Operation Manual; 8.1 Glossary; Network: - Page 75

DBC Network Bridge 

Operation Manual

page 75

8.1 Glossary

The following glossary explains network terminology. It is 
arranged in logical order rather than alphabetical order.

Network: 

A group of interconnected components, such 

as a central computer, network switching equipment, and 
other computers or devices.

TCP/IQ network:

 A network made of a computer, network 

switching equipment, and other audio devices such as IQ-
PIP cards plugged into power amps. Since each I-Tech 
amp connects directly to a network, each amp is also a 
network component.

Subnet: 

A small network within a larger network. For 

example, a TCP/IQ audio network might be a subnet of a 
venue’s network, which could include computers through-
out the building. Or an audio network might be divided 
into subnets. For example, one audio subnet might be for 
the house system and another audio subnet might be for 
the paging system.
 

IP address:

 An identifier for a computer or device on a 

TCP/IP network. Each device in a network has its own IP 
address to identify it. Example: 126.126.17.42. Networks 
using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP 
address of the destination. An IP address is made of four 
numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero 
to 255. The last number can never be a zero or 255. For 
example, 126.126.17.1 could be an IP address. 
126.126.17.0 would not be a valid IP address.
A TCP/ IP or IP address has two parts: the NETWORK ID 
and the HOST ID. The NETWORK ID identifies the network, 
and the HOST ID identifies either the subnet and device, or 
just the device if there is no subnet.

The

 subnet mask

 is a code that indicates which part of 

the TCP/IP address is the NETWORK ID and which part is 
the HOST ID. In subnet-mask code, 255 means “This part 
of the address is the NETWORK ID”.

Example:
Suppose the IP ADDRESS of a device is   126.126.17.42
and the SUBNET MASK is    255.255.0.0. 
              
That means, (126.126) is the NETWORK ID. The remaining 
set of numbers (17.42) is the HOST ID. If your audio net-
work stands alone (it is not part of a larger network) then 
the HOST ID identifies each device in the network.

If your audio network is part of a venue’s larger network, 
your network is actually a sub-network or subnet. In this 
case, the HOST ID can be further divided into two or more 
parts. The first part is the SUBNET ID. The other part is the 
DEVICE ID. The first part of the HOST ID identifies the sub-
net of your audio system, and the remaining part identifies 
the particular device within that subnet.

So in this case, a complete IP address is in the form 
NETWORK ID - SUBNET ID - DEVICE ID.

All devices in the network have the same network ID. All 
devices in a subnet have the same subnet ID.

There are many resources available on the Internet for IP 
and subnet calculation. For a stand-alone system, Crown 
has provided a worksheet of a tested configuration in Sec-
tion 1.2.5.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol):

 This 

is a protocol for automatically assigning IP addresses to 
devices on a network. With dynamic (DHCP) addressing, a 
device might have a different IP address every time it con-
nects to the network. If a computer is NOT connected to a 
network with a DHCP server, the computer will place a 
default network ID into the TCP/IP address and Subnet 
Masks.

TCP/IQ does not use DHCP. A computer attached to a 
TCP/IQ network must have its IP addresses assigned stati-
cally (manually).

8 Appendix A: TCP-IQ Network Basics