Many system designers and architects digitise and distribute radar video over Ethernet networks. This approach, rather than the use of older analogue splitter and distribution technology, makes use of common infrastructure to carry many different types of data (for example, voice communications and sensor inputs as well as radar signals). It is possible to configure a Cambridge Pixel product, for example SPx Server, to send this radar video data, or other data such as track position reports, to a single specific client (unicast distribution) or to send data to any number of clients using multicast. Multicast distribution offers a number of advantages, one of the most important being the efficient use of bandwidth. Multicast v unicast Unicast transmission involves sending IP packets to a single specific recipient on a network. Multicast transmission allows IP packets to be sent simultaneously to a group of hosts on a network. The multicast protocol has been part of Internet standards for over thirty years. It is typically used when higher bandwidth streams, for example video streams, need to be made available to multiple subscribers at the same time. The basic...
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