"Today, radio is a simple, ubiquitous part of daily life, bringing news and entertainment to millions. Yet early radio was frustrating and cumbersome, characterized by poor fidelity and unreliable reception. Nevertheless, no one could get enough. In many ways, Web audio is following in the footsteps of its precursor" Steve Church, AudioActive.

The revolutionary approach to streaming media adopted by the MediaBox audio video streaming server product line will forever change the way you think about streaming servers, encoders and streaming media in general. This page describes several typical live or on-demand Internet streaming applications where regular streaming server implementations are compared with MediaBox audio video streaming server examples.

Fig 1.0 describes a typical Internet broadcast setup without a MediaBox streaming server.. Several computers (max. 8) are needed for the encoding and serving tasks. The Mediabox (see fig 1.1) integrates multiple streaming functions in one easy, powerful and reliable Internet broadcasting solution.  Fig 1.0 describes a MP3, Real, Quicktime and Vorbis encoding and distribution method. MPEG4 encoders and servers can be added to this streaming setup, possibly increasing the total number of computers.

Here is your MP3 encoder at 16Kbps, another one running at 64Kbps (mono) and one at 128Kbps stereo. How many sound cards does your can machine hold? But wait, we need more than 5! Where is my RealAudio stream? How about the powerful open-source Vorbis encoder?  Oh, nooo! We forgot to encode our content for the QuickTime Streaming Server!

We call this a streaming farm. We call this a whole bunch of humming computers, wires and switches. A real mess. Did I say Real? Oops, got to go. My RealEncoder stopped working again, the audio driver or something crashed my system.

Not anymore. At Ituner.com we developed a streaming appliance that does all that in one box. Yeah, that's right. One box. You can build one yourself. We will even give you our modified kernel. Yo can do it. If you have the skills and time.  If not, please buy one.

Fig 1.0 - Typical streaming server setup
 

Fig 1.1 describes a multi-format streaming solution using the MediaBox AS-2600, VS2601 integrated streaming server and encoder solution. Multi-format encoding and serving is done in ONE powerful box, the MediaBox. All administration tasks are performed via a web interface thus reducing the time and complexity of a multi-system setup. Fig 1.1 describes a MP3, Real, QuickTime and Vorbis encoding and distribution method. Audio encoding can be done via the MediaBox AS-2600 audio streaming server while video encoding is done with a MediaBox VS-2601video streaming server.
 

Fig 1.1 - Typical streaming setup using the MediaBox streaming server

Fig 1.2 describes a multi-format encoding + distribution method. In this example, the encoding site doesn't have the necessary on-site bandwidth means to directly broadcast to large audiences. Instead, 2 MediaBox streamign servers are used to relay/split the signal from the remote site to an ISP or a location that has high bandwidth capabilities. The bandwidth capacity required at the encoding site is only required to transport the source streams. DSL, Cable Modem or fractional T1 lines are adequate for such jobs. Monitor the bandwidth consumed at both locations using MediaBox RealTime or Historical graphs. If the stream is a 100Kbps video stream, you will only need a DSL or ISDN line to relay the stream to an ISP. Ituner also offers competitive streaming services. Please click here for more information. 
 

Fig 1.2 Remote encoding using the MediaBox AS-2600, VS-2600 streaming server

Fig 1.3 describes a method used by broadcasters to relay signal in between 2 terrestrial radio stations. In this example, the content source is located in New York, NY while the rebroadcast location is in San Francisco, CA. The signal is encoded and and delivered to San Francisco using digital compression methods such as 128Kbps MP3 or 96Kbps RealAudio. The San Francisco site is equipped with a MediaBox capable of decoding the incoming signal. In this example, analog-out is used to feed a transmitter site. The IP link in between the two site can be achieved over the Internet or private leased lines. For high quality retransmissions, data rates above 64Kkbps should be used when encoding the audio feed.

Fig 1.3 Signal delivery methods for re-broadcasting using MediaBox streaming servers




 

Small, Open and Powerful. The MediaBox was developed based on a tiny (8Mb) Linux Kernel distribution. Add the software, interfaces, journaling file system and you will get to about 32Mb of disk space.

Soundcards? Only one. The MediaBox uses only one audio card for all our encoders (up to 16) thanks to the OpenSound Input Multiplexer audio system. The audio input, /dev/audio,  is mirrored to 16 virtual audio drivers, /dev/imux, /dev/imux1, /dev/imux3 and so on.

So here it is, a basic diagram, explaining what's inside the MediaBox:

This revolutionary approach to streaming media adopted by the MediaBox audio video streaming server product line will forever change the way you think about streaming media. This article describes several typical live or on-demand internet streaming applications.