Core and Core Status Component

The Core is the centralized digital signal processor (DSP) for the Q-SYS system.

There are three aspects to the Core: physical hardware, network settings, and virtual.

When you start Q-SYS Designer, the Inventory accordion bar is open by default. By default, a Core is always present. The Core is in the Default Location, and has components listed below it. You place these components in your design as required. The components may differ depending on the Core model selected.

When you select the Core, the Core Properties display in the right-side pane. If you drag the Status component into the Schematic, the same properties are displayed in the right-side pane, with the addition of the available Control Pins for the Status component. This topic contains information for both.

NOTE: The Core 510i can be used as an I/O device (I/O -510i) by adding it from the inventory list under Peripherals. In this mode it is not operating as a Core, but an I/O device. The I/O-510i has eight I/O card slots, two GPIO components, and a Serial Port component.

The GPIO, Loudspeaker Monitor, Serial Port, and the I/O cards (Line Out, Mic/Line In, DataPort, AES3 In / Out, AES3 16 Channel In, AVB In / Out, Cobranet In / Out, and Dante In / Out, are documented their individual topics.

The Core 110f has separate topics for: Mic/Line In, Mic/Line Out, USB In, USB Out, Flex In, Flex Out, POTS In, POTS Out, POTS Controller, GPIO In, GPIO Out. The controls available only on the Core110f are indicated as such in this topic.

Core Specifications

Core Type	Core Model	Local I/O Channels	Network Audio Channels	AEC Processors	Multitrack Audio Players	Local I/O Card Capacity	VoIP Instances
Unified Core (small scale)	Core 110	24 8 analog in, 8 analog out, 8 analog flex in/out, 16x16 USB audio	128 x 128¹	16	16 (upgradable to 32)	N/A (Built-in I/O on this model)	4
Integrated Cores (medium scale)	Core 500i	Up to 32 analog, up to 128x128 AES/CobraNet/ Dante/AVB	128 flex in/out	24	16 (upgradable to 128)	8	64
Integrated Cores (medium scale)	Core 510i	Up to 32 analog, up to 128x128 AES/CobraNet/ Dante/AVB	256 x 256	64	16 (upgradable to 128)	8	64
Enterprise Cores (large scale)	Core 1100	Up to 4 analog, up to 16 AES, up to 64x64 CobraNet/Dante/AVB	256 x 256	72	16 (upgradable to 128)	1	64
Enterprise Cores (large scale)	Core 3100	Up to 4 analog, up to 16 AES, up to 64x64 CobraNet/Dante/AVB	512 x 512	144	16 (upgradable to 128)	1	64
Dell Enterprise Cores (IT friendly)	Core 5200	N / A	512 x 512	160	16 (upgradable to 128	N / A	64
1. When using the Core 110f on-board USB Device Port for video bridging, the Q-LAN / AES67 maximum audio channel count is 64 x 64.

Type 2 Hardware

Type 2 hardware provides new cables and connectors between the I/O cards and main boards in Cores and I/O Frames. Due to this change, the Type 2 hardware is not physically compatible with the older hardware. You can still integrate the new I/O Frames and Cores in the same system with older hardware, but the I/O cards are not interchangeable. Type 2 hardware can be identified by a yellow label on the back of the Core and I/O Frame, and the bottom of the I/O cards.

Controls

Core Status

Some controls require a specific setting in the Properties to make them available. In the Properties Settings column

R represents Is Redundant set to Yes

V represents Verbose set to Yes

C represents the Clock Source set to something other than Internal

N represents Not available on all Cores

N / A indicates that there are no Properties available for the Control.

Control

Function

Default / Range

Properties Setting

When the ID/Identify button, in the Q-SYS Designer Status component, or the Configurator's Network Configuration for the hardware, or on the physical hardware is pressed, the ID buttons in the Configurator and Status component flash, and the LCD on the physical Hardware flashes to indicate the association between the three.

The indicators will flash for 5 minutes unless you stop them by pressing any one of the buttons.

Off / On

N / A

Status LED

This LED changes color to indicate the current status of the Core. See Status for the meanings of the various colors.

N / A

Status

Displays color-coded messages indicating the current status of the active Core.

NOTE: These conditions are examples, and may not be applicable to all components with a Status field.

OK – Green – (0) – Audio is good, hardware is good.

Compromised – Orange – (1) – Audio is good but a redundancy mechanism is active (one LAN down but the other is still up) or a non-fatal hardware problem exists (fans too slow, temperature higher than expected, etc.)

Fault – Red – (2) – Audio is not passing, or hardware is malfunctioning or mis-configured (amplifier power off, audio streams broken, wrong type of I/O Card installed, loudspeaker short circuit, etc.)

Missing – Red – (3) – A piece of hardware, defined in the design, has not been discovered. Audio is not passing through that piece of hardware.

Initializing – Blue – (5) – In the process of firmware, configuration update, and design start. Audio is obviously bad.

Not Present – Gray – A virtual component in the design, that is designated as Dynamically Paired, and Not Required ,has no hardware assigned to it.

N / A

External Clock

The Clock Source in the Core's Properties must NOT be set to Internal. The External Clock illuminates if the Core receives a valid external word clock or AES3 signal. (Not available on Core 5200)

Off / On

External Frequency

The Clock Source in the Core's Properties must NOT be set to Internal. The frequency of the clock sync connected to GPIO. This is usually 48000 (+- a few samples). If you are using GPS sync it will be either 5 (for 5pps) or 1 (for 1pps) (Not available on Core 5200)

External Lock

The Clock Source in the Core's Properties must NOT be set to Internal. The External Lock illuminates if the Core is able to successfully synchronize to the external clock signal. (Not available on Core 5200)

Off / On

Clock Master

LED indicating if the Core is the Master Clock for the Q-SYS system or not. The Core can be the Master Clock even if the clock is synchronized to an external clock.

Off / On

N / A

Clock Offset

Indicates how much of an offset exists between this Core and the Master Clock. If this Core is the Master Clock, the offset is zero.

No default

Microseconds

N / A

Grandmaster

The clock master of the network. See ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Time_Protocol#Architecture)

N / A

Parent Port

The device and interface name that this device is syncing to when it’s not the clock master. Usually it is the same as the Grandmaster name.

N / A

Processor Temp

The current temperature, in Celsius, of the Core processor.

N / A

Processor Fan

The current speed of the processor fan in RPM. The speed varies based on the temperature. Not all Cores have this field.

N / A

Chassis Temp

The current temperature, in Celsius, of the Core chassis.

N / A

Chassis Fan

The current speed of the chassis fan in RPM. The speed varies based on the temperature.

N / A

Memory Used

The percentage of memory used.

N / A

Audio File Sync

Text field indicating whether or not the audio files on the inactive Core, of a redundant pair, are in sync with the active Core.

N / A

Details

You must set Verbose to Yes in the Properties for this field to display.

Text indicating the Details of any errors occurring with the Core. The information in this field is updated regularly and is cumulative. None of the items listed below display unless there is a value associated with it. If there are values associated with these, call Support.

fpga_fifo_error	sequence_error
recv_fifo_error	xmit_task_early
xmit_fifo_error	xmit_task_late
recv_dma_error	xmit_task_error
xmit_dma_error	xmit_overrun
sync_error	clock_sync_loss

N / A

Primary / Backup

This section is available only when the Is Redundant Property is set to Yes.

Control	Function	Default / Range
Active	Identifies which Core is currently Active	On / Off
Standby	Lights if the Core is in Standby mode. When the Core is booting, this LED is lit.	Off / On
Go Active	Click this button to force the inactive Core to become Active. ²	Off / On
2. In a redundant Core, redundant network system when the LAN-A connection to one Core is removed, and the LAN-B connection to the other Core is removed, you cannot switch between Cores using the Go-Active button.

CPU Statistics

This section is available only when the Verbose Property is set to Yes.

Control	Function	Default / Range
Audio 1 and Audio 2 (audio processing time – microseconds)	Contains the following information when the count is not zero: current minimum average maximum lat_current lat_minimum lat_average periods overruns timeouts	N / A
Reset	Resets the statistics in the Audio and Network fields. While the Reset button resets all entries in both fields, the average, periods, and overruns are the most noticeable.	Momentary switch

Control

Function

Default / Range

Audio 1 and Audio 2

(audio processing time – microseconds)

Contains the following information when the count is not zero:

current
minimum
average
maximum
lat_current
lat_minimum
lat_average
periods
overruns
timeouts

N / A

Reset

Resets the statistics in the Audio and Network fields.

While the Reset button resets all entries in both fields, the average, periods, and overruns are the most noticeable.

Momentary switch

CPU Statistics Notes:

average - the result of the number displayed in the average field, divided by 300, then multiplied by 100 should be slightly less than the DSP Usage shown in File -> Check Design....
maximum - a value of > 333 causes overruns to increment, which means a dropout in the audio. An isolated dropout sounds like a click and is usually inaudible with program material but can be heard when listening to pure tones. There may occasionally be overruns when the design starts or when the primary and backup of a redundant pair of cores are swapped because of clock mastership change. This is OK because audio streams are not running at these points.

USB Audio

NOTE: The following USB Audio controls are available on the Core 110f , I/O USB Bridge, I/O-8 Flex, and the TSC-7t.

The following information is available only when the USB Audio Bridge, in the Properties, is set to anything except Disabled, and one or more of the USB Audio components are in the schematic.

Control	Function	Default / Range
Connection	Green LED indicating that the USB Out component is connected to a computer.	Off / On
USB Speed	Speed of the USB Connection. For example: High (2.0)	N / A
Active	Green LED indicating that signal is streaming.	Off / On
More button	Click to show or hide the details listed below. (Samples, SRC+, SRC-)	N / A
Samples	Total number of samples since the audio started, or since the count has been reset.	N / A
SRC+	The number of samples added in order to match the USB clock with the Q-SYS PTP clock	N / A
SRC-	The number of samples removed in order to match the USB clock with the Q-SYS PTP clock	N / A
Reset	Resets the Sample count for the associated audio device.	N / A

USB Video

The following information can be found on the Core 110f Status component and the I/O USB Bridge Status component.

Control	Function	Default / Range
NOTE: In order to see the data in the fields listed below you must have a network connection between the camera and the I/O USB Bridge, and a USB connection to an output device. The output device must be receiving and displaying the video. If there is no signal flow, there are no statistics.
Input LED	Indicates whether or not there is active input to the I/O USB Bridge.	N / A
Video Bridge Input Connection	The network Name of the input device (camera).	N / A
IP Stream 1 and IP Stream 2
Test (button)	Test the network setup for the Q-SYS video streaming implementation without having a PC or any USB connection. This tests QoS and IGMP on multicast.
Frames per Sec	Number of frames per second being sent by the camera	N / A
Bitrate (Mb/s)Src	Speed of the connection in Mb/s	N / A
BMcast IP Src	Bad Multicast IP Sources (IP Stream 1 only)	N / A
Packets Lost	Number of packets lost since the last reset.	N / A
Packet Loss%	The percentage of packets lost based on Packets Lost and Packet Count.	N / A
Packet Count	Total number of packets since the last reset.	N / A
Frames Lost	Total number of frames lost since the last reset.	N / A
Frame Count	Total number of frames sent.	N / A
USB Active LED	Video Bridge USB Active: Indicates if the USB is active or not.	N / A
Video Bridge USB Format (text field under USB LED)	Displays the format of the Video present on the USB (ex. 1080P30 MJPEG)	N / A
Frames per Sec	USB Frames Per Second	N / A
Bitrate (Mb/s)	USB Bitrate	N / A
Buf Depth	USB Buffer Depth	N / A
SRC-	The number of samples removed in order to match the USB clock with the Q-SYS PTP clock	N / A
SRC+	The number of samples added in order to match the USB clock with the Q-SYS PTP clock	N / A
Reset Button	Clears the readings, and restarts monitoring.	N / A

Property	Function	Choices
Name	Identifies the Core component in Q-SYS Designer, enabling the connection between the design and the physical Core. This name should be the same as the Core Device Name (hostnameHostnames may contain ASCII letters 'a' through 'z' (case-insensitive), the digits '0' through '9', the hyphen, and the underscore. Hostname labels cannot begin or end with a hyphen. No other symbols, punctuation characters, or blank spaces are permitted.) in the Configurator. Click in the Name property and type the Name. The name must follow standard naming conventions. The Administrator restricts the name according to the following: ASCII characters a - z, A-Z (case insensitive) Digits 0 - 9 Hyphen (cannot be at the beginning or end of the name) Underscore (acceptable with a Q-SYS implementation) No other characters, symbols, punctuation, or blank spaces. When you have entered the Name, it displays next to the Core icon in the left-side pane. NOTE: When you use Telnet or 3rd party external control you must enter the Name exactly as it is entered here.	User input
Location	The Location is a means by which you can organize your virtual equipment to correspond to your physical equipment. For example, the Core may be in Rack 1. Click in the Location property; the " Default Location" is highlighted. Type the name of the new location. Once you have entered the new Location name, it is available on the pull-down for the Location property for other Inventory devices. When you have given the location a name, the Core is now displayed under the new location. Any other equipment you identify as being in that location display under that location.	User input
Model	Select the model to match that of the physical Core. The model of your physical Core must be equal to, or greater than what you specify in this Property or the design will not run. * Discontinued models	110f 250i 500i 510i 1000* 1100* 3000* 3100* 4000*
Is Redundant	If you have redundant Cores in the installation select Yes, otherwise, leave it as No.	No / Yes
Backup Name	This property displays when you set Is Redundant to Yes. Same requirements as the primary Core Name.	User input

Property	Function	Choices
USB Bridge Name	User-defined name given to the USB Bridge. The USB Bridge Name is initially the same as the I/O USB Bridge Name and will change if you rename the I/O USB Bridge Name. If you change the USB Bridge Name, it no longer changes with the I/O USB Bridge Name.	User-defined
USB Video Bridge	Provides the capability of converting IP Audio to USB Audio. When this is set to Enabled, you can drag the USB Video Bridge from the I/O USB Bridge's Inventory components into your design.	Enabled or Disabled
USB Audio Bridge	Provides the capability of passing audio via USB. When this is set to anything except Disabled, you can drag the Speakerphone and/or Sound Card components from the Core's Inventory components into your design. Refer to USB In and Out Disabled – Default selection. Speakerphone (1 x 1) – Provides a speakerphone with an input and output component, each having 1 audio connection. Sound Card (2 x 2) – Provides a sound card with an input and output component, each having two (stereo) audio connections. Speakerphone and Sound Card – Provides one speakerphone and one sound card with the same capabilities as described above.	USB Audio Bridge
Speakerphone Mode	This selection is available only when Speakerphone or Speakerphone and Sound Card is selected in the USB Audio Bridge Property. Indicates if the Q-SYS design has Echo Cancelling (EC) or does not have Echo Cancelling (NEC). This information is provided to the PC or Mac operating system so it can determine whether or not to use its own echo cancelling.	Echo Cancelling (EC) Non-Echo Cancelling (NEC)

Property	Function	Choices
I/O Slot	Identifies the type of I/O card installed in the physical Core. After you make your selection, the I/O card displays under the Core in the Inventory list. The number of I/O Slots varies depending on the Core Model.	Line Out Mic/Line In DataPort Out AES3 In / Out CobraNet Dante AES3 16-channel In
SRC Disabled (AES3)	When an AES3 In / Out or AES3 16-channel In card is selected for the I/O Slot Property, you have the ability to disable or enable the AES3 Sample Rate Conversion.	Enabled / Disabled
Maximum DSP	When this is set to the default (Yes) the core operates normally (same in earlier releases of Q-SYS). When this is set to No, the core has the following changes: ½ DSP Power Category 1 Signal Processing only No Category 2 Signal Processing No AEC/NFC 2x non-audio system processing 2x Media Stream Receivers (The Core 250i and 500i normally allow 16 Media Stream Receivers, with Maximum DSP set to No, the Cores can have up to 32 Media Stream Receivers.) More overhead (unmeasured) for audio file players, etc.	Yes / No
Network Receive Buffer	Adds extra buffer time to the default maximum of 1 ms. Additional Network Receive Buffer time is useful in (rare) cases where the network latency through the network exceeds the default maximum. Additional network latency my be introduced by sub-optimal QoS functionality, some layer-3 routing implementations, long distances or large networks. Because the specified additional latency is added both to transfers from IO Frames to the Core and from the Core to IO Frames, the additional system latency is twice the amount of additional receive buffer selected. Total system latency based on this setting is calculated and displayed immediately below the Network Receive Buffer property.	Default Extra 1/3 ms Extra 1 ms Extra 2/3 ms

Property	Function	Choices
Sample Rate	Selects the sample rate. Typically, 48kHz is used as the Sample Rate. In scenarios where Q-SYS is externally synchronized to a (video) house sync signal you would use 48kHz Pull Down as the Sample Rate.	48 kHz 48 kHz Pull-Down
Clock Source	The AES3-1 and AES3-2 options display when you have an AES3 In / Out card selected for the Core I/O slot. When you have an AES3 16-channel In card selected, only the AES3-1 option is available. Use these options to sync to an external AES3 signal. The AES3 selections require either regular AES3 or AES3 black. The clock should be connected to the AES3 card either connector Channel 1/2 In, or Channel 3/4 In. The GPIO selections require an external TTL level word clock or a GPS connection: pin 3 is signal, pin 8 is ground. When you select GPIO A-1 or GPIO B-1 as the clock source, the respective GPIO 1 Property changes to "Input used as clock source". The clock source should be connected to pin 3 of the respective GPIO connector - either GPIO A or GPIO B. NOTE: Typically, Internal is used as the clock source. Only if there is a need to synchronize the Q-SYS system to an external clock would you use GPIO or AES3. You would use GPIO if the external clock signal is a word clock or GPS. You would use AES3 if the external clock signal is an AES3 signal. Often an AES3 signal without audio is used to reduce the clock jitter. This signal is called AES3 black.	AES3-1 AES3-2 GPIO A-1 GPIO B-1 Internal
Clock Source	The GPIO selection requires an external TTL level word clock or a GPS connection: pin 1 is signal, ground in is indicated by the ground symbol on either end of the connector. When you select GPIO In Pin 1 as the clock source, GPIO Pin 1 is no longer displayed. The clock source should be connected to pin 1 of the GPIO connector.	Internal GPIO In Pin 1
Clock Type	When the Clock Source is set to a GPIO pin, the Clock Type field is available. The Selections are Word Clock, GPS (1PPS) or GPS (5PPS).	Word Clock GPS (1PPS) GPS (5PPS)
Verbose	Adds CPU Statistics Audio and Network to the Core Status component, along with a Reset button to reset the statistics to zero. You must have the Core Status component in the schematic area, and selected.	Yes / No

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Primary / Backup (must be redundant)
Active	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Go Active	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
Standby	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Chassis Fan
RPM	4-digit number	text	N/ A	Output
Statistics (must be Verbose)
Audio 1	Text box with statistics on the audio on network 1			Output
Audio 2	Text box with statistics on the audio on network 2			Output
Reset	trigger			Input / Output
Audio File Sync	Text box with information regarding syncing audio files between redundant Cores			Output
Chassis Temperature	Text box displaying the internal temperature of the Core in Centigrade.			Output
Core Status	0 1 2 3 4	OK (green) Compromised (orange) Fault (red) Unknown (red) Updating (blue)	0 0.250 0.500 0.750 1.00	Output
External Clock (clock must not be internal)	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
External Clock Frequency (clock must not be internal)	Text box displaying the external clocks frequency in Hz.
External Lock (clock must not be internal)	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Identify	0 1	false true	0 1	Input / Output
Memory Used	0 to 100	Text 0 to 100%	0.0 to 1.00	Output
Network Clock Grandmaster Name	Text box indicating the network name of the Network Clock Grandmaster			Output
Network Clock Master	0 1	false true	0 1	Output
Network Clock Offset From Master	0.000 to n	0 ms to n ms	0 to 1.000	Output
Network Clock Parent Port Name	Text box indicating the network name of the Parent port, usually the same as the Network Clock Grandmaster with the LAN appended.			Output
Processor Fan RPM	4-digit number	text	N/ A	Output
Processor Temperature	Text box displaying the temperature of the Core's processor in Centigrade.			Output
System Info (Details)	Text field displaying system information.			Output

Core and Core Status Component

1. When using the Core 110f on-board USB Device Port for video bridging, the Q-LAN / AES67 maximum audio channel count is 64 x 64.

2. In a redundant Core, redundant network system when the LAN-A connection to one Core is removed, and the LAN-B connection to the other Core is removed, you cannot switch between Cores using the Go-Active button.

CPU Statistics Notes:

IP Stream 1 and IP Stream 2

Primary / Backup (must be redundant)

Chassis Fan

Statistics (must be Verbose)