Entertainment Technology Protocol
Authentic Communication
Sig-Net® provides a simple flat architecture that is both scalable and intrinsically multi-controller. It is lightweight (quick to implement) and delivers a CRA defensible security framework. It supports DMX, RDM, firmware update, timecode, node configuration and has extensions for manufacturer specific protocols.
Act now
Cybersecurity legislation — most notably the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) — will imminently impact the Entertainment Technology industry. Manufacturers are facing strict deadlines to secure their network interfaces, and Sig-Net was designed to meet this challenge.
Sig-Net aims to provide a CRA defensible communication framework built for the realities of live production.
Sig-Net has 5 primary goals:
The meaning of CRA defensible
As part of their CRA compliance programme, manufacturers must write a CRA Risk Assessment. The risk assessment contains their cybersecurity threat analysis which in turn tells them which risks they need to protect. It is a highly subjective process.
A simplistic reading of the CRA may lead one to conclude that all data must be encrypted. However, a more nuanced reading shows that encryption applicability is a function of the risk assessment and threat analysis.
Did the authors of the CRA genuinely intend for real-time DMX lighting levels to be treated with the same cryptographic weight as a financial transaction? Sig-Net takes the stance that they did not. We focus heavily on authentication and integrity to secure the network, without breaking the real-time performance the industry relies on.
Building blocks
In developing Sig-Net to solve security problems, we’ve also taken the opportunity to produce a modern protocol. But one of our core philosophies is to reuse proven concepts rather than reinventing the wheel. We analysed the most successful elements of legacy protocols and combined them into a single, secure package. Here are the existing protocol elements that Sig-Net reuses, either conceptually or physically.
The multicast dynamics of sACN are widely liked, but the 1:1 universe-to-multicast mapping creates scalability limits on standard network switches. (This is known as IGMP exhaustion and leads to sACN flooding the network like broadcast packets). However, the core concept of multicast is great. We’ve retained it, albeit with an improved Multicast Folding strategy.
This standard provides an excellent mechanism for channel-level priority and merging. As there isn’t a better contender, Sig-Net natively integrates it.
The way that network devices are discovered and configured in Art-Net is widely liked. We’ve used Art-Net’s polling mechanism (ArtPoll) in concept, but brought it up to date with intelligent multicasting. It also features segmenting node discovery to allow it to scale gracefully to very large device counts.
Art-Net’s flat architecture and streaming approach to RDM has worked well but it had limited ability to deal with multi-controller systems. Sig-Net retains the flat architecture but implements it as a true publish–subscribe model that allows native multi-Sender synchronisation. The subscribe model meshes perfectly with the parallel architectural changes in the 2025 RDM standard. We also retained the well-liked multi-stream approach to timecode.
RDMnet has not seen widespread support, primarily because the requirement for a central broker has not been well received. Sig-Net drops the broker, retaining a flat streaming approach that allows multi-Sender operation via passive snooping. Furthermore, because LLRP does not fit cleanly into a secured environment by design, Sig-Net replaces it with our own robust node recovery and configuration mechanisms.
In its infancy, the IoT industry went through much pain and embarrassment dealing with security. They have learnt a lot in recent years and Sig-Net is based on a core IoT protocol called CoAP. Why reinvent the wheel when another industry has already ‘got the T-shirt’!
News
Sig-Net wins 2026 PLASA Award for Innovation
Sig-Net lauded as a “cornerstone of cyber security” and a “vital platform for industry” in the words of James Eade, chair of the judging panel.
NEW for 2026 – PLASA CyberFest
2-4 September 2026 | LAMDA Carne Studio Theatre, London. CyberFest is a dedicated 3-day PlugFest focused on the practical implementation of the Sig-Net, SNOW and File-Transfer protocols.
Read our latest newsletter
Sig-Net steals the show
Sig-Net makes explosive debut
The official launch of Sig-Net™ at the recent PLASA European PlugFest in Lille exceeded all expectations. We arrived knowing there was strong interest, but the sheer speed of adoption was remarkable.
Cybersecurity in Entertainment Technology
In the wake of new UK, EU and US legislation, cybersecurity has become a hot topic of discussion in the industry. Read Wayne Howell’s article in the July 2024 LSi magazine highlighting the profound implications for network products and protocols.
