The Cisco® Media Processor Family of advanced, live standard- and high-definition (SD and HD, respectively) encoding solutions is redefining the online video experience with best-in-class quality for live media delivery applications such as live sports and other web streaming, broadband TV, IPTV, enterprise, education, or government video.
The robust, reliable Cisco Media Processor platform can stream in multiple formats to any device, including iPhone®, iPad®, feature phones, and smartphones. Cisco was the first to offer full support for and continues to lead the market in adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming, including Apple® HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) Smooth Streaming, and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming. The Cisco Media Processor can detect broadcast cue messages and translate critical ad metadata into ad markers appropriate for the Flash and Silverlight platforms as well as Apple® iOS devices.
Figure 1. Cisco AS8100 Series Media Processor workflow example.
Protect Your Infrastructure Investment
Cisco can help you protect your IP video infrastructure investment. Even if you are streaming only in SD today, the Cisco AS8100 Series Media Processor (Cisco AS8100) protects your investment. When you are ready to add HD resolutions such as 720p or 1080p, the Cisco AS8100 is ready to deliver, and is multiformat at the start-so you do not need to add appliances every time you add a format. The patent pending Cisco Media Processor Core Software technology allows you to continue to upgrade your existing Cisco encoder with the latest and most innovative technologies.
Why Cisco AS8100?
• Cisco AS8100 offers full support for adaptive streaming, including Apple® HLS iPhone® and iPad® streaming, Microsoft Smooth Streaming and Adobe Dynamic Flash Streaming.
• The powerful and flexible core software platform of the Cisco AS8100 can output multiple formats from one appliance while offering a range of resolutions, from feature phones to smartphones to SD to HD.
• Designed to be easy to set up and manage, the web-based interface of the Cisco AS8100 gives you the flexibility of controlling the encoder from any networked computer. Its scheduling capabilities allow you to set up future one-time or recurring events, and its XML application programming interface (API) allows you or third-party applications to control the encoder with automated commands.
• In order to provide the highest-quality video, Cisco starts with a high-end video capture card, adds multiple preprocessing options and powerful Intel Quad Core processors, uses patent-pending Dynamic Complexity balancing, and exposes one of the most comprehensive list of advanced compression settings. No other encoder allows you to customize your settings like Cisco.
• The Cisco AS8100 supports multiple captioning options, including open captions, closed captions, Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) captions, script streams, and cue points. This flexibility gives you multiple ways to reach a broader base of users and meet government or corporate requirements.
• The Cisco AS8100 also supports the insertion of metadata into a Windows Media or Flash stream. This metadata can be statistics, URLs for advertisements, or other information. The solution also supports the insertion of metadata into a Windows Media or Flash stream. This metadata can be statistics, URLs for advertisements, or other information.
Features of Cisco AS8100
Table 1 lists the features and benefits of the Cisco AS8100.
Table 1. Features and Benefits of Cisco AS8100
Feature
Benefit
New in Cisco Media Processor Core Software Version 5.5
• SCTE 35 pass-through, making automated ad insertion even easier
• Integration of Verimatrix content protection for Apple® iOS
• Support for closed captioning in Smooth Low Latency mode
• Simple Network Management Protocol Version 2 (SNMPv2), with support for all channels and improved alarms and reporting
Ultra-high density
• Exceptional adaptive experience
• Eight streams out
• Integrated Linear Time Code Reader (LTC) that reduces need for "Little Red" device or other time code reader
Advertising and monetization
• Automated ad insertion with playlists generated by playout servers
• Support for slate insertion to remove broadcast ads
• Ability to remonetize video with Internet ads for browser, mobile, and set-top box
• Full support for ABR streaming:
• HTTP Live Streaming to iPhone® and iPad®
• Microsoft Smooth Streaming, including support for H264 PlayReady DRM, enabling secure live publishing solutions
