Glossary of monitoring and control terms
Plain definitions of the terms used in broadcast, satellite and network operations.
- Alarm correlation
- Grouping related alarms so that one failure appears as one problem with a likely cause, rather than many separate alerts.
- BER
- Bit error rate: the share of bits received in error on a link. A common measure of signal health on satellite and other digital links.
- C/N
- Carrier-to-noise ratio: how strong a carrier is relative to the noise around it, usually expressed in decibels.
- CMDB
- Configuration management database: a record of the assets in an operation and how they relate to each other.
- Eb/No
- Energy per bit relative to noise density: a normalized measure of signal quality on a digital link.
- Grandmaster
- The PTP clock that all other devices on a network synchronize to.
- HPA
- High power amplifier: the equipment that raises an uplink signal to the power needed to reach a satellite.
- IGMP
- Internet Group Management Protocol: how a device asks the network to send it a multicast stream.
- LNB
- Low-noise block downconverter: the device at an antenna that amplifies a received signal and converts it to a lower frequency.
- M&C
- Monitoring and control: software that reads status from equipment and sends commands to it.
- MER
- Modulation error ratio: how closely a received digital signal matches its ideal form.
- Modbus
- A simple, widely used protocol for reading from and writing to industrial equipment.
- Monitoring by exception
- Showing operators only what needs attention, rather than asking them to watch everything.
- Multiviewer
- A system that shows many video sources on one display, usually with status and alarms for each.
- NMOS
- Networked Media Open Specifications. IS-04 covers device registration and discovery, and IS-05 covers connection management.
- NMS
- Network management system: software for monitoring and managing the devices and links in a network.
- NOC
- Network operations center: the place from which a team monitors and runs a network.
- OSS
- Operations support system: software that supports running a network and its services, such as fault, inventory and service management.
- PTP
- Precision Time Protocol (IEEE 1588): how devices on a network synchronize to a shared clock. SMPTE ST 2059 applies it to broadcast.
- Red and blue networks
- Two independent network paths that carry the same media, so one can fail without interrupting the service.
- REMI
- Remote integration model: producing a live event from a central facility, with signals sent back from the venue.
- Root cause analysis
- Finding the original fault behind a set of symptoms, rather than treating each symptom separately.
- RTU
- Remote terminal unit: a device at a remote site that reads sensors and alarms, reports them centrally and operates relays.
- SLA
- Service level agreement: a commitment about how a service will perform, such as its availability.
- SNMP
- Simple Network Management Protocol: a standard way to read status from network devices, change settings and receive alerts, called traps.
- SMPTE ST 2022-7
- A standard for seamless protection: the same stream travels over two paths, and a receiver can rebuild it from either one.
- SMPTE ST 2110
- A suite of standards for carrying uncompressed video, audio and ancillary data as separate streams over IP networks.
- Teleport
- A ground facility with satellite antennas that connects terrestrial networks to satellites.