Reviewing the concept of virtual set top boxes / Cloud browsers / cloud UI streaming

1. Virtual stb revisited
latest thinking about cloud browser ui streaming
Dr. Randolph Nikutta
Telekom Innovation Laboratories
Connected TV World Summit, London, May 2017

2. 2
ONCEUPON ATIME ………NEWDISRUPTIVE THINKING:
EVERYTHING GETS VIRTUALIZED ….SOWHAT ABOUT THESTB?

3. 3
SCEPTICALMYTHBUSTERS ABOUT THIS DISRUPTIVE MOVEWERE
DOMINANTINTHE TECHNICALDEPARTMENTS
Nice technology but more for
future deployment
in 3-4 years
Myth Buster 1
vSTB cannot handle peak
time usage with a 2 million
subscriber base
Myth Buster 2
vSTB GUI traffic will overload
our network
Myth Buster 3
vSTB backend is too
expensive to scale
Myth Buster 4
It is only for Free to Air, but
not for protected content
Myth Buster 5
Do I have sufficient app
developer support for a
vSTB?
Myth Buster 6
No local PVR possible with
vSTB
Myth Buster 7
DRM implementation gets too
complex with vSTB
Myth Buster 8

4. 4
OPTIMISTICMYTHBUSTERS ABOUTVSTBWERE
DOMINANTINTHE MARKETINGDEPARTMENTS
We don’t need STBs
anymore!
Myth Buster 1
Cloud STB is always far
cheaper!
Myth Buster 2
With vSTB we do not need
platform migration
anymore!
Myth Buster 3
At least we will use cheaper
dongles instead STB!
Myth Buster 4
We don´t need any further
TV platforms anymore
Myth Buster 5
Connected TV is a virtual
STB
Myth Buster 6

5. What happened in the meantime: THE ETERNAL BATTLE OF
THE INNOVATION UNIT for a stb paradigm change
5

6. WHAT PROMOTED THE TURNAROUND TOWARDS BROADER
ACCEPTANCE OF VSTB / CLOUD BROWSER TECHNOLOGY?
6
1 Telco shift to total cloud infrastructure based production modelIT Paradigm Shift
Continous increasing UI performance demands3 Customer Demands
Faster service innovation and time to market of TV features
needed to compete with OTT players4 Business Challenges
Demand for less UI versions in development, shorter test
times and less complex STB client rollouts5 Technical Challenges
Carrier-grade and OpenStack capable platforms available,
proven scaling6 Maturity of Technology
2 Increasing customer reach with broadband, better low latency
and increasing bandwidth
Broadband Evolution

7. 7
Typical CURRENT CHALLENGES for tv provider: DELIVER
BEST IN CLASS TV EXPERIENCE & SPEEDUP INNOVATION.
CAN CLOUD UI BE THE ANSWER?
ageing set-top-box portfolio
 A large or even the majority portion of the
current STB base of many operators is
incapable to support highly graphical and
animated UI
 Replacement would cost tens of millions of
Euros or US Dollars
Fragmented user experience
 Different UI versions optimized for different
STB types
 Impossible to deliver uniform UI across the
footprint
 Maintenance of different UI versions
 Big gap in available application ecosystem
amongst multi-screen devices
slow innovation cycles and
complicated roll-out
 Time consuming and money hungry new
developments
 One size doesn't fit all
 Inability to compete with the dynamics of the
web companies
 Fragmented Content protection landscape
5+ YEARS OLD
LOW
PERFORMANCE
UP TO 5 YEARS OLD
AVERAGE
PERFORMANCE
Plethora of UIS: high animated HTML, native
UIs, Vendors UIS ...
zoo of legacy STBs across footprint

8. CLOUD BROWSER OVERALL SERVICE DELIVERY PLATFORM
8

9. OVERALL LATENCY that makes a user addicted to a
system
9
When engineers measure the speed of a PC, they talk about something called
the Doherty threshold of system response time. When you ask your computer
to do something and hit the ENTER key, if it answers you back in less than 400
milliseconds [1], just under half a second, then you will stay glued to that
machine for hours. Your eyes may glaze over, but your productivity will soar.
Even a slight variation back to half-second response time will allow your
attention to stray. But under 400 milliseconds, that's the sweet spot.
Halt and Catch Fire
[1] Doherty, Walter J., and Arvind J. Thadhani. "The economic value of rapid response time." IBM Report (1982).

10. Cloud browser DOUBLE stream approach
 Cloud Browser renders the UI with applications only, while the media is
delivered from another server.
 Thus, the UI/Apps and media streams are delivered separately to the client,
which then has to combine both these streams to present them to the end
user in a unified form.
 This approach implements a separate delivery of the video stream and the UI
stream to the client STB.
 This approach therefore enables reuse of the legacy video delivery
infrastructures, e.g. multicast networks, cable networks, etc.
Cloud browser single stream approach
 Requested by the client URL (Uniform Resource Locator) gets forwarded to
the server on which a Cloud Browser is running.
 The Cloud Browser downloads all the necessary data (HTML, CSS
(Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript) and renders the page.
 Afterwards, the rendered page gets packed into a video stream that is sent
back to the end-device (as a video stream or a sequence of images).
 Now the client has to only playback the video stream. Here, the service
execution is completely shifted to the Cloud.
CLOUD BROWSER APPROACHES
10

11. CLOUD BROWSER: HOW TO EME?
The EME processing by the Cloud Browser can be addressed by the following two architectures:
1. DRMBridgeArchitecture: the EME is completely terminated in the cloud.
Challenges: 1. The end2end security media delivery is interrupted by the Cloud Browser and additional re-encryption is required. This might not be
accepted by service providers and film studios. 2. Client is not executing future-proof EME technology, but rather legacy DRM.
Pros: 1. For Single and Double stream approaches. 2. Legacy DRM devices are addressed through the re-encryption.
2. DistributedEME Architecture: The EME is mapped on the Cloud UI on both server- (EME-enabled Web Application) and client-side (The actual DRM
processing within CDM).
Challenges: 1. Only for Double Stream approach, as the content must be processed on the client. 2. Legacy DRM devices are not addressed, only
EME-enabled devices. 3. EME Standard must be adjusted.
Pros: This architecture does not require re-encryption and ensures uninterrupted point-to-point secured delivery of the content.
Browser
CLOUD-
BASED
EXECUTION
VIDEOdata
EME?

12. Cloud ui streaming is not a black and white choice
continuum of dynamic option space
12
Cloud UI Streaming
Options for STB
Full UI
Streaming
Hybrid UI
streaming
Picture based mode
Suitable for slower broadband access situations
Depending on solution also animations are possible
Video based mode
Needs more bandwidth
Compared to animated picture mode no UI modifications necessary
Full local STB UI + part of services natively implemented
Selective resource demanding services on Cloud UI
Picture or video based streamed
Partial local STB UI + resource demand. UI parts streamed
All Services or part streamed
Picture or video based

13. Cloud browser: standardization activities and further
operator wishlist
13
Cloud thin client on device MSE/EME integration Further wishlist items
 Currently, every vendor has its own
proprietary thin client on a device
communicating with cloud browser
 W3C Cloud Browser Task Force (part
of Web and TV workgroup) is
working on a standard client – cloud
browser API
 Covers control & signaling between
Cloud browser and client, also
integration of services like HbbTV or
QoS
 W3C Cloud Browser Task Force will
also address the integration of the
MSE/EME standard into the client –
cloud browser communication
 Important for easy integration of
DRM protected content items and
advertisement use cases involving
the cloud browser
 Persistent cookies in cloud browser -
> important for the integration of
YouTube as a streamed service on
STBs
 Standardization of vendor specific JS
based code for animated picture
based Cloud UI streaming mode

14. CLOUD BROWSER Applications & Use Cases
14
Streaming of UI as
image (.png/.jpg) or
video stream
(H.264/H.265)
Description
Bandwidth
Scalability
Latency
Image stream: 100-300
kbps
Video stream: 1-3 Mbps
(HD), 4-16 Mbps (4K)
High
150-400 ms
Advanced UI Streaming
Streaming of
applications: HTML5,
Android, native apps
like Netflix (only UI)
OTT Video Application
Streaming
2-4 Mbps
Middle
300-400 ms
Streaming of casual
games with higher
performance
requirements (3D
animated, OpenGL
support)
Casual TV Games
Streaming
4-8 Mbps
Low
<300 ms
Streaming of interactive
TV advertisement ads
to any kind of devices
Interactive TV Ads
High
<300 ms
Image stream: 100-
300 kbps
Video stream: 1-3
Mbps

15. 15
Technical feasibility confirmed
 Multiple existing deployments all over the globe: CJ Hellovision, D’Live ,
SK Telecom and SK Broadband (Korea); Cablevision, Liberty Global,
Charter Communications, etc.
enriched experience
 Increased richness of the TV UI independent
of the STB type
 Uniform experience across the different device
types
 Bring web apps to the TV and provide new
appealing use cases
faster time to market
 Fast and dynamic UI updates
 Develop once deploy everywhere
 Keep up with the innovation pace of web
industry
 Significantly shorten the test period prior
launch
questions yet to be answered
 Deployment of Cloud UI for hybrid TV
 Deliver TV in mobile only countries
money saving potential
 Extend STB lifetime and minimize replacement
costs
 Further decrease STB price
 Reduce development and maintenance cost
THINKOUTOFTHE(SET-TOP)BOX
MULTIPLE BENEFITS FROM MOVING THE TV UI FROM THE BOX INTO THE
CLOUD

16. CLOUD BROWSER DEPLOYMENTS
16
Charter Communications, a leading North American cable operator has successfully rolled out
its modern Spectrum EPG using the ActiveVideo’s Cloud streaming technology.
Charter
Communications
SK Telecom along with SK Broadband, the largest quad play operator in Korea, has successfully
launched Advanced UI service based on Entrix Cloud streaming technology.
SK Telecom and SK
Broadband
CJ Hellovision and D’Live, the largest cable operators in Korea, also launched a Cloud-rendered
TV application services Based on Entrix Cloud streaming technology.
CJ Hellovision and
D’Live
Liberty Global in Hungary, along with ActiveVideo and Metrological as partners, launched a
Cloud based platform to offer a wide range of applications including YouTube.
Liberty Global
Cablevision, now part of Altice, launched Hulu as a channel on its Optimum TV pay-TV service,
based on ActiveVideo’s technology.
Cablevision

17. Take aways
17
From a TV operator perspective there is a
strong need for a standardized local client
– cloud browser API to simplify deploy-
ments. Vendors competition should focus
on the efficiency of their Cloud browser
backend solutions.
TV Operators should consider Cloud
Browser as a key part of their strategy for
agile service innovation.
Cloud Browser UI streaming technology
bridges the gap between web development
speed and device capabilities and delivers
constant superior user-experiences.
Deployment of a cloud browser UI solution
is not a black and white decision. There is
flexible continuum of options with several
combinations of local STB and cloud
browser execution.

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
contact:
randolph.nikutta@telekom.de