ISSUE 02 // April 09
In Action
CI Plus ushers in a new secure dawn
As technology continues its never-ending quest for improvement and innovation, so have the people who aim to undermine its progress. Over the years their security attacks have become ever more sophisticated. The desire to balance opening up technologies such as set-top boxes and televisions with the need to protect them from hackers is an ongoing and evolving battle.
ONLINE talks to Conor Ryan, vice president marketing at Kudelski Group subsidiary SmarDTV, about the challenges facing the industry and how the company is meeting them head on.
How is the arrival of new consumer electronic devices changing the way people view TV and how operators need to evolve their content protection?
One of the biggest industry developments has been the arrival of the integrated digital television (iDTV) – where the digital tuner and decoder are included in the television. It means viewers can watch pay TV programmes directly on their digital-ready TV sets without the need for a set-top box or other external equipment.
For pay TV operators it’s thrown up some challenges. It’s meant developing a conditional access module (CAM) to separate out security from the rest of the pay TV video delivery infrastructure. This comes in the form of a removable PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) smartcard, which handles decryption of video and makes sure that only people who have paid for the content may view it.
There are lots of different DVB interface standards out there. What’s been the reaction of the market to them and in particular DVB-CI?
Historically it’s been a little lukewarm. The original DVB common interface, DVB-CI, was developed around 15 years ago to establish a standard for managing how digital TV products interface. It was designed to allow broadcasters to use CAMs from different suppliers to help increase choice with respect to receivers. But it received a fair bit of criticism from content owners and conditional access vendors who were worried about security leakages between the CAM and the host device (the TV or set-top box). There was also a fair degree of pushback from operators who were reluctant to open up their vertical markets beyond their own subscribers.
So how did you get around this challenge?
Following the launch of DVB-CI version 2 in December 2006, where parties couldn’t reach agreement on the technologies involved, the group was put on hold. It was only when leading iDTV manufacturers and CAM vendors – Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Neotion and SmarDTV – came together to set up the CI Plus Forum in July 2007 that the movement began to gain momentum.
What does the CI Plus specification address?
CI Plus adds extra security and features to the DVB-CI standard – both from a physical security and copy protection viewpoint. It has also improved the communication between the CAM and the host device to provide better graphics and a better user experience – this allows the operator to customise the user interface. Importantly, CI Plus also addresses the original weakness of CI: securing the CAM by enabling it to rescramble the pay TV signal on output. In short, any security concerns of the original CI standard have now been answered.
How are these modules changing the market?
Bottom line, it means no conditional access software is needed in the host device. In an iDTV complete access to all channels is provided simply by inserting the CI Plus module into the TV CI slot and then putting the smartcard into it. This means that in the next few years we’re likely to see a big increase in the number of modules being adopted by the market.
What are the benefits to consumers of an integrated TV?
They’re an extremely attractive alternative to set-top boxes in every sense. They remove the need both for cables and extra space for the additional box. They also score major ‘Wife Acceptance Factor’ points! (Research shows that women have the final say on which TV is chosen for the family home based on its look and design.) And having just one remote to control the TV and pay TV service is a godsend.
Power consumption is also slashed. With a set-top box you’re looking at a usage of between six to ten watts, whereas an iDTV uses less than one watt. This is a powerful ‘green’ argument for companies as they look to boost their eco credentials but also an important point for governments targeting analogue switch off.
CAMs also make it easy for the viewer. iDTVs can come bundled with initial free pay TV credit offers. It’s then easy for consumers to top it up by purchasing a voucher.
And why would pay TV operators and TV manufacturers back the initiative?
The arguments for these guys are equally as persuasive. For the TV manufacturers it’s another added value service to persuade consumers to buy their products. They also get to distribute the CAMs under their own brand if they wish.
For the operators as well it’s a win-win situation. The potential market for flat screen TVs is huge, especially given the EU directive that any iDTV with a screen size of more than 16” must include a CI slot. It’s also an easy way in to lock in captive consumers to pay TV services. And then there’s reduced CAPEX costs, lower shipping and handling costs, reduced hotline support and cabling and installation costs, etc. The list goes on…
There seems to be a bit of industry contention around the licensing costs of CI Plus with some saying they’re prohibitive. Can you explain how they work and what financial commitment is involved?
Reports that costs are prohibitive are just ridiculous and have been stirred up by companies wanting to protect the set-top box market. CI Plus fees are very comparable to common industry practice for such forums. An annual licence fee of € 15k covers membership costs and is used to administer the company running CI Plus. And it costs just € 0.05 per device for a certificate – hardly prohibitive!
What are the plans for CI Plus and what is the certification process?
The CI Plus initiative has updated the DVB-CI standard to a secure solution acknowledged by security stakeholders, which can be adopted safely by pay TV operators to enable pay TV reception on iDTVs. The plan is to expand the CI Plus initiative and attract new members.
Our secure silicon module, SmarCAM-3, has recently been certified CI Plus compliant by the CI Plus Trust Authority. Our CI Plus reference kit has also been used by Digital TV Labs (the officially approved test centre) for certification of CI Plus TVs and set-top boxes. The first SmarCAM-3 products are expected to come to market in Q2 2009 in collaboration with a major operator.
For more information please visit SmarDTV and CI Plus websites
White Paper SmarCAM3 CI Plus Conditional Access Module
