PRSS contentdepot IDC SFX4104 Installation Manual - page 8
ContentDepot Installation Guide
4
Concept of Operations
To provide a better understanding of the equipment that you will install and configure, this section describes
the underlying principles of the ContentDepot.
How a Satellite Carrier Delivers Content in the ContentDepot
The downstream satellite signal to the station is an RF carrier that uses Digital Video Broadcast (DVB)
technology to aggregate audio channels (containing streams and program files) and to modulate the
carrier. Each channel contains an IP/Ethernet multicast channel that contains encoded audio.
The following figure and descriptions summarize how the satellite feed becomes audio content at the
station.
From left to right, generally:
RF Input
The L-band RF from the antenna contains the broadcast stream from the headend.
DVB Channels
The receivers demodulate the carrier signal into DVB, identify distinct DVB Program Identifiers (PID), and
filter out those not subscribed to by the station. Each PID represents an audio stream or a program file in transit.
IP/Ethernet Interface
Using IP/Ethernet multicast, the receiver then forwards the subscribed programming onto the local network
interface and re-assembles the packets.
Storage
The receiver uses the IP/Ethernet interface to deliver files to your playback system. It enables configuration
and monitoring via a web browser. Each receiver has a 1 TB hard drive to cache files and commands.
Stream Decoders
In real time, the stream decoders decode the resulting Layer 2 audio and play out that audio to the broadcast
plant.
Program Distribution
The process for distributing programming from the headend to the digital audio receivers at the station is
characterized by these major features:
• Subscription-based. To receive a program, a station must subscribe to it using the web-based
ContentDepot portal.
• File-based. Recorded programs are broadcast to the stations as files.
• Automation-enabled. A ContentDepot-compliant automation system handles the schedule,
local distribution, and playout of program files.