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The next generation in interactivity: intelligent STBs

The need to properly choose the Set Top Boxes -STB- as a key element in the new interactive digital network used in the ITV is fundamental.

Interactivity is creating a new model of television. The way users access services and the degree of participation and control are decisive factors. The transition from analog to digital opened up countless possibilities for new businesses where the central point is the consumer; through interactive television (ITV) the possibility of choosing, the aspects of security, privacy, familiarity and relevance in the contents, are components that determine the arrival of new consumers and the generation of additional resources. However, providers of access to this television must take into account infrastructure factors that allow them to offer the new range of services; every design decision an operator makes today determines the services that will be offered to the subscriber tomorrow.

The need to properly choose the Set Top Boxes -STB- as a key element in the new interactive digital network used in the ITV is fundamental. Although it is not the only element that must be evaluated, its importance lies in the direct interaction with the subscriber; the ease and speed of access, a friendly interface and the possibility of updating the software. Among others, these are elements that should be discussed. The capacity of the STB determines to some extent the possibility of new services.

Three types of STBs supported in ITV:

• Analogs: The first generation of STBs that received analog signals, decrypted and reproduced them. These devices had limitations in receiving and displaying coded channels. The latest generation of these STBs allowed electronic data services, which were encoded with TV signals and sent by the same band, allowing virtual channels or EPG (Electronic Program Guide).

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• Digital: They were developed in order to provide DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) services without cable access. These systems were based on data streams encoded using compression and transmission standards given by ISO or MPEG. They offered basically the same services as analogues but with greater channel capacity, better signal quality and more data transmitted.

• Interactive digital: Unlike the previous ones, these devices assign a path back to the network, allowing users to request digital services such as VOD from the headend; they also allow the transmission of both input and output data, giving way to interactive services such as electronic purchases.

Smart STB

The birth of the digital age brought with it interactive services that demanded great bandwidth for their transmission and the development of these specialized services required security features that the first STBs did not possess. At that time, the concept of Intelligent STB emerged, which would allow access to personalized services, improvements in basic security features and control in access to content for specific segments of users. For network access providers, new business models should be created that would allow for the generation of additional revenue and, among other possibilities, high-impact advertising and complementary services such as the internet.

The intelligent STB required the development of standards and systems that would target content to multiple markets, support applications that interact with the user, respond in real time to content loaded with audio and video, and finally, respond to consumer expectations. The concept of hardware and software in the STB changed completely; the former should support analog and digital transmission and incorporate enough memory and processing power to allow for low costs. The software would be supported by an operating system that took full advantage of the hardware maximizing resources and allowing the updating of the device and services, parallel to the development of the market. The data optimization and filtering features developed by the software provide elements that strengthen the concept of intelligence, diagram 1 shows components of the hardware where such activities are developed. Some features can be seen below:

Software components:

Conditional Access (CA): It is a system created to protect networks from signal theft. The CA allows you to limit the receipt of services or access to confidential information through authentication and encryption systems. Generally, STBs use RSA or Cylink data security protocols which allow two methods of encrypting information:

  1. Secret key: it is a system that uses the same key both to encode and to decode content, storing this key both in the STB and in the network, this means that the key must be transported to the provider creating the possibility of it being decrypted by third parties.
  2. Public/private key: is a mathematical system that creates key pairs to encode and decode. The public key only encrypts and the private key decodes. Storage is done on the network and access is allowed only to providers, the security risk decreases in this case.
  3. Control Word Generator: Uses an internal algorithm to generate control words that will be the keys to encode and decode the material.
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The CA allows to give control to the user through key protection, limitation in time of use or control of access to specific content. For the operator, it offers segmented programming, advertising and promotions by area, market segments or personal interests of users. The CA allows you to control the use of services, create a record of the activities developed both in the network and in the STB and create programming packages that are modified and transmitted with as many possibilities of customization of the same are presented. The CA is the basis of the so-called intelligence of the STB, it has the most important functions of control and segmentation, and in it the necessary reports are generated to define parameters of tastes in consumers and statistics of audience and advertising.

Operating System: allows the platform to work and communicate with the network, interacts with file servers and applications, understands and interprets Internet standards and languages and manipulates the flow of content. It is the meeting point for applications and physical drives.

Integrated event system: designed to optimize memory and processing speed. The system simplifies processes and reduces memory requirements since it has predetermined elements that speed up the identification of contents; In this way it allows high-speed transmissions, it is complemented by the Memory Manager that assigns an efficient scheme of operation and improves the use of its resources.

2D Imaging System: provides a simple set of graphics for viewing existing applications. It also allows full use of graphics accelerator units, as they specialize in complex objects that are immediately detected.

Font system: supports images in bitmaps, fonts without spaces and aliases in a variety of styles, also allows applications for fonts with special requirements to be added automatically.

Signal identifier: allows to optimize the transmission for large bandwidths. It identifies and separates the type of received signal (analog or digital) using filters, and then sends it directly to the appropriate hardware module. The filters also collect information within the content that meets the parameters given by the user, thus initiating the selection of personalized programming.

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TV Manager: provides a logical channel tuning interface that allows developers to predetermine the use or display of channels, supports CA and closed-caption.

Session Manager: Establishes, maintains and monitors sessions between the STB and the provider. Use a secure network stack to negotiate signal or content requirements. For this, each STB is assigned a single IP address.

Storage Manager: Allows applications to allocate storage spaces to maintain user-specific data. This software manipulates the data required within the session saved in the cache memory, as well as temporary information to streamline processes, automatically removing unused information from the system. It also offers compression features to minimize the use of space.

Media players: attracts playback of media such as MPEG audio or video, time-based actions such as animations or external devices such as DVD players, synchronizing the application of sequence of actions that allows simultaneous playback of different types of media. This action is performed through system control clocks.

The technological advance in the STB will allow these devices to reduce some limitations of the network and centralize functions within their architecture, the offloading of server operations to the STBs streamlines the flow of content in the network and allows greater efficiency in the provision of other services. The STB will be smarter as its ability to search, select, view and store content develops. The creation of consumption patterns and the possibility of developing efficient models of advertising and segmentation will depend on the data that the STB can generate and transmit to the network. The creation of new options to offer both users and service providers, content and advertisers, will also depend on the added value that can be added to existing services. The key to the next advances will be greatly subordinated to the creation of consumption parameters and full integration with the internet. The intelligence elements will continue to develop within the STBs providing solutions that are increasingly easy to use and update, leaving the rest of the network to find solutions to limitations such as access speed and transmission bandwidth.

More information at:

www.powertv.com

www.scientificatlanta.com

www.opentv.com

www.opencable.com

www.nds.com

www.motorola.com

www.philips.com

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