Cable Industry to Standardize Under Tru2Way

smooth wombat writes "In a move to stave off the FCC, cable operators have now agreed upon one standard to allow TVs and other gear that will work regardless of cable provider. This standard should allow the development of new services and features that rely on two-way communication over the cable network. The core of the matter is this: there are tvs and other devices which can receive digital programming but cannot talk back to the network. As a result, subscribers must rent out boxes from cable companies. This new standard should, in theory, do away with having to rent a box. There are two downsides to this standard. First, Sony has not signed onto the cable industry's idea and second, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to put forth a proposal for a more open and competitive environment using a completely different standard."

Let's change the name and hope nobody notices!

[glindsey]

Tru2Way is the new name for what was formerly "OpenCable," the standard which is not open as you need to register with CableLabs and sign an NDA just to see many of the specifications.

The protocol involves a sophisticated DRM system which can allow content providers to dictate which content you are allowed to move or copy and when (see section 6, Security, of the OpenCable Unidirectional Reciever Specification, OC-SP-OCUR-I04-060622).

I'm guessing "Tru2Rape" was just too truthful of a name for them to use.

Re:For a moment ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It would help if CableCards actually worked. They don't.

Talk to any CableCard installer. I've met an installer tech who has a 0% success rate installing the stupid things. They just don't work.

From what I gather, it's really a problem with the third party device manufacturers - they just don't implement the standards properly. The problem isn't with the cards themselves - cable companies have been mandated to use them in all cable boxes produced since July of last year. These boxes work. So the problem is obviously with the third party devices.

It just goes to show that, yet again, attempting to regulate the free market just doesn't work. Tru2Way may have a chance to succeed because it isn't being forced by the FCC, but given just how poorly consumer devices work with CableCard, I wouldn't count on it.

Personally I don't understand why people care about renting the box. They're rented WAY under cost. Would you want to be forced to pony up $400 up-front to use their cable? Or would you rather continue to pay $4/month for it? (That's 8 years before you'd catch up buying it up front!)

Re:For a moment ...

[Jeff DeMaagd]

That, and CableCard v.2 was supposed to handle 2-way communications. I think v.1 was just one way.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Why?

[LabRat]

It's obvious you don't grasp how modern digital cable works. This isn't about "phoning home". This is about being able to send command/control signals to the head-end equipment in order to access dynamically provisioned resources. Just as your web browser isn't "phoning home" when you open a TCP connection to slashdot in order to request the index page. Such dynamic resources include Switched Digital Video (sort of like multicast in the IP world..but not quite as granular), VOD, PPV, etc. Yes, it's true that all of those services can be accessed today without 2-way communication capabilities (formally konwn as OCAP, now I guess re-branded to "Tru2Way")..but they required you to rent a converter box from the cable company. Including this functionality into consumer electronics will eliminate the need to rent a second piece of hardware from the cable company...though if you just really like the idea of being charged $10/month or whatever for no good reason other than to have the privilege of having their official box and green LED clock on top of your A/V stack, I'm sure the cable company will be happy to accommodate you. If you are worried about your cable system monitoring your viewing habits, I sure hope you don't have a digital converter box ;)

Re:Why?

[Tintivilus]

The AC had the right idea but the wrong link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched_digital_video [wikipedia.org]

In an SDV system, not all channels are present on a given segment unless they're being requested. TiVo has announced support for SDV [prnewswire.com] via an external USB dongle for the upstream.

Re:Oh, for f***'s sake.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you had a working, albeit limited, cable network but no fiber network, what would you do? Make some small upgrades to the cable network or build a completely new network? Does that answer your question?

Switching Video Delivery

[saikou]

You do, actually. Because otherwise some channels will simply not work any more. One-way communication means all channels are broadcasted _at once_. And your card has means to decode channels A through M (but not N through Z, even though the feed is there). Now with switching video they only broadcast channels that are presently in use (A,E,L...), so in order to watch channel D your box/card/device has to be able to talk back to the node and say "I'd like channel D now" to which it gets back "Ok, it's on digital channel 1342.1" and magically that particular channel is assigned feed from D for some amount of time, after which it will be reused.
That way cable company can offer you virtually unlimited number of channels even though the bandwidth is limited (and in worst case scenario they only need one channel per each consumer's device). Time Warner already started to move some channels to this delivery system, therefore if you have a cable card and you want to see one of those "small" channels you are out of luck. And if you have "digital cable compatible TV" then you may see some channels that keep on switching content.
So yes, you do want a two way communication, even if you never use Video on Demand.

Re:For a moment ...

[DCTooTall]

I actually work for one of the major US cable companies (not gonna say which cause it honestly doesn't matter), in the department that controls the overall "brains" of the cable video network in our region. As such, I tend to see some of the issues, and can maybe hopefully contribute to the back-end knowledge of the cable video platform for the /. users.

First off, in direct response to your question. To the best of my knowledge, currently most set top boxes in use are made by 1 of 2 companies. Scientific Atlanta, or Motorola. These are also the companies who pretty much are the 2 "big boys" in the Cable headend game. Our region actually has systems which run on both platforms (they are not interchangeable since both companies do things on the backend differently.

In order to kind of understand the way the cable-cards work, you kind of need to know the way the entire system works...sorta. So let me try and explain the makeup of the cable headend. I deal primarily with the Scientific Atlanta systems in our area, so I'm more familiar with it (and where to find the references online which I can share.). Keep in mind that both systems do the same thing, the way in which they do it is just a little different. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns457/networking_solutions_solution_category.html [cisco.com] the figure here is kinda basic, and includes stuff not really needed...but may help as a visual aid.

In the Scientific Atlanta platform, you have your primary controller. This system, running off Solaris, Pretty much "controls" the entire cable video network. It contains the configuration information for all the modulators which send the video over RF to your home. It also contains all the conguration information for your settop box, package information, security information, Channel Map configurations, etc. When the video source is configured on the QAM (Modulator) it can be encrypted. On the SA system, there is a special server connected directly to the DNCS responsible for maintaining the encryption keys and information. This encryption helps to prevent unauthorized access to the digital signal. The most obvious (without getting into conspiracys or opinions on greed and whatnot) reasoning for encrypting a channel is so that little johnny doesn't stumble across hardcore sex in the clear with his QAM tuner TV.

In the Cable-Card enviroment, the cablecard is responsible for the decryption of this signal. The encryption is done via a public/private key system. When a cablecard is loaded on the controller initially, the DNCS at this point knows the Secure Micro of the cablecard. When the card then gets authorized for the encrypted feed, it at that point is sent the information it will need to be able to decrypt the video feed. This process tends to work without many problems. The REAL complication with cable-cards tends to be a bit more involved with the pairing process.

From what I understand.... the pairing tends to be pretty much the DRM of whole mess. no wonder it causes so many problems. But then again, nobody can avoid it these days it seems. Anyways, there are primarily 2 Id's that come into play here. The CableCard's ID, and the Host device ID. This is pretty much where you are pairing up the 2 devices and getting them to play nice to each other and know who the other person is. It's this item that pretty much tends to be the real pain in getting a cablecard working. (personally.. I hate TIVO's.. ). The unfortunately thing about standards, is while they are there to tell you how things are supposed to work, talk, and act together. They don't always go into the nitty-gritty of how to implement those standards, user interfaces, or procedures. For instance, especcially in a dual-turner TIVO, they can be a bastard to set up. Why? First you must make sure that just the primary card is

Re:For a moment ...

[jedidiah]

> Restaurants that aren't good go out of business; restaurants that served poisonous food would be out of business in a day,

McDonalds
Jack-in-the-Box
Odwalla

People will put up with crap if it's cheap enough. This is why Walmart is so successfull.

2 of those companies have KILLED PEOPLE with their crap and are still in businees.

The other one is constantly defended for it's gross negligence and contra-indicated food prep procedures.

Infact, the most prevalent business model is to sell "crap to millions" that is just barely above the level that will keep you from getting sued or arrested.

Getting lynched isn't even in the equation.

This notion that the invisible hand will somehow ensure quality products simply extreme naievete or extreme crassness on the part of people who's primary interest is taking advantage of the ignorant sods that only care about the pricetag.

Re:Ah yes, "FCC" and "open"

[evilviper]

Like the way we now have a separate HDTV standard than everyone else in the world because they advocated a NTSC replacement even though the existing European standard was perfectly fine?

The ATSC (HDTV) standard in the US predates DVB by years.

The ATSC organization was created in 1982.
The DVB organization was created in 1993.

The (final) ATSC standard was published in 1995.
The DVB-T standard was finalized in 1997.

So, you should instead be asking why Europe chose to develop their own incompatible standard, "even though the existing American standard was perfectly fine."