Cambridge Imaging Systems’ Box of Broadcasts
system (BoB) is a feature rich and highly configurable off-air recording
system which has been developed over a number of years, principally
for use by the MOD, BBC Monitoring, the BUFVC (British Universities
Film and Video Council) and Bournemouth University’s Centre for
Excellence in Media Practice.
A video produced by Bournemouth University Centre
of Excellence in Media Production abouttheir Box of Broadcasts -
BoB is controlled with a web browser based scheduling
interface. From a simple EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) displaying
the next seven days Freeview TV and Radio, users can select recordings
at the click of a mouse button. They can also search from a database
of programmes coming up over the next seven days by programme title
or keyword and record items from the search results.
The selected programmes are recorded at the time
of broadcast and made available in the user’s personal account.
More importantly, they are added to a long term archive of programmes
available to everyone. Metadata records for the archived programmes
are created from the EPG information and users can enrich or correct
the data at any time. A long term archive of programmes is then
built up which can be accessed by anyone from a google style search
box. Finding a programme is simple – search for a word or phrase
and choose from the available hits.
BoB also provides the opportunity to add programmes
to the archive which have already been broadcast. Our customers
know from experience that many requests for programmes happen after
transmission. For this we provide a short term archive of the major
channels – usually lasting between a couple of days to a couple
of weeks depending on storage available.
Users can also make shorter clips from a full
programme and also add them to the database. They can also collect
records in their own playlist and make them accessible to the other
users and tagging is also available which provides a ‘Folksonomy’
allowing the user to classify data themselves.
System Architecture
We prefer to use industry standard protocols
and interfaces and embrace the use of open-source code to speed
development and to keep costs down. We have experience of integrating
our software with many different types of administrative, commercial
and industrial systems. We use open interfaces based upon SOAP and
XML for all of the modules in our DAM systems and we use PHP and
PostgreSQL for our web applications. All our applications run on
Windows 2003 Server platform.
Capture/Feedserver
This server runs the CIS Capture and FeedServer software. Together
they write the unmodified MPEG-2 streams to the storage RAID, schedule
and manage the available video sources, performs EPG management
and indexed access to the recorded video.
Transcoder Server
This server accepts the MPEG-2 Transport stream and transcodes to
a variety of formats such as H.264, Flash Video, Quicktime, WMV
and MP3 and AAC.
Database and Web Server
The Database and Web Server offer universal access to the live EPG
data, scheduling controls and the long-term program archive. Administrators
also have access to usage statistics and archive management.
Storage RAID
The RAID is used for storing the short term 48+ hours TV buffer.
It also stores all the programmes in the archive in all formats
created by the transcoder. RAIDS ranging in size between 3 and 20TB
are typically installed as part of a BoB system.
T-Gate/S-Gate
Solid State, Ethernet attached, DVB Receivers developed for the
BoB system by Cambridge Imaging Systems. These units tune into digital
television stations and multicast the MPEG-2 Transport streams onto
the network. Broadcast streams can then be saved to networked storage
servers. Sgate can stream a multiplex from a satellite feed. For
more information on T-gate click here for a pdf. For more information
on S-gate click here for a pdf. If the network is fast enough and
supports industry standard multicast protocols, any number of users
can also view broadcast TV over the network.
Click here to find out more about T-Gate and S-Gate>
System Administration Software
Imagen Database Client Full
management over your programme archive. Search, delete, modify
your programmes.
Tape Ingest Add
material on tape to your BoB archive. Works with any tape deck
which supports Sony Contol Protocol.
ImagenLite BoB Add digital
material (Mpeg-2, QT, WMV, AV to your BoB archive)
Media Plan Set up blanket
record schedules and control which channels are accessible by
BoB Users. Full control over all Scheduled recordings.
Archive View Graphical
view of MPEG-2 Transport streams held in your Buffer. Archive
View allows you to extract raw MPEG-2 for offline editing, add
to the database, transcode to another format or prepare a file
to burn to DVD.
Record a programme using the
7 day TV guide
Search the programme archive
Playback
Full screen playback
Create Clips
BoB Enterprise Features
Records all freeview channels
Records all freesat channels
Toggle Subtitles - on or off
Records foreign satellite feeds
Includes support for analogue tv and radio
Streams H.264 or Flash Video
Integrates with your local authentication system
eg: (Active Directory, LDAP. Radius etc)
Multilanguage support
Content management
Built on open source technology
Output programmes to DVD
Watch Multicast TV streams
Tape encoding module – add your material
from VHS tapes
Scheduler software automatically records any
programme 24/7
Create your own clips
Compile your own playlists and share with others
Create your own archive containing many 1000s
of programmes
Creates a buffer of favourite channels going
back weeks
Automatically generates browse copies including:
H.264, Flash Video, Windows Media, Quicktime, MP3 and DVD
Comprehensive support package
Support for Blackboard integration
Easy integration with third party systems through
SOAP interface
Transcode existing media to play in BoB with
BoB ingest module
Add images and documents to the searchable
archive
Content can be restricted
to individual user groups
