The Media Networking Alliance has appointed chairs for its Technical and Marketing Working Groups, nominating Kevin Gross, the brains behind CobraNet, and Will Hoult to the respective positions.
Kevin Gross is founder of AVA Networks and an independent consultant to AV equipment manufacturers and systems designers. He previously conceived and developed the CobraNet transport protocol and helped build the first configurable DSP system as well as developing early DAW products.
Gross is an AES fellow and has contributed work to multiple standards bodies, including the IEEE, where he participated in AVB development, and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). Within the AES, he leads the group that produced the AES67 standard.
Following his MNA appointment he said: “The technical activities of the MNA, as with everything the MNA does, will focus on adoption of AES67. Technical activities that can improve adoption include development of implementation resources, technical education initiatives and technical collaboration among AES67 technology providers to assure interoperability.
"Any ongoing standards work on AES67 will continue to be spearheaded in the AES Standards Committee. Right now, everyone is focused on creating awareness and clear understanding of the published standard."
Hoult is a graduate of the University of Surrey’s Music and Sound Recording course. He has spent a number of years as a member of the marketing team at Focusrite Audio Engineering, promoting a number of products; prior to which he worked at Avid Technology.
Today he oversees Focusrite’s audio-over-IP product strategy and roadmap. He also continues to perform as a musician.
He said: “With the acceleration of the adoption of audio-over-IP technology, both by manufacturers and end-users, there is a distinct requirement to ensure inter-compatibility between different platforms. AES67 provides the best opportunity to make this a reality.â€