1. PREMIUM ENTERTAINMENT ON EVERY SCREEN
DTV.NAGRA.COM/OPENTV5
WHAT IS DRIVING THE UPTAKE
OF OPENTV 5 CONNECTWARE
2. OPENTV 5
IS NOT A MIDDLEWARE
IT’S A CONNECTWARE
CONNECTING DEVICES, CONNECTING SERVICES,
CONNECTING PEOPLE, CONNECTING PLACES,
CONNECTING EXPERIENCES, GET CONNECTED
3. 3
The OpenTV development team clearly understood
that the TV business was striving to have more
flexibility with respect to the software modules it
was deploying, and certainly a greater control of the
software products required to run complex connected
home solutions. In 2011, with all of these goals in mind,
NAGRA successfully built and launched OpenTV 5
HTML5 connectware; a software bundle that would
enable cloud-based services, swiftly deliver modern
user interfaces and innovative user experiences, allow
for an applications suite and enable faster development
cycles. OpenTV 5 has since deployed into several major
accounts across the globe.
NAGRA is proud to state that its OpenTV 5 connectware
philosophy and final product design has radically
redefined the television receiver software stack for
the new environment that is the Connected Home.
OpenTV 5 connectware continues to win acclaim and
was recently recognized as Best Technology and
Innovation at the International AFDESI Awards 2015.
Connectware, as its name suggests, ties together a
variety of standard television receiver requirements
and software innovations while using best practices
from the two markets in order to connect the hybrid
product of Internet and pay-TV seamlessly. OpenTV 5
connectware takes the advantage of the stability of
broadcast while adding the velocity of the Internet
delivering a more flexible set of tools that offer a wide
range of services, features, and functionality that
includes:
LiveTV, VOD, nVOD, Catch-Up, Start-Over, Follow-
Me, Throw & Fetch, Whole-Home services, games,
social TV, HTML5 applications and a whole host of
Connected Home services.
OpenTV 5 offers these ‘blended-or hybrid services’ via
exceptional and engaging user interfaces. The results
are that OpenTV 5 can deliver a full set of services,
features, and functionality that can satisfy consumers
so that you can concentrate on adding value to
increase ARPU, reduce churn and drive forward your
brand, thus underpinning your reputation as a leading
TV service provider.
OpenTV 5 HTML5 connectware is not just another middleware designed for television. NAGRA’s OpenTV team
created OpenTV 5 ‘connectware’ in order to accelerate the deployment of next-generation video products and
services into the fast-developing connected home and pay-TV market. OpenTV 5 was designed to offer pay-TV
service providers the availability to exploit today’s market-driven technologies, including the necessary open-
source packages required for deployment on a wide gamut of broadcast TV and TV Everywhere devices. There
were several goals that had to be achieved: fast porting to emerging chipsets, the ability to easily customize the
user interface, applications and user experience, and finally the robustness and stability of the deployed product.
WHAT IS DRIVING OPENTV 5
CONNECTWARE TAKE-UP?
REDUCE CHURN
INCREASE ARPU
Open
Flexible
Modular
4. 4
SPEED, FLEXIBILITY AND USABILITY
The television technology business does not move
as fast as the world of Internet technology, and that
is a fact! However, they are now without doubt true
bedfellows as the TV and IP markets fully converge.
This marriage has unearthed many technological
and business challenges as these two inherently
different worlds collide. With additional Web-based
technologies joining the fray such as cloud and the
Internet of Things (IoT) we enter a new era for the Smart
Home. Furthermore, new visual (4K/HDR) & audio
paradigms are adding more and more complexity.
OPENTV 5 CONNECTWARE HAS OVERCOME THE
SPEED CHALLENGES THAT HAVE HAMPERED
EMBEDDED RECEIVER SOFTWARE OF THE
PAST WITH A FLEXIBLE MODULAR APPROACH
THAT GIVES GREATER CONTROL TO THE PAY-TV
SERVICE PROVIDER.
5. 5
Through decades of technology advancements, both
positive and negative, NAGRA’s OpenTV team has
gained years of experience maintaining best practices
as the industry has evolved. Valuable lessons learned
meant that OpenTV 5 connectware was created using
a new-generation of packaged technologies that have
been fine-tuned to deliver outstanding performance
and capability.
The OpenTV family is a collection of software packages,
based on the same architecture. As developing and
integrating components takes time, the OpenTV 5
connectware can be delivered in multiple phases
and/or versions to different customers. However, the
same architecture is shared by all versions, some
implementing fewer of the packaged components.
OPEN SOURCE
In terms of implementation, the OpenTV 5 architecture
embraces Open Source initiatives, taking advantage
of mature projects that have become an industry
standard. At the same time, it relies on fundamental TV
components that have benefited from the longstanding
OpenTV experience. Finally, its modular architecture
makes it easy to integrate third-party components
when needed, or to extend it with custom made
components.
The goal is to allow easy removal or addition of the
modules, without affecting other components. The
architecture relies on Linux support for insulating
processes: connectware modules are implemented as
separate processes.
OpenTV 5
THE GOALS THAT DEFINED THE CORE ARCHITECTURE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
+ High portability
+ Modularity and extensibility
+ Ease of customization and quick to deploy
+ Robustness and security
6. 6
A FEW TV-CENTRIC DRIVERS…
Since the underlying solution is Linux-based, which
comes with a large number of standard drivers,
OpenTV 5 connectware requires only a few additional
drivers, specifically for TV-centric features, such as:
tuner, hardware demux, hardware video decoder,
hardware cryptography, front-panel (LEDs, etc.), box
ids, interface with manufacturer specific boot-loader
OpenTV architects chose to move most of the common
code into the middleware, reducing both the number of
drivers and their complexity. Since drivers are running
inside the kernel, in kernel space, their stability is critical
to the whole system. Obviously a smaller and simpler
driver code can only improve stability. Therefore,
each driver implements only one specific function,
and its interface is at the lowest level that allows good
performance (at user space/kernel-space interface).
The total number of additional, non-open-source
drivers is limited to less than 20 today. Most of those
driversaredependentonlyontheSoCspecification–all
STBs using the same chipset have the same hardware
de-multiplexers or hardware video decoders. Only
a few drivers may change from manufacturer to
manufacturer: typically the front panel, box driver,
providing unique box IDs, the boot-loader interface,
and often the tuner if it is not provided by the same
chipset vendor.
…AND EVEN FEWER MANUFACTURER SPECIFIC
DRIVERS
It is expected that around 75 percent of the TV-centric
drivers come directly from the chipset vendor, and
only 25 percent from manufacturers. This is important
because it allows the middleware to be ported quickly
on new STBs, as long as they use common chipsets.
The silicon vendors also rose to the challenge of new hybrid, visual and audio services. New silicon, software
and fabless techniques are evolving at an incredible rate so when implementing a new System-on-Chip (SoC)
there is always the risk that a product (CPE/STB) is obsolete before being shipped to market. Therefore,
portability of the receiver software onto emerging chipsets was a number one target for the OpenTV
engineering teams. As a result of an incredible amount of customization, it now takes around ten days to
integrate a device, having reduced the required drivers implicated from 100 to only 23.
THE CHALLENGE OF CHOOSING SILICON
– FAST PORTING REQUIREMENT
OpenTV 5 is ported to all major chipset vendors
Together we develop and maintain all the TV-Centric drivers.
Soc TV Centric
75%
STB Manufacturer
25%
7. 7
OpenTV 5 is ported to all major chipset vendors:
Together we develop and maintain all the
TV-centric drivers.
The limited number of drivers and their simplicity allows
us to implement a series of driver tests in native code.
Those tests (PITS = Porting Interface Test Suite) can be
used for chipset level validation and box (manufacturer)
validation. TV receivers (CPE/STBS & TVs) have
grown from simple channel zappers to differing-
levels of multi-purpose home media gateways. CPU
and Memory have grown in performance and storage
size respectively while STB/CPE devices have shrunk
in form-factor. Style and form also has a place in CE
devices destined for the home.
IT’S A CONNECTWARE
CONNECTING DEVICES, CONNECTING SERVICES,
CONNECTING PEOPLE, CONNECTING PLACES,
CONNECTING EXPERIENCES, GET CONNECTED
FAST
PORTING
FLEXIBILITY
OPEN
SOURCE
HYBRID
8. 8
From SD, HD and on to 4K, there has been a dramatic change in the Consumer Electronic market with the
introduction of devices that can offer multimedia capabilities. New technologies have emerged representing
another major TV upgrade cycle since the disaster that was 3D. The television screen real estate has grown
from 32” to 65” and above, bringing with it new challenges to any user interface and user experience team. It
is clearly evident that the user experience is going to play a major role in the pay-TV landscape of the future
and 4K and HDR are set to bring a cinematographic experience to the home.
As screens gets bigger and as the business continues
to grow, the pay-TV operator is poised to better exploit
monetization opportunities. Larger screens present
a host of new ways in which pay-TV operators can
promote a vast range of assets in order to keep the
consumer engaged and committed to their brand.
And because the user experience is at the heart of
television, OpenTV 5 connectware was designed to
allow the service provider to engage with our UEX
Studio through NAGRA’s UI/UEX Managed Services, or
use third-party UI-UEX companies that can implement
very engaging interfaces that encompass all the
use-cases for a fully connected home experience.
As one OpenTV 5 customer states: “Using OpenTV 5
connectware we get the Future TV home – TODAY.”
Further innovation from OpenTV 5 enables the mixing
and matching of many different devices with different
operating systems and different video capabilities into
a single connected home eco-system for an exemplary
customer Quality of Service (QoS) under NAGRA’s
JoinIn framework. There is also the consistent user
experience in terms of look and feel and functionality
across all the different devices which delivers a
seamless connected home experience that today’s
consumers expect.
UI/UEX: BECAUSE THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE MATTERS
9. 9
As 4K televisions continue to drop in price and increase in market penetration, pay-TV operators are beginning
to launch 4K services. Eager to avoid the loss of revenues that took place after the launch, and subsequent
piracy of HD content, studios are increasing their requirements on pay-TV operators for 4K content. These
requirements – both from MovieLabs and from the individual studios – significantly raise the bar for what
is expected from pay-TV operators who wish to secure content from initial delivery through managing the
storage and movement of content throughout the home network and onto a range of different devices.
OpenTV5 connectwaresupportsarichvarietyofdifferent
use cases for moving premium 4K content throughout
the home in a fully secure way using NAGRA anyCAST
content protection and DRM technologies. OpenTV 5
with NAGRA anyCAST offer complete protection of your
pay-TV system by meeting strict studio requirements
for a robust hardware root of trust (NOCS3), running in
secure execution environments, providing renewability
of protection schemes as well as advanced forensic
security services for tracking down and stopping pirates.
This ensures operators that they will be able to provide
their subscribers with the best possible user experience
with the best available content.
NAGRA is always working with its customers to achieve
the highest possible level of security for every use case
they want to deliver in order to satisfy content owner
demands. With this in mind, NAGRA has created the
JoinIn reference architecture for the connected home,
combining the world’s leading content protection
and DRM technologies with advanced big-screen and
multi-screen back-end and clients and open standards
to ensure that a cutting-edge service can be delivered
in order to remain one step ahead of the competition.
COMPLETE SECURITY – BECAUSE PIRACY
IS NOT GOOD FOR BUSINESS
THE TOTAL PROTECTION OF YOUR SYSTEM TO ENABLE
MONETIZATION OF PREMIUM CONTENT ON EVERY
SCREEN IN A COMPLEX CONNECTED HOME AND TV
EVERYWHERE ECO-SYSTEM.
11. 11
NAGRA was contracted by StarHub to deliver a next generation digital television solution that would allow for
both a smooth migration from the traditional broadcast cable environment to a full IP infrastructure, as well
as deliver a highly advanced, multi-services connected home solution to its customers. This project was seen
as delivering “The Future Home –TODAY”.
“CONSUMERS TODAY DEMAND A MORE RESPONSIVE AND INTERACTIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE FROM
THEIR PAY-TV PROVIDER, AND TO ADDRESS THIS WE NEEDED A SUPERIOR, NEXT GENERATION PLATFORM.
NAGRA’S OPENTV 5 PROVIDES A SEAMLESS AND MODERN USER INTERFACE ENABLING QUICK ACCESS
TO A VARIETY OF NEW INTERACTIVE SERVICES. IT ALSO GIVES US THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE
TO INNOVATE AND ACCELERATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF ADVANCED SERVICES TO OUR CUSTOMERS.”
Ms. Lin Shu Fen, Head of Entertainment & SmartLife, StarHub
THE CHALLENGE
12. 12
In order to meet StarHub’s requirements, NAGRA’s Connected Home solution was proposed. This comprised
of an important set of interconnected fully secured elements from set-top boxes to companion devices and
back-office components:
THE SOLUTION
PRINCIPAL DEVICE:
OpenTV 5 powered video gateway – Samsung is the
main CPE/STB provider, and the device is based on
the BCM 7425 chipset. The Video Gateway acts as
the central hub of the StarHub Connected Home and
the pivotal point for all content (live, PVR (500 GByte),
Whole Home PVR and VOD etc.). Furthermore, it
delivers Internet access to all devices via wired/
wireless connectivity enabling the following activities:
+ Watch live or recorded content from gateway
+ Watch recorded content from the ‘thin client’
+ Applications suite: News, Stock Ticker, Traffic
Situation, Weather, etc.
+ Browse photos from a USB stick
+ Record and play content from PVR
+ Transcoding to companion screens
+ Search, discover new content
+ Use the tablet as a smart remote control for TV
SECONDARY DEVICE:
The OpenTV 5 connectware enabled HDi set-top box
uses the BCM 7428 and has the option of an External
Hard Drive; this STB is considered the ‘thin client’
to the video gateway. From this device through an
identical UI-UEX as seen on the video gateway you
can access:
+ Live TV
+ Recorded content from gateway
+ Browse photos from USB stick
+ Record and play content from an external hard drive
+ Companion device (tablet)
+ Watch live or recorded content from gateway
+ Search, discover new content
+ “Throw” content to the TV
+ Use the tablet as a smart remote control for TV
COMPANION DEVICES:
The Connected Home environment makes use of
companion devices. The StarHub companion devices
have a unified UI-UEX as per the rest of the system. The
companion devices also include the NAGRA MediaLive
Secure Player with anyCAST PRM. Companion devices
- smartphones & tablets allow you to:
+ Watch recorded content from gateway
+ Search & discover new content
+ Use the smartphone as a smart remote control for TV
+ Use the tablet as a smart remote control for TV
+ “Throw” content to the TV
BACK OFFICE COMPONENTS
1) NAGRA’s MediaLive Multiscreen Service Platform:
provides StarHub with the tools to manage,
secure and operate from a single platform a wide
range of media services across multiple delivery
networks (e.g. broadcast, managed IP, over-
the-top and mobile), devices (e.g. set-top boxes,
connected TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones)
and content types (e.g. live, catch-up, on-demand),
allowing subscribers to enjoy a seamless digital
entertainment experience without boundaries.
Beyond managing standard features such as live
TV and EPG, video-on-demand, catch-up TV and
start-over, it also enables network PVR services,
in-home content sharing (including download-to-
go) and the seamless integration of companion
devices with the connected set-top box for features
such as cross-device viewing and “follow-me” TV.
It also supports a wide range of business models
including subscription, pay-per-view, pay-per-
time, “à-la-carte”, event-based purchase models
and also promotions and addressable advertising.
13. 13
2) NAGRA’s anyCAST Security Services Platform is
the overall security management system providing
unparalleled security in a Connected Home – TV
Everywhere environment. It offers:
+ A unified Security Services Platform
+ Broadcast, IPTV and OTT security in one system
+ Oneproductmanagementinterfaceforbroadcast,
multicast and unicast/OTT
+ Basic access to 4K content protection solutions
+ Embedded software, smart card and integrated
security clients
+ Integrated CAS/DRM solution for connected
devices
+ DECE & DTLA-approved DRM solution for OTT and
home networking
+ The industry’s most advanced on-chip security
(NOCS3)
+ Class-leading customer support and system
customization
3) An additional element is the deployed reference
architecture for the Connected Home - JoinIn – This
reference architecture defines a homogeneous
set of innovative technologies, protocols, industry
standards and best practices. This true blueprint
for the connected home enables pay-TV operators
to integrate multiple technology components and
thereby ensure that their premium content can be
viewedconvenientlyonmultipledevices,strengthen
their relationships with their customers, expand
their offering and grow their business. JoinIn allows
service providers to overcome the complexity,
constraints and fragmentation of the new television
environment. With JoinIn, service providers can
engage viewers with a seamless connectivity of
devices and consistent user experience in order
to monetize content and applications and secure
the delivery of premium content to every screen.
All existing applications running on the StarHub service
must be written in HTML 5 for the new system.
14. 14
Acompelling,innovativeandhighlyinteractivenextgenerationTVserviceofferingaseamlessuserexperience
on multiple devices and multiple networks made possible by NAGRA’s exemplary implementation skills and
delivery expertise for complex connected home and TV Everywhere projects.
THE RESULT
“THE ABILITY TO INNOVATE ON TOP OF OUR EXISTING PLATFORM IN ORDER TO DELIVER A WHOLE NEW
EXPERIENCE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND OUR DECISION TO PARTNER WITH
NAGRA. STARHUB CUSTOMERS ARE NOW ABLE TO ENJOY A SEAMLESS AND RESPONSIVE USER INTERFACE,
INTERACTIVITY AND INNOVATIVE SERVICES ENABLED BY NAGRA’S END-TO-END SOLUTION.”
Ms. Lin Shu Fen, Head of Entertainment & SmartLife, StarHub
