Gridcast: a grid and Web service broadcast infrastructure

The Gridcast project is pioneering the use of grid and Web technologies to prototype the next generation of broadcast media infrastructure. The project has a physical network infrastructure that connects BBC Northern Ireland, BBC R&D in London, the Belfast e-Science Centre and the emerging UK grid infrastructure. This physical network infrastructure is being used to test grid and Web services that manage a television broadcast infrastructure; that is, an infrastructure that manages a collection of broadcast schedules to be transmitted to viewers and that contains a mix of live and recorded video. Broadcasting is a highly demanding industry with high levels of reactivity and robustness required in its infrastructure - it is a significant test of current grid and Web technologies. The project has implemented schedule-based transport of recorded video between broadcast locations that assumes a highly reactive broadcasting environment, the remote, secure use of technical resources and the automation of broadcast and production workflows.