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. Depending on the device portfolio, HOME may also be required to manage licenses and Lawo Flex credits, and manage the ownership of signal parameters.

All settings are adjusted using the HOME Web UI (shown below). This is accessed by entering the IP address or domain name of the HOME server into a web browser and then signing in.

Device Management

The "Devices" page lists all devices known to HOME. A device must appear here before it can be configured.

How are devices discovered?

Some devices appear automatically (when they are connected to the network), while others must be configured manually (from the Web 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. Each HOME Apps server is discovered automatically (as a HOME-native device). The individual apps are created manually (using the New App button).

What can be controlled?

From the "Devices" page, the following operations are possible:

  • Check the status of a device.
  • Approve or quarantine a device (if the network admissions service is enabled).
  • Configure a device (to edit its label, IP settings, senders and receivers, etc).
  • Manage the apps (running on a HOME Apps server).

In addition, the Health icon (top right) shows the number of health issues reported by HOME-native devices. For more information, see HOME - Health Monitoring.

Device Settings

The settings for an individual device can be viewed and edited from the "Device Details" tabs.

1.     To access the settings, click on the device label (from the main "Devices" list).

The page always opens with the General tab selected.

2.    From here, use the menu tabs to access settings for the Network Ports, Senders, Receivers, etc.

The available settings vary depending on the device type. In the example above, there are seven menu tabs. The first five (General, Network Ports, Senders, Receivers and I/O Routing) are available for most devices. The SDI I/O and Advanced tabs are specific to .edge.

3.   To return to the main "Devices" list, click on the < Devices button (to the left of the device label).

4.   To edit another device, repeat the steps above.

Common Settings

The General tab includes general information about the device (on the left) and other settings (on the right).

  • The informational fields (on the left) include the Software Version and Serial Number (important for licensing), plus the "Identify Hardware" function (if you need to locate a physical device in an equipment rack). The Edit button can be used to edit the device label and location.
  • The settings (on the right) vary depending on the device. For .edge, you can edit the Application (operating mode) and Device Options (number of SDI In/Out). For an A__stage64, you can edit the Wordclock Profile (1fs or 2fs) and Device Options (sample rate).

The Network Ports tab lists all of the device's active network ports. From here you can check the status of a port or edit its network settings.

The Senders and Receivers tabs list the device's senders and receivers. For some devices, the senders and receivers are pre-defined, while for others they must be created. In both cases, you can adjust the I/O Routing (for audio streams), edit the streaming parameters or access the SDP data.

The I/O Routing tab maps the IP channels (of the senders and receivers) to the physical audio I/Os of the device: Mic/Line, AES3, MADI, etc. 

Connecting and Disconnecting Streams

The "Stream Routing" page is used to manage all of the network's streaming connections. From here you can connect a sender to a receiver, or interrogate the existing connections.

The page lists all available senders (on the left) and receivers (on the right). In the example above, there are Filters applied to restrict the view.

  • For each source and destination, there are two parts to the label: <device>/<sender> or <device>/<receiver>. 
  • The icons in the Essence column describe the type of flow: Video, Audio, Metadata and/or GPIO. 
  • If a sender or receiver handles more than one flow, then an arrow appears beside its label.

To make a connection, select a source (on the left) and a destination (on the right); then click on Connect.

  • Once a source is connected, a number appears in the "source used" column. This indicates the number of times the source is used. i.e. the number of connections made.
  • Once a destination is connected, the "Connected Source" column shows the label of the connected stream.
  • If the source is in view, then a solid line appears to indicate the connection(s).

If the source and destination consist of multiple flows, then you can view and edit the individual connections once the flows are revealed.

A useful tooltip is displayed whenever you hover over a label or icon. This can be used, for example, to interrogate a warning icon or view more information about an essence.

The stream routing (for all devices on the HOME network) is stored automatically whenever a change is made. This data is stored on the HOME server. If the server restarts, then the configuration is re-instated at the end of the reboot.

If a networked device restarts, or is disconnected, then any streaming connections to and from the device are lost. However, the connections are still prepared. This means that as soon as the device comes back online, its streaming connections are re-established.

If you wish to make a backup of a particular point in the setup, then you can save the complete configuration in a snapshot. For more information on how to do this, please see HOME - Snapshots (in the HOME - User Manual).