This IBM® Redpaper™ publication presents the Abstract Service Definition (ASD) for digital media. The ASD provides a flexible and extensible mechanism to access classes of media services independently from the particular implementation of each service at an appropriate level of abstraction. This mechanism allows the realization of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles and simplifies the orchestration. A core value proposition of SOA is to offer a way to assemble composite applications from a set of reusable components. This approach reduces integration and maintenance costs, and allows the business to define how composite applications should be assembled to best meet the challenges it faces.

The ASD defines the different classes of media services, such as Transcoder, Encoder, Transport (for data movement), Watermark, Repository (for digital asset management), Publish, and others.). The basic concept is that an ASD interface should be focused on function and provide a standardized media service interface across different media service providers with a common terminology (ontology) to enable ease of use and reduce the system integration complexity required to implement or change a media enabled SOA deployment. This Redpaper provides guidance to implementing an ASD compliant media service interface and a framework to enable ease-of-integration in an SOA solution.

Whether you are a media service provider or an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), a Solution Integrator, a CIO, or an IT executive in an organization, this paper will prove valuable to understanding and implementing ASD media services for the enablement of digital media processes (such as content ingestion, multi-channel distribution, and so on) in a Service Oriented Architecture.

Chapter 1. Abstract Service Definition overview

Chapter 2. Media service ASD classes

Chapter 3. Implementing an ASD-compliant adapter

Appendix A. Sample code for Transcoder ASD adapter

Appendix B. Media Abstract Service Definition: WSDL

Appendix C. IBM Media Hub Solution Framework

Appendix D. Additional material