HOME is an IP management technology from Lawo.

In Lawo systems, HOME is used to manage the devices within the network and configure the connections required for control and streaming.

All settings are adjusted using HOME's web-based user interface, known as the HOME UI. This is accessed by entering the IP address, or domain name, of the HOME server into a web browser and then signing in. Following a successful sign in, the HOME 'Devices' page appears.

Device Management

The 'Devices' page lists all of the devices, apps and services that are known to HOME. A device must appear here before it can be configured.

The image below explains the basic operation of the page.

The 'Devices' list includes all of HOME's inventory items, where the type of device, app or service is clearly identified in the Device Type column. While we usually refer to "devices" in this documentation, the same principles apply to all inventory items (unless otherwise stated).

How are devices discovered?

Some devices appear automatically (when they are connected to the network), while others must be configured manually (from the HOME UI).

Whether automatic discovery is possible depends on the device type as follows:

  • HOME-native devices. All Lawo IP nodes and devices which "live@HOME" are discovered automatically when they are connected to the network. 
  • NMOS-compatible devices. Devices that are compatible with NMOS IS-04/IS-05 can also be discovered automatically, if HOME is running a valid NMOS license. 
  • Third-party devices. Devices that are not detected automatically can be added manually by configuring a proxy. An example is included here.
  • HOME Apps. In a HOME Apps system, each app server is discovered automatically (as a HOME-native device). The individual apps must be created manually (using either New App or Duplicate App).

What can be controlled?

From the 'Devices' page, you can:

  • Check the status of the network's devices.
  • Create a New App (for deployment on a HOME Apps server).
  • Approve or quarantine a physical device (if the network admissions service is enabled).
  • Reboot a device.
  • Access additional operations via the ... More menu.

In addition, the Health icon (top right) shows the number of active issues reported to HOME. The background color indicates the severity: orange = warnings; red = critical issues. For more information, click on the icon to open the 'Health' page.

Device Configuration

The settings for an individual device can be accessed, from the 'Devices' list, by clicking on the device label (1) and choosing a menu tab (2).

The available pages, and their settings, vary depending on the device type. For HOME-native devices, you can check and edit a variety of device-specific parameters such as the label and location, initial configuration, IP settings, senders and receivers, and so on. 

For more information, please see HOME - Device Settings.

Signal Streaming

Once a device is part of HOME's operational network, its streaming connections can be managed from the 'Stream Routing' page.

This page lists all available IP senders (on the left) and IP receivers (on the right). From here, you can connect senders to receivers, interrogate and lock existing connections, disable the sending streams and view/edit the stream configuration parameters.

The image below explains the basic operation of the page.

The IP senders and receivers are either pre-defined (according to the device configuration) or created manually. You can check the current configuration from the Device → Senders or Device → Receivers page (as described here).

Depending on the device type, up to four stream essence types are supported: Video, Audio, Metadata and GPI/O, and each source or destination may handle multiple flows (e.g. 1x Video, 4x Audio and 1x Metadata).

Once a connection is made, signals are streamed via the device's media Network Interface Cards (NICs). Or, in the case of HOME Apps, the NICs of the app server.

Please note: To achieve redundant streaming, compatible with SMPTE ST2022-7, the NICs must be configured in pairs to support the primary and secondary streams.

As part of the configuration, users can choose the stream transport, video resolution, number of audio channels, etc. This allows the IP senders and receivers to be tailored to the application and network (to help manage the bandwidth of the NICs and switches).

If a device supports audio streams, then the 'I/O Routing' (for the senders and receivers) can be used to map the audio channels carried by the streams to the device's local audio inputs and outputs.

Other Operations in HOME

In addition to device management and stream routing, HOME supports six further pages:

  • Signal Ownership Groups - manages the ownership of signal parameters. For example, to allocate mic preamp control to a particular audio console.
  • Snapshots - manages the system's snapshots, to create backups of the configuration and stream routing for the physical devices.
  • Health - shows all active issues reported to HOME.
  • Files - manages the files stored locally on the HOME system. For example, to upload more perpetual licenses.
  • Licenses - has two tabs: Perpetual and Credits, to check the available perpetual licenses and Lawo Flex credits.
  • Settings - provides access to the HOME system settings. This page is organized into a series of sub-pages for Admissions, Device Proxies, DHCP, etc.