SPRY352 October   2025 AM263P4-Q1 , TAS6754-Q1

 

  1.   1
  2.   Overview
  3.   At a glance
  4.   Introduction
  5.   5
    1.     Enabling real-time control and time-sensitive data
    2.     Ethernet topologies: Ring vs. star
    3.     Ethernet ring architecture implementation
    4.     Adding audio playback to an Ethernet backbone with AVB
    5.     Audio in zone architectures
    6.     Implementing AVB in the ZCM
  6.   Conclusion
  7.   Additional resources

Adding audio playback to an Ethernet backbone with AVB

Although a ring architecture is not required for AVB, the redundancy it provides enables more data to safely pass through the ZCMs. AVB preceded TSN, focusing specifically on audio applications before expanding into TSN for broader TSN data types. Today, AVB refers to audio-specific TSN applications that distribute audio playback throughout zones by transmitting audio packets over Ethernet. The primary AVB protocols are:

  • IEEE 802.1BA – AVB framework for architecture and profiles.
  • IEEE 802.1Qav – AVB traffic scheduling for time-sensitive networks.
  • IEEE 1722 – the AVB transport protocol.

Audio playback requires delivering audio data at a set sample rate to audio amplifiers. In order to play audio simultaneously in multiple zones, each zone must maintain time alignment to avoid audio fidelity issues related to phase misalignment. AVB enables consistent, time-aligned playback of audio across ZCMs by compensating for varying packet latencies in Ethernet networks.