Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
This document contains information that is proprietary to OpenTV, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is prohibited.
Patents
OpenTVs software and services are protected by and/or access, perform, or enable methods and systems protected by one or more patents and/or patent applications in the U.S. and other countries.
Trademarks
OpenTV, the OpenTV logo, OpenTV Core middleware, and OpenTV PVR 2.0 are service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of OpenTV, Inc. in the United States of America and other countries. This is not an exhaustive list. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Solaris, Java, and the Java logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Adobe, Acrobat, PostScript and Display Postscript are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Warranty disclaimer
THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT. THIS PUBLICATION COULD INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN; THESE CHANGES MAY BE INCORPORATED IN NEW EDITIONS OF THE PUBLICATION. OPENTV AND/OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE PRODUCT(S) AND/OR THE PROGRAM(S) DESCRIBED IN THIS PUBLICATION AT ANY TIME.
2 of 21
Table of Contents
1. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................................... 4 IPTV OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 WHAT IS IPTV?........................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 IPTV MARKET TRENDS................................................................................................................................ 5 2.3 FIRST GENERATION IPTV ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.4 NEXT GENERATION IPTV............................................................................................................................. 7 THE VALUE OF MIDDLEWARE ...................................................................................................................... 9 OPENTV IPTV MIDDLEWARE ....................................................................................................................... 10 4.1 OPENTV DIGITAL TV SOLUTIONS ............................................................................................................... 10 4.2 OPENTV CORE MIDDLEWARE .................................................................................................................... 11 4.3 OPENTV CORE FOR IPTV ......................................................................................................................... 13 4.4 OPENTV ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS FOR IPTV.............................................................................................. 14 OPENTV IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR CABLE OPERATORS............................................................................. 16 5.1 TRADITIONAL QAM CABLE DEPLOYMENTS WITH OPENTV ........................................................................... 16 5.2 OPENTV HYBRID IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR CABLE OPERATORS ...................................................................... 16 5.3 WHY CONSIDER IPTV? ............................................................................................................................. 17 OPENTV IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR SATELLITE OPERATORS...................................................................... 18 6.1 TRADITIONAL QPSK SATELLITE DEPLOYMENTS WITH OPENTV.................................................................... 18 6.2 OPENTV HYBRID IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR SATELLITE OPERATORS................................................................. 18 6.3 WHY CONSIDER IPTV? ............................................................................................................................. 18 OPENTV IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR TELECOM OPERATORS........................................................................ 19 7.1 TRADITIONAL TELCO TV (IPTV) DEPLOYMENTS WITH OPENTV ................................................................... 19 7.2 OPENTV HYBRID IPTV SOLUTIONS FOR TELECOM OPERATORS .................................................................. 20 7.3 WHY CONSIDER IPTV? ............................................................................................................................. 20 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................................... 21
3. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
3 of 21
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a fast growing digital TV delivery technology that enables cable, satellite and telecommunication providers to launch PayTV services either on their own or in partnership with other operators to create hybrid IPTV solutions. Factors driving the increased interest in IPTV solutions include telecommunication companies facing increased competition, from both other Telcos and from digital cable operators who are offering triple-play services of voice, video and data. Cable companies are exploring the opportunity to partner with Telcos or even lease lines from Telcos allowing them to expand their services beyond the reach of their existing cable infrastructure. Satellite operators are also exploring relationships with Telcos to leverage high speed DSL services to enable two-way services for their consumers. All of these initiatives are driving these companies to adopt technology that is suited for the delivery of television, voice, and data over their existing infrastructure or hybrid models in offering the most compelling service bundle to their consumers. OpenTV has developed a standards-based IPTV solution that implements IPTV using a mature, proven, embedded STB middleware platform used today by most of the leading suppliers of STB technology. Our solution empowers cable, satellite and telcos to deliver stand-alone and hybrid IPTV solutions that best fit their business needs.
4 of 21
2. IPTV OVERVIEW
2.1 What is IPTV?
It is important to first define what is meant by IPTV and how it differs from to traditional video streaming over the Internet. IPTV is the delivery of traditional PayTV services, including broadcast television, payper-view, VOD, PVR, interactive TV and applications over a closed, two-way broadband IP network to an IP enabled set-top box. With IPTV, the network operator (cable, satellite, telco or DTT) controls the user experience, the programming and applications delivered, and the quality of service (QOS) of the broadband IP pipe to the subscriber, whether xDSL or cable modem. IPTV includes support for both standard and high definition television (HDTV) and is not necessarily tied to any particular video format (e.g. MPEG-2 or MPEG-4). What IPTV is not, is about allowing any content provider to stream live, full-screen broadcast video over the Internet directly to subscribers without network operator control since no end-to-end QOS can be guaranteed. IPTV does not preclude these services, or services such downloadable movies by third-parties over the Internet (e.g. MovieLink) but the expectation from consumers when subscribing to IPTV is a digital television service that is as reliable or more reliable than todays cable, satellite or DTT services.
2.2
5 of 21
The Growth of the Home Network and Connected Devices In addition to the continuing decline in cost for set-top boxes, cheaper PCs, home networking equipment such as WIFI routers and consumer electronic devices such as digital cameras and portable media players has led to an increased demand from consumers to connect these devices so that media is accessible ondemand and on devices and times that are most convenient to the user. This growth when combined with IPTV helps build the backbone needed by operators to deliver PayTV and other triple play services to consumers. The Reemergence of the Triple-Play Competitive pressure among cable, satellite and telecom operators when combined with lower equipment costs and home networking is bringing new importance to the bundling of voice, video and data services in a way that is relevant to subscribers. Network operators need to deliver these bundled services with a common infrastructure (i.e. OSS/BSS) and a common user experience in order to maximize revenue and maintain customer loyalty. Improvements in Bandwidth Efficiency with Next Generation Media Formats The advancements in broadband penetration and declining equipment costs have been further enhanced by improvements in media compression from traditional MPEG-2 to newer, more bandwidth efficient formats including AVC (aka MPEG4-10, H.264) and VC1 (aka VC9, WM9) formats. These new compression techniques can offer operators up to a 3 to 1 compression advantage over MPEG-2, allowing content to be delivered to consumers more cost effectively. Hardware solutions that support real-time MPEG4 encoding are already available from companies such as TANDBERG Television and Harmonic, as well as set-top boxes that support hardware decoding of these new media formats, creating the economic conditions necessary for IPTV delivery of both standard and high-definition TV programming. Regulatory Changes Force Broadband Competition Regulation has also played an important role in building an economic base for the IPTV markets. In many markets, regulators have forced ILECs to un-bundle the local loop and have regulated access to the cabinets in the local exchange as well as control over leased lines. These policies have allowed third parties to compete with ILECs in offering price competitive broadband access services.
2.3
6 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper Poor User Experience The reliance of HTML and a round-trip communication significantly slows the user experience for applications that are user interaction intensive, such as the EPG, not allowing operators to deliver PayTV services that are competitive with todays cable and satellite TV services. Increased Network Traffic Valuable bandwidth needed for supporting multiple set-tops within the home is used inefficiently by sending content and information (e.g. EPG data) to set-tops on demand rather than broadcast to all set-tops. Fewer Application Types The reliance on browser technology on the set-top limits the types of applications that can be delivered to consumers. Games or communication applications can not be developed in a way that is compelling and TV-like, limiting subscriber satisfaction and revenue opportunities. Increased Single Points of Failure The reliance on multiple servers, including firewalls, firewalls, load balancers, web servers and application servers for delivering basic video programming does not allow the set-top to continue to deliver PayTV services should equipment failure occur. Reliance on Proprietary Protocols The reliance on proprietary technologies and protocols for delivering PayTV services (e.g. signaling, EPG data, channel surfing, and VOD session management via HML/JavaScript extensions) limits operator choice when sourcing IPTV vendors as its service grows.
2.4
7 of 21
DVB for signaling and EPG data DVB for encapsulation of SPTS into IP multicast DVB for encapsulation of MPEG 4 into MPEG transport RTSP and DSM-CC for VOD session control DDE-T for TV extensions to HTML, MHP for TV extensions to Java
Through use of existing industry standards, network operators can leverage existing proven suppliers of digital television software, hardware and technology, including conditional access and encoding systems to provide reliable and cost-effective digital TV services. Furthermore, next generation IPTV solutions based on smart clients help reduce the size of server farms and network traffic.
8 of 21
9 of 21
OpenTV is the largest supplier of middleware for advanced digital television services in the world, powering the worlds leading cable, satellite and digital terrestrial deployments across 96 countries worldwide. OpenTV provides a complete suite of software, services, and tools designed to help network operators deliver compelling digital TV service offerings and experiences. Advanced Digital Television Open TV set-top and enterprise middleware enables operators to deliver a broad range of advanced digital television services driven by fast and comprehensive electronic program guides, including broadcast television (e.g. tiered program packages, pay-per-view), on-demand television (NVOD and VOD), multituner and multi-room PVR, network PVR, standard and high-definition television, interactive television (tcommerce, games) and enhanced television (multi-camera angle and mosaics) applications. The advanced features provided by OpenTV middleware are modular in order to meet the capacity and functionality of a variety of set-top boxes deployed on an operators digital TV network.
10 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper Participation Television Todays digital TV networks offer programmers and advertisers new ways to reach viewers, moving beyond simple interactive TV to campaign-based participation television across multiple devices. OpenTVs new participation television solution helps programmers increase revenue and viewer loyalty by reaching out through active and engaging viewer participation events. Events including live competitions, quizzes, auctions, voting, sales and charity events can be delivered as managed campaigns to viewers participating by phone, mobile phone, PC and participation-enabled televisions. OpenTVs solution provides the right marketing and CRM tools to help you maximize viewer loyalty and retention and long-term relationships with viewers. Advanced Advertising OpenTVs advanced advertising solutions help provide operators, programmers, and advertisers the ability to deliver the more engaging, relevant, and valuable advertising and promotions to consumers in the new on-demand world. OpenTV advanced advertising solutions include interactivity, addressability, ad telescoping and audience measurement. Through interactivity network operators can enhance promotion of their TV services, programmers to differentiate their programming, and advertisers to maximize impact to their target audiences. OpenTV addressable advertising solutions include targeting video, audio, or still image advertisements at the headend or node to groups of subscribers or down to the set-top box to individual households or rooms within the home. OpenTV provides the ability to deliver more effective promotion and advertising through support for ad telescoping at the set-top level. With telescoping, once viewers are presented with relevant promotion, they can drill down to richer experience including long form ads and video catalogues. And finally, OpenTV provides sophisticated tools for audience measurement and tracking, including customer usage of broadcast and on-demand programming, ad viewing, and interactive television and application interactions.
4.2
11 of 21
In addition to a number of customizable Electronic Programming Guides (EPG) solutions OpenTV has an extensive library of applications and games readily available for your IPTV deployment that will enhance a viewers' television experience. OpenTV also partners with industry leading digital TV solutions providers to deliver services like Video on Demand (VOD), Conditional Access (CA) and Personal Video Recording (PVR). OpenTV also boasts an independent developers program with over 1500 developers who provide hundreds of iTV services deployed. Interactivity adds dimension to television, turning viewers into participants - changing passive impressions into active experiences. OpenTV's experience enables operators to easily capitalize on the revenue-generating opportunities that interactive television offers through extended advertising, subscription dollars and merchandise sales. OpenTV Core 2.0 OpenTV Core 2.0 is the latest release of OpenTV Core middleware based on OpenTVs Multi-Pipe Mass Storage (MPMS) architecture. Multiple pipelines provide advanced features that will allow routing of streams from multiple sources to different destinations. OpenTV Core 2.0 is also the foundation for the advanced OpenTV PVR Package 2.0 which provides the ability to enable advanced PVR functionality. OpenTV Core 2.0 features also include multiple stream support, making it possible to access all streams that are broadcasted, including streams of the same type. Concurrent pipeline operations enables recording of a live broadcast program while playing back the same file to multiple displays or playing a live broadcast program and a previously recorded program concurrently. OpenTV Core 2.0 also supports dynamic pipeline definition to support new stream types, new sources and new destinations (e.g. Firewire, DVD and External Hard Disk Drives). An IEEE-1394 interface can be used to connect different types of devices (such as external terrestrial tuner or DVD player). OpenTV Core 2.0 allows dynamic pipeline creation and configuration.
12 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper Advanced PVR Support OpenTV PVR 2.0 is an additional, optional, solution package built upon OpenTV Core 2.0 which provides the underlying set-top box software required for a network operator or consumer electronics manufacturer to create a complete PVR / DVR solution. OpenTV PVR 2.0 supports a review buffer where viewed video is recorded to disk enabling viewers to pause live TV or to instantly rewind through recently viewed programming. OpenTV PVR 2.0 provides APIs through which a 3rd party Interactive / Electronic Program Guides (EPG) can request and book future events to be recorded. Events to be recorded can be specified using date and time or standard event identifiers. Recorded events can be played back from disk and fast forward and rewind (trick modes) are supported and take advantage of special chip set support for smooth fast forward and rewind at low rates (e.g. x2). With a 2 tuner set-top box OpenTV PVR 2.0 supports recording of one event while another is being viewed with full review buffer capabilities or recording of two events while a previously recorded event is viewed. OpenTV PVR 2.0 can also record multiple audio/video streams within a single service and then allow selection of a particular stream at playback. OpenTV PVR 2.0 can also record and playback non-audio/video streams enabling features such as subtitling / close caption to be preserved within both recorded content and content accessed through the review buffer. OpenTV Home Networking The OpenTV Home Networking Extension is a fully integrated component of OpenTV Core 2.0 multi-pipe architecture, providing home networking capabilities with any other functionality of OpenTV Core, including OpenTV PVR (to enable PVR capabilities on any PayTV receiver with or without local disk - in the home network), OpenTV VOD client (to enable VOD on any PayTV receiver in the home network), or OpenTV IPTV (to provide broadband capabilities to any PayTV receiver in the home network).The extent and limitations of these features will be dependent on the hardware that the OpenTV middleware will be running on.
4.3
Extending the Broadcast Model to IP Networks OpenTVs IPTV solution reuses existing broadcast
Copyright 2005 OpenTV, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper Common Backend Infrastructure and Set-top Platform For operators who have already deployed Digital TV services on infrastructure other than IPTV, the OpenTV IPTV network design maximizes sharing of infrastructure between the legacy and the IPTV sections of the network. For example, here is a high-level network diagram for a cable network combining a legacy HFC infrastructure with OpenTV next generation IPTV infrastructure. Because OpenTV IPTV network design uses common similar transport and signaling protocols between legacy and IPTV networks, network operators can build head-ends that support both portions of their networks. MPEG / DVB SI tables (including CA data) can be automatically translated to DVB IPI formats and injected into the IPTV network either through multicast or unicast. Common Content Models OpenTVs IPTV solution is capable of providing operators with TV Portals (driven by one of the most widely deployed, standards based, embedded HTML browsers) that are consistent and share back-ends with currently deployed PC portal. Applications which offer automated provisioning and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services like Customer Care will reduce the need for costly human intervention and tie into legacy Telco back-office solutions. These applications can also be used to promote cross service promotions like signing up for Broadband or Premium Voice services directly from the TV and provide targeted advertising with built-in measurement and reporting.
4.4
14 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper In addition to set-top middleware, OpenTV Enterprise Server products provide operators the ability to optionally deliver and manage components of todays advanced digital television deployments, including servers for streaming interactive applications, t-commerce support services (e.g. ewallet), notification services (e.g. caller ID and network operator messages to subscribers), audience measurement and addressable advertising, and EPG guide data delivery in a manner that is bandwidth efficient.
15 of 21
5.1
5.2
Remux
QAM Modulator
Cable STB
Cable Controller
VOD Server
MPEG2 Decoders
MPEG4 Encoders
DSLAM
IPTV STB
IPTV Controller
16 of 21
OpenTV Home Networking White Paper White Paper In addition to xDSL deployments, OpenTV also supports the use of DOCSIS connectivity for IPTV delivery of content and services giving operators the option of converting to IP-based delivery in the future.
5.3
17 of 21
6.1
6.2
6.3
18 of 21
7.1
19 of 21
7.2
7.3
20 of 21
8. SUMMARY
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a fast growing digital TV delivery technology that enables cable, satellite and telecommunication providers to launch PayTV services either on their own or in partnership with other operators to create hybrid IPTV solutions. OpenTVs IPTV solution is ideally suited to provide cable operators the flexibility to expand their existing network via IPTV cost-effectively, give satellite operators new options for using IPTV to remain competitive in the triple-play environment, and telecom operators the ability to enter the existing digital TV services market with a competitive end-to-end IPTV solution from a proven leader in digital TV middleware, OpenTV.
21 of 21