SCENE ISSUE 57 Shoot for the stars with DVB-TA - dvb.org
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DVBSCENE
DVB SCENE MARCH 2021
ISSUE 57
Shoot for the stars
with DVB-TA
4 7 9 14
DVBSCENE Ready for the challenge?
CONTENTS • MARCH 2021 A year has passed since
COVID-19 began to turn our
5 From the DVB Chair world upside down. The pandemic
has been a disaster for human
6 Developing the DVB-I reference client: an society and the global economy
unexpectedly adventurous journey – Juha but, even amid so much hardship,
Jokia (Sofia Digital) one must say that this period has
7 Enabling enhanced linear TV experiences with presented a golden opportunity for
DVB-I – Jan Müller (Dolby) video and media.
Opportunities tend to arise
8 Why specify new video codecs in DVB? – Jan when there is a challenge to be
Outters (SES) & Jason Power (Dolby) met, and our industry has seen,
9 DVB Native IP: fast track to DTH 2.0? – Jean- inter alia, a tremendous increase
Claude Sachot (Broadpeak) in viewership, along with a shift
in consumption patterns. A
10 Targeted Advertising: from specification to
huge amount of work has been
implementation – Stefano Braghieri (Mediaset) Emily Dubs
undertaken behind the scenes to
Head of Technology, DVB Project
12 A leap forward in TV advertising efficiency – successfully handle this sudden
Paola Colombo (Publitalia ‘80) disruption.
Some DVB Members have been the specificities of each.
13 New V&V test package for DVB-S2X beam
instrumental in accelerating a In this way, one could say that
hopping – Avi Freedman (Satixfy)
shift, working hard to achieve in DVB is now shifting its focus
14 An oral history of the birth of DVB Simulcrypt the space of a few months what towards the service as opposed
would have normally taken a to the physical layer. In today’s
16 DVB-HB: an in-home bridge from broadcast to
couple of years, while still actively fragmented landscape, metadata is
IP – Davide Milanesio (Rai)
contributing to DVB’s work. the ‘intelligence’ aspect of media
17 Mission accomplished: Russia’s massive Indeed, in this context, more than and needs to be leveraged. DVB-I
analogue switch-off project – Andrey ever, the value of open standards is is a first approach, building on
Chernikov (RTRN) acknowledged. Standards are the ETSI TS 103 770 that defines the
18 New DVB solutions for a post-pandemic most efficient way both to deploy mechanisms for internet-based
world? – David Wood (EBU Technology and new technologies at scale and service discovery. This is now
Innovation) monetize content. This is borne being complemented by the Native
out, for instance, in article from IP work (see page 9) that further
19 Ofcom shines a light on technology futures for Mediaset on page 10 related to reflects this move towards IP-
media – Simon Parnall (Ofcom) the forthcoming market launch centric solutions and the service
Published by the DVB Project Office, of standards-based targeted layer.
c/o European Broadcasting Union, advertisting, implementing DVB- Our Members are thus now
17a Ancienne Route, TA and HbbTV-TA. defining the tools required
CH-1218 Grand Saconnex, Switzerland. to get through this long
SEAMLESS FRAGMENTATION transitional phase, where multiple
Editorial Board: Peter MacAvock, I believe that DVB retains a combinations of networks,
Eva Markvoort, Emily Dubs, Elfed Howells.
critical role in today’s standards platforms and devices must
Editor: Eoghan O’Sullivan (osullivan@dvb.org)
landscape, being at the forefront coexist, delivering an ever-
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be of the convergence of regular growing content offer. From this
reproduced without prior consent of the publisher. All broadcast with broadband and 5G fragmented ecosystem, viewers
content correct at time of printing. © DVB 2020. media delivery. In fact, rather than expect a seamless and unified
The views expressed in this newsletter are those of convergence, I would say it’s more experience, while operators in
the individual DVB Members or guests and are not about sharing the strengths of the turn, want to ensure prominence
necessarily the views of the DVB Project Office or various types of network, allowing for their services! All of this adds
Steering Board. a seamless use of any of them. up to a challenging and ambitious
DVB is defining the solutions mandate for the DVB Project.
DVB and the DVB logo marks are registered
that will allow content – from Needless to say, contributions
trademarks of the DVB Project. Certain other product
names, brand names and company names may be prime-time fiction and live events from the wider membership –
trademarks or designations of their respective owners. to the long tail – to be seamlessly including those who have not been
Printed by Graphius. delivered through multiple actively involved in recent years or
Cover photo: Mari Guti/iStockphoto networks, taking full advantage of perhaps ever – are essential.
Location icon by Pngtree
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2 www.dvb.org • member.dvb.org • www.dvbworld.org • www.dvbservices.com
DVB News
NEW & UPDATED
SPECIFICATIONS
Below we list DVB documents published since the
last issue of DVB Scene. They include the first ETSI-
published versions of DVB-I, DVB-MABR and DVB-
TA, as well as the BlueBook publication of DVB-HB.
ETSI TS 103 769 V1.1.1 DVB BlueBook A083-2r2 (Draft EN 302 307-2
Adaptive media streaming over IP multicast (November 2020) V1.3.1):
Second generation framing structure, channel coding and
ETSI TS 103 770 V1.1.1:
modulation systems for Broadcasting, Interactive Services,
Service Discovery and Programme Metadata for DVB-I
News Gathering and other broadband satellite applications; Part
(November 2020)
2: DVB-S2 Extensions (DVB-S2X) (February 2021)
ETSI TS 103 752-2 V1.1.1:
DVB BlueBook A178-1r1 (Draft TS 103 752-1
Dynamic substitution of content in linear broadcast: interfacing
V1.2.1):
an advert decisioning service and optimal preparation [DVB-
Dynamic substitution of content in linear broadcast: carriage
TA, part 2] (December 2020)
and signalling of placement opportunity information in DVB
ETSI TR 102 376-2 V1.2.1: Transport Streams [DVB-TA, part 1] (February 2021)
Implementation guidelines for the second generation system for
DVB BlueBook A179:
Broadcasting, Interactive Services, News Gathering and other
Service discovery and delivery protocols for a DVB Home
broadband satellite applications; Part 2: S2 Extensions (DVB-
Broadcast system [DVB-HB] (February 2021)
S2X) (January 2021)
All available from: dvb.org/specifications
DVB BlueBook A001r17 (Draft TS 101 154 V2.7.1):
Specification for the use of Video and Audio Coding in
Broadcast and Broadband Applications (February 2021)
NEW DVB MEMBERS
Find out how to join the DVB Project by visiting: dvb.org/join
Quadrille, based in Paris, is an Synaptics Inc, headquartered in Twise SAS, based in the south of France,
independent software and service provider California, develops integrated circuits for specializes in the development of secured
specializing in over-the-air content user interface solutions, with differentiated solutions for the digital pay-TV market,
delivery. Its multicast solutions target technologies in touch, display and mostly for products such as CI Plus
real-world requirements in industries biometrics that can be combined with a conditional access modules (in both USB
as diverse as media, entertainment, new generation of advanced connectivity and PCMCIA form factors). Its mission
transportation, and public and military and AI-enhanced video, audio, speech and is to provide flexible turnkey solutions
infrastructures. (www.quadrille.fr) security processing. (www.synaptics.com) compliant with any environment and
respecting the operators’ standards.
“For Quadrille, joining the DVB “The network of DVB Members and (www.twise.fr)
Project was a priority as we the associated access to digital media
increasingly focus on using IP delivery insights complement the “The ultimate goal is to contribute
multicast technologies to deliver increasing focus and commitment of to the CM / TM groups for CI Plus,
any kind of content over broadcast Synaptics to continued technological which is our core business, and to
innovation at the edge.” Nick Dunn, encourage new DVB initiatives to
networks.” Xavier Battas, CEO
Senior Director of Marketing, Multimedia build our future.” Xavier Teil, President
SOC
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
3
Did you miss this showcase
of DVB’s next gen specs?
A year without trade shows meant Thanks to all our exhibitors:
a year without those landmark ATEME, Broadpeak, Dolby, ENENSYS
events that provide a focal point Technologies, Google, Harmonic,
for driving industry innovation Kineton, OnScreen Publishing,
forward and without an opportunity OTT Broadcast, Sofia Digital, TPV
to demonstrate the latest DVB Technology, Unified Streaming,
specifications in action. To fill this gap, Verance, and Viaccess-Orca.
the DVB Project Office put together The morning session is available to
the inaugural DVB DEMOS event on watch on demand. Just visit the event
A word from 26 November. page, where you’ll also find direct links
the PCM chair It was a little different in the way
it combined two distinct blocks:
to each exhibitor’s section: dvb.org/
demos2020
ELFED HOWELLS (HISILICON / HUAWEI) the morning offered a two-hour The stream ends with a wrap-
live stream where each of the 15 up from DVB Head of Technology
In January 2021, with pride and “exhibitors” presented short, sharp Emily Dubs. She explains how the
excitement, I took up my new role demos of products and services that aforementioned new DVB specs, along
as the chair of the PCM. I’ve been implement the newest DVB specs with ongoing work on Native IP and
overwhelmed by the support received (DVB-I, DVB-DASH, DVB-MABR and 5G, will come together to create a new
from our group, and the increase in DVB-TA). And then, in the afternoon, unified future for media delivery.
participation and contributions (up to we switched to a different mode, with Another edition of DVB DEMOS will
25 members at our meetings) has been each exhibitor available for one-to- be held in the autumn. DVB Members
heartwarming. one private sessions where they could should join the PCM group to follow
The PCM is responsible for the show their demos in more detail and developments: member.dvb.org/wg/
promotion and communication of DVB’s answer questions. PCM/dashboard
work. We work with the Project Office
to help ensure that DVB’s publications,
events, social media presence and
press releases reflect its work, while
also shaping our conversation with our
Members and with the outside world.
Since January we have enhanced the
way the PCM functions to reflect the
dynamic nature of the specifications
under development at DVB. We now
meet every two weeks and touch on all
the aspects of our remit at each meeting.
These include the news items that are
in focus, our DVB events, participation
in external events, publications, and
our outreach to Members and non-
members, in companies, organizations,
industries and countries worldwide.
The recent and ongoing specification
work from DVB, focusing on next
generation media delivery via broadcast,
mobile hybrid and OTT is keeping
everyone busy. PCM participants are
contributing to the creation of our new
narrative that ties together existing
and forward-looking technology
specifications, to convey the possibilities
these can offer to both enhance and
expand media delivery.
We would welcome your input and
cordially invite you to join us at the
PCM! Thanks for the welcome, and the
ongoing support.
4 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
Internet-centric, broadcast-bred
– a challenging mix
PETER MACAVOCK, CHAIR OF THE DVB PROJECT
“My old adage is that “turkeys never vote for Christmas”:
some of the changes being proposed are hard, and some
are unpopular. But I believe they are necessary.”
organizations vying for relevance in the year will be to ensure that DVB is able
broadband media delivery space, each to maintain its V&V effort, maximizing
with its own unique proposition. What its usefulness and minimizing its
makes DVB different? Is it its focus administrative impact.
on media? Its market-led, consensus-
based approach? Its unique make-up NEW BLOOD
of big media companies, big vendors And have we really transitioned
and lots of technology providers? We DVB into this new – more agile –
cannot be certain, but it’s likely to be a organization? Well, honestly, no; not
combination of all of these. yet at least. The intention is there
Over the last two years or so, DVB has We have been working on DVB’s among those who care most about DVB
shifted to promoting itself as internet- new direction for some time. Many of itself, but transitioning the existing
centric. But what does this mean? It’s the elements are already in place, like membership is sometimes a struggle.
about changing mindsets, shifting DVB-I, targeted advertising, DVB- Consensus is still very valuable, and we
focus, revamping old working methods, DASH, DVB-MABR. The task now is do have means of overcoming obstacles
and accompanying (encouraging? to paint a clearer picture of how these to consensus where they appear. We
dragging?!) industry stakeholders into elements – and others in the pipeline – need to be quicker to apply them and
the future, all while retaining their fit together and can enable the next great we may even need to revisit the working
support. My old adage is that “turkeys transition, a transition that has already methods as described in our tried and
never vote for Christmas”: some of the begun. trusted Rules and Procedures.
changes being proposed are hard, and What, in practice, does an internet- Furthermore, many DVB-ers have
some are unpopular. But I believe they centric approach entail? We have tried been around for a long time, and
are necessary. to instil a faster time-to-market and, attracting the new blood necessary to
critically, a greater focus on aids-to- generate the exciting work items and
CROWDED FIELD interoperability. This latter element to work in these new ways requires
The DVB Project is uniquely placed has meant that we don’t standardize DVB to sell itself to a new audience,
to serve an industry that is changing our output until such time as the one that doesn’t care about heritage and
faster than ever. Its heritage as the ‘verification and validation’ (V&V) reputation. With our new PCM Chair,
cornerstone of the analogue-to-digital phase of our work is complete. The Elfed Howells, now firmly in place with
and SD-to-HD transitions is useful, thinking here is that if a specification an innovative and ambitious agenda, we
but in many ways constraining. In is valuable, then its proponents will have an opportunity to revamp DVB’s
years gone by, DVB was on its own as work to produce the tools necessary to public image. And, for the first time in a
the solutions provider in the digital help the market deploy interoperable long time, we have the internet-centric
broadcast space. While we believe in solutions. ingredients to provide substance to the
DVB’s credentials, there are a lot of One of the challenges over the coming messages.
Peter MacAvock is the Chair of the DVB Project. He is also Head of Distribution Platforms and Services at the
European Broadcasting Union.
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
5
Screenshot of the HbbTV version of the DVB-I reference client DVB World conference was cancelled.
It was to have been the first public
demonstration of the DVB-I reference
client. Instead, we settled on bringing
the planned DVB Masterclass sessions
online, showcasing the DVB-I reference
client project in a webinar on 1 April.
(See: dvb.org/webinars)
The subsequent cancellation of the IBC
exhibition and various related difficulties
led to the original delivery schedule for
Phase 2, with its myriad of small and
bigger features, slipping. After quite a bit
of struggle, and with weekly calls with
the DVB experts Jon Piesing, Paul Higgs
and Emily Dubs, the final version was
delivered at the end of the year.
IMPROVING THE SPEC
During the first phase of the project
our focus was clear: the feature list
consisted of the absolute essentials of
a DVB-I client, namely the channel
list, the EPG, the info banner and the
player. In addition to this, the backend
service list editor was developed to
Developing the DVB-I reference
help us to understand the Service
Discovery and Programme Metadata for
DVB-I specification (then published as
client: an unexpectedly BlueBook A177) and its implications for
the client. However, the second phase
was more about handling many small
adventurous journey but useful features and thus a feature
tracker was applied. It was surprisingly
time-consuming to complete everything
JUHA JOKI (SOFIA DIGITAL)
and during the work we found elements
of the specification that were unclear or
There was a lot of excitement in the Because of this, we decided to recycle not fully fleshed-out – which was exactly
air when we received the news that we some of our existing codebase for the the original intention of the project. It
had been chosen to deliver the DVB-I HbbTV implementation, modifying it was also a great privilege to participate in
reference client. The contract was signed enough so that it could be released with the regular calls of the DVB TM-I group
on 6 January 2020 and the work began. the open-source MIT licence to GitHub, during the project, to assist in getting
The project was divided into two phases: as requested by DVB. For the Android the specification in even better shape
Phase 1 covered the most basic and implementation everything was coded and seeing everything come together,
essential use cases and Phase 2 was from scratch. including the low-latency streaming
about packaging some more ‘nice-to- The first phase was successfully effort together with FFmpeg.
have’ features together. delivered on 28 February, complete The GitHub repository and our
with the service list editor (backend), example hosted implementation will
OPEN SOURCE grid-based EPG, channel selection, and remain available for the foreseeable
The project is hosted on a public GitHub stream playout. It was finalized, after a future. We can see that there is a lot of
server registered by the DVB Project. few corrections, on 11 March. We had interest – more than ten different forks
The first commit to the repository to be careful not to design a client that have been made by interested parties
was made on 20 January after the first was too good looking: as the chair of studying the code and UI. DVB-I is in a
two-week sprint. The initial delivery the Technical Module, Jon Piesing, had very strong position to gain worldwide
deadline for Phase 1 was already on remarked, “DVB is not paying for user implementation and we hope that the
31 January, with the final Phase 1 interface design!” reference client developed by Sofia
delivery scheduled for 28 February Around this time the COVID-19 Digital remains helpful in fulfilling that
– a particularly challenging timeline. situation had worsened, and the planned potential.
Juha Joki has many years’ experience in DVB and HbbTV technologies. Currently he is in charge of DVB
broadcast products and testing and certification services for DVB and HbbTV at Sofia Digital.
6 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
Enabling enhanced
PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES
In enabling viewers to choose their
preferred audio experience, DVB-I
linear TV experiences
can bring the level of personalization
interactivity usually associated with
watching internet content to the world
with DVB-I
of linear TV. At its simplest, this can be
a choice of languages, the option to add
director commentary, or to choose a
dialogue version more appropriate for
children. Personalized audio can also go
beyond dialogue preferences to make the
whole audio scene more individual, for
JAN MÜLLER (DOLBY) example with adjustable or even team-
biased crowd noise in sports content.
The ‘preselection’ concept within DVB-I
TVs and mobile devices are increasingly running a prototype DVB-I client. and DVB-DASH provides a standardized
capable of reproducing enhanced viewing This utilized an AC-4 audio stream, framework for the selection of different
experiences that bring us closer to enabling fully immersive 360-degree audio versions via the DVB-I client, all
reality – with UHD high dynamic range audio reproduction with its built-in derived from a single audio bitstream.
video, for example, and immersive 3D loudspeaker system, without requiring DVB-I doesn’t come with a complete
audio. But while some bigger streaming any additional speakers. new set of requirements for codec
and pay-TV services have been able to support and media delivery – it builds
take advantage of these new capabilities ACCESSIBLE CONTENT FOR ALL on top of existing DVB standards for
already, it can be more challenging DVB-I also provides new opportunities receiver interoperability. As proven with
for broadcasters to find the spectrum to increase content accessibility. Again the prototype, compliant DVB devices on
to innovate, especially over congested through support of the latest NGA market today can be used to implement a
terrestrial networks. codecs, DVB-I offers extensive features DVB-I client application and reproduce
DVB-I offers a solution for including dialogue enhancement an immersive experience for consumers
broadcasters to innovate and launch new and audio description. Dialogue using built-in technology.
enhanced television services, making enhancement enables the user to adjust The opportunities with DVB-I in terms
use of flexible broadband delivery while the level of dialogue within a programme of enhancing the user experience even
achieving scale with an open, cross- compared to the background audio to further are huge and user interaction
platform approach. Through enhanced maximize intelligibility. And extended for accessible and personalized content
audio capabilities, DVB-I enables support for audio description can adds great value for consumers. To give
new possibilities to improve service provide audio commentaries in a more the viewers access to those features
accessibility and to meet the preferences extensive and scalable way – for example, the DVB-I client needs to implement
of individual viewers. making it possible to offer description a corresponding user interface; we
for different language versions and across are looking forward to seeing the first
IMMERSIVE AUDIO stereo, surround and immersive listening prototypes soon. We’re excited to see how
Immersive audio wraps the viewer in scenarios, or to change the level of the broadcasters choose to leverage DVB-I to
detailed 3D sound from all around, descriptive commentary versus the main innovate with new immersive, accessible
including overhead. It has been used for programme. and personalized services.
several years now to make movies and
episodic dramas much more exciting and
is increasingly used for live broadcasts to
recreate a realistic atmosphere for sports,
concerts and other events. By enabling
use of the latest next generation audio
(NGA) codecs, DVB-I enables immersive
audio to be included in linear broadband
services in a single data-rate-efficient
bitstream.
Dolby and TP Vision recently
A prototype from Dolby
collaborated to show how DVB-I
of how DVB-I can enable
can deliver a UHD service complete viewers to personalize
with immersive audio to an off- their audio experience
the-shelf Philips connected TV
Jan Müller – Commercial Partnerships and Standards Manager at Dolby. He works with the industry on
enhanced media experiences in horizontal ecosystems and is involved in standardization activities within DVB
and HbbTV.
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
7
Why specify new video codecs in DVB?
JAN OUTTERS (SES) & JASON POWER (DOLBY)
Video codecs timeline, courtesy of Harmonic Inc.
At the time of writing, the participants “Clarity around licensing terms will be an essential factor
in DVB’s CM-AVC sub-group are
particularly active. The goal is to agree in the successful growth and adoption of any technology
on a set of commercial requirements that in the marketplace.”
will ultimately lead to the addition of
one or more new video codecs to DVB’s
toolbox.
This current phase of work was
kickstarted with an online workshop broadband like 8K, and also accelerate LCEVC – all reaching key milestones.
that took place last September. For DVB adoption of 4K UHD on terrestrial The standards work is generally done for
Members only but featuring several guest networks. all of these codecs and volume shipment
speakers, the workshop attracted more It has been suggested that the success of devices can be expected in 2021–23
than 140 participants, which provides of codecs is heavily influenced by the depending on the technology and
an indication of just how important this “three Cs”: compression, complexity demand for it.
topic remains for the industry. of implementation, and commercial All five of these codecs were presented
characteristics. And while current by their proponents during the
MAIN DRIVERS technology is sufficient to meet some September workshop. DVB Members
There was a strong mandate from near-term opportunities like 8K, there can access the individual presentations
DVB’s membership for further work is general agreement that new codecs via the CM-AVC workspace. They
in this area. In a survey that had been will be needed for the longer term, from provide a wealth of information about
undertaken prior to the workshop, 94% 2023 onwards. Clarity around licensing the technology used, performance,
of respondents indicated that they would terms will be an essential factor in the commercial factors and the status of
like to see one or more new video codecs successful growth and adoption of any licensing.
added. While the phenomenal growth in technology in the marketplace. The CM-AVC group has a target to
OTT video traffic is perhaps the biggest deliver first commercial requirements
driver for the emergence of new video THE YEAR OF CODECS around the start of Q2 2021. The
codec solutions, these codecs could also 2020 was a landmark year for video TM-AVC group has already begun
be important enablers of new enhanced codecs, with several – AV1, AVS3, preliminary work in anticipation of the
video experiences for broadcast and MPEG-5 EVC, MPEG-I VVC and MPEG Steering Board approving the next step.
Jan Outters is Senior Engineer – Product Management with SES; Jason Power is Senior Director
of Commercial Partnerships and Standards with Dolby. They are, respectively, vice-chair and
chair of the DVB Commercial Module sub-group on audio and video coding, CM-AVC.
8 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
DVB Native IP: fast track could be switched off.
However, when a new technology
proves to be mature, brings benefits
to DTH 2.0? to consumers as well as content
distributors, and offers good prospects
for profitability, the next step for the
industry is to identify a viable migration
path that permits its early market
introduction and the progressive
JEAN-CLAUDE SACHOT (BROADPEAK) withdrawal of the previous generation.
For technologies that rely on legacy
consumer-premises equipment,
The DTH 2.0 platform migration obviously cannot happen
overnight. The migration path is usually
long, but as with the shutdown of
analogue television or video codec and
format transitions, the recipe for success
is good planning and a willingness to
move forward. Given the long legacy the
satellite industry has to live with when
new generations of TV sets or set-top
boxes hit the market, I believe that now
is the right time to engage in serious
planning activities for introducing
Native IP delivery to satellite broadcast.
MIGRATION PLANNING
Most content providers already have
OTT streaming playout capabilities
that can be leveraged for Native IP
distribution via broadcast. When it
comes to transmission bandwidth,
Aside from the introduction of new benefits offered are wide-ranging, and a viable migration path could be to
codecs and formats, direct-to-home not only in the context of satellite. reduce the number of live TV channels
(DTH) digital satellite television has not A first important milestone was distributed by satellite (offloading
improved much since the mid-1990s: achieved last summer when the the low audience channels to OTT
it remains limited to the TV screen, DVB Steering Board approved the distribution only) and reuse the released
in most cases connected to a bespoke commercial requirements for Native IP. satellite spectrum to simulcast high-
satellite receiver decoder. However, This subsequently triggered the creation audience channels or live events in
we have now reached the point where of the new Technical Module Native IP Native IP, addressing all consumer
the broadcast of live video channels sub-group (TM-NIP) at the beginning devices.
using video packaging formats such as of November, to deliver a specification Legacy set-top boxes pose perhaps
DVB-DASH or HLS can revolutionize and implementation guidelines. the biggest challenge. Nevertheless, we
video content distribution by natively have demonstrated that the software of
addressing all types of screens. LOOKING AHEAD eligible set-top boxes can be upgraded to
At the start of 2020, amid growing Moving from a specification to support Native IP redistribution across
momentum, several industry players broad market adoption, however, consumer homes. Native IP satellite
joined forces within the DVB Project will not be straightforward. There gateways could present another solution
to initiate work on producing are understandable fears that the here.
commercial requirements for a Native demand for solutions targeting the The vision that drives us is enabling
IP specification allowing the delivery, B2C segment, such as next-generation providers to operate all of their
via broadcast means, of media content DTH, may still be many years away. broadcasting and OTT streaming with
natively tailored for distribution over The most common concern is that, for one single distribution platform, rather
any IP-capable network, using the same broadcasters, deploying Native IP would than operating two siloed ecosystems
media packaging formats that have require additional transmission capacity forever. Native IP is a clear opportunity
enabled OTT streaming. From unifying for quite a long time on top of the for significant short-term cost savings
systems on the headend side to enabling conventional MPEG Transport Stream- and greater consumer satisfaction, and
new business models, and beyond, the based transmissions, until the latter paves the way for a successful DTH 2.0!
Jean-Claude Sachot is the Business Development Director for Broadpeak. He has more than 30 years of
experience in digital video processing and delivery, and was previously vice president of pre-sales – video
CPEs at Technicolor.
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
9
Targeted Advertising: from enabling personalized ad substitution in
live broadcast.
specification to implementation CLIENT-SIDE SUBSTITUTION
Figure 1 shows a high-level diagram of
the implemented solution where the
STEFANO BRAGHIERI (MEDIASET) Mediaset Play HbbTV application, with a
CSAS module running, is compared to a
terminal not providing the application.
The solution uses synchronous triggers
instructing the HbbTV application to:
• Start dialogue with the advertising
server and pre-load into the device
memory the advert that will be inserted;
• Perform the switch from broadcast
content and play pre-loaded content;
and
• Switch back to broadcast content.
The proprietary solution used to trigger
the application, and integrated into our
Figure 1. HbbTV 2.0 implemented solution
legacy playout system chain, provides a
working mechanism to achieve a satisfying
level of performance on deployed HbbTV
Mediaset, the major Italian commercial in order to ensure either incremental 2.0 terminals.
broadcaster, has been involved as a DVB reach or additional frequency. It also The solution was deployed in 2019
Member for many years, taking advantage makes television accessible for first-time and since then is up and running as a
of the opportunity to contribute to the advertisers, such as SMEs and local commercial product; nevertheless, we
definition and standardization of new businesses, since it requires lower budgets, faced some relevant issues:
technologies. avoids ad waste and allows geographic • Some terminals did not successfully
Since the days of MHP, we have segmentation. implement the HTML5 video element
understood that a deep involvement in Not least, TA allows broadcasters to functionality
DVB and other standardization bodies is prevent video ad budgets shifting away • Switching time and accuracy
key to maintaining a leading position in from television towards ad-funded online performance on the broadcast to
the competitive environment where new platforms from the likes of Google, broadband transition, and vice-versa,
technologies come along more and more Amazon and other digital players. were not defined, leaving terminal
frequently. From a technical point of view, in 2017 performance dependent on terminal
This article describes how Mediaset has we understood the potentialities offered by implementation
developed a proof of concept based on the HbbTV 2.0 core specification thanks • No requirements for buffer size
the newly released Targeted Advertising to early terminals deployed in the Italian • No requirements about the supported
(TA) specifications, aiming at real market at that time. Italian broadcasters codec
product deployment to offer personalized agreed on a “Statement of Direction As a consequence, we were not able
advertising slots to our advertising agency Towards HbbTV 2.0” in 2014, moving to count on a well-functioning and
and its clients (see page 12). away from MHP in a green-field HbbTV predictable set of reachable terminals
context that avoided an HbbTV 1.5 legacy. without putting in place a managed
WHY TARGETED ADVERTISING? Such a choice allowed us to count on terminal “whitelist” to address only the
For the Mediaset Group, TA is strategic terminal implementation compliant with subset of well tested and verified HbbTV
mainly because it offers the best of the the HbbTV 2.0 core specification, which 2.0 terminals.
two worlds of television and digital: brand introduced HTML5 functionalities and In June 2018 a set of commercial
safety in a curated editorial environment, in particular, within the scope of TA, the requirements for TA were approved by
viewability, regulation, and addressability. HTML5-video-element and the DSMCC the DVB Project; the technical groups
It is therefore essential for our company to do-it-now stream event. delivered their work around the end
invest in the development of such formats, Based on those HbbTV 2.0 core of 2019, offering a TA framework that
in order to satisfy the evolving needs of functionalities, a client-side-ad- includes the specification for the “Carriage
our advertisers. substitution (CSAS) module was and signalling of placement opportunity
TA can be used in an upselling developed and integrated in Mediaset information in DVB Transport Streams”
strategy towards brands that already use Play, the Mediaset broadcast-related (DVB-TA Part 1) and the guidelines for
television advertising, by extending their catch-up and VOD HbbTV application “Interfacing to an advert decisioning
linear campaigns on connected TVs signaled on all Mediaset channel line-ups, service and optimal preparation of
Stefano Braghieri has more than 25 years of experience in broadcast technologies in various capacities, from
code writing to standard definition. He has been working for Mediaset since 2011, involved in technical and
commercial support for new technologies and product innovation.
10 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021provisioning and (b) the ad
substitution process reporting. The
existing Mediaset infrastructure was
already compliant with DVB-TA Part
2; we had just to generate different
configurations of the backend services,
setting up a validation environment
providing support for this activity.
To test the whole chain, a great deal of
effort went into defining and building a
validation package to test the three areas
just described. The validation package
includes:
• Recorded transport streams: a set of
streams, carrying signalling for the
HbbTV application, provide timelines
and placement opportunities for all
the use cases to be tested. The streams
also cover the set of broadcast audio
Figure 2. TA specification area of applicability and video formats in use at Mediaset in
compliance with the TA specifications.
media” (DVB-TA Part 2). The HbbTV cooperating closely with technology • Substituted advert content: a range
Association, on the other side, provided providers to develop headend of advertising content in various
the terminal specification to be applied apparatus implementing DVB-TA audiovisual formats and durations was
on top of an HbbTV 2.0 compliant Part 1 signalling, we were able to prepared.
terminal, providing new functionalities to generate signals correctly simulating • A test protocol: the validation package
an application in order to perform the ad the payload of the placement came with detailed instructions to run
substitution in a predictable and invariable opportunities. Once the real headend tests to avoid misunderstanding of the
way (HbbTV-TA). product became available, no changes expected results.
were required in the terminal block –
STANDARDS-BASED APPROACH just minor changes in the application READY TO LAUNCH
The arrival of the new set of TA and a no-regression test phase were The proof of concept and the test activities
specifications and guidelines allowed us necessary. have been successfully completed. The
to remove the proprietary solution and (2) In the second area, strong implementation of various use cases
resolved the aforementioned issues. The collaboration with terminal required by Mediaset confirmed what was
new solution is still based on a CSAS manufacturers was established, foreseen by the specifications.
module which is integrated in the HbbTV achieving fully open contributions The terminal executes the ad
Mediaset Play application. Figure 2, generating a positive win-win substitution within the time constraints
related to an HbbTV terminal running process where terminal firmware and imposed by the HbbTV-TA profile #2 for
Mediaset Play, illustrates where the new applications were developed step by all audiovisual content formats considered
TA specifications apply. step, sharing and discussing topics relevant.
Because the whole set of TA and issues, including those arising The whole project has been performed
specifications were brand new, when we from different interpretations of the 100% in agreement with the TA standards,
started to study how to best implement specifications, finally reaching the providing solutions for issues we found
them, there were neither products nor goal of having an implementation in early implementations based on
prototypes for any of the blocks in the compliant with the HbbTV-TA the HbbTV 2.0 core specification and
end-to-end chain; once again we faced the specifications. allowing a forthcoming launch on the
well-known chicken-and-egg scenario, (3) In the third area of work, a dialogue market of TA based on DVB-TA and
which led us to develop a proof of concept with backend services was defined HbbTV-TA specification.
in collaboration with technical partners to test (a) the correct ad substitution
involved in the whole production chain.
Three main areas of work, depicted in
Figure 3, were identified:
(1) The HbbTV-TA specification provides Backend
Headend Terminal Application
Services
a means of decoupling the terminal
implementation from the signal
carrying placement opportunities, as
Figure 3. TA specification area of applicability
per DVB-TA Part 1. While we were
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
11A leap forward in TV
promote their new “smart EQ fortwo”
hybrid electric car is a good illustration
of these technologies in action. Together
advertising efficiency we planned an addressable campaign on
mobile and connected TVs.
The audience targeted in this project
was a premium custom target, based
PAOLA COLOMBO (PUBLITALIA ’80)
on the intersection of some variables
identified with Mercedes-Benz on
connected TVs. It was enriched by the
A recent Pubitalia ‘80 campaign “driving” interest of users who usually
leveraging targeted advertising browse the automotive sections of the
Mediaset digital property network
and other partner sites, including
DriveK, a European web platform for
configuring new cars. The profile was
further enriched with geo-behavioural
data relating to users who had visited
car dealers and who attended points of
interest perfectly aligned with the target
indicated by Mercedes-Benz.
In particular, the targeted advertising
campaign on connected TVs was
combined with a mobile rich-media
campaign with a “drive to dealer” call-to-
action to point out the closest Mercedes-
Benz dealer.
IMPRESSIVE RESULTS
Measuring the effectiveness of targeted
advertising campaigns on connected
TVs in terms of store visits was the goal
Recent developments in television its enrichment with data from other of the “attribution model” developed by
technology have had a direct impact sources, we can now offer our clients the AdTech team of Publitalia ‘80 with
on TV advertising campaigns, with an even more efficient ad service. New Beintoo, another Mediaset company,
significant benefits for advertisers, innovations that are made possible specializing in geo-marketing solutions
agencies, broadcasters and end users. include: that track users on the move.
For Publitalia ’80, the advertising • The definition of ad targets based on The Beintoo attribution model,
agency owned by Mediaset Group, geographical, socio-demographic, which verifies the progress of a mobile
using the DVB and HbbTV Targeted behavioural and attitudinal advertising campaign in relation to the
Advertising standards in connected characteristics, according to the accesses generated in the store, is now
TVs marks a crucial step forward. This objectives of our clients. applied to the connected TV campaigns
integration of broadcast and broadband • Real-time replacement of managed by Publitalia ‘80; analysis allows
on TV sets means they join other digital broadcast commercials based on the evaluation these new advertising
touchpoints in our portfolio, such as the characteristics of the chosen formats by comparing visits to dealers by
mobile and portable devices. If we target, known as Dynamic Advert customers who have been exposed to the
add also the possibility of interaction Substitution. targeted advertising compared to a non-
between the main TV set and portable • Re-targeting, which means exposed control group with the same
devices – also known as companion optimization of reach and frequency demographic.
devices – we see this whole ecosystem as objectives based on the accurate daily Applying this to the Mercedes-Benz
a gamechanger that offers the best of the analysis of campaign performance “smart EQ fortwo” advertising campaign
two worlds of television and digital. across multiple media at the same time. told us that targeted advertising on
Combining the advent of platforms • Analysis of ad campaign performance connected TVs led to an uplift of 43%
like Mediaset Play – the broadcast- with timely attribution of the compared to the control group; it is a
related catch-up and VOD HbbTV app contribution of connected TVs. valid tool for our clients for measuring
signalled on all Mediaset channels – with the efficiency of targeted ads and the real
the collection of user data via digital MERCEDEZ-BENZ CAMPAIGN impact of Mediaset Play’s addressable
properties, the analysis of this data and The Mercedes-Benz Italia campaign to campaigns on sales.
Paola Colombo is General Manager of the Adtech and Business Development unit at Publitalia ’80, where
she focuses on new business strategies, partnerships, and technology-driven innovation.
12 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021The specific objectives of the V&V
Use case Reference Reference package are:
Simulator Values • Ensure the unambiguous description of
use cases, protocols and formats.
• Facilitate the standard implementation
process.
• Ease interoperability between
implementations from different
manufacturers.
For now, the package includes only
computer files. Further activities,
including actual equipment tests against a
satellite emulator and plug fests between
different manufacturers, are envisaged for
the future.
The V&V package includes a set
Figure 1. DVB-S2X V&V structure of reference streams and waveforms
that allow validating different
implementations of the DVB-S2X
extensions for beam hopping. Several
New V&V test
test cases are provided, to allow for
a thorough verification of the beam-
hopping formats. Other features of the
package for DVB-S2X
DVB-S2X standard can also be tested.
The V&V structure is shown in Figure
1. Each test case is defined as a set of files
beam hopping that contain configuration parameters as
well as a description of the test; the input
data file to the modulation function;
and the output files, starting from the
AVI FREEDMAN (SATIXFY)
baseband frame, and ending with the
physical layer frame (PLFRAME),
which is the set of symbols to be
In July 2019, the DVB Steering Broad VERIFICATION & VALIDATION transmitted, including preambles, pilots
approved a revised version of the However, specifications alone do not and postambles, scrambled according
DVB-S2X (EN 302 307-2) specification, assure interoperability! In 2018 the to the standard specification. Thus,
adding support for beam-hopping Steering Board mandated a policy an implementor can make use of the
systems. By that, and with the wherein every specification going package for development and debugging,
completion of the signalling specification to ETSI will be accompanied by a beyond its function as a verification tool.
for beam hopping and advanced satellite V&V – verification and validation Verification can be performed either
systems, expected this quarter, DVB – package. Typically, this comprises by an independent modulation function,
offers a suite of solutions for the new reference streams and signals, verified generating output files according to the
era of satellite systems, be they high and validated by several entities as input and configuration parameters, and
throughput GEO satellites or even LEO complying with the specifications. comparing them to the output files in
constellations. These standards are key to Although this policy came into effect the package; or by a receive simulation
an open market, leading to real market only after the beam-hopping revision function, which would take an output
growth. was approved, the TM-S group, with file at its input and compare the decoded
The interoperability made possible the endorsement of the CM-S group, stream to the input file. The test cases
by standards brings many benefits: end elected to produce a V&V package for cover a large variety of possible waveform
users can freely choose between service this revision. streams and superframe formats.
providers and equipment types, and have The purpose of the V&V programme Interoperability cannot be achieved
open access to different systems; service is to verify equipment compliance to without cooperation. Production of
providers can offer a wider variety of the standard and interoperability in a the package would not have been
services to their customers; content defined set of configurations that are possible without the cooperation of all
providers can extend their audience considered most significant to reach the of the DVB Members that participate in
reach; and satellite operators are freed scope. The complete V&V package has TM-S, contributing to the effort in so
from the burden of micro-managing been available to the public via the DVB many ways for the benefit of the whole
customers, and even gateway operation. website since February 2021. industry.
Avi Freedman is a director of system engineering at Satixfy, involved in R&D for modems and smart antennas
for satellite communications. He has been active in DVB standards development efforts for eight years.
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
13An oral history of the birth of
DVB SimulCrypt
In January 2021, we learned that DVB’s work on common encryption was to be recognized with a Technology & Engineering
Emmy® Award. To mark this honour, we invited some of those who were involved in the commercial and technical work that
led to Simulcrypt to share their memories of that time.
CONTRIBUTORS
Robin Crossley worked for SES Astra between Andrew Glasspool began his career in the
1986 and 1989 and again between 1991 and television industry with BSB, after which he
1995. From 1995 he worked for Sky until his founded Farncombe Technology. He still works as
retirement in December 2020. a consultant on a wide variety of digital television
and telecoms projects, when not sailing around
the world.
David Cutts, now retired, worked with several
Erik Lambert joined the Canal+ group in 1986
companies in the pay-TV sector, including BSB in
and partook in the DVB Project’s work as a
the UK and France Télécom, before forming S&T
representative of Canal+ until 2002. Lately he has
(with Nick Birch).
helped launch two SVOD platforms, HBO Nordic
and StarzPlay Arabia.
Andrew Glasspool: SimulCrypt, just the broadcast so that individual users
a word, with a simple definition, meant PRESS RELEASE can descramble at the receiver. This
so many different things to the different For Imm
May 2, 1997
edia te Rele ase
requirement was met by the common
players in the industry. And ironically Tel: +41 22 717 2719 scrambling system, a core part of the
+41 22 717 2727
it delivered something that went far Project Office
problem.
Fax:
Contact: Martin Jacklin, DVB
17A
Ancienne Route
beyond its original scope. The technical Another key part of the DVB activity
nnex
1218 Grand Saco
nd
Geneva, Switzerla
ec i f i c a t i o n
m u l Cr yp t Sp
working groups brought together DVB a p p r o ve
s Pa r t 1 o f Si
tal Vide o Broa dcas ting Project was in defining the architecture,
experts from each of the conditional its standardization and regulation
world-wide Digi
ring Board of the
th l 1997 - the Stee
Geneva, 16 Apri Sim ulCr ypt spec ification. llel, in
Part 1 of the in para
ess (CA) systems
access (CA) system vendors in a way (DVB) approved
“SimulCrypt” is
a process that facil
itates using seve
Scrambli ng Algo
ral Conditional Acc
rithm , to control access
to pay-TV services. such that it could support at the
that had never happened before. At same time both a high-volume
the DVB Common Streams in a DVB
conjunction with ditional Access
two or more Con lly the requirem
ents for
invo lves the interoperation of esses spec ifica
SimulCrypt addr
ypt specification
times these experts, having worked in environment. The
DVB’s SimulCr
een two or more
conditional access
systems at a head
-end.
implementation of the underlying
interoperability betw two parts:
isolation for much of their careers, were silicon hardware and customized
is divid ed into
ification
ypt technical spec
The DVB SimulCr on.
Synchron isati
surprised to find that their solution for • Part 1 - Head-en
• Part 2 - Extended
d Architecture and
Interoperability and
Control.
approved Part 1 of the specification, whic
h will and secure implementations of the
messaging and interfacing was not the security mechanisms required to
Steering Board has In the
standardisation.
ting of the DVB l Committee for
The 16 April mee I Joint Technica
th
released
to the EBU / CENELEC / ETS spec ifica tion which will also be
now be released Part 2 of the
only way and perhaps not even the best meantime, work
continues in the
com pleti on.
DVB Project on
age, addi ng to its existing deliver descrambling keys to individual
to the JTC upon nal Access Pack
way. This created interesting dialogue fromSimulCryptthe forms cable
an integral part one, due to differences
of DVB’s Conditio
customers.
and challenges for the specification, inelem the commercial rithm policies. Thus was DVB set up a specialized policy/
ents:
Scrambling Algo
• DVB Common
given than none of the systems had born • the
DVB Common Inter
• Cod e of Con
idea
duct
of nal a
face (EN 50221)
for Conditio Acccommon
ess scrambled commercial group, reporting to the
been designed to interoperate at a DVB signal• Anti-piraand a common signal ry for thearchitecture, Steering Board and chaired by Eamon
al
cy recommendat
ions multiple condition
interoperation of
ypt spec ifica tion is not mandato on of Part 2 of the specification,
SimulCr completi
headend. associated with several CASimulCrsystems,
itates this. Upon
that Lalor, from the European Commission,
While the DVB or the existing Com
mon
or “Sim ulCrypting”, it facil ypt specification
access systems, of usin g either the new
the choi ce
operators will have
is, Inter
SimulCrypt!
face specification. that set out to give structure and
Erik Lambert: The idea of SimulCrypt During the first Proj years of the
Bac k grou n d
ect (DVB) is
90s itover 200triesbroaworldcasdwidters,e, resolution to these issues. At the heart
a consortium of
was born in the analogue era. At became clear (at leastforto the technically of the whole solution is the common
dcasting coun
o Broa more than 30
The Digital Vide
ators and regu latory bodies in . Numerous broa
dcast
network oper digital television
manufacturers, the delivery of Africa, Asia,
a global standard South America,
the end of the 1980s, Canal+ was in savvy) that the standard future of broadcasting scrambling algorithm (CSA). The
to designin g pe, Nort h and
committed
s are now oper ational, in Euro
services using DVB
discussions with France Télécom about would be digital. The European
and Australasia.
02/05/97
Page 1 of 1
DVB Members involved put together
using D2-MAC transmissions (an Launching DVB_pr034.doc
Group (precursor to the DVB a specialist team of cryptographers of
analogue standard with some limited Project) was created, and the European global stature to work out how to provide
data capacity) to feed both the DTH pay-TV operators, who had toyed with this function.
and cable markets. A standardized CA the idea of each controlling their own
system was being developed – Eurocrypt digital transmission system, joined the Erik: Scrambling and CA became a
– but Canal+ quickly identified two common standardization effort in 1993. contentious topic, and immediately
major issues. The first was linked to positions (and camps) mimicked the
the change of CA in case of a major David Cutts: Critical to making the earlier French debate of a single system
system breach (this was quite a frequent DVB system as close to standardized vs. multiple coexisting systems. Under
occurrence) with the necessity to as possible was the requirement for a the constant push of Eamon “how to
temporarily associate two systems to the means, analogous with the ‘cut and rotate’ eat an elephant, one spoonful at a time”
same scrambled signal; the second to the scrambler of MAC, that would scramble Lalor, the concept of SimulCrypt was,
necessity to isolate the DTH network the video and audio transmission in after a while, accepted by all parties.
14 DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021by any multiplexer manufacturer, is a
First mee
ting of th
e Simul
crypt su DVB-SI
The inau b-group
Robin Crossley: The challenge for this great tribute to the skills of the people
gu M 004
of the C
de Gaulle ral meeting of th ommon
e Interfac
Appendi airport on Thursd above group w e Guide
lines Gro
work, of course, was that there were that came together in the SimulCrypt
x A. ay 27th as
June 1996 held at the Hol up
. A list iday Inn
of attend Hotel at
ees is in Pa
cluded he ris Charles
very strongly held views about the group. Today the output of this group
1. Approva re as
l of Cha
irman
Andrew
need to use proprietary technology goes far beyond just enabling two CA
G
This nom lasspool had prev
ination w io
as approv usly been nomin
(secret, with lots of IPR) versus ‘open’ systems to work together. The standard
ed by all at
those pres ed as chairman of
ent at th
2. Agenda e meetin the group by Dav
g. id Cutts.
technology (not secret and not so The draf
t agenda
(Appendi
that was created is implemented
much IPR). One testing question in every DVB headend, allowing
x B) was
approved
by the m
3. Introduc eeting.
someone once asked was “ask In introdu
cing the
tion
manufacturers since the mid-1990s to
yourself who’s going to pay to fix it make equipment without concern for the
Chairman discussio
n
UK DTI referred to a pape on the role and
), r fu
This docu entitled “The Re published by th ture activities of
when it gets hacked?” CA system or systems that might be used.
ment repr gulation e UK’s D the Simul
directive of ep cr
on conditi esents the UK go Conditional Acc artment of Trad ypt Group, the
principle, onal acce vernmen ess Serv e and In
guarante ss t’s ices dustry (th
Most of my memories relate to ed access and states that interpretation of for Digital Te
SimulCrypt has therefore become
commen e
t can be to under Si le
and it sh co nsidered de co ders oper mulCryp th e Eu ropean U vision ”.
ou at t ni
practice. ld be the object as representative ing with differe “the broadcaste on
the workings of the sub-sub-group Bob Ely
ive of th nt
e SimulCr of the expectatio CA technologi is, in
ypt Group ns of
to ensure the SimulCryp This
r
es”. one of the longest lasting,
that was tasked with inventing a important but little-
no that this t co
the Euro ted that similar can be ac ncept,
pean Uni documen hieved in
on. ts were kn
own to be
common scrambling algorithm, known standards
However in preparat
,
broadcas the Group felt th ion by ot
her mem
te at
other broa r should be able one of the obje bers of
needed if SimulCrypt was going to dcaster, to ctiv
is not fe adopt a SimulCr es stated in the
asible. ypt solutio UK
n withou DTI paper, that
created by the
work. Because of the nature of this work, DVB Project.
t the coop a
eration of
the
it was a restricted group; in fact, Frits
Schreuder (SES) and I were the only two Erik: Today,
who weren’t ‘super mathematicians’! Each the basic
of the main protagonists of encryption concept of
nominated their own expert: Dr Amos SimulCrypt
Fiat for Canal+, Professor Adi Shamir for attempts by the US with a common
NDS (now Synamedia), Louis Guillou secret service to activate scrambling
for CCETT/France Télécom, and Donald a passive microphone in applied to the
Davies for Irdeto. a Russian embassy building audiovisual content
across the river. They apparently signal and several access
Erik: Difficult discussions with the beamed so much microwave energy at management systems
European security administrations it that the window glass got hot! associated with this
introduced extra constraints on the
system: it was to be highly asymmetric David: SimulCrypt, strictly defined
– the encryption equipment difficult as allowing different CA systems to
to implement and under severe export control a single TV transmission, has scrambled
control, so as to allow for the free been rarely used, in each case in the signal, is also
circulation of the decryption chips. process of switching from one CA smart the standard
Furthermore, the administrations were card system to another. But the work mode of operation
not happy with the real entropy of the done to define how a headend supports for OTT
system (the resistance to brute force SimulCrypt and common scrambling has services.
attacks) so there was to be a CSA1 and been used throughout the industry. From
a CSA2, with an over-the-air upgrade, analogue
to allow for the base requirement of Andrew: That a solution was found that broadcast to
life-length for the system: the upgrade accommodated every “security” quirk of the internet,
was done very soon after the commercial every system, yet could be implemented the long life of a
launch of digital pay-TV in 1995–96. simple idea!
Robin: These people were all top David: What
‘algorithimists’ and spent much of their we managed to
time trying to outscore their peers on achieve, between
intellectual prowess! There were more us – companies often
than a few tense moments and tantrums strongly competing in
and even walking-out-of-the-room the market for viewers,
episodes. A particular memory I recall content and technology-
is Adi Shamir saying to Amos Fiat “did platform share – was to pull
you not listen when I taught you this stuff together the different threads
in university?” These two are famous into technical, commercial
for the Fiat Shamir ‘zero knowledge’ and regulatory consensus that
authentication algorithm. enabled the industry to grow
pixy.org CC BY-NC-ND
There were some interesting ‘cold war’ based on what we all wrote down.
stories discussed over dinner, as most This was enshrined in EU regulation,
of these guys had connections with or thus enabling a high-volume base to be
were directly employed by government built for digital television in Europe and
intelligence agencies. I particularly across the planet.
remember Donald Davies telling us of
DVB SCENE | MARCH 2021
13You can also read
