Discovering a product in ControlSpace Designer Hardware Manager

 

Relevant Product(s)

• ControlSpace Designer

 

Procedure

Working with ControlSpace Networks

All ControlSpace ESP and ControlSpace EX sound processors, PowerMatch professional amplifiers, PowerShare PS404D and PS604D amplifiers, and the ControlSpace Designer software are pre-configured to operate on the same Ethernet network using standard Internet Protocol (IP) addressing. The addressing of devices within a design is managed automatically according to the currently defined project network address and the type of device.

By default, the Project Network Address is set with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. When connecting to the network, the ControlSpace Designer Network Interface Card is selected automatically unless you specifically selected one after the ControlSpace Designer software was installed. Normally, the Network Interface Card is set up on your computer to match the default project mask and address in the expected range, for example 192.168.0.10, and connect to devices via that Network Interface Card.

When connecting to a device for the first time, you can assign it an IP address in one of the following ways:

• Connect directly to a single device (link local; IP address will be assigned automatically).
• Connect to multiple devices with a network switch (link local; IP addresses will be assigned automatically).
• Connect to one or more devices with a router (DHCP; make sure your computer’s network interface is configured to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server, and verify that the Project Network address is the same network).

Managing Device Addresses of the device

Bose network electronics use one of these default device address schemes (after updating to firmware included in ControlSpace Designer 5.9 or higher).

• DHCP-assigned: IP address of device is assigned by DHCP server. For certain devices, if a connection to the DHCP server cannot be established, they will boot with an Auto IP (link local) address and continue to search for a DHCP server (the duration of the retry varies by device).
• Fixed IP address: Static IP address, manually assigned.

The table below summarizes the default IP address scheme used for each type of device:

Device	DHCP Assigned or default IP Address	Address Range
ESP-00 II	Fixed IP: 192.168.0.160	160-175
Fixed I/O ESPs	DHCP Assigned*	N/A
ControlSpace EX process	DHCP Assigned*	N/A
PowerMatch networked amplifiers	DHCP Assigned*	>40 (PM4250N, PM4500N) >80 (PM8250N, PM8500N)
PowerShare networked amplifiers	DHCP Assigned*	>40
ControlCenter digital zone controllers	DHCP Assigned*	N/A
ControlSpace CC-64 control center	Fixed IP: 192.168.0.176	176-207
Dante Endpoints	DHCP Assigned*	N/A
System PC	DHCP Assigned	N/A

* If the device fails to connect to a DHCP server, it will boot with an Auto IP (link local) address and continue to search for a DHCP server (the duration of the retry varies by device). The device must be using firmware included in ControlSpace Designer 5.9 (or higher) for this function to work.

As new devices are added to a design they are automatically given an IP address according to their device type and the currently defined Project Network Address. As additional devices of the same type are added, the device address octet is incremented to prevent duplicate IP addresses from being added to the design.

Note: It is not necessary to have a project open within ControlSpace Designer to change IP addresses. However, the address you assign to the devices should be consistent with the addresses in your design.

Devices Using DHCP

Most ControlSpace devices ship by default in DHCP mode, which facilitates automatic IP address assignment when commissioning a system. If you will be using the control capabilities of more than one ControlSpace device, you must assign a fixed IP address to each device once the design of the system is finalized.

Note: For certain devices, if a connection to the DHCP server cannot be established, they will boot with an Auto IP (link local) address and continue to search for a DHCP server (the duration of the retry varies by device). The device must be using firmware included in ControlSpace Designer 5.9 (or higher) for this function to work.

Devices Using a Fixed IP Address

If you are using more than one of any type of device on the network with a fixed IP address, you will need to set the IP address for each of those devices on the network individually using the Network Setup function within ControlSpace, Designer software. The fixed IP addresses must fall within the address range shown in the table.

Devices Without DHCP Server/Router

If certain devices are deployed in a network without a DHCP server or router (or if a connection to the DHCP server cannot be established), they will boot with an Auto IP (link local) address in the 169.254.x.x range and continue to search for a DHCP server (the duration of the retry varies by device). The device must be using firmware included in ControlSpace Designer 5.9 (or higher) for this function to work

A link local address is a network address that is valid only for communications within the network segment (link) or the broadcast domain that, the host is connected to. Link local addresses are not guaranteed to be unique beyond a single network segment. Routers therefore do not forward packets with link local addresses.

Note: Normally in networks without DHCP, the network and other addresses in Project Settings in the Hardware Manager should automatically populate with those in the link local address space. If they do not, you will not be able to add or see devices in Project view in ControlSpace Designer. In this case, you must manually update the Project Settings in Hardware Manager to reflect the link local address space. When the design of your system is finalized, it is recommended that you assign a fixed IP address to each device.

Launching the Hardware Manager

You can use the Hardware Manager to set the project network properties, to set device network properties, and to upload EQ files to PowerMatch devices. To launch the Hardware Manager, select Hardware Manager in the System menu.

When you open the Hardware Manager window, a scan is performed to discover devices that answer the broadcast scan and are within the project network.

Note: Dante network polling is suspended when Hardware Manager opens, as is consistent with previous behavior when launching Network Setup or Firmware Update. This means that any Dante endpoints will disappear from the project view until Dante communication is reestablished.

The Hardware Manager window is comprised of three main sections:

• Current Project Settings: Appears in the top section of the window and displays the project network address, subnet mask, and gateway address. To discover a device, the Current project settings must match the IP range of the connected devices. For convenience, the current Host Network Interface Card settings are also displayed for comparison.
• Device List: Appears in the middle section of the window and contains the list of devices that are discovered on the project network. To improve readability, the background color of the rows alternate between white and yellow by default. The tabs included in this list are: Network Settings, Serial Port Settings, Firmware Update, AEC Update, EQ Update, and Dante Update. For convenience, the Discover Devices button allows you to manually activate a scan, which is useful when confirming changes to hardware device properties or to discover devices that have been connected while the Hardware Manager window is open. Non-networked devices, such as non-networked PowerMatch amplifiers, are not included in the Device List.
• Device Update: Appears in the bottom section of the window only when:
  • A single device is selected on the  of the Device List.
  • A single device is selected on the Serial Port Settings tab of the Device List.
  • You can only select devices that support serial communication on the Serial Port Settings tab.