ESTA has announced that the Advanced Control Network (ACN) project, which formally had been a feasibility study, is now officially a project to draft a new American National Standard. In keeping with the ANSI nomenclature for standards, the project is BSR E1.17, Entertainment Technology - Multipurpose Network Control Protocol Suite. The scope of the project is to define a new control protocol suite comprising network management, device management, a device description language and device control with reliable multi-cast transport on standard data networks. The protocol suite's purpose is to allow heterogeneous systems of entertainment and infrastructure devices to fully interoperate. Parties that have a material interest in this BSR E1.17 project are invited to participate by offering comments during future public reviews of the document or by joining the Control Protocols Working Group, part of the ANSI-accredited standards committee E1, Safety and Compatibility of Entertainment Technical Equipment and Practices. Membership in the working group is open to all who are affected by standards-making in the area of control protocols used in entertainment venues and who are willing to actively participate in the group's projects.
