.
These options allow you to ‘clone’ one of the video signals and deliver it to both ports - thus, requiring only
one receiver to drive two displays. This solution is commonly used where two signage displays are mounted
back-to-back and need to show the same video feed. With these options, you can also swap the two video
feeds between the two ports.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Note: ALIF dual screenshot shown above. ALIF 1002 models will provide options for
a single video port only.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 If necessary, click the System Conguration link.
4 Click within the Target Transmitter Unit Settings section.
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RX USB Settings
Allow Human Interface Devices (HID) only
When enabled, this option restricts supported USB devices to keyboards and mice only. The use of memory
sticks and other devices will be disabled.
Isochronous Endpoint OSD Alerts
The ALIF USB system does not support Isochronous USB. When enabled, this option will alert the user when
an Isochronous USB device is connected.
Enable Isochronous Endpoint Attach
When enabled, this option will allow for an exchange of control information with an Isochronous device. Some
devices have multiple endpoints e.g. a keyboard with an audio controller. By enabling this option, the keyboard
functionality will work even though the isochronous audio functionality will not. Without this setting, the entire
keyboard would be rejected as it would be detected as being solely an isochronous device.
Port Reservation
This section allows you map the four USB connectors on the receiver to a specic USB port that has been
reserved on the transmitter. It is useful if you have a specic device e.g. a touch screen that must allows be
reported to a specic USB port on the USB host device. If you have two touch screens of the same type
for each of the video displays, then using Port Reservation disables the USB merging mechanism and assigns
individual USB ports for each display. This means that the driver can now separate the left hand screen from the
right hand screen. See Reserved Port Range on the TX unit for further details.
Advanced features
This section is used for special conguration and is disabled by default. If a USB device fails to operate as
expected, this section allows special codes to be inserted to attempt to solve the issue.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click the USB Settings link.
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RX Security
Encryption
This setting allows you to apply encryption to the USB and control data passed across the link. Note that video
data is never encrypted.
Secure Web pages with password
When ticked, this option enables https security so that the conguration pages are only accessible to the admin
user with a password.
Change/conrm password
These options allow you to change the admin password for the system.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click the Security link.
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RX AIM Manager
RX System Messages
Enable AIM Control
Click this button to allow an A.I.M. (Adder Innity Manager) box to take control of this RX. When the button is
clicked, the RX unit will be rebooted to allow the A.I.M. box to discover and control it.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Enable system messages
Tick to allow the creation of status and error messages by the unit.
Send system messages to remote Log Server
Choose this option to send the system messages to a remote server via the network. Provide the IP address of
a suitable server here also.
AdderLink Innity servers use the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for all Syslog trafc.
Store system messages in unit
When ticked, this option will store system messages within the memory of the unit. Click the View messages
button to view the list or the Clear messages button to delete the list.
Update Now
Click to save and implement any changes that you make.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click either the AIM Manager or System Messages links, as appropriate.
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RX Statistics
RX Firmware Upgrade
Enable collection of bandwidth statistics
The ALIF unit can record data transfer statistics from the System port and plot them on a graph for
troubleshooting and optimization purposes. When you enable this option, you will rst be presented with a pop
up from which you can choose which aspects you would like to graph: Data throughput, various packet rates
and/or frame rates.
Submit
Click this button after ticking the above checkbox to plot the chosen statistics on a pop up graph.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
Upgrade
Use this page to upgrade the main or backup rmware image on the unit. Please see the section Performing an
upgrade for details.
RX Reboot
Reboot
Use this page to perform a reboot or a factory reset. Please see the section Manual factory reset for details.
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click either the Statistics , Firmware Upgrade or Reboot links, as appropriate.
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RX About
About
This page displays key information about the RX unit that may be requested by Adder Technical Support.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
To get here
1 Connect your computer to a port on the front panel.
2 Run a web browser and enter the IP address of the Management (ALIF dual only) or System port used:
http://192.168.1.42 (management port) or http://169.254.1.32 (system port)
If the address is unknown, perform a manual factory reset.
3 Click the About link.
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APPENDIX C - Tips for success when networking ALIF units
ALIF units use multiple strategies to minimize the amount of data that they send
across networks. However, data overheads can be quite high, particularly when very
high resolution video is being transferred, so it is important to take steps to maximize
network efciency and help minimize data output. The tips given in this section have been
proven to produce very benecial results.
Summary of steps
• Choose the right kind of switch.
• Create an efcient network layout.
• Congure the switches and devices correctly.
Choosing the right switch
Layer 2 switches are what bind all of the hosts together in the subnet. However, they are
all not created equally, so choose carefully. In particular look for the following:
• Gigabit (1000Mbps) or faster Ethernet ports,
• Support for IGMP v2 (or v3) snooping,
• Support for Jumbo frames up to 9216-byte size,
• High bandwidth connections between switches, preferably Fiber Channel.
• Look for switches that perform their most onerous tasks (e.g. IGMP snooping) using
multiple dedicated processors (ASICS).
• Ensure the maximum number of concurrent ‘snoopable groups’ the switch can
handle meets or exceeds the number of ALIF transmitters that will be used to create
multicast groups.
• Check the throughput of the switch: Full duplex, 1Gbps up- and down- stream speeds
per port.
• Use the same switch make and model throughout a single subnet.
• You also need a Layer 3 switch. Ensure that it can operate efciently as an IGMP
Querier.
For the latest list of switches known to work with ALIF,
please download the latest white paper ‘Successful AdderLink
Innity Implementation’ from www.adder.com/white-papers
Creating an efcient network layout
Network layout is vital. The use of IGMP snooping also introduces certain constraints, so
take heed:
• Keep it at. Use a basic line-cascade structure rather than a pyramid or tree
arrangement.
• Keep the distances between the switches as short as possible.
• Ensure sufcient bandwidth between switches to eliminate bottlenecks.
• Where the A.I.M. server is used to administer multiple ALIF transceivers, ensure the
A.I.M. server and all ALIF units reside in the same subnet.
• Do not use VGA to DVI converters, instead replace VGA video cards in older systems
with suitable DVI replacements. Converters cause ALIF TX units to massively increase
data output.
• Wherever possible, create a private network.
The recommended layout
The layout shown below has been found to provide the most efcient network layout for
rapid throughput when using IGMP snooping:
Note: From rmware version 3.1, tree and hierarchical structures of network switches are also
supported. The Transmitter now joins its own multicast group so there is always a route from
the querier to the transmitter which was previously missing in earlier rmware versions.
• Use no more than two cascade levels.
• Ensure high bandwidth between the two L2 switches and very high bandwidth
between the top L2 and the L3. Typically 10GB and 20GB, respectively for 48 port L2
switches.
continued
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Conguring the switches and devices
The layout is vital but so too is the conguration:
• Enable IGMP Snooping on all L2 switches.
• Ensure that IGMP Fast-Leave is enabled on all switches with ALIF units connected
directly to them.
• Enable the L3 switch as an IGMP Querier.
• Enable Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) on all switches and importantly also enable
portfast (only) on all switch ports that have ALIF units connected.
• If any hosts will use any video resolutions using 2048 horizontal pixels (e.g. 2048 x
1152), ensure that Jumbo Frames are enabled on all switches.
• Choose an appropriate forwarding mode on all switches. Use Cut-through if available,
otherwise Store and forward.
• Optimize the settings on the ALIF transmitters:
• If moving video images are being shown frequently, then leave Frame Skipping at a
low percentage and instead reduce the Peak bandwidth limiter.
• Where screens are quite static, try increasing the Background Refresh interval and/
or increasing the Frame skipping percentage setting.
Make changes to the ALIF transmitters one at a time, in small steps, and view typical
video images so that you can attribute positive or negative results to the appropriate
control.
• Ensure that all ALIF units are fully updated to the latest rmware version (at least
v2.1).
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APPENDIX D - Troubleshooting
Problem: The video image of the ALIF receiver shows horizontal lines across
the screen.
This issue is known as Blinding because the resulting video image looks as though you’re
viewing it through a venetian blind.
When video is transmitted by ALIF units, the various lines of each screen are divided up
and transmitted as separate data packets. If the reception of those packets is disturbed,
then blinding is caused. The lines are displayed in place of the missing video data packets.
There are several possible causes for the loss of data packets:
• Incorrect switch conguration. The problem could be caused by multicast ooding,
which causes unnecessary network trafc. This is what IGMP snooping is designed to
combat, however, there can be numerous causes of the ooding.
• Speed/memory bandwidth issues within one or more switches. The speed and
capabilities of different switch models varies greatly. If a switch cannot maintain pace
with the quantity of data being sent through it, then it will inevitably start dropping
packets.
• One or more ALIF units may be outputting Jumbo frames due to the video resolution
(2048 horizontal pixels) being used. If jumbo frames are output by an ALIF unit, but
the network switches have not been congured to use jumbo frames, the switches
will attempt to break the large packets down into standard packets. This process
introduces a certain latency and could be a cause for dropped packets.
• One or more ALIF units may be using an old rmware version. Firmware versions
prior to v2.1 exhibited an issue with the timing of IGMP join and leave commands that
caused multicast ooding in certain congurations.
Remedies:
• Ensure that IGMP snooping is enabled on all switches within the subnet.
• Where each ALIF unit is connected as the sole device on a port connection to
a switch, enable IGMP Fast-Leave (aka Immediate Leave) to reduce unnecessary
processing on each switch.
• Check the video resolution(s) being fed into the ALIF transmitters. If resolutions using
2048 horizontal pixels are unavoidable then ensure that Jumbo frames are enabled on
all switches.
• Check the forwarding mode on the switches. If Store and forward is being used, try
selecting Cut-through as this mode causes reduced latency on lesser switch designs.
• Ensure that one device within the subnet is correctly congured as an IGMP Querier,
usually a layer 3 switch or multicast router.
• Ensure that the rmware in every ALIF unit is version 2.1 or greater.
• Try adjusting the transmitter settings on each ALIF to make the output data stream as
efcient as possible. See ALIF transmitter video settings for details.
continued
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Problem: The mouse pointer of the ALIF receiver is slow or sluggish when
moved across the screen.
This issue is often related to either using dithering on the video output of one or more
transmitting computers or using VGA-to-DVI video converters.
Dithering is used to improve the perceived quality and color depth of images by diffusing
or altering the color of pixels between video frames. This practice is commonly used
on Apple Mac computers using ATI or Nvidia graphics cards. VGA-to-DVI converters
unwittingly produce a similar issue by creating high levels of pixel background noise.
ALIF units attempt to considerably reduce network trafc by transmitting only the pixels
that change between successive video frames. When dithering is enabled and/or VGA-toDVI converters are used, this can have the effect of changing almost every pixel between
each frame, thus forcing the ALIF transmitter to send the whole of every frame: resulting
in greatly increased network trafc and what’s perceived as sluggish performance.
Remedies:
• Linux PCs
Check the video settings on the PC. If the Dither video box option is enabled, disable it.
• Apple Mac with Nvidia graphics
Use the Adder utility for Mac’s – Contact technical support.
• Apple Mac with ATI graphics
Enable the Magic Eye dither removal feature.
• Windows PCs
If you suspect these issues with PC’s, contact technical support for assistance.
• Replace old VGA adapters on host computers with DVI video cards.
Problem: My monitor is displaying a pink screen
It is possible that the source computer and ALIF transmitter are sending a high resolution
Dual Link signal in response to a request from your Dual Link monitor. However, your
ALIF receiver is unable to correctly process the signal, causing the pink screen issue (DVI
resolutions above 1920 x 1200 are generally Dual Link).
ALIF2002T and 2112T transmitters are able to send Dual Link video when requested,
however, an ALIF2000R receiver is required to process the higher resolution signal fully
at the other end. Other receivers, such as the ALIF1000R, 1002R and 2020R units cannot
process Dual Link DVI as they are Single Link devices.
Ensure that the ALIF transmitter is set to supply a Single Link EDID to the graphics card.
When the video source is changed to a Single Link video resolution, the pink screen
should disappear and the video should be displayed normally. Alternatively, change the
monitor to a Single Link DVI monitor.
It is important not to mix Dual Link Transmitters with Single Link Receivers.
On an A.I.M. controlled system, ensure that the Video compatibility check is enabled as
this ensures that the correct video mode is displayed for the monitor being used.
Problem: The audio output of the ALIF receiver sounds like a scratched record.
This issue is called Audio crackle and is a symptom of the same problem that produces
blinding (see previous page). The issue is related to missing data packets.
Remedies:
As per blinding discussed previously.
Problem: A.I.M. cannot locate working ALIF units.
There are a few possible causes:
• The ALIF units must be reset back to their zero cong IP addresses for A.I.M.
discovery. If you have a working network of ALIF’s without A.I.M. and then add A.I.M. to
the network A.I.M. will not discover the ALIFs until they are reset to the zero cong IP
addresses.
• This could be caused by Layer 2 Cisco switches that have Spanning Tree Protocol
(STP) enabled but do not also have portfast enabled on the ports to which ALIF units
are connected. Without portfast enabled, ALIF units will all be assigned the same
zero cong IP address at reboot and A.I.M. will only acquire them one at a time on a
random basis.
You can easily tell whether portfast is enabled on a switch that is running STP: When
you plug the link cable from a working ALIF unit into the switch port, check how long
it takes for the port indicator to change from orange to green. If it takes roughly one
second, portfast is on; if it takes roughly thirty seconds then portfast is disabled.
Remedies:
• Ensure that the ALIF units and the A.I.M. server are located within the same subnet
because A.I.M. cannot cross subnet boundaries.
• Manually reset the ALIF units to their zero cong IP addresses.
• Enable portfast on all switch ports that have ALIF units attached to them or try
temporarily disabling STP on the switches while A.I.M. is attempting to locate ALIF
units.
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APPENDIX E - Glossary
Internet Group Management Protocol
Where an ALIF transmitter is required to stream video to
two or more receivers, multicasting is the method used.
Multicasting involves the delivery of identical data to
multiple receivers simultaneously without the need to
maintain individual links. When multicast data packets enter
a subnet, the natural reaction of the switches that bind
all the hosts together within the subnet, is to spread the
multicast data to all of their ports. This is referred to as
Multicast ooding and means that the hosts (or at least
their network interfaces) are required to process plenty of
data that they didn’t request. IGMP offers a partial solution.
The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is
designed to prevent multicast ooding by allowing Layer
3 switches to check whether host computers within
their care are interested in receiving particular multicast
transmissions. They can then direct multicast data only to
those points that require it and can shut off a multicast
stream if the subnet has no recipients.
There are currently three IGMP versions: 1, 2 and 3, with
each version building upon the capabilities of the previous
one:
• IGMPv1 allows host computers to opt into a multicast
transmission using a Join Group message, it is then
incumbent on the router to discover when they no
longer wish to receive; this is achieved by polling them
(see IGMP Querier below) until they no longer respond.
• IGMPv2 includes the means for hosts to opt out as well
as in, using a Leave Group message.
• IGMPv3 encompasses the abilities of versions 1 and 2
but also adds the ability for hosts to specify particular
sources of multicast data.
AdderLink Innity units make use of IGMPv2 when
performing multicasts to ensure that no unnecessary
congestion is caused.
IGMP Snooping
The IGMP messages are effective but only operate at
layer 2 - intended for routers to determine whether
multicast data should enter a subnet. A relatively recent
development has taken place within the switches that
glue together all of the hosts within each subnet: IGMP
Snooping. IGMP snooping means these layer 2 devices now
have the ability to take a peek at the IGMP messages. As a
result, the switches can then determine exactly which of
their own hosts have requested to receive a multicast –
and only pass on multicast data to those hosts.
IGMP Querier
When IGMP is used, each subnet requires one Layer 3
switch to act as a Querier. In this lead role, the switch
periodically sends out IGMP Query messages and in
response all hosts report which multicast streams they
wish to receive. The Querier device and all snooping Layer
2 switches, then update their lists accordingly (the lists are
also updated when Join Group and Leave Group (IGMPv2)
messages are received).
IGMP Fast-Leave (aka Immediate Leave)
When a device/host no longer wishes to receive a
multicast transmission, it can issue an IGMP Leave Group
message as mentioned above. This causes the switch to
issue an IGMP Group-Specic Query message on the port
(that the Leave Group was received on) to check no other
receivers exist on that connection that wish to remain a
part of the multicast. This process has a cost in terms of
switch processor activity and time.
Where ALIF units are connected directly to the switch
(with no other devices on the same port) then enabling
IGMP Fast-Leave mode means that switches can
immediately remove receivers without going through
a full checking procedure. Where multiple units are
regularly joining and leaving multicasts, this can speed up
performance considerably.
Jumbo frames (Jumbo packets)
Since its commercial introduction in 1980, the Ethernet
standard has been successfully extended and adapted to
keep pace with the ever improving capabilities of computer
systems. The achievable data rates, for instance, have risen
in ten-fold leaps from the original 10Mbit/s to a current
maximum of 100Gbit/s.
While data speeds have increased massively, the standard
dening the number of bytes (known as the Payload)
placed into each data packet has remained resolutely stuck
at its original level of 1500 bytes. This standard was set
during the original speed era (10Mbits/s) and offered the
best compromise at that speed between the time taken to
process each packet and the time required to resend faulty
packets due to transmission errors.
But now networks are much faster and les/data streams
are much larger; so time for a change? Unfortunately, a
wholesale change to the packet size is not straightforward
as it is a fundamental standard and changing it would mean
a loss of backward compatibility with older systems.
Larger payload options have been around for a while,
however, they have often been vendor specic and at
present they remain outside the ofcial standard. There
is, however, increased consensus on an optional ‘Jumbo’
payload size of 9000 bytes and this is fully supported by
the AdderLink Innity (ALIF) units.
Jumbo frames (or Jumbo packets) offer advantages for
ALIF units when transmitting certain high resolution video
signals across a network. This is because the increased data
in each packet reduces the number of packets that need to
be transferred and dealt with - thus reducing latency times.
The main problem is that for jumbo frames to be possible
on a network, all of the devices on the network must
support them.
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Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
In order to build a robust network, it is necessary
to include certain levels of redundancy within the
interconnections between switches. This will help to
ensure that a failure of one link does not lead to a
complete failure of the whole network.
The danger of multiple links is that data packets, especially
multicast packets, become involved in continual loops as
neighbouring switches use the duplicated links to send and
resend them to each other.
To prevent such bridging loops from occurring, the
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), operating at layer 2, is
used within each switch. STP encourages all switches
to communicate and learn about each other. It prevents
bridging loops by blocking newly discovered links until it
can discover the nature of the link: is it a new host or a
new switch?
The problem with this is that the discovery process can
take up to 50 seconds before the block is lifted, causing
problematic timeouts.
The answer to this issue is to enable the portfast variable
for all host links on a switch. This will cause any new
connection to go immediately into forwarding mode.
However, take particular care not to enable portfast on
any switch to switch connections as this will result in
bridging loops.
Forwarding modes
In essence, the job of a layer 2 switch is to transfer as
fast as possible, data packets arriving at one port out to
another port as determined by the destination address.
This is known as data forwarding and most switches offer
a choice of methods to achieve this. Choosing the most
appropriate forwarding method can often have a sizeable
impact on the overall speed of switching:
• Store and forward is the original method and requires
the switch to save each entire data packet to buffer
memory, run an error check and then forward if no
error is found (or otherwise discard it).
• Cut-through was developed to address the latency
issues suffered by some store and forward switches.
The switch begins interpreting each data packet as it
arrives. Once the initial addressing information has been
read, the switch immediately begins forwarding the
data packet while the remainder is still arriving. Once
all of the packet has been received, an error check is
performed and, if necessary, the packet is tagged as
being in error. This checking ‘on-the-y’ means that
cut-through switches cannot discard faulty packets
themselves. However, on receipt of the marked packet, a
host will carry out the discard process.
• Fragment-free is a hybrid of the above two methods.
It waits until the rst 64 bits have been received before
beginning to forward each data packet. This way the
switch is more likely to locate and discard faulty packets
that are fragmented due to collisions with other data
packets.
• Adaptive switches automatically choose between the
above methods. Usually they start out as a cut-through
switches and change to store and forward or fragment-
free methods if large number of errors or collisions are
detected.
So which one to choose? The Cut-through method has the
least latency so is usually the best to use with AdderLink
Innity units. However, if the network components and/
or cabling generate a lot of errors, the Store and forward
method should probably be used. On higher end store and
forward switches, latency is rarely an issue.
Layer 2 and Layer 3: The OSI model
When discussing network switches, the terms Layer 2 and
Layer 3 are very often used. These refer to parts of the
Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, a standardized
way to categorize the necessary functions of any standard
network.
There are seven layers in the OSI model and these dene
the steps needed to get the data created by you (imagine
that you are Layer 8) reliably down onto the transmission
medium (the cable, optical ber, radio wave, etc.) that
carries the data to another user; to complete the picture,
consider the transmission medium is Layer 0. In general,
think of the functions carried out by the layers at the top
as being complex, becoming less complex as you go lower
down.
As your data travel down from you towards the
transmission medium (the cable), they are successively
encapsulated at each layer within a new wrapper (along
with a few instructions), ready for transport. Once
transmission has been made to the intended destination,
the reverse occurs: Each wrapper is stripped away and the
instructions examined until nally only the original data are
left.
So why are Layer 2 and Layer 3 of particular importance
when discussing AdderLink Innity? Because the successful
transmission of data relies upon fast and reliable passage
through network switches – and most of these operate at
either Layer 2 or Layer 3.
The job of any network switch is to receive each incoming
network packet, strip away only the rst few wrappers to
discover the intended destination then rewrap the packet
and send it in the correct direction.
continued
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In simplied terms, the wrapper that is added at Layer 2
(by the sending system) includes the physical address of
the intended recipient system, i.e. the unique MAC address
(for example, 09:f8:33:d7:66:12) that is assigned to every
networking device at manufacture. Deciphering recipients
at this level is more straightforward than at Layer 3, where
the address of the recipient is represented by a logical IP
address (e.g. 192.168.0.10) and requires greater knowledge
of the surrounding network structure. Due to their more
complex circuitry, Layer 3 switches are more expensive
than Layer 2 switches of a similar build quality and are
used more sparingly within installations.
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APPENDIX F - Cable pinouts, video modes and general specications
RS232 ‘null-modem’ cable pin-out
9pin D-type
female
9pin D-type
Supported video modes
ALIF units support all VESA and CEA video modes.
female
General specications
Casing (w x h x d): 198mm (7.92”) x 44mm (1.76”) x 150mm (6.0”)
Construction: 1U compact case, robust metal design
Weight: 1.1kg (2.4lbs)
Mount kits: Rack mount - single or dual units per 1U slot.
VESA monitor / wall mount chassis.
Power to adapter: 100-240VAC 50/60Hz, 0.8A,
Power to unit: 5VDC 20W
Operating temp: 0ºC to 40ºC (32ºF to 104ºF)
Approvals: CE, FCC
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APPENDIX G - Fiber modules and cables
To suit your installation layout, two ber modules are available for the ALIF dual units
to suit various ber optic cables. The specications for all are summarized in the table
below:
Fiber Type Fiber size Fiber Type Coding Distance
at
OM1 (62.5/125) Multimode
(TIA-492AAAA)
OM2 (50/125) Multimode
(TIA-492AAAB)
OM3 (50/125) Multimode
(850 nm Laser-optimized)
(TIA-492AAAC)
OM4 (50/125) Multimode
(850 nm Laser-optimized)
(TIA-492AAAC)
OS1 and OS2 (9/125) Single-mode
(TIA-492C000 / TIA-492E000)
Normal
Applications
Orange Slate 62.5/125 220m SFP-MM-LC Black LC
Orange Orange 50/125 550m “ “ “
Aqua Undened 850 LO 50 /125 550m “ “ “
Aqua Undened 850 LO 50 /125 550m “ “ “
Yellow Yellow SM/NZDS, SM 10Km SFP-SM-LC Blue LC
Military
Applications
Suggested Print
Nomenclature
1Gbps
Adder part
number for
SFP module
Bar
color
Conn.
type
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APPENDIX H - Mounting options
There are several mounting methods for transmitter and receiver units:
• The supplied four self-adhesive rubber feet
• Optional single unit rack brackets - this page
• Optional dual unit rack brackets
• Optional VESA bracket mount
Single unit rack brackets
The optional single unit brackets (plus four screws), allow
a unit to be secured within a standard rack half width slot.
IMPORTANT - allow space for airow
The ALIF units and their power supplies generate heat when
in operation and will become warm to the touch.
Do not place them in locations where air cannot circulate
to cool the equipment. When mounting units within a rack
chassis, allow a 1/
Do not operate the equipment in ambient temperatures
exceeding 40oC. Do not place the products in contact with
equipment whose surface temperature exceeds 40oC .
rd
U space (1.5cm) between rows of devices:
3
1
/
U
3
(1.5cm)
space for
cooling
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INDEX
Double unit rack brackets
This optional kit comprises four brackets (plus twelve screws)
and allows two ALIF units to be mounted side by side and
tted into a 1U rack slot.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
IMPORTANT - allow space for airow
The ALIF units and their power supplies generate heat when
in operation and will become warm to the touch.
Do not place them in locations where air cannot circulate
to cool the equipment. When mounting units within a rack
chassis, allow a 1/
Do not operate the equipment in ambient temperatures
exceeding 40oC. Do not place the products in contact with
equipment whose surface temperature exceeds 40oC .
rd
U space (1.5cm) between rows of devices:
3
1
/
U
3
(1.5cm)
space for
cooling
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INFORMATION
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49
VESA bracket mount
This optional kit comprises a bracket that allows a single AdderLink
Innity module to be mounted onto the rear of a video display*.
The kit includes the bracket plus eight screws.
* The video display must adhere to the VESA standard for mounting holes
on its rear panel.
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SAFETY INFORMATION
• For use in dry, oil free indoor environments only.
• Warning - live parts contained within power adapter.
• No user serviceable parts within power adapter - do not dismantle.
• Plug the power adapter into a socket outlet close to the module that it is powering.
• Replace the power adapter with a manufacturer approved type only.
• Do not use the power adapter if the power adapter case becomes damaged, cracked
or broken or if you suspect that it is not operating properly.
• If you use a power extension cord with the units, make sure the total ampere rating of
the devices plugged into the extension cord does not exceed the cord’s ampere rating.
Also, make sure that the total ampere rating of all the devices plugged into the wall
outlet does not exceed the wall outlet’s ampere rating.
• Do not attempt to service the units yourself.
WARRANTY
Adder Technology Ltd warrants that this product shall be free from defects in
workmanship and materials for a period of two years from the date of original purchase.
If the product should fail to operate correctly in normal use during the warranty period,
Adder will replace or repair it free of charge. No liability can be accepted for damage due
to misuse or circumstances outside Adder’s control. Also Adder will not be responsible
for any loss, damage or injury arising directly or indirectly from the use of this product.
Adder’s total liability under the terms of this warranty shall in all circumstances be
limited to the replacement value of this product.
If any difculty is experienced in the installation or use of this product that you are
unable to resolve, please contact your supplier.
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RADIO FREQUENCY ENERGY
A Category 5 (or better) twisted pair cable must be used to connect the units in order
to maintain compliance with radio frequency energy emission regulations and ensure a
suitably high level of immunity to electromagnetic disturbances.
All other interface cables used with this equipment must be shielded in order to maintain
compliance with radio frequency energy emission regulations and ensure a suitably high
level of immunity to electromagnetic disturbances.
European EMC directive 2004/108/EC
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class A
computing device in accordance with the specications in the European standard
EN55022. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy
and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception. However, there is no guarantee that
harmful interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning
the equipment on and off, the user is encouraged to correct the interference with one
or more of the following measures: (a) Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
(b) Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver. (c) Connect
the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is
connected. (d) Consult the supplier or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
FCC Compliance Statement (United States)
This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not
installed and used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s
instructions, may cause interference to radio communication. It has been tested and
found to comply with the limits for a class A computing device in accordance with
the specications in Subpart J of part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide
reasonable protection against such interference when the equipment is operated in a
commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area may cause
interference, in which case the user at his own expense will be required to take whatever
measures may be necessary to correct the interference. Changes or modications not
expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority to operate the
equipment.
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
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INFORMATION
Canadian Department of Communications RFI statement
This equipment does not exceed the class A limits for radio noise emissions from digital
apparatus set out in the radio interference regulations of the Canadian Department of
Communications.
Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques dépassant les limites
applicables aux appareils numériques de la classe A prescrites dans le règlement sur le
brouillage radioélectriques publié par le ministère des Communications du Canada.
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52
Web: www.adder.com
Contact: www.adder.com/contact-details
Support: forum.adder.com
INSTALLATIONCONFIGURATIONOPERATION
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Documentation by:
www.ctxd.com
INDEX
© 2015 Adder Technology Limited
All trademarks are acknowledged.
Part No. MAN-ALIF2000-ADDER • Release 3.4
53
Index
A
Active Copper 14
Adaptive 45
AFZ 3,26
Anti-dither support 3
B
Bracket
rack mount 48,49
Browser-based utility 20
C
Cable
null-modem 46
Cloning displays 33
CODEC 3
Compression 26
Conguration
browser-based utility 20
switches 21
Connections
network link 14
overview 10
RX audio 17
RX AUX port 18
RX power in 18
RX USB devices 17
RX video display 16
TX audio links 12
TX AUX port 13
TX power in 13
TX USB link 12
TX video link 11
Connectors
overview 5,6
Cut-through 45
D
Dimensions 46
Display cloning 33
Dithering 3
F
Factory reset 19
Fast-Leave 43
Fibre Channel 14
Firmware
upgrade 21
Forwarding modes 45
Fragment-free 45
Frame Skipping 26
Front panel 5,6
Front panel indicators 22
G
Gigabit Ethernet 14
I
IGMP 43
fast-leave 43
querier 43
snooping 43
Indicators 5,6,22
Initial conguration 19
J
Jumbo frames (packets) 43
L
Layers 2 and 3 45
Link cable lengths 14
M
Magic Eye 3,26
Management port 6,25,32
RX settings 32
TX settings 25
Multicast settings 33
N
Network layout 39
Network switch
choosing 39
Null-modem cable
pin-out 46
O
Optimization
statistics for 29,37
Options switches 21
OSI model 45
Q
Querier 43
R
Rack mounting 48
Rear panel 5,6
Reset
manual 19
S
Safety information 51
SFP module 14
Snooping 43
Spanning Tree Protocol 44
Specications 46
Statistics
graphing 29,37
Store and forward 45
Switch
choosing 39
conguring 40
System port 5,6,14,25,32
RX settings 32
TX settings 25
T
Teaming port 5,6,14,25,32
RX settings 32
TX settings 25
TLS 3
Transport Layer Security 3
Troubleshooting 41
U
Upgrade
rmware 21
V
Video modes 46
W
Warranty 51
Weight 46
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