Optocore manages more than 1,000 networked audio signals at Tokyo 2020 ceremonies

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games hosted the largest deployment of Optocore audio network devices to date.

So says Norwest special projects director Andrew Marsh, whose company has a long history of creating vast digital broadcast networks for the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, built around Optocore devices. As he says, “The system we provided for our client, Hibino Corporation, comprised just under 1000 audio signals transported on each main and backup network.”

Norwest duplicated the 21-node system to provide full redundancy. HP switches in RSTP were responsible for controlling the entire audio system in multiple field locations and control rooms. The network design was between Marsh himself and John Watterson, senior systems engineer at Norwest, leading a combined team.

The production company for all ceremonies was Dentsu Live, working directly for the local organizing committee.

Optocore devices used

Norwest, which has a large inventory of Optocore devices, had to expand its portfolio to cope with the production. Among the 50 Optocore interfaces deployed were a number of M12-BNC devices. “These act as the primary MADI devices where signals are routed on and off the network which interlink us with replay devices or other suppliers,” he said. “With the addition of some custom firmware and macros, we were able to switch between main and backup devices seamlessly,” Marsh explains.

Additional X6R-TP e X6R-FX converters were also purchased and Optocore D-SUB cabling was added, which proved to be a “necessity with our stock of X6R-TP and DD32-R devices where an AES breakout is required. On the output side, this cabling will also feed our Lake processors”, as Marsh continues.

Additionally, a selection of DiGiCo consoles were deployed at both the FOH and monitor locations, feeding a Ramsa PA. The consoles were connected to the network via MADI, and I/O control and programming was performed entirely in the audio patch using Optocore software.