The active connections tab contains a table of active connections with the following columns:

  • Name: Name of the remote system, for example NCS ID or MSE ID.

  • Type: Type of connection. For details, see the type definitions below.

  • Port: TCP port used for an active connection.

  • Remote Endpoint: Either an ID identifying the remote system (for websocket connections), or the IP address of the remote system (for TCP connections).

  • Last incoming msg: Type information for the last incoming message.

  • Last incoming time: Timestamp for the last incoming message.

  • Last outgoing msg: Type information for the last outgoing message.

  • Last outgoing time: Timestamp for the last outgoing message.

Connection Types

There are primarily three kinds of connections:

  • Connections from the NCS to the Gateway

  • Connections from the Gateway to the NCS

  • Connections from a Media Sequencer control station to the Gateway

NCS Connections

The connections to/from the NCS are directional. On a single connection there is one client endpoint and one server endpoint. The client endpoint sends request messages to the server endpoint, and the server endpoint replies with response messages. The following connection types are used for NCS connections:

  • NCS-RO-client

    • Connection with message flow direction from the Gateway to the NCS.

    • Connection can be established by the NCS if configured to use client passive mode, otherwise the Gateway establishes the connection to the NCS.

    • Used for rundown related requests from the Gateway, for example roReq or roReqAll messages.

  • NCS-RO-server

    • Connection with message flow direction from the NCS to the Gateway.

    • Connection can be established by the Gateway if configured to use server passive mode, otherwise the NCS establishes the connection to the Gateway.

    • Used for pushing rundown related information from the NCS, for example roCreate or roDelete messages.

  • NCS-MOS-client

    • Connection with message flow direction from the Gateway to the NCS.

    • Connection can be established by the NCS if configured to use client passive mode, otherwise the Gateway establishes the connection to the NCS.

    • Used for pushing information about available MOS objects to the NCS, for example mosObj messages.

  • NCS-MOS-server

    • Connection with message flow direction from the NCS to the Gateway.

    • Connection can be established by the Gateway if configured to use server passive mode, otherwise the NCS establishes the connection to the Gateway.

    • Used by the NCS for requesting information about available MOS objects, for example mosReqObj or mosReqAll messages.

Connections made from the Gateway to an NCS server are kept alive while the Gateway is running, and automatically reconnect if the connection is closed. Connections from NCS servers to the Gateway may not be permanent. Some NCS servers defer establishing the connection until a message is to be sent, and may close the connection shortly after. In this case an active connection will only be shown in the table while the NCS is sending a message.

Control Station Connections

Each Media Sequencer control station establishes a single connection to the Gateway used for bi-directional communication with the Gateway. The connection type for Media Sequencer control stations is MSE-client. The control station might send roReq messages to request a rundown from the gateway. The gateway will keep track of which rundown is routed to which control station, and send information about available rundowns and routing to all control stations. When a rundown is routed to a control station, the Gateway will route messages from the NCS related to rundown content to this control station, for example roCreate, roList, or roElementAction messages.