Solved: Ethernet on camera control port

marcogarzetti · ‎10-20-2020

Hello,

which kind of traffic passes through the Ethernet Camera Control port on Cisco endpoints? I know that you can connect more than one camera by adding an ethernet switch in the middle, but a customer is asking to use his network to do this task and I'm wondering if the communication is a Layer 2 or Layer 3, TCP or UDP and which ports are eventually used.

Thank you!

Regards

Enrico Conedera · ‎10-21-2020

Hello -

As Patrick suggests, it is not possible to connect the cameras over the LAN for control. We use a VISCA over IP protocol, similar to what Sony does for their cameras. In fact, we support the Sony SRG-120DH camera.

Think of this as an analog for RS-232 control of cameras. With RS-232, you have a closed network with no reliance on the LAN. The same applies here. We run a link-local network on every codec for camera control and Touch 10 direct pairing. It is also possible to attach a control system to the same network, or even a laptop for an installer. The installer can have complete access to the codec web interface and SSH API for setting up the system, without their laptop touching the customer's network.

Attached is a presentation that explains this private, non-routable network in detail.

View solution in original post

Patrick McCarthy · ‎10-20-2020

If you look at the documentation for either the cameras or codecs, you have to connect back to the camera control port(s) for the camera and codec to pair automatically. If the camera was on the corporate VLAN it would not know what codec to pair to, and there's no way to configure it like you can a Touch 10 in that scenario. I doubt you can make this work, and it definitely would not be a supported scenario if it was flaky.

Enrico Conedera · ‎10-21-2020

Hello -

As Patrick suggests, it is not possible to connect the cameras over the LAN for control. We use a VISCA over IP protocol, similar to what Sony does for their cameras. In fact, we support the Sony SRG-120DH camera.

Think of this as an analog for RS-232 control of cameras. With RS-232, you have a closed network with no reliance on the LAN. The same applies here. We run a link-local network on every codec for camera control and Touch 10 direct pairing. It is also possible to attach a control system to the same network, or even a laptop for an installer. The installer can have complete access to the codec web interface and SSH API for setting up the system, without their laptop touching the customer's network.

Attached is a presentation that explains this private, non-routable network in detail.

marcogarzetti · ‎10-26-2020

Hello Enrico,

thank you for your answer, it has been very helpful. Now is clear which kind of network the Cisco Endpoint generates on the Link-Local ports, and the useful possibilities that it creates (for example, the use of a control system on that network).

Thank you so much, have a great week!

Marco