WHAT IS AUTOMATED COGNITIVE COEXISTENCE?
Most wireless DMX distribution systems, including CRMX, operate on the same license free 2.4 GHz band as WiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, wireless intercoms, microphones, etc. Interference between such systems has been a growing problem in the industry with no available solution. LumenRadio’s CRMX is the first system to continuously scan the radio spectrum and dynamically adapt its frequency hopping patterns to the surrounding environment. This eliminates interference and maximizes performance of all radio systems in the same area. CRMX is an acronym for Cognitive Radio MultipleXer. It is essentially a smart radio that solves a daunting challenge, with no need for user expertise.
WHAT IS FIDELITY AND ERROR CORRECTION?
DMX fidelity and error correction ensures that DMX frames retain the exact same content and properties, including timing parameters, throughout the transmission process. This is important as many systems now employ moving lights, media servers and LEDs; devices that can severely misbehave if they receive DMX frames that in any way are fragmented or corrupt. In other words, in a system without fidelity DMX frames could arrive to a moving light with only 8 bits of a 16 bit parameter updated, the other 8 bits are old data, hence the 16 bit data field is corrupted which could lead to severe misbehavior of a fixture. The error correction mechanism recreates lost, or corrupted, radio packets thus helping to ensure that the signal have perfect fidelity even under bad radio conditions.
WHAT IS SYNCHRONIZATION AND LATENCY?
Synchronization guarantees that the DMX frames are delivered by all receivers at exactly the same time regardless of their location and the presence of other radio systems. This is for example critical to maintain uniformity during color changes in large area LED installations controlled by multiple receivers. Likewise the latency have huge impact on many setups. The latency is the time it takes for the signal to propagate through the system. With the low latency of only 5 milliseconds it is impossible to the human eye to detect the difference in time of a signal delivered by a cable compared to a signal delivered by a CRMX system. Some systems have long latency times, resulting in noticeable delays of the signal. Or even worse, the system might not have latency control at all, making it impossible to predict the delay of the signal.
WHAT IS A TRANSMITTER, RECEIVER AND A FLEX UNIT?
In order to wirelessly distribute DMX and RDM, a minimum of two units are required; a transmitter and a receiver.
Transmitter
One transmitter per DMX universe is required. It receives DMX/RDM data from a lighting console which is then distributed wirelessly to any number of linked receivers. If more than one DMX universe is to be distributed, simply add more transmitters.
Receiver
At least one receiver per transmitter is required, but an unlimited number of receivers can be used. Receivers are physically connected to fixtures and outputs the DMX/RDM data it receives from the transmitter.
Flex
A type of unit that is user configurable to act either as a transmitter or as a receiver. When used as a receiver, a Flex unit is also able to output Ethernet based protocols such as Art-Net or Streaming ACN. Can be switched from transmitter mode to receiver mode and vice versa at any time.
CAN I TRANSMIT MULTIPLE UNIVERSES?
CRMX systems can handle any number of receivers connected to a transmitter; use one receiver to create a point-to-point link – for instance to create a long range RF link, or many receivers to create a point-to-multi-point link – for instance a typical truss data distribution. If more than one universe is needed, multi universe transmitters and/or multiple transmitters can be used. This is what we call multi-point-to- multi-point. The only limitation of the number of universes that can be used is the frequency spectrum usage in an area, with smart antenna configurations and cell planning, even as much as 60 universes can be used.
CAN I EXPAND AND UPGRADE MY SYSTEM?
All CRMX products are compatible with each other. In other words, you can always use an indoor transmitter with an outdoor receiver and vice versa. Likewise, a DMX receiver will work with an RDM transmitter. CRMX products are future proof; we will continue to innovate and release upgrades to existing products to make sure both you and we stand on the forefront of technological development.
MORE QUESTIONS?
Can’t find the information you were looking for? Please get in touch with us by using the form below.
