William Wan talks about the technology at Duke Kunshan University’s brand new facility and how cutting-edge AV helps teachers, students, and the technology team.
Located in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, Duke Kunshan University (DKU) is a premier institute of higher learning in China. The university recently established new facilities and invested significant effort and resources into ensuring that the new spaces were fitted with cutting-edge technology. William Wan, chief engineer at Duke Kunshan University, says: “Phase 1 of Duke Kunshan University was completed about 10 years ago and now we have phase 2, a brand-new campus built and ready to operate and of course the AV systems required were a priority for us. We were also mindful that the new campus and the old campus had to be connected via technology, we wanted both to be linked and function as one if needed.”
He continues: “The drive behind phase 2 was the continued evolution of DKU’s undergraduate studies program. Phase 1 was mainly aimed at building our business school. But as our undergraduate programs have developed, our facilities were not adequate for our studens. DKU has a substantial student body and this meant we needed multiple classrooms, lab spaces, and student activity spaces which led to the establishment of a new campus.”
DKU had a clear vision and wanted to implement technology in a considered manner. Wan says: “What we wanted to achieve was to develop a fully cohesive university facility. The design had to facilitate teaching and learning, while also supporting student activities, research, as well as accounting for the needs and requirements of the students and the teachers.”
The 10-year time period that had passed between phase 1 and phase 2 meant that DKU had new technology options to consider. Wan says: “We’ve become much more aware of the role technology plays in pedagogy and how important it is. Technology changed a lot. With phase 2, we started the design process thinking about things like AV over IP and how the convergence of AV and IT is the future and the way forward. This route would give us a lot of flexibility and manageability. As the facility grows and the technology deployment grows, operations, maintenance, and support become more challenging. Having a centralised platform would mean that we could monitor and control the system more efficiently.”
He continues: “In addition, hybrid models of teaching have become one of the key features and a key requirement for universities and DKU is no different. Things like remote learning, a robust LMS system, more content delivered as video on demand, in addition to the in-person learning experience, have become extremely important. We want to embrace cutting-edge technology which will support the university’s growth. Since we had the opportunity to build our systems from scratch, we were able to implement our vision.”
AV over IP is the chosen mode for the transmission of audio and video signals. The video transmission system is built on Crestron NVX encoders and decoders as well as Cisco network switchers and routers. Regarding the selection of Crestron NVX for the job of AV-over- IP transmission, Wan says: “Crestron has a lot of advanced AV-over-IP technology and is a leader in the field. We did a comparison with other AV-over- IP products on the market and found them to be superior. In addition, we used Crestron control and switching systems in phase 1 for our campus, so we were familiar with their products and decided to continue with them due to our existing relationship.”
A varied selection of displays can be found across the spaces at DKU to enable specific functions. In spaces where large displays were required Sony projectors are used while Samsung LCD panels are pressed into service where display size requirements were not as stringent. Maxhub interactive panels are used where interactivity was required. Unilumin LED displays have been deployed in the largest and most premium spaces.
The AV-over-IP deployment came with roadblocks to surmount and Wan details: “One of our main challenges was bandwidth. We have a lot of endpoints and there are a lot of NVX encoders and decoders. To give you an idea, we would end up with eight NVX boxes in a single, small space and that would mean eight streams into the AV switch. When you consider the total number of classrooms and spaces we have, which is in the hundreds, the problem starts to become complex.”
He continues: “We had to design the network carefully accounting for multiple switches and going down the route of aggregators to manage the data traffic. Multicast was not enabled by default and we created virtual routing and forwarding networks to make sure all the video streams were working well. We also wanted the video streams to be multicast and have these setting be on the aggregator level. Our initial plan was to have the uplink from access switch to aggregator be 20Gb but we upgraded that to 50Gb by using two 25Gb switches in tandem. This change ensured that we have enough bandwidth for what we wanted to achieve.”
It is interesting to note that DKU is operating a converged network. Wan says: “One of the biggest challenges of this project, and also its uniqueness is the converged AV and IT network. We run everything on one physical network, in addition to audio and video, campus network, surveillance cameras, building automation, IoT devices, etc. which added extra complexity in the network design, configuration, and operation.”
On the side of audio, Dante is the chosen mode for signal transmission. What stands out is DKU’s decision to deploy more than 100 units of the Sennheiser TCC 2 microphone. Wan details: “We use TCC 2 as the microphone for videoconferencing and meetings or other remote engagements. It is everywhere in classrooms, meeting rooms, and special spaces. The ceiling microphones are integral to enabling the teaching and learning outcomes that we want for in-person and remote students. In the classrooms, we also use Shure wired and wireless handheld and lapel microphones when the instructors are teaching in a more localised manner. To be fair, the ceiling microphones with good tuning can serve for both modes of teaching but we have provided an expanded range of microphone options to cater to the needs and teaching styles of our faculty.”
Regarding the TCC 2 microphones in application, Wan reports: “The TCC 2 is performing really well, especially in classrooms and meeting rooms. But in some spaces, where the acoustic design of the rooms is not great, spaces, that have high ceilings, glass surfaces, and many reflective spaces we need to fine tune the performance.”
Bose speakers paired with Bose amplifiers are pressed into action to provide sound across all the learning and teaching spaces. In the Theatre, Performance Cafe, and Basketball Court however EAW speakers paired with Powersoft amplifiers are used. Pan Acoustics all weather speakers are used in the Swimming Pool area. The last spaces worth exploring are the meeting spaces at Duke Kunshan University. There are two specific spaces, the boardroom and a premium meeting room, where speaker tracking was required and has been enabled with Biamp DSP and Sony PTZ cameras.
In the boardroom, three TCC 2 microphones have been installed and the one located centrally is used for the purpose of speaker tracking. The Biamp DSP is used to send signals from the microphones to the control system which then results in the cameras moving and framing the relevant speaker. The space has been divided into eight voice zones to help the microphones better track the speakers and frame them. In the premium meeting room, which features a round table, three cameras are used and cover a 120-degree segment respectively ensuring that any speaker around the table can be picked up.
Speaker tracking improves the meeting experience for remote attendees, but in-room participants have not been forgotten. Wan says: “In our old boardrooms that were part of phase 1, we only have a panorama camera view, which makes it hard to distinguish who is speaking. But in the new rooms with speaker tracking we can accurately reflect who is speaking on the screen. For the speakers who are not talking, and hence do not want to be on camera, we have made sure that when there is silence from a certain section our cameras default back to the panorama view or go around the table. The meeting experience for all parties has been elevated.”
Regarding the choice of Biamp DSP, Wan says: “Firstly, Biamp is an industry leader in the DSP segment. We used them in phase 1 and we found the products to be very stable and have a lot of functionality. Since we were happy with the performance and we wanted to make the maintenance job easier by keeping the total number of OEMs low we went with Biamp. Biamp also has great support for Dante.”
Zooming out and looking at the big picture, Crestron Fusion has been deployed for management and monitoring. Wan details: “From the very beginning of phase 2, central management and monitoring was a key piece for us. It made sense that we invested in getting a platform that would help us. Crestron Fusion not only manages Crestron devices but also third-party devices and hence it was the tool we chose. We have created a lot of attribute lists for different kinds of devices from projectors to displays to wireless receivers. Fusion is our central platform and if we need more information, we can delve deeper.”
Wan highlights how the switch to central management has made an impact: “Previously, we would have personnel go down to the physical spaces to check on the status of the AV products and systems. We would have to physically check the receivers and the microphones and other products. We knew this was not acceptable for phase 2, and with Crestron Fusion and the other platforms provided by manufacturers we have been able to create a much better management environment.”
The decision to go for central management becomes more prudent when Wan details the manpower resources available: “We didn’t have a dedicated AV team, and it was after phase 2 that we got the chance to establish one. With a team in place and a whole support structure, from maintenance to on-site engineering from vendors, we have more resources to tackle the challenges of managing such an extensive technology system.”
With the successful completion of the project, Wan talks about what is over the horizon: “The next step is a refresh for phase 1. Devices and systems in the old facility have started to get towards their end of life and we believe that the refresh is essential before we can start integration between phase 1 and phase 2. So, we are looking at AV over IP again as part of the refresh, which in some ways will be harder than phase 2 where we were starting with a clean slate. And of course, we must have a coherent plan for phase 3 and phase 4 and whatever comes next.”