The OCA Alliance looks back on 2021- New Members, New Resources, and New Technologies
As we look forward to 2022, the OCA Alliance looks back on the year that was and reflects on the progress toward open public standards that the industry took in 2021. Though the past year was still far from normal in many ways, the progress in expanding the Open Control Architecture Ecosystem continued in earnest with the OCA Alliance adding new members, participating in a number of educational events, and developing new technologies.
In 2021, two more high-profile companies – L-Acoustics and Hypex – reinforced the ranks of the OCA Alliance trade association. “We were extremely pleased and honoured to welcome L-Acoustics and Hypex to the fold,” said Ethan Wetzell, Marketing Chairperson for the OCA Alliance. “Both companies exemplify technical excellence in our industry and have been great supporters of open public media networking standards. We look forward to working with them to continue to expand the reach and value that AES70 brings to the Industry and Its users.”
Though in-person events were still scarce, OCA Alliance members participated in several online sessions throughout the year. Jeff Berryman, Matt Hardy, and Ethan Wetzell presented different aspects and elements of AES70 to the public via webinars and AES events. With topics ranging from technical overviews to a hands-on demonstration of an in-development controller technology, the OCA Alliance and its members helped the public to explore the expanding technologies and resources that make up the growing ecosystem. For those unable to attend these events, videos of some of these sessions as well as new educational content and resources on the Alliance’s website (www.ocaalliance.com), with new content being added regularly.
Throughout the year, the flow of technical developments for AES70 and the OCA Ecosystem also continued apace. Work on the next update of the AES70 standard, to be released in the first quarter of 2022, expanded the standard in a multitude of ways. Adding several enhancements to AES70, the next revision delivers several new features. A significant set of future work includes adaptations that will extend AES70’s connection management abilities directly to other media networking technologies such as AES67 and Milan. Alongside this standards work, members such as Resolute Audio and DeusO provided new tools and resources for developers looking for hardware and software offerings for quick Integration of AES70 Into products.
“2021 was certainly a year filled with ups and downs for the industry,” notes Wetzell. “We sincerely want to thank all of our members, the AES, those who attended our events, and everybody working hard to keep the industry moving forward.”