The set top box (STB) or, more specifically, the next-generation digital IP-based STB is a keystone component for telecommunications service providers looking to expand and strengthen their position in the digital home by offering television programming. In truth, many consumers care much more about their television service than high-speed, broadband data service. For others, TV is right up there with voice as a household necessity.
But telecom service providers that are transforming themselves into complete digital service providers face some very real challenges when it comes to IPTV. Television service is simply a tough nut to crack. It's really tough to compete against free services and it's tough to supplant services that many consumers are fairly satisfied with. Still, IPTV delivered by next-generation STBs can give the traditional telco digital service providers a few weapons of their own, like interactivity, personalization, security, and differentiated content. That's why that killer next-generation IP STB is imperative.
Servicing the Digital Home
To strengthen customer loyalty and reduce churn, digital service providers want to become a one-stop-shop for all of the services in the digital home. A consumer desires convenience and is thus more likely to subscribe and to remain loyal to a complete digital service provider who can offer a blend or total package of services versus having to deal with a multiple of service providers. Today a consumer has to deal with cable companies, wired and wireless phone services and Internet service providers, all of which can be replaced by a single complete digital service provider.
Of course, that presents challenges for complete digital service providers. The plethora of digital devices, appliances and systems present in the digital home is seemingly expanding exponentially. High-definition TV sets, home theaters, portable media players, multimedia smartphones, network storage devices, personal video recorders, camcorders, digital still cameras and many other types of devices now vie with personal computers for the consumer's attention in the digital home. One study by TDG Research found that a typical networked home in the US had five digital devices on the network.
Many of these devices require connectivity with each other, which leads to home networking of one sort or another. Of course, to access content from outside of the house itself, these devices will have to have access to the Internet. This logic leads to the realization that the digital home will feature some sort of gateway system which will be the domain of the complete digital service provider. What the gateway will look like and how it will relate to next-generation STBs remains to be seen. Indeed, the next-generation STB at some point in the market's development may become the home's gateway system or it may remain a termination device connected to a full-service gateway. Or, both models may exist in the marketplace at the same time, serving different market segments. At this point though, the unanswered questions outnumber the certainties.
The Gumby Factor
Gumby, the claymaton character from the old Saturday morning cartoon series, could roll up in a ball, bounce around to avoid predicaments and emerge unscathed. That's the kind of resiliency, adaptability and flexibility needed in today's IP STB. The stakes are too high and the uncertainties too great to do otherwise. The market research firm In-Stat projected that worldwide sales of STBs would reach 16.9 million units or approximately two billion dollars in 2009 for a 1,000 percent increase over a five year period.
At its core, the STB must be based on an innovative, powerful and cost-effective hardware and software architecture because it will be surrounded by and interact with a very diverse set of technologies whose numbers and features seem to be constantly changing. The base components of the architecture of an IP STB must be flexible or the STB manufacturer will not be able to cope with the different combinations of operating systems, media compression technologies, middleware, browsers, conditional access, digital rights management (DRM), live encoders and video-on-demand technologies that are required by the different service providers and in different regions of the world.
This flexibility benefits complete digital service providers too. For example, if a new video compression technology needs to be deployed or a different video-on-demand server implemented, the complete digital service provider's STBs must be easily upgradable without huge new capital procurement or costly investment of labor. Flexible, programmable architecture permits this which can be seen in the illustration below.
Coming soon: My TV!
With a powerful and innovative hardware architecture as well as an adaptable, scalable and flexible software structure, next-generation IP STBs can give complete digital service providers the type of platform to support a host of new services and applications that will attract a substantial and loyal customer base.
A prime example of just how compelling IPTV can become is its potential for personalization. The total content offered over IPTV will certainly expand considerably as the marketplace continues to mature. And IP STBs that leverage the flexibility of a programmable architecture will open the door for television channels and services customized to each viewer's tastes and preferences. Indeed, programming and advertising could be customized demographically for each member of the household. As an example we see so-called micro-market content such as that provided by video blogs and PodCasts which feature personally produced audio, video and still images continue to increase in popularity. These applications clearly illustrate the potential for finely tuned IPTV content that could be delivered upon request of each individual. Other examples of narrowly-defined differentiated content include international or multilingual channels, new formats like HDTV, exclusive sporting events or movies, and repackaged content.
Other symptoms of this drive toward the use of personalized TV content are the increasing deployment of personal video recorders (PVR) which are capable of capturing only the programming the viewer is interested in and video-on-demand applications where users can pick and choose the content they want to view.
The ability of IPTV to support interactive programming is another factor that will differentiate the content provided by next-generation IP STBs from competitive and incumbent services. Gaming, virtual storefronts and multimedia communications are some of the interactive possibilities. In fact, two-way, audio and video capabilities could be put to good use in a video phone or TV phone application, should consumer demand peak in this area.
Powerful Hardware
The applications required of the next-generation IP STB will be very demanding. Advanced semiconductor processes will be required to support the processing needs of those applications while higher levels of integration will be needed to maintain cost effectiveness. Hardware and software architectural partitioning is also important. Various audio-video encoders/decoders (codecs), graphics acceleration, communications and other types of services all require processing power of the STB. The box's performance can certainly be augmented by software-based media accelerators and other techniques. In addition, how the code is partitioned over multiple processing engines can optimize software performance by enabling a multithreaded environment where separate strands of software can be executed in parallel. For example, signal-processing tasks, like video decoding and other computationally-intense media tasks, could be targeted for a digital signal processing (DSP) engine while control and user interface subsystems run in parallel on a general-purpose microprocessor engine. Performance is improved in two ways: Parallel threads execute several tasks at once and assigning tasks to a processing engine best suited to the code type optimizes the execution of that code.
Scalability in the IP STB's architecture is also essential. Inevitably, service providers will roll out new service offerings. The STB's architecture must be able to scale upward as cost-effectively as possible. Geographic scalability is also needed for regional service providers who cross borders where governmental regulatory restrictions differ.
Of course, as the market for IPTV and next-generation IP STBs matures and the preferences of consumers are better understood, service providers will want to squeeze the cost out of the STBs they deploy. That means reducing bill-of-materials (BOM) costs by integrating as much of the functionality as possible into a few chips.
Adaptable Software
There is a wide range of software that runs on an IP STB and much of it is either still evolving or it is open for interpretation by vendors in the marketplace. STB manufacturers will want the flexibility to change software modules like browsers or middleware when Complete Digital Service Provider demand shifts in an unexpected direction. To retain this high level of flexibility, the STB must be supported by a complete software architecture, including application programming interfaces (APIs) designed specifically for IPTV applications and which facilitate rapid changes to software.
Key building blocks in the software architecture of an IP STB (Figure 1) are based on a host operating system running on the general-purpose processing engine and a real-time operating system (RTOS) running on the signal processing engine. A framework is used to facilitate communications between these processing engines.
Figure 1: Key building blocks in the software architecture of an IP STB
On top of the host OS is a browser which works with the Audio/Video (AV) media engine and also drives the graphical user interface (GUI) and makes it easy for the consumer to interact with the system and any services provided through it. Of course, several browsers of varying complexities are available from several vendors. In IP STBs software architecture there is a client middleware layer that operates alongside the browser. It takes advantage of the enhanced graphics capabilities and offers a more compelling user experience. This middleware is also used to coordinate access to the service provider's network. On the head end side, the middleware server is of particular importance to service providers since it is the central piece in the architecture and it has hooks into and works in conjunction with practically all of the other servers and software modules in the system.
On the DSP side, the signal processing engine has it's own RTOS and interfaces with the video rendering and playback software modules in the STB's AV media engine. An AV media is used to provide the link between the applications and the codec engine portion of the AV media engine.
Net Effects
Coincident with the proliferation of broadband Internet access and digital media appliances in the home has been a tremendous increase in the deployment of home networking technologies. Wireless local area networking (WLAN) has gained a significant presence, but the bandwidth demands of video applications will likely give rise to a layered approach for home networking, combining wireless and wired technologies within the same residence and even within the same room.
For next-generation IP STBs this means another level of adaptability and flexibility. On one side the STB will interface to a broadband pipe carrying video signals and on the other it will connect to the home's LAN. Each side of the equation has multiple variables. (Figure 2 )
Figure 2: Next Gen IP STBs must interface with Home LANs
The presence of networking technologies raises the question of network storage. Since the IPTV STB will be so intimately involved in video and entertainment applications, it makes sense that storage facilities like a hard disk drive (HDD) eventually would be integrated into next-generation STBs. Then the STB could store IPTV content and share it with other devices on the net, including PCs, television sets and other viewing devices.
Home networking also raises issues like the need for transcoding or transrating, and transcripting that might best be addressed in the home's STB. An example of transcoding/transrating might be the receiving MPEG2 video signals at say four megabits per second (Mbps) into the home and then transcoding them into an advanced compression format like WMV9 1.5 Mbps for more efficient distribution and storage over the home network. Transcripting is a technology that is used to maintain the security and to protect content that comes into the home. It involves converting the security measures implanted by the IPTV supplier's conditional access server to the digital rights management technologies typically used on home networks. The intent is to allow for portability of content by its owners while protecting the value of copyrights.
Complete Digital Service Providers
Digital service providers confront many challenges along many fronts, but IP STBs based on flexible and powerful hardware and software architectures are rising to the occasion. Serious questions, such as how service providers will cost-effectively manage, support and maintain their STBs as well as the many digital devices connected to them have yet to be answered clearly. Even so, technical solutions are available. What remains to be seen is which solutions will win out in the only place that matter, the real-world marketplace.
About
the Authors
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Ben Wagner oversees
worldwide IPTV and home gateway strategic marketing for TI's DSP
Systems (DSPS) organization and works closely with European Service
Providers to ensure TI develops solutions tailored to the new IPTV
applications and services being planned and deployed throughout Europe.
He develops worldwide relationships with key service providers, driving
long term roadmap directions and investment strategies. Prior to this
role, he served as the director of DSL marketing and business
development for TI's DSL Business Unit within the company's
Broadband Communications Group.
Previously Mr. Wagner was
vice president of marketing for TeleCentric, director of business
development for Westwave Communications and held several executive
management position posts at DSC Communications later acquired by
Alcatel. He has also held several management roles at Siemens USA,
Nortel and IBM Canada.
Mr. Wagner earned a
bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from McGill University in
Montreal, Canada. He is a Professional Engineer and a member of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He presently
serves as a Tri-Chair of the Dallas Metroplex Technology Business
Council (MTBC) business development committee.
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Charlie
Gonsalves serves as the Business Development Manager for Texas
Instruments' Streaming Media group responsible for generating new
business as well as driving the strategic direction and managing
relationships with customers and partners. In his previous roles at
TI, Gonsalves worked in strategic marketing for ADSL CPE chipsets in
the Broadband group and the Modem Business Manager within the DSP
organization. Prior joining TI 13 years ago, Gonsalves served as a
program manager at Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. Gonsalves holds a
bachelor's in electrical engineering from the University of Florida
and an MBA from Georgia State University.
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About Texas
Instruments
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Texas
Instruments provides customers low-power, high-density DSL
infrastructure solutions and the building blocks for a variety of DSL
CPE including bridges, routers, voice-enabled and 802.11-enabled
solutions for local loop deployments. Leveraging the company's history
of innovation in DSL technology development, interoperability testing,
customer support and manufacturing capabilities, TI enables customers to
meet the requirements of operators worldwide. TI's DSL business is part
of TI's comprehensive portfolio of broadband solutions including cable
modems, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, carrier
infrastructure, and home and office wireless networking. http://www.ti.com/dsl
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