Configuring External Content Integration in Cisco StadiumVision Director
First Published: August 2, 2012
This module describes the requirements and how to configure support for external data sources in Cisco StadiumVision Director.
This module includes the following topics:
•Before You Begin
•Workflow Summary for External Content Integration
•How to Configure External Content Integration
Before You Begin
Before you configure Cisco StadiumVision Director for External Content Integration, be sure that the following requirements are met for the system that you are integrating with:
•Prerequisites for Configuring NFL GSIS Integration
•Prerequisites for Configuring OES ISC9000 Scoreboard Integration
•Prerequisites for Configuring Daktronics All Sport 5000 Scoreboard Integration
•Prerequisites for Configuring Generic Data Sources
•Prerequisites for Configuring RSS and Atom Data Sources
Prerequisites for Configuring NFL GSIS Integration
Before you configure the National Football League (NFL) Game Statistics and Information System (GSIS) integration, be sure that the following requirements are met:
•The required Cisco StadiumVision Director server hardware is installed and running Cisco StadiumVision Release 3.0 or later.
•The NFL Stats-in-a-Box (SIAB) server is installed at the venue and is connected to the NFL GSIS database. Advise your network administrator to allow communication between these two servers.
•The SIAB server is reachable by the Cisco StadiumVision Director server on the Internet Protocol (IP) network.
•For support of the NFL GSIS clock, a router in the network must be configured for Network Address Translation (NAT) to change the local broadcast address to the unicast IP address of the Cisco StadiumVision Director server.
Tip You can verify reachability using the ping command from the Cisco StadiumVision Director server to the SIAB server.
•The NFL GSIS representative has provided the SIAB IP address and account information, which will be needed to configure Cisco StadiumVision Director connectivity to the SIAB server.
Prerequisites for Configuring OES ISC9000 Scoreboard Integration
Before you configure the OES ISC9000 Intelligent Scoreboard Controller integration, be sure that the following requirements are met:
•The required Cisco StadiumVision Director server hardware is installed and running Cisco StadiumVision Release 3.0 or later.
•The OES ISC9000 Scoreboard controller is installed at the venue (preferably in the Cisco StadiumVision network).
•The OES ISC9000 Scoreboard controller is reachable by the Cisco StadiumVision Director server on the Internet Protocol (IP) network.
•A site administrator or OES equipment vendor has added the Cisco StadiumVision Director server IP address and UDP port number in the OES controller.
Note Be sure to record the UDP port number used in the OES ISC9000 controller so that you can configure the same port in the network connection information for Cisco StadiumVision Director.
Figure 1 shows an example of the interface for the Serial Port Configuration on the OES ISC9000 controller where the Cisco StadiumVision Director server information must be added.
Figure 1 OES ISC9000 Configuration
Prerequisites for Configuring Daktronics All Sport 5000 Scoreboard Integration
Before you configure the Daktronics All Sport 5000 Scoreboard integration, be sure that the following requirements are met:
•The required Cisco StadiumVision Director server hardware is installed and running Cisco StadiumVision Release 3.0.
•The Daktronics Scoreboard controller is installed at the venue (preferably in the Cisco StadiumVision network).
•The Daktronics Scoreboard controller is reachable by the Cisco StadiumVision Director server on the Internet Protocol (IP) network.
•A site administrator or Daktronics equipment vendor has added the Cisco StadiumVision Director server IP address in the Daktronics Scoring Timing Interface Application.
Figure 2 shows an example of the DSTI application for the Daktronics controller where the Cisco StadiumVision Director server information must be added.
Figure 2 Daktronics All Sport 5000 Configuration
Prerequisites for Configuring Generic Data Sources
Before you configure generic data sources, be sure that the following requirements are met:
•You know the message type of the data source (TCP, HTTP, FTP, or UDP).
•You have the corresponding connection information for the specified message type.
•You have a copy of one unique sector of the XML data from the source feed that can be used as sample data for the External Content Integration configuration.
•Cisco StadiumVision Director must be able to reach any externally referenced source data (for example, referenced images) on the network.
Prerequisites for Configuring RSS and Atom Data Sources
Before you configure RSS data sources, be sure that the following requirements are met:
•You have the source URL for the data feed.
Workflow Summary for External Content Integration
Note This workflow assumes that you have completed the required backend network installation and integration at your venue for the external data sources that you plan to support, such as with the NFL GSIS network and Stats-in-a-Box (SIAB) server, or scoreboard device.
The following steps summarize the overall workflow to integrate data into Cisco StadiumVision Director and display that content on a TV:
Control Panel Setup Interface—Data Integration Tab (Figure 3)
1. From the Control Panel, access the Data Integration interface.
2. Add the predefined data source type that you want to configure.
3. Complete the network settings configuration.
4. Modify any data configuration options (for example, throttling), as applicable.
5. Modify the image display width and height, as applicable.
6. Save the configuration.
7. Enable the data collection (click Deploy).
Note Whenever you modify and save or deploy/undeploy the External Content configuration, you must activate and restart the application in the Management Dashboard. Cisco StadiumVision Director prompts you to do this, and it can be done at this step or after you finish mapping and formatting your statistics.
Figure 3 Data Integration Configuration Workflow
Control Panel Setup Interface—Field Mapping Tab (Figure 4)
8. Complete the field mapping for the selected data source by selecting the available statistics that you want to display in Cisco StadiumVision Director.
Note For generic data sources, you must first provide sample XML data before you can complete the field mapping.
9. Format each statistic to set the output field name and any other output criteria as desired. Click Ok. Save the mapping.
Figure 4 Field Mapping Workflow
Management Dashboard—External Content Integration (Figure 5)
10. Activate and restart the External Content Integration application from the Management Dashboard.
Figure 5 External Content Integration Application in Management Dashboard
Control Panel Widgets Interface
11. Use the Widgets tool from the Control Panel to design a layout of the statistics that you configured to add graphics and bind/position data fields, and save the widget (Figure 6). See the "Designing the Layout of External Content Using the Widgets Tool" module for more information.
Figure 6 Widgets Tool
12. Create a playlist from the Control Panel for the widget that you created. Widgets are categorized in the "By Type" folder under the "widget" type (Figure 7).
Tip Click the Refresh icon in Content screen to see the widget in content library.
Figure 7 Widget Types in Content Screen
13. Create an event script to run the playlist.
14. Schedule the script to display the content on a TV just like other pieces of content in Cisco StadiumVision Director.
How to Configure External Content Integration
This section includes the following tasks:
•Accessing the External Content Integration Interface (required)
•Adding a New Data Source (required)
•Configuring the Network Connection to the External Content Source (required)
•Configuring the Data Options (optional)
•Configuring the Image Display Size for Atom and RSS Feeds (optional)
•Providing Sample XML Data for Generic Data Sources (required)
•Selecting Input Statistics and Mapping to Output Fields for Display (required)
•Enabling the Data Source Configuration (required)
•Activating External Content Integration System-Wide From the Management Dashboard (required)
•Restarting the External Content Integration Application (required)
•Activating External Content Integration System-Wide From the Management Dashboard (required)
Accessing the External Content Integration Interface
To access the external content integration interface, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Log into Cisco StadiumVision Director as an administrator.
Step 2 From the main menu, click Control Panel.
Step 3 From the Setup screen, select Data Integration.
The Data Integration screen is displayed in the Data Sources panel view.
Adding a New Data Source
To add a new data source, complete the following steps:
Step 1 From the Data Sources tab view on the Data Integration screen, click the plus (+) icon.
The Create new data source connection dialog box is displayed.
Step 2 In the Data source name box, type a name for the data source that you want to add.
Tip Specify a name using upper or lowercase alphabetical characters, digits 0-9, hyphen (-), or underscore (_). Spaces are not supported.
Step 3 Under the Type column, select the data source type that you want to add.
Step 4 (Generic Data Source only) For a Generic Data Source, select the message type from the drop-down box.
Step 5 Click Create.
The new data source is displayed in Data Sources panel view, and the Configuration panel is displayed.
What To Do Next
Configure the network connection for your data source type. For more information, see the "Configuring the Network Connection to the External Content Source" section.
Configuring the Network Connection to the External Content Source
Complete one or more of the following tasks according to the external content sources that your site is going to use:
•Configuring the Connection to the NFL GSIS SIAB Server
•Configuring the Connection to the Scoreboard Controllers
•Configuring the Connection to an Atom or RSS Feed
•Configuring the Connection to a Generic Data Source
Configuring the Connection to the NFL GSIS SIAB Server
This section includes the following topics:
•Configuring the Network Settings for NFL Cumulative Statistics
•Configuring the UDP Connection for the NFL Game Clock
Configuring the Network Settings for NFL Cumulative Statistics
Note Before you configure the FTP connection, be sure that you have the IP address and account credentials for the SIAB server from your NFL GSIS representative.
Cisco StadiumVision Director uses FTP port 21 to communicate to the NFL GSIS SIAB server to obtain the GSIS statistics.
To configure the network connection to the NFL GSIS SIAB server, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected GSIS: NFL,Cumulative Statistics data source.
Step 2 In the Network settings section, configure the following options (Figure 8):
a. In the Server (IP Address) box, type the IP address of the SIAB server.
b. In the Port box, type 21. The default is 21.
c. In the Data path box, type "/". The default is /.
d. In the User box, type the username for the SIAB server account. The default is nfl.
e. In the Password box, type the password for the SIAB server account. The default is nfl.
Figure 8 NFL Cumulative Statistics Network Configuration
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Configure the data options for the NFL Cumulative Statistics data source. For more information, see the "Configuring Data Options for NFL Cumulative Statistics" section.
Configuring the UDP Connection for the NFL Game Clock
Cisco StadiumVision Director uses UDP port 50000 to communicate to the NFL GSIS SIAB server to obtain the GSIS game clock.
To configure the UDP connection for the NFL game clock, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected GSIS: NFL,Clock data source.
Step 2 In the Network settings section, configure the following options (Figure 9):
a. In the StadiumVision Director (IP Address) box, type the IP address of the Cisco StadiumVision server.
Tip The actual IP address of the Cisco StadiumVision server that you are logged into is provided in shadow, but you must type the address in the box to configure it.
b. In the StadiumVision Director port box, type 50000. The default is 0.
Figure 9 NFL Game Clock Network Configuration
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Configure the data options for the NFL Clock data source. For more information, see the "Configuring the Incoming Data Filter Rate for Data Sources" section.
Configuring the Connection to the Scoreboard Controllers
Cisco StadiumVision Director uses a UDP port to communicate to the controllers to obtain the scoreboard statistics.
Note The UDP port for the OES ISC9000 Scoreboard controller varies, but the UDP port for the Daktronics All Sport 5000 Scoreboard controller is always 21300. Be sure that you know the UDP port being used for the OES controller.
To configure the UDP connection to the scoreboard controllers, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected scoreboard data source.
Step 2 In the Network settings section, configure the following options (Figure 10):
a. In the StadiumVision Director (IP Address) box, type the IP address of the Cisco StadiumVision server.
Tip The actual IP address of the Cisco StadiumVision server that you are logged into is provided in shadow, but you must type the address in the box to configure it.
b. In the StadiumVision Director port box, type the UDP port number used to connect to the scoreboard controller.
Note For the Daktronics All Sport 5000 Scoreboard controller, the UDP port is always 21300 (Figure 10).
Figure 10 Daktronics Scoreboard Controller Network Configuration
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Configure the data options for the scoreboard data source. For more information, see the "Configuring the Incoming Data Filter Rate for Data Sources" section.
Configuring the Connection to an Atom or RSS Feed
To configure the connection to an Atom or RSS feed, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected Atom Feed or RSS Feed data source.
Step 2 In the Network settings section, specify the URL in the Data source URL address box (Figure 11):
Figure 11 RSS Network Configuration
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Configure the data options as needed for the Atom or RSS feed data source. For more information, see the "Configuring Data Options for Atom and RSS Feeds" section.
Configuring the Connection to a Generic Data Source
The connection settings for a generic data source type depend on the message type that is configured when creating the data source. The generic data source can be configured to support one of the following message types:
•FTP
•HTTP
•TCP
•UDP
Note HTTPS URLs are not supported.
To configure the connection to the generic data source, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected Generic Data Source name.
Step 2 Do one of the following to specify the generic data source location:
To configure the connection using FTP, specify the following information (Figure 12):
Figure 12 Generic Data Source Configuration: FTP
•Server (IP address)—IP address of the FTP server.
•Port—FTP port used in Cisco StadiumVision Director for the FTP server connection. The default is 21.
•Data path—Folder path for the data. The default is "/".
•User—Username for the FTP server connection.
•Password—Password for the user account on the FTP server.
•Polling frequency—Number (in seconds) that specifies how often to poll data from the source. The default is 60.
•File name filter—Fully-qualified file name or file name with an asterisk (*) wildcard.
To configure the connection using HTTP, specify the following information (Figure 13):
Figure 13 Generic Data Source Configuration: HTTP
•HTTP URL—Fully qualified HTTP URL to the data source.
Note HTTPS is not supported.
•Polling frequency—Number (in seconds) that specifies how often to poll data from the source. The default is 60.
To configure the connection using TCP or UDP, specify the following information (Figure 14):
Figure 14 Generic Data Source Configuration: TCP and UDP
•StadiumVision Director (IP Address)
•StadiumVision Director port
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Provide sample XML data for the generic data source. For more information, see the "Providing Sample XML Data for Generic Data Sources" section.
Configuring the Data Options
The data configuration options vary by the data source type:
•Configuring Data Options for Atom and RSS Feeds
•Configuring Data Options for NFL Cumulative Statistics
•Configuring the Incoming Data Filter Rate for Data Sources
Configuring Data Options for Atom and RSS Feeds
To configure data options for Atom and RSS feeds, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected Atom Feed or RSS Feed data source.
Step 2 In the Data configuration section, set one or more of the following options (Figure 15):
Figure 15 Data Configuration Options for Atom and RSS Feeds
a. Number of messages keep—Number of messages to keep from the feed. The default is 5.
Tip If planning to use images from the feed for the PicToScreen component in the Widgets tool, then a maximum of 5 images can be displayed. It is recommended that the number of messages to keep is 5 for images.
b. Data polling interval—Number (in seconds) for the frequency to poll data from the source feed. The default is 60.
Tip 60 seconds is the recommended polling interval for images. Consider a longer interval for text feeds.
c. Cache period—Amount of time (in minutes) to retain polled data. The default is 30.
What To Do Next
Configure the image size as needed for the Atom or RSS feed data source. For more information, see the "Configuring the Image Display Size for Atom and RSS Feeds" section.
Configuring Data Options for NFL Cumulative Statistics
To configure data options for NFL cumulative statistics, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected GSIS: NFL, Cumulative Statistics data source.
Step 2 In the Data polling, filtering, and throttling section, set one or more of the following options (Figure 16):
Figure 16 NFL Cumulative Statistics Data Configuration Options
•File name—Name of the cumulative statistics file on the SIAB server. The default is GSISGameStats.xml.
•Wait to read data from source (FTP polling interval)—Number (in milliseconds) that specifies how often to retrieve data from the SIAB server. The is 60.
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Enable the data source. For more information, see the "Enabling the Data Source Configuration" section.
Configuring the Incoming Data Filter Rate for Data Sources
Note This data option is available for the GSIS NFL clock, Daktronics, and OES scoreboard data sources.
To configure the incoming data filter rate for data sources, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected NFL clock or scoreboard controller data source.
Step 2 In the Incoming data filter rate box, specify the number (in seconds) that specifies the amount of time to ignore duplicate data and process only new data (Figure 18). The default is 20.
Figure 17 Incoming Data Filter Rate Option
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Enable the data source. For more information, see the "Enabling the Data Source Configuration" section.
Configuring the Image Display Size for Atom and RSS Feeds
Image dimensions are retained from the original source unless you change the image display size options from the default values of width 0 and height 0. If you specify the image width and height, then the source images from that data feed will be resized.
To configure the image display size, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Configuration screen for the selected data source type.
Step 2 In the Image display section, set one or more of the following options using the spinner control:
a. In the Width box, select the horizontal dimension of the image (in pixels).
b. In the Height box, select the vertical dimension of the image (in pixels).
Step 3 Click Save.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 4 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
What To Do Next
Select the input statistics that you want to map for output display. For more information, see the "Selecting Input Statistics and Mapping to Output Fields for Display" section.
Providing Sample XML Data for Generic Data Sources
Note This task is only required when you are configuring a Generic Data Source.
Prerequisites
Before you begin this task, obtain a sample of your XML file and groom it to remove any repeating elements to streamline the processing and avoid reaching limits on the size of the file that can be used in the Data Integration interface. This sample will be used to "train" the system on the content to be expected from the configured generic data source.
Procedure
To provide sample XML data for generic data sources, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Field Mapping screen for the selected generic data source.
Step 2 Click the pencil icon (Figure 18).
Figure 18 Update Sample Data for Generic Data Source Field Mapping
Step 3 In the Sample data panel, paste the representative XML code from your sample file and click the Save icon.
Figure 19 shows an excerpt of XML code from a source for BATS Exchange data.
Figure 19 Paste XML into Sample Data Panel
The input fields with sample data from the saved XML source that you pasted are shown in the Field Mapping screen. You can expand the fields to show more data elements (Figure 20).
Figure 20 Paste XML into Sample Data Panel
What To Do Next
Select the input statistics that you want to map for output display. For more information, see the "Selecting Input Statistics and Mapping to Output Fields for Display" section.
Selecting Input Statistics and Mapping to Output Fields for Display
To select input statistics and map to output fields for display, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Go to the Field Mapping screen for the selected data source.
Step 2 To view the available statistics, click the arrow beside the data file name to expand the list.
The Sample Data column displays a representative value for each statistic.
Step 3 With your mouse, select a statistic and drag-and-drop it to the Output Fields panel on the right.
The Add Output field dialog box is displayed.
Step 4 Modify the Output field name or other mapping options as needed.
For more information, see the "Modifying the Output Format of a Statistic" section.
Step 5 Continue to select and add statistics to the Output fields panel.
Step 6 Click Save.
What To Do Next
Enable the data source. For more information, see the "Enabling the Data Source Configuration" section.
Enabling the Data Source Configuration
By default, external data collection and configuration is disabled. Once you have completed your configuration, you must both enable the data source and save the configuration to allow collection of the data.
Disabled data sources are indicated by a gray checkmark in the Enabled column of the corresponding data source name. When a data source is enabled, the checkmark turns green.
Note Real-time data collection from the SIAB server will not begin until the External Content Integration application has been both enabled and restarted in Cisco StadiumVision Director. For more information, see the "Activating External Content Integration System-Wide From the Management Dashboard" section on page 28 and "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
To enable the data source configuration, complete the following steps:
Step 1 In the left pane, select the data source.
Step 2 Click Deploy.
A message box appears asking you to restart the application.
Step 3 If you have completed all of the changes that you want to make on the Configuration tab, restart the application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
Note To disable a data source configuration, repeat this task but click Undeploy at Step 2.
Activating External Content Integration System-Wide From the Management Dashboard
By default, External Content Integration is disabled system-wide in Cisco StadiumVision Director. After you have saved and enabled your data source configuration, you must activate the application and restart it from the Management Dashboard before data collection can begin.
The External Content Integration application must only be activated once to deploy it in the Cisco StadiumVision Director server. Once the External Content Integration application has been activated in the system, then any time the configuration has been changed, the application only must be restarted.
To activate External Content Integration system-wide, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Log into Cisco StadiumVision Director as an administrator.
Step 2 From the Cisco StadiumVision Director main menu, click Management Dashboard.
Step 3 Using the Management Dashboard drawers, go to Tools > Settings > External Content Integration.
Step 4 Select Activate Application.
Step 5 Click the Play button.
Step 6 When the confirmation message box appears, click Ok to run the command.
Step 7 To verify the application activation, look for the success message in the log display area of the screen.
Step 8 After the processing has completed, select Restart Application.
For more information, see the "Restarting the External Content Integration Application" section on page 29.
Restarting the External Content Integration Application
Any time that you have made a change to the External Content Integration settings on the Configuration tab for external data sources, you must restart the application from the Cisco StadiumVision Director Management Dashboard.
When you save the configuration, a message is displayed as a reminder to restart:
Note Changes to the data source field mapping only need to be saved, but the application does not have to be restarted. However, if for some reason you did not do a restart of the application after making changes in the Configuration tab before going on to save changes in Field mapping, then you also will see this message about the required restart at the time you save the Field mapping.
To restart the External Content Integration Application, complete the following steps:
Step 1 Log into Cisco StadiumVision Director as an administrator.
Step 2 From the Cisco StadiumVision Director main menu, click Management Dashboard.
Step 3 Using the Management Dashboard drawers, go to Tools > Settings > External Content Integration.
Step 4 Select Restart Application.
Step 5 Click the Play button to run the command.
Step 6 When the confirmation message box appears, click Ok to run the command.
Step 7 To verify the application activation, look for the success message in the log display area of the screen.
Verifying the Integration
This section includes the following topics:
•Verifying Receipt of Real-Time Data
•Verifying the Integration Broker Service Status
Verifying Receipt of Real-Time Data
Assuming that your network connection to the external data source is available and you have enabled the data source, real-time data is collected after you both activate and restart the application in the Management Dashboard.
To verify the receipt of real-time data, complete the following steps:
Step 1 From the Data Integration interface, select the data source that you want to verify.
Step 2 Click Field mapping.
Step 3 In the Output field panel, select the link in the Data preview column.
Figure 21 shows selection of a Mozes RSS feed with two image items available for data preview from the active feed.
Figure 21 Data Preview Example
After you click the link, a Preview window opens displaying the live data from your feed.
Figure 22 shows an example of the images along with their corresponding URLs that are displayed in the preview window.
Tip Use the scroll bar to see all of the available preview data.
Figure 22 Image Preview of Active RSS Feed
Step 4 Click x to close the window.
Verifying the Integration Broker Service Status
To verify the integration broker service status, complete the following steps:
Step 1 From the Management Dashboard, go to the Service Alerts pane in the bottom right corner.
Step 2 Navigate to find the Integration Broker service name and observe its status icon.
When the icon is green, the External Content Integration service is successfully activated.