Software Defined AV
By James King, Assistant Director of AV Services, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV
Audio/Visual has been traditionally built around hardware. Even today, when we think about AV, we are thinking about video walls, displays, cameras, microphones, speakers, etc.. As the lines between AV and IT fade, we find that AV is much more than hardware. Many of the priority AV hardware devices are being replaced with software that is no longer limited to what devices they can run on. This movement folds AV even more into the IT realm as they leverage common IT platforms such as virtual machines, cloud architecture, common computer languages, and network protocols. This movement away from mostly hardware to mostly software is being called Software Defined AV.
One advantage of Software Defined AV is updating and one might view the updating system as a negative thing, but it should not be.
The software has been a part of AV for a long time but has always been a closed system and, in my opinion, an afterthought. Many manufacturers would place their priority software behind paid walls where one would need to attend training before they would be granted access. This software would be limited in features and would only work for that manufacturer’s equipment. As AV evolves, many manufacturers are moving to more of an open source system with their software. Moving to this open source mindset provides many advantages for the AV industry.
One advantage of Software Defined AV is updating and one might view the updating system as a negative thing, but it should not be. Technology changes at a fast pace, but we do not always have the money or resources to keep our hardware up to this. When it comes to AV systems, most of them get installed and then forgotten about until they are at a point where they become more trouble than helpful. With more of the AV being handled by software then, one can apply updates when they come out. These updates could be minor, such as a small bug fix or a UI change, or could be major that address security issues or major bugs.
Another advantage of Software Defined AV is the flexibility it provides. As mentioned above, most AV software used to be locked into one manufacturer’s gear. Now with Software Defined AV, one is no longer limited to a select few manufacturers. They can install the software onto different hardware options. This flexibility even allows for the removal of hardware in the AV rack as they can run from virtual machines or even the cloud. Leveraging the IT network provides flexibility not only in the physical location but also in the physical connections; take a DSP, for example. A hardware DSP has a fixed number of inputs and outputs even card frame ones are limited to the number of cards that can be installed. With a software DSP the number of inputs and outputs can grow and even change dynamically based on the needs of the system.
Uniformity is another advantage of Software Defined AV. As mentioned above, technology changes at a fast pace. This fast pace means that a system installed 5 or more years ago might have different hardware looks, causing different spaces to have various looking equipment and moving to Software Defined AV; then, when there is a new look, it can be deployed to all spaces at once. Working in higher education, we have many spaces where the same professor might be teaching. When they walk into a classroom, the functionality of that space needs to have the same look and feel as all the other spaces. Granted, the hardware for these spaces might look different, but software can make all the spaces look and feel the same. For example, when one rolls out a new software look in higher education, they can simultaneously deploy it to all their spaces. This allows all the spaces to have uniformity even when changes happen quickly.
Even though Software Define AV provides many advantages, one can not overlook the disadvantages.
A disadvantage of Software Defined AV is updating. I know this was an advantage, but it is also a disadvantage. With software being easy to update and roll out, these can happen at an increasing rate. With these rollouts happening more frequently, there is a greater chance for bugs and security risks, leading to new updates that need to be applied. With this being both an advantage and a disadvantage, one needs to ensure they thoroughly test any software updates in a controlled environment before pushing them out to installed equipment.
Another disadvantage of Software Defined AV is the funding. As mentioned above, most AV equipment was ‘install and forget.’ This meant that the funding for AV was normally done during capex with the cost of the project. Regarding updating equipment, a budget request would be put in for capex to cover the cost. Software Defined AV will not fit this funding model as there will be recurring costs. This recurring cost will need to come from the opex budget and not capex. With the money coming out of opex, there is no pushing the upgrade down the road if the money is not there. If one can not afford the software, they risk their system not working until they can pay the license cost.
Software licenses are another disadvantage of Software Defined AV. Besides the funding model changing from capex to opex like mentioned above, it becomes a task to manage all the licenses. Even if the opex funding is in place, if the licenses are not kept on top of and expire, one runs the risk of their system not working. Not only does one need to monitor when licenses expire but also what hardware they might be applied to. Some software licenses require information on the hardware it will be running on. This is an issue when one changes the hardware for an upgrade or replaces failed equipment. A license can take time to apply, preventing a quick swap of equipment from getting a space up and running.
Software Defined AV might be the future of AV as we see many advantages with it, but one still needs to make sure they do their research just as if they were going to install hardware.