Barco STELLAR Troubleshooting guide

S
TELLAR
MPEG-2 Decoder
User and service manual

Current edition. Article number 983744050., Tuesday, 2000 August, 08.
Change without prior notice. The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Liability. BARCO shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors contained herein; nor for incidental or consequen-
tial damages resulting from the furnishing, performance or use of this manual.
Translated material. Any discrepancies, errors or omissions in non-English versions of this manual should be refer-
enced to the English version for clarification.
Use of Product Names. The product names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only, and may be
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
CopyrightAugust, 2000, BARCO.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without
prior consent in writing from BARCO.
Company Addresses:
Australia BARCO SYSTEMS PTy Ltd • Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail:
[email protected]
Belgium BARCO nv. • Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
Denmark BARCO AS •Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
Germany BARCO RE GMBH • Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
Malaysia BARCO ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS SDN BHD • Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail:
[email protected]
North America BARCO, Inc./Communication Systems • Tel.: [phone] • Telefax: ([phone] • E-mail:
[e-mail]
United Kingdom BARCO Ltd. • Tel.: [phone] • Fax: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
World Wide Web http://www.barco.com

III
Preface
1
◆Safety and precautions
General All electrically powered equipment can be dangerous. At BARCO we have taken
great care to ensure safety during the design and production of our equipment. Incor-
rect installation, handling, or interference can, however, impair the safety.
This product complies with the requirements of the directive 73/23/EEC.
ESD (electrostatic
discharge)
Electronic products contain electrostatic sensitive components. Observe the follow-
ing rule:
•Do not attempt to open a unit without proper precautions against electrostatic dis-
charge, i.e. use a wrist strap and conductive work-bench surface.
Reason: The unit may fail or be degraded.
Installation This product requires protective earthing. With 110/230 V AC this is normally
obtained by the use of the supplied 3-wire power cable.
During installation, observe the following rules:
•Establish a separate safety earth connection if the power installation of the build-
ing does not have a direct connection to earth.
•Ensure that the unit has the correct line voltage rating.
•Do not use an extension cord (power cable) without a protective conductor.
•Do not remove the covers.
Servicing Only trained service personnel should attempt to dismantle and repair the unit.
During service observe the following rules:
•Before removing any covers, switch off the power and remove the line cable
from the unit.
Observe: Capacitors inside the unit may hold dangerous charges for a consider-
able time after the unit has been switched off.
•If it is necessary to replace components in the line connected circuits, use only
new parts of the correct and specified type.
•Take care to maintain or re-establish the protective earthing of the unit during
service or repair.
•Do not remove any warning labels. Replace damaged or illegible warning labels
with new ones.

IV
!
Meeting EMC
requirements
To meet the EMC requirements of Directives 89/336/EEC and 93/68/EEC you must
use correctly shielded cables of good quality for all external connections, except the
power and RS-485 cables, when installing the unit.
Observe the following rules:
•Make sure that all multi-connector cables have conductive connector housings
with shield clamps.
•Make sure that the coaxial cables are of the double-braided type.
Safety symbols The following safety symbols are currently used in BARCO equipment:
Back-up batteries For units with back-up batteries, observe the following rules:
•Do not dispose of used batteries through the household garbage collection sys-
tem, but follow your local regulations.
Reason: The batteries contain substances which may be harmful to the environ-
ment.
•Caution: Replace back-up batteries with the same or equivalent type recom-
mended by BARCO.
•Caution: Insert batteries correctly.
Reason: There may be a risk of explosion if the batteries are incorrectly
inserted.
•When you dispose of the unit itself, first remove the batteries and dispose of
them separately.
•Do not recharge the batteries or expose them to temperatures above 100 °C
(212 °F).
Symbol Meaning This symbol indicates
Caution Dangerous voltages.
Earth terminal Protective earth connection to the
chassis.
Attention The presence of Electrostatic Sensitive
Devices.

V
◆About this user and service manual
Audience This manual was designed to be used by installation engineers and technicians to
install, set up, operate and monitor the system.
This manual can also be used as a reference manual during reconfiguration, mainte-
nance and troubleshooting in error situations.
Software versions The manual applies to the ROSA Integrated Management System software version
2.8 and the STELLAR driver version 2.8.7.
The manual applies to the system controller software version 2.0 and greater.
ROSA User’s Manual The ROSA management software is further described in “ROSA 2.8 User's Manual”.
The COPERNICUS PC and software is further described in “COPERNICUS User’sMan-
ual”.

VI

VII
Contents
2
Preface III
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder 2
Application examples 5
Video interfaces 6
Audio and data interfaces 7
Network and TS interfaces 8
User interface and front panel control 10
User interface and control with ROSA/COPERNICUS 11
Sub-rack, power supply and environmental aspects 12
Chapter 2: Installation 13
Before you start 14
Installing the STELLAR 16
Connecting input and output signals 17
Customized connector panel 17
Connecting to the network and TS input 19
Connecting to the TS output 22
Connecting to the SMPTE 310M output 22
Connecting the output signals 23
Connecting to an external alarm system 27
Control connectors 28
Connecting a PC to the codec 28
Connecting for remote PC control and management 29
Connecting for local PC control and management 31
Connecting for local PC control on the remote connector 33
Connecting to the contact control interface 34

VIII
Contents
Chapter 3: Front panel operation 35
Background 36
Front panel sections 36
Menu structure 38
Navigating and editing 39
Menu descriptions 40
Program no. and name window 40
Network 41
2Mbit/s–G.703 (E1) 41
34 Mbit/s –G.703 (E3) 42
45 Mbit/s –G.703 (DS3) 43
SPI 44
ASI 44
V.35 input 45
Program selection 46
Video output 48
Audio 1 output 50
ASI output mode (option slot 1) 51
VBI output 53
Data output 54
User presets 55
Recalling a user preset 56
Storing a user preset 57
Config –system settings 58
Status 59
Setup example 60
Chapter 4: Setup and monitoring 61
Getting started with ROSA 63
Control modes 63
Installing ROSA/COPERNICUS 64
Installing drivers 67
Setting the STELLAR addresses in ROSA/COPERNICUS 69
Adding a unit to ROSA 70
Codec-specific user interface 71
General navigation rules 72
Codec explorer hierarchy 73

IX
Setting up the STELLAR 76
Before you begin 76
Setting up the network input 77
Setting up the ASI transport stream input 79
Setting up the SPI transport stream input 80
Setting up the V.35 TS input 81
Setting up the descrambling 82
Naming a program 83
Viewing the video output resource 84
Setting up the video output 85
Setting up the video decoding 87
Setting up the inserted VBI 88
Setting up the synchronization of the video output 90
Setting up the AUX, WSS, EDH and VITC output (VBI 1) 92
Enabling the encoder VBI lines (VBI 2) 93
Setting up the IDS and VPS lines (VBI 3) 94
Enabling the teletext 95
Setting up the audio output resource 96
Setting up the analog audio output 97
Setting up the N x 64 kbit/s data output resources 98
Setting up the ASI restamping TS output 99
Setting up the SMPTE 310M output 100
Alarms and messages 101
Alarms and message setup 101
Setting up the general message parameters 103
Setting up the individual message parameters 104
Right mouse button features 105
Viewing messages 108
Using commands 109
To use commands 109
Macro commands 110
Configuration clock and profiles 112
Viewing the configuration 112
Setting the STELLAR clock 113
Setting up the profiles 114

X
Contents
Chapter 5: Service and maintenance 117
Service and maintenance 118
Introduction 118
Replacing a STELLAR decoder in ROSA 119
Replacing an AC fuse in the power supply 120
Replacing the DC fuse 121
Message system 122
Overview 122
ROSA messages 123
Appendices
Technical specifications A-1
TS and Network inputs A-3
Network input A-3
TS input A-6
TS and Network output A-8
ASI restamping output A-8
SMPTE 310M output A-8
Video out A-9
Video decoder specifications A-9
Composite video output A-10
PAL-M video output A-11
VBI specifications A-13
SDI video output A-14
Genlock A-16
Audio out A-17

XI
Layer II audio decoder specifications A-17
Linear audio decoder specifications A-17
Audio output A-17
Data output A-19
Auxiliary data output A-19
Synchronous N x 64 kbit/s data output A-19
System interfaces A-20
Remote PC control interface A-20
Local PC control interface A-20
External alarm system A-21
Contact control interface A-21
Power and general specifications A-22
Power A-22
General A-23
Alarm handling B-1
Introduction B-2
Alarm sequence 1 B-3
Alarm sequence 2 B-6
Alarm sequence 3 B-8
Which alarm sequence do I select? B-8
Error Detection and Handling (EDH) C-1
General on EDH C-2
EDH control commands in the STELLAR C-3
Equipment and accessories D-1
Accessory kit for the STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder D-2
Module options D-3
Optional accessories D-3
References E-1

XII
Contents
Applicable documents E-1
Glossary F-1
List of abbreviations F-1
Index G-1

Chapter 1
1
Introduction
1
The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder 2
Application examples 5
Video interfaces 6
Audio and data interfaces 7
Network and TS interfaces 8
User interface and front panel control 10
User interface and control with ROSA/COPERNICUS 11
Sub-rack, power supply and environmental aspects 12

2The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder
1
Introduction
◆The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder
General description The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder is intended for professional decoding of a single
program comprising one video signal with up to two stereo audio channels. Programs
can be decoded according to MP@ML or 4:2:2P@ML.
The STELLAR can be set up and configured individually for specific professional con-
tribution and distribution applications. The unit can be equipped with modules for
the:
•network input (E1, E3 and DS3)
•Transport Stream (TS) input (ASI, SPI or V.35 input)
•TS output (ASI restamping output).
•SMPTE 310M output
•audio output (analog audio, digital AES/EBU audio output, audio embedded in the
SDI signal)
•video output (PAL, PAL M, NTSC and SDI output)
The STELLAR will be equipped with the options you have ordered for your unit. This
manual describes all available options of the STELLAR.
The design of the STELLAR is compact; the unit features one-channel video process-
ing in a 1 U sub-rack with a depth less than 380 mm (15"). The STELLAR is intended
for mounting in a standard 19" rack. Because of the low power consumption of the
unit, no external ventilation is necessary.
When stacking several units on top of each other, air separation plates must be
mounted. For details on how to do, see Installing the Stellar, p. 16.
With the ROSA Device Configuration Shell you configure the unit and set all the
necessary parameters. ROSA enables full control and monitoring functionality of the
STELLAR with redundancy switching, error reporting and remote control. For use of
ROSA together with the STELLAR,seeSetup and monitoring, p. 61.
The STELLAR can be delivered with an optional front panel user interface.
TS/Network input The STELLAR can be configured to accept one of the following TS/network input sig-
nals:
•E1, E3 or DS3 data signal
•DVB compliant transport stream ASI, SPI or V.35
For redundancy reasons there are two inputs for the network
Output signals The transport stream is demultiplexed and one user-specified program is decoded and
presented as output. The video signal is recovered and VBI signals are added before
being output. The STELLAR has a single (optionally a double) stereo audio output pro-
viding analog balanced or digital AES/EBU outputs. Auxiliary data are output as RS-
232 and RS-422 data output.
The optional ASI restamping output can used for converting G.703 network inputs to
ASI formats used by external equipment such as a DVB-C modulator.

The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder 3
1
The output bit rate can be set between 1.0 and 9 2Mbit/s.
The SMPTE 310M output is a 19.39 Mbit/s data stream.
SDI genlock The decoder optionally provides a black and burst reference input for genlocking of
the SDI video output. The line frequency of the composite video output is also locked
to the external reference but not the SCH phase.
VBI signals for PAL and
NTSC systems
The following table gives an overview over the VBI signals supported for PAL and
NTSC systems and their treatment in the STELLAR.
VBI signal Recovered from the TS Inserted locally in
the decoder
PAL NTS
C
Teletext
System B
The STELLAR restores the tele-
text data from the transport
stream multiplex and modu-
lates and reinserts the teletext
signal in the composite video
output or embeds it in the SDI
output.
no yes no
Teletext
System C
The STELLAR restores the tele-
text data from the transport
stream multiplex and modu-
lates and reinserts the teletext
signal in the composite video
output or embeds it in the SDI
output.
no no yes
VITS No. VITS lines are
inserted locally in
the decoder. The
STELLAR provides
internally stored
VITS lines. These
signals may be
inserted in the
composite output of
the decoder. Up to
two VITS lines per
field can be inserted
in the composite
output or embedded
in the SDI output in
the decoder.
yes yes
Transparen
tVBI
4 VBI lines per fields are
transferred transparently. The
transparent VBI can be inserted
in the composite output or
embedded in the SDI output.
no yes yes

4The STELLAR MPEG-2 Decoder
1
Introduction
Ancillary data in SDI STELLAR optionally supports audio, VBI and EDH embedded in the SDI signal.
Synchronization The STELLAR needs no external synchronization to the network or transport stream.
The STELLAR synchronizes to the encoder through the network or transport stream
signal. The video and audio signals are timed to the MPEG-2 specified program
clock reference (PCR) to synchronize the program components including VBI sig-
nals.
Alternatively the STELLAR can be set in a free running mode where it does not lock to
the PCR. This enables the STELLAR to decode Transport Streams with non-compliant
PCRs which typically occurs when other equipment in the transmission link adjusts
the TS bit rate without restamping the PCR values.
VITC Time coded data is recovered
from the transport stream signal
and inserted in the composite or
embedded in the SDI output.
no yes yes
IDS/VPS The IDS/VPS signal is recov-
ered from the transport stream
and inserted in the composite or
embedded in the SDI output.
no yes no
GCR no A ghost cancella-
tion reference sig-
nal (GCR) may be
inserted in the com-
posite output of the
decoder.
yes yes
VBI signal Recovered from the TS Inserted locally in
the decoder
PAL NTS
C

Application examples 5
1
◆Application examples
Distribution The STELLAR can be used for distribution to analog VHF/UHF transmitters and to
cable head-ends. The decoder includes high-quality composite outputs with VBI sup-
port, and features VITS and GCR insertion, dedicated to analog feeds. The MP@ML
is the typical choice for this application, and it allows the stream to be used for simul-
cast of digital TV. 4:2:2P@ML provides increased quality overhead and allows trans-
mission of anti-PAL signals, but the delay is higher.
Contribution The 4:2:2P@ML offers high quality video with sufficient overhead for processing,
such as chroma-keying. Encoding rates up to 50 Mbit/s are supported. The decoder
includes features dedicated to professional contribution applications, such as gen-
lock, linear audio, and VBI support for both composite and SDI signals.
DSNG The STELLAR is suited for digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) and related tempo-
rary contribution applications, such as live coverage of large events. The interfaces of
the STELLAR, its support of both 525 and 625 line systems, and its power supply
allow world-wide operation.
You may take advantage of the SATURN encoder's ability to reduce the end-to-end
delay in those live coverage applications where this is a critical parameter. Consult
the SATURN encoder manual for further information.
Transcoding video and
audio formats
With composite and/or SDI video interfaces installed, the unit supports transcoding
between the component and composite domains. A 270 Mbit/s 625-lines SDI video
input signal at the encoder may be output at the STELLAR as a composite PAL signal.
Note! Conversion between 625-lines and 525-lines systems is not possible.
The following table shows the transcoding possibilities from SDI to Composite
video.
The following table shows the transcoding possibilities from Composite to SDI
video.
SDI input Composite output
Video system 625 lines at 50 Hz PAL system B, G, H I
Video system 525 lines at 60 Hz NTSC system M, PAL system M
LTC VITC
Composite input SDI output
PAL system B, G, H I Video system 625 lines at 50 Hz
NTSC system M Video system 525 lines at 60 Hz

6Video interfaces
1
Introduction
The following table shows the transcoding possibilities from Audio input to Audio
output.
◆Video interfaces
Video output modules The STELLAR has a composite video output and/or a 270 Mbit/s SDI formatted video
output.
Composite video output The composite video output delivers one of the following:
•525-line NTSC
•525-line PAL M
•625-line PAL
The output format is determined by the line rate of the input signal to the MPEG-2
Video Encoder, see Transcoding video and audio formats,in Application examples,
p. 5. The video output module automatically detects the video format and configures
the composite modulation accordingly.
Component video
output
The component output option delivers a 270 Mbit/s SDI formatted video signal as a
component 525-lines or 625-lines signal.
Audio input Audio output
Digital audio AES/EBU Analog Audio,
Digital audio AES/EBU
Audio embedded in the SDI
Analog audio
Embedded audio in the SDI

Audio and data interfaces 7
1
◆Audio and data interfaces
Audio output modules The STELLAR has as standard one analog stereo or digital AES/EBU output. The ana-
log output provides a balanced output signal.
As an option the following output module can be installed:
•one additional analog stereo or digital AES/EBU output.
Both audio channels which are to be decoded must be part of the same program.
Analog/digital/
embedded audio output
Audio is output as digital or analog signals and at the same time audio can be embed-
ded in the SDI signal. The audio bandwidth is determined by the selected audio sam-
ple frequency in the MPEG-2 Video Encoder. The connector for digital audio output
is marked AES/EBU. The optional secondary audio channel may also be analog or
digital AES/EBU.
The audio channels are decoded as stereo, joint stereo, dual mono or mono as sig-
nalled in the audio bit streams.
The analog output interface is balanced with the option for either 600 Ωor < 20 Ω
output impedance. In the user interface you can set the maximum output level of the
analog output from -6 to + 24 dBu (< 20 Ω)and-6to+21dBm(600Ω).
Audio formats The audio decoding format is MPEG-1 layer II or 20 bit linear audio.
RS-232/RS-422
auxiliary data
The STELLAR supports decoding of an asynchronous transparent data channel with a
baud rate of up to 38400.
Nx64kbit/sdata The STELLAR supports decoding of decoding of a synchronous N x 64 kbit/s data
channel (N is one to six).

8Network and TS interfaces
1
Introduction
◆Network and TS interfaces
Network/TS interfaces The following network/TS interfaces can be ordered for the STELLAR:
•E1 input
•E3 input
•DS3 input
•SPI input
•ASI input
•V.35 input
•ASI restamping output
•SMPTE 310M output
Stellar Dual input The input interfaces (apart from the V.35 input) provide a dual input facility support-
ing transmission path duplication. The user can enable the autoswitching facility, so
the STELLAR switches automatically to the other input in case of a network failure.
For information on the network switching criteria, see Setting up the network input,
p. 77.
When the autoswitching function is disabled the user can enable either of the two
inputs.
E1 input The E1 input accepts both framed and unframed transport stream inputs according to
user selection. Framing is according to G.704. The STELLAR automatically detects
the transport stream format as 188 or 204 bytes packet lengths and performs RS
(204,188) error correction when FEC is included in the transport stream.
E3 input The E3 input accepts both framed and unframed transport stream inputs according to
user selection. Framing is according to G.832. The STELLAR automatically detects
the transport stream format as 188 or 204 bytes packet lengths and performs RS
(204,188) error correction when FEC is included in the transport stream.
DS3 input The DS3 input accepts both framed and unframed transport stream inputs according
to user selection. Framing is according to G.804 or G.752. The STELLAR automati-
cally detects the transport stream format as 188 or 204 bytes packet lengths and per-
forms RS (204,188) error correction when FEC is included in the transport stream.
SPI input When installed with the SPI input the STELLAR automatically detects the transport
stream format as 188 or 204 bytes packet lengths and performs RS (204,188) error
correction when FEC is included in the transport stream.
V.35 input When installed with the V.35 TS input option the STELLAR can decode a V.35 signal
originally transmitted on 1 to 5 E1 or on 1 to 6 T1 lines via a set of inverse multiplex-
ers (I-MUXes). From an I-MUX the V.35 TS input option receives a serial data bit
stream and automatically detects the transport stream format as 188 or 204 byte pack-
ets and performs RS (204,188) error correction if FEC is included in the transport
stream.