Player software architecture

1. An apparatus comprising:

a media display configured to display content;

a processor;

a media player engine comprising first instructions executable by the processor to display content in accordance with check-in instructions and to output content display data;

a platform abstraction layer (PAL) comprising second instructions executable by the processor to discover configuration data related to hardware associated with the media display and to support a common set of platform application programming interfaces (APIs) according to the discovered hardware to be used by the media player engine to display the content on the media display in accordance with the check-in instructions;

a platform shim comprising third instructions executable by the processor to receive the check-in instructions from a content management system and translate the content display data from the media player engine to be used by the PAL for display of the content on the media display in accordance with the check-in instructions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the media player engine is agnostic to the hardware and an operating system of the media display.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the check-in instructions comprise layout rules regarding the content including zones of the content and exact locations of colors and images to be displayed the media display.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the configuration data comprises a list of devices and sensors in the media display, a type and size of memory, physical dimensions of the media display, a resolution of the media display, an amount of free memory available, an amount of free disk space available, or utilization of the processor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the PAL further comprises fourth instructions executable by the processor to provision the media display by collecting a unique identifier of the media display and communicating the unique identifier of the media display to the content management system.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the platform shim is further configured to send the configuration data to the content management system, and wherein the platform shim receives the check-in instructions in response to sending the configuration data to the content management system.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the platform shim is further configured to:

transmit heartbeat data to the content management system; and

receive heartbeat actions from the content management system based on the heartbeat data,

wherein the media player engine implements the heartbeat actions.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the heartbeat data indicates that the media display is working and includes a request for the heartbeat actions.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the heartbeat actions include requesting the check-in instructions from the content management system, downloading a scriptlet, rebooting the media display, or uploading logs to the content management system.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the media player engine is further configured to transmit second content to a second media display system, and wherein a second media player engine of the second media display system displays the second content.

11. A method comprising:

discovering, by a platform abstraction layer (PAL), configuration data related to hardware associated with a media display;

generating and supporting, by the platform abstraction layer, a common set of platform application programming interfaces (APIs) for displaying content on the media display according to the discovered hardware;

receiving, by a platform shim, check-in instructions from a content management system; and

causing, by a media player engine, the media display to display the content in accordance with the check-in instructions by using the common set of platform APIs generated by the PAL.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the media player engine is agnostic to the hardware and an operating system of the media display.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the check-in instructions comprise layout rules regarding the content including zones of the content and exact locations of colors and images to be displayed on the media display.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the configuration data comprises a list of devices and sensors in the media display, a type and size of memory, physical dimensions of the media display, a resolution of the media display, an amount of free memory available, an amount of free disk space available, or utilization of a processor.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising provisioning, by the PAL, the media display by collecting a unique identifier of the media display; and

communicating, by the PAL, the unique identifier of the media display to the content management system.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

sending, by the platform shim, the configuration data to the content management system; and

receiving, by the platform shim, the check-in instructions in response to sending the configuration data to the content management system.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

transmitting, by the platform shim, heartbeat data to the content management system; and

receiving, by the platform shim, heartbeat actions from the content management system based on the heartbeat data,

wherein the media player engine implements the heartbeat actions.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the heartbeat data indicates that the media display is working and includes a request for the heartbeat actions.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the heartbeat actions include requesting the check-in instructions from the content management system, downloading a scriptlet, rebooting the media display, or uploading logs to the content management system.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising transmitting second content to a second media display system, wherein a second media player engine of the second media display system displays the second content.