Discription
We define the BC2000 as an "Audio Routing, Mixing, Processing, Intercom and Communications System at Program Production Centers." This is a truly complex definition that must be clarified so our readers can understand what applications the BC 2000 D has in their work environment. For this reason, we interviewed Mr. Jesús García Pérez, AEQs R&D Director, so he could explain the key features of the product and the special characteristics of its development and application.

At the NAB 2002 Show, an idea for the product called AEQ BC 2000 D was presented through a control surface prototype and a description. What is the difference compared to the system that was shown at NAB 2003?

Since the middle of the year 2000, we had been working on two different projects. The first one was the requirements for the design of a digital mixing console, the BC2000 D. In the second project, , design efforts were made to develop a platform to integrate the functions needed in a broadcasting center, a portion of these results have been marketed since 2001 under the generic name "E@sy Architecture." The product that we presented at NAB 2002 was the result of the first project.

However, during the meetings to present the results, it became evident that we could consider the mixing console project a subset of the E@sy Project. We therefore began to analyze, with customers and potential users, what required functions could be integrated into the expanded architecture of the new BC 2000 D, which was the name given to the joint project.

Some conceptual results meant breaking some firmly established rules. For example: a mixing console is nothing more than an appropriate user interface to control gain functions, processing (equalizer, filters, etc.), routing and summing. In other words, all these functions performed by mixing console could be done by a processing router with a user interface.

The heart of an intercom system is also a matrix, although in this case the user interface is the popular panel with a keypad. A digital mixing console for broadcasting must be equipped with its cueing speakers, a talkback microphone and a programmable keypad, in other words, it incorporates an intercom panel that may be used in combination with "traditional" panels.

Furthermore, the function of a 4-wire multiplex console can be obtained on the matrix-user interface architecture, by integrating the control of the outside communication lines.

All of these aspects have been carefully taken into account, so that now the BC-2000 D is quite a lot more than a digital mixing console: it is a system that allows the functions of mixer, intercom, multiplexer, matrix and many others to be integrated on common hardware, with user interfaces that are familiar to the operator and very flexible to use.

Can the product be used in smaller environments, for example, as a simple broadcast ON-AIR or production console?

Of course. The systems modularity makes it possible to configure a stand-alone digital console, without having the additional capabilities represent an additional cost.

But wouldnt such a complete console be too big for small studios or production booths?

No, it wouldnt, because the system lets hardware resources be shared to equip a set of booths. A single rack can be used with the necessary inputs and outputs, while control is distributed to each of the booths. In some of them, a traditional console may be necessary, while in others a software interface may be enough, which can be shared with the automation system. If we add a bank of Course or Eagle ISDN audio codecs, one or more microphones and a couple of speakers, control of the mixing and processing, communications and recording, playing and editing of audio can be had from a simple PC in the booth. In fact, a complete broadcast could be made from there.

What application might the BC 2000 D have in television?

As a broadcast audio or sound recording console, it allows audio to be managed on news sets, integrated with ISDN communications through applications such as Systel 6000, in addition to full technical intercommunication, even remote, controlling the placing and receiving of calls from theSystem.

In OB vans, great space savings can be obtained through the use of the page swap function in the control interface, which allows up to ten pages of faders to be available in the same control surface, thus increasing the number of channels available to the operator. In situations where it is necessary to save even more space, a software interface can be applied.

What special characteristics has the development had, and what are the main technological challenges that have been overcome?

In managing the project, the main difficulty was in its multidisciplinary nature. For example, in software, we worked with six levels: User interface for PC in Windows, TCP/IP communications, development on a real-time operating system (RTOS), process algorithms for DSP, mic