Utah Scientific’s UTAH-400 iP Repackages IP-Network Management

By Carl Lindemann

The marriage of broadcast engineering and IP-based communications technology is in an awkward phase just past the honeymoon. Utah Scientific’s UTAH-400 iP gigabit Ethernet workgroup router makes the match harmonious by repackaging network management in a way that is more familiar to broadcast engineers.

Unil now programming and controlling routers has been a software-based undertaking allowing many different parameters to tailor the gear for any IT environment. Broadcast engineering only uses a small subset of those possibilities, and the 400-iP programs the key options into an easy-to-understand pushbutton array. That makes it simple for real-time on-the-fly control of port priority, security groups, port speeds, QOS and VLAN assignments on Ethernet networks.

This is a very clever concept akin to the revolution in retailing that occurred when someone had the bright idea to program keys with PLU items instead of dollar amounts. Cashiers simply punched the button assigned to the item rather than putting in the price. Here, broadcast engineers do not have to weed through the jungle of IP configuration calls and can focus directly on what they need to make the network operate effectively for the broadcast operation.

Though an Ethernet router is not usually very intriguing, the UTAH-400 iP is a real innovation that should find a home in most any broadcast setting.