Wegener Communications 6420 user manual Stored File Creation and Management, Delivery of Rbds data

iPump 6420 User’s Manual

3.2.4.Delivery of RBDS data

The iPump6420 features two serial ports to perform Radio Broadcast Data Services (RBDS) data output, each assigned and dedicated to one of the two main Audio Decoders (Ports). RBDS is used to deliver metadata to the local affiliate, such as information about the current song, the artist, the station call sign, etc. This output is generally wired directly into the RBDS input of the station’s AM or FM radio exciter. So that the i6420 may support two different local affiliate missions, such as two different radio stations, one audio and a bank of relays (see above), along with this RBDS signal, may be directed to each. To properly enforce this, it is best to use Compel Associated Audio commands (part of Compel Extended Syntax) to do all the RBDS messages. This will ensure that the RBDS data strings are properly associated with that audio feed.

The user controls, are:

1.RBDS serial port baud settings, ports #1 and #2

2.RBDS message output (from Compel)

3.3.Stored File Creation and Management

The Store/Forward mission of the iPump6420 requires that file-based audio content be pre- positioned on the unit before use, and stored there for subsequent repeated uses. This section discusses the delivery (or creation), and then management of that audio content.

3.3.1.File Storage and Management database

Basic File and Asset Management

All files positioned on the iPump6420 for later use must be registered in a local management database. This database logs in the file and notes its playability, its play-time (length), its location, and its parent “asset”. A key concept in the management of these audio files is this “asset”. Assets are objects in the WEGENER MediaPlan-based Store/Forward system that may encapsulate any number of files, whether playable audio files or not, along with useful metadata. They are all created in the uplink control system and managed by the MediaPlan Content Manager, which is outside the scope of this Manual (see the MPcm User’s Manual). Then they are downloaded to the edge receivers, the iPump6420s, for storage. All downloaded assets are stored in the i6420 filesystem in the /u/user/assets directory. They are usually single-layer folders with the folder name equal to the asset, and all files located directly under that level. However, assets may now have multiple folder layers. When downloaded to the iPump6420 from Compel/MediaPlan, they included a special metadata file called “metadata.xml”. This file tells the i6420 what playable audio files should be included in the asset, what their path is, the asset expiration date, and also will indicate the asset’s “alias”, if any (see section 3.4.6).

Generally, the “asset” concept is only used for the management of files and is usually not relevant to the problem of playing single audio files or of building playlists to play one or more such files at a time. However, there is one exception to this, and it is the concept of the “asset alias”. The alias for an asset becomes an alternate name for an asset. So a network may put a different asset in any of many local affiliates, all loaded with content exclusively for that locality. However, if they are all given the same “alias”, then the network can then request a play from that asset at each local affiliate, with one single command. Because of the similarity of use with playlists, the discussion will focus on this in Section 3.4.

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