Keystone Electronic Solutions has designed an audio delivery platform for the managed delivery of audio content for applications such as in-house music, advertising clips and announcements. Potential applications for the platform include municipal buildings, hotels and retail stores, amongst others.
“Most businesses requiring in-house music use computers to play their music and adverts,” says Ivan Popov, Keystone director. “However, this is a very expensive way to play music, lays the establishment open to theft of the computers and is usually not managed very well as the computer is used for other business functions as well. In addition, equipment in the server room is open to tampering and online threats such as viruses. Another issue faced by chain stores is the lack of uniformity, both in the hardware and software, between the various outlets. It is also difficult to ensure that all stores have the latest content, and are playing it in their current play list.”
In response to these issues, Keystone has developed a customised solution for delivering in-store music, at a fraction of the cost, and without all the security issues. It is based on their in-house Guinnux backbone which delivers version-managed Linux applications. An ARM9 processor with standard external storage is at the core of the solution. After that, an audio codec was added and a management front-end was developed for the audio player.
The system is programmed to download the playlist from a central server, anywhere in the country. The sites then find and play the music as listed, ensuring instant nationwide uniformity of the public music and messages. The software monitors the play times and creates logs for the days’ audio play. The audio output levels are also monitored, so the volume can be tracked for any point in time.
The system caters for MP2 and MP3 files, but can be customised to cater for all other popular music formats, in stereo. The solution is very power efficient at only 2 W, compared to a PC at 200 W. There are also savings on air conditioning as not as much heat is generated.
According to Popov, the unit has been field-trialled at different franchises and the customer is very happy with the results. It will soon be implemented in various entertainment and retail locations nationwide and is ready for mass production.
For more information contact Keystone Electronic Solutions, +27 (0)12 460 4135, [email protected], www.kses.net
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