CableCARD

CableCARD is a special-use PCMCIA (PC) agenda that allows consumers in the United States to appearance and almanac agenda cable television channels on agenda video recorders, claimed computers and television sets after the use of added accessories such as a set top box (STB) provided by a cable television company. The agenda may be provided by the bounded cable provider; usually for a nominal account fee. Another name for a CableCARD is an M-CARD on some cable boxes

In abstruse contexts, "CableCARD" refers added broadly to a set of technologies created by the United States cable television industry in acknowledgment to requirements by federal government's Telecommunications Act of 1996 that cable companies acquiesce non cable aggregation provided accessories to admission their networks.

Use of the appellation CableCARD can be confusing, because some technologies accredit not to the concrete card, but to a accessory ("Host") that uses the card. Some CableCARD technologies can be acclimated with accessories that accept no concrete CableCARDs.

Background Info

The allocation of the 1996 Telecom law which resulted in the conception of CableCARDs is accepted as Section 629, instructing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to:

"...assure the bartering availability to consumers of multichannel video programming and added casework offered over multichannel video programming systems, of advocate boxes, alternate communications equipment, and added accessories acclimated by consumers to admission multichannel video programming and added casework offered over multichannel video programming systems, from manufacturers, retailers, and added vendors not affiliated with any multichannel video programming distributor."

Multichannel video programming refers to cable or agenda television. A active action of this admission was to advance the affectionate of chump choices that resulted afterwards the Federal government battleground Carterfone cardinal acute blast companies to acquiesce consumers to acquirement third affair telephones for adapter to the buzz aggregation network. The anticipation was that consumers would account from added choices due to antagonism amid chump electronics (CE) manufacturers detached with cable companies.1

The FCC was answerable with alive with industry to backpack out the directives of the 1996 law. On June 11, 1998, afterwards accepting proposals and recommendations from absorbed parties, the FCC ordered that cable companies would accommodate a adaptable aegis admission accessory by July 1, 2000 which could be acclimated by third-party accessories to admission agenda cable networks.2 One important affair was the affair that cable companies adeptness not be motivated to accommodate able aegis admission mechanisms for adversary companies to use. To abode this, the FCC directed that the cable companies would by January 1, 2005 aswell accept to use a adaptable admission accessory that was aswell accessible to third parties. The cable aggregation would be banned from accouterment accessories that relied on a aegis admission apparatus chip with the accessory afterwards the 2005 deadline. This aphorism is usually referred to as the "integration ban", and has been abominably challenged in the courts and in FCC petitions by the cable companies. The borderline was confused advanced alert and went into aftereffect July 1, 2007.3

The adaptable aegis accessory was referred to in FCC regulations as a "Point of Deployment" (POD) module. Afterwards abounding requests for adjournment from the cable industry, the aboriginal CableCARD accessories became accessible from third affair manufacturers in August 2004.

CableCARDs may be acclimated to admission both accepted analogue and top analogue channels as continued as they are not allotment of a switched video system. (This applies to one-way accessories only, two-way accessories are able of accepting and examination switched video. The adeptness for one-way accessories to accept and appearance switched video has afflicted with the accession of the Affability Resolver Interface Specification. Affability adaptors and affability adaptor interfaces accept been added to accommodate advice aback to the headend bare for switched video.) CableCARDs are not all-important for examination unscrambled agenda cable channels if the user has a QAM tuner — a affection in some televisions and DVRs. CableCARD abutment is a lot of accepted on college end televisions that cover a appropriate aperture for the CableCARD and a congenital cable tuner. The agenda acts like a different "key" to alleviate the channels and casework to which the cable chump has subscribed, and the television's remote-control will aswell ascendancy the cable channels. Televisions that abutment CableCARD should be labeled by the architect as "digital cable ready", or DCR.

Existing standard and certification procedures

Cable providers in the United States are appropriate by the FCC to abutment the CableCARD 2.0 standard. The blueprint was developed by CableLabs, a analysis accumulation run by a bunch of cable companies. Accessories that use CableCARDs are accepted as "Hosts" and have to be certified as adjustable with the blueprint by CableLabs. The acceptance action can yield cogent amounts of time and is performed in batches on a approved aeon every 3 months.

The aboriginal analysis apparatus to verify acquiescence of OpenCable hosts with the CableCARD one-way individual beck specifications, HPNX, was appear by SCM and Digital Keystone in 2003.4 Subsequently the HPNX Pro version, acknowledging two-way and M-card specifications, was appear by Digital Keystone in 2006.5 The "M-UDCP Device Acceptance Analysis Plan" appear by CableLabs defines how to use the HPNX Pro analysis apparatus to validate the OpenCable host devices.6

The aboriginal analysis apparatus to verify acquiescence of the CableCARD accessories with the OpenCable specifications, Host Emulator Tool, and produced by Margi Systems, was aboriginal activated by CableLabs to validate the Scientific Atlanta (Cisco) and Motorola POD (later renamed to CableCard) accessories in 2003.

Cable companies in the United States are appropriate to accommodate CableCARDs befitting to this specification, and have to absolute incompatibilities amid their networks and certified CableCARD devices.7

The accepted CableCARD accepted was built-in out of an adversarial action amid two capital groups: cable companies represented by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and customer electronics companies represented by the Customer Electronics Association (CEA). The allocation of the CableCARD specs that could be agreed on call how one-way casework work, and so alone the allocation accepted as UDCP (Unidirectional Digital Cable Product) was appropriate by the FCC. As it was the alone affair required, a lot of of the aboriginal accessories were alone one-way capable; about all the absolute CableCARDs produced were consistently two-way capable. Many enhancements to the CableCARD accepted including the alternative Multi-Stream abutment became accepted as CableCARD 2.0.

Although an optical cable service, Verizon FiOS is classified as a cable account and have to by FCC rules aswell abutment the CableCARD standard. No cable providers in Canada currently abutment CableCARD. Video providers in Europe have to accommodate to the DVB accepted which is a added absolute accessible accepted absolute by absolute standards bodies.

CableCARD aswell supports non-television functions. It can aswell act as a cable modem controller, afresh with the host accouterment accentuation and demodulation functions, and the agenda accouterment adaptation and IP acquisition functionality; about this affection is rarely used, and depends on the cable provider.

Physical CableCARDs

The concrete CableCARD that is amid into the host accessory is a PCMCIA blazon II agenda which handles decryption of video, and authoritative abiding that alone humans that accept paid for the approach may appearance it. This is aswell accepted as "conditional admission module" function.

There are two kinds of concrete CableCARDs:

A "Single-stream" CableCARD (S-CARD) can break a individual approach at a time. The S-CARD blueprint was initially defined in the Host-POD Interface (SCTE 28) and POD Copy Protection System (SCTE 41) standards (often referred to as CableCARD 1.0) set of specifications.

A "Multi-Stream" CableCARD (M-Card) can break up to six channels simultaneously. Multi-Stream cards were defined in a abstracted certificate in 2003.

No absolute M-Cards were appear afore CableCARD 2.0 was appear which accumulated and added the CableCARD 1.0 and Multi-Stream standards.8 M-Cards are astern accordant with accepted CableCARD devices. To earlier CableCARD accessories that do not abutment assorted streams, the agenda appears to be a individual beck card. CE companies accept continued capital M-Cards for their CableCARD 1.0 host accessories in adjustment to attempt with Cable aggregation accessories that use assorted tuners. This is important for articles such as Moxi & TiVo CableCARD DVRs, televisions with picture-in-picture and CableCARD-equipped claimed computers, which charge to be able to almanac one appearance while the user is watching another. To accredit this after an M-Card, these articles would be appropriate to use assorted S-CARDs.

A accepted delusion is that there is a CableCARD 2.0 concrete agenda that will accommodate two way casework which is not accordant with a UDCP (one-way) certified devices. This is not the case. OpenCable Host Accessories (two-way) are able to use either S-CARDs or M-Cards. And earlier UDCP certified accessories can aswell use either agenda (but unless they are M-UDCP will not be able to yield advantage of assorted streams).

Interactive appearance such as Video on Appeal await on the CableCARD Host accessory getting an OpenCable Host Accessory and accept annihilation to do with the concrete card. This makes the accepted use of the byword "CableCARD 2.0" as a claim for video on appeal misleading, back two way casework accept been provided with the absolute cards from the actual beginning.8

Adoption

There has been abundant attrition from the cable companies to CableCARD rollout beyond the United States with the cable companies preferring to abutment their own set-top boxes. This has afflicted somewhat with the July 2007 FCC affiliation ban, which appropriate all new set-top boxes to use CableCARDs as their decryption mechanism. Prior to this, acceptance had proceeded boring with 141,000 units by February 2006. By June 2009, there were over 14,000,000 CableCARDs deployed including 437,800 of which went into retail equipment.10 Currently about all the retail accessories is not able of two way communications.

There are still abounding in the cable industry who are advocating that concrete CableCARDs be alone entirely. These cable companies adopt to move abroad from concrete cards, and accept proposed that a downloadable aegis basic accepted as Downloadable Conditional Admission System (DCAS) be acclimated instead. The FCC has not yet accustomed it.

CE companies apostle their angle for added able admission to cable aggregation networks, with CableLabs' role bargain to acclamation alone cable aggregation interests of advancement arrangement adherence and security.

Technical overview

CableCARD is a appellation trademarked by CableLabs for the Point of Deployment (POD) bore authentic by standards including SCTE 28, SCTE 41, CEA-679 and others. The CableCARD is physically a PCMCIA blazon II PC card, supplied by the cable company, which is amid into a aperture in the host (typically a agenda television set or a set-top box) in adjustment to analyze and accredit the customer, and to accommodate proprietary adaptation of the encrypted agenda cable arresting after the charge for a set-top box. The cable tuner and QAM demodulator themselves are allotment of the host device, as is the MPEG decoder. The role of the agenda is to accomplish any codicillary admission and decryption functions. This after-effects in an MPEG-2 carriage stream, which is decoded by the host. The agenda aswell receives letters beatific over the out-of-band signaling approach by the cable company's Head end servers and assiduously them to the host.

Cards from above providers such as Comcast, Cox Communications, RCN and Time Warner Cable in some regions currently crave on-site accession by a technician, who letters the different ID numbers pre-assigned to both the CableCARD and the agenda television to the aggregation headquarters, area they are adapted to the customer's account. Because of this, CableCARDs cannot be confused from one accessory to addition after a appointment from a cable aggregation installer. Some regions (such as Comcast Houston) do acquiesce chump installs, and in fact accommodate appropriate buzz abutment for CableCARDs. The agenda is amid as users do for laptop PCMCIA cards. The CableCARD identification numbers are accustomed to the abettor who again sends the CableCARD an out of bandage Entitlement Management Message (EMM), which accidentally programs the CableCARD, acceding it to break for the specific host alone those shows and casework which the user is accustomed to view. 1 2 3

CableCARDs with claimed computers:

Existing dent cable set-top boxes accomplish four basal functions:

Enable accepting and selecting agenda and analog cable channels

Uniquely analyze the chump and accredit the appearance to which they accept subscribed

Break accolade agenda channels and exceptional programming such as cine channels

Accommodate alternate two-way communications for:

Alternate programming guides

Pay-per-view

Video on Demand

Switched video streams

New agenda televisions and added accessories that are labeled DCR (Digital cable ready) contain:

congenital abutment for accepting agenda cable channels (via an centralized QAM tuner)

a aperture for the accepted adaptation of CableCARD (see photo here), which allows decryption of encrypted agenda channels.

The CableCARD 2.0 blueprint includes abutment for #1-4, alternate two-way communications; about it is alien absolutely if CableCARD 2.0 hosts and accordant servers will become available. Approaching accessories which abutment CableCARD 2.0 are accepted to be labeled iDCR "Interactive agenda cable ready". Among added requirements, CableCARD 2.0 hosts will be appropriate to accommodate the OpenCable Application Belvedere (OCAP), aswell accepted as Tru2Way, to run programs downloaded from the cable company. Some analysts adumbrate that advanced availability of tru2way will not be apparent until astern 2010.

An another to CableCARD 2.0, a lot of afresh advocated by the U.S. cable television industry, uses Downloadable Codicillary Admission Arrangement (DCAS) in abode of concrete CableCARDs. In this proposal, a custom aegis dent have to be anchored into every adjustable host; if a aegis arrangement is compromised, a new aegis affairs can be downloaded to the host device.

Because the codicillary admission arrangement is in software, it can be beatific with the video as a anatomy of Agenda Rights Management (DRM). The CableCARD Host Licensing Acceding (CHILA) and the DCAS acceding bind the technologies that CE companies may use for distributing video from host devices. CE companies commodity to this accretion the angle of CableCARD arrangement aegis issues to aswell cover agreeable aegis issues. They adopt to accord with agreeable owners anon with their standards and attention cable aggregation protocols and formats as a carriage only. CE companies ambition to acquaint video central the home arrangement application their own adequate protocols and formats.

The OpenCable Application Belvedere (OCAP) is a Java-based belvedere advised for use either with any aegis admission arrangement — whether it is CableCARD 2.0 accessories or approaching downloadable aegis schemes. OCAP was angry to CableCARDs because, as it was absurd by CableLabs, the added processing all-important for managing the advice with the cable aggregation server would be performed, not on the cable aggregation provided accessories (the CableCARD), but on the customer electronics accessory — accepted as the CableCARD "Host". CE companies objected that OCAP is accidental for the simple assignment of managing two-way communications on the cable networks. The CEA angle is that Java is not able for CE devices, and that cable companies are casual to CE manufacturers the costs of a software belvedere which they didn't need, and which will not run on their absolute accouterments architectures.

The customer electronics industry proposed in November 2006 that the CableCARD 2.0 blueprint be upgraded to cover the accouterment for adapted MCards that would abutment the communications all-important for VOD, PPV, and Switched Video. This agenda would be astern accordant with earlier cards, and abutment would be appropriate for them on cable aggregation servers by January 2008. These adapted MCards would not acquiesce two-way advice application accepted OCURs, which, by definition, are unidirectional. This alleged "OCAP-less" angle was alone by the NCTA for a array of affidavit abundant on in the issues articulation of this article. The abstruse advantage is that abundant beneath is affected about the accretion adequacy of the host, acceptance the accomplishment amount to be decidedly reduced. The disadvantage is that the MCard will be hardly added expensive, but the host will not necessarily be able to abutment the envisioned ecommerce and cyberbanking applications. CE companies altercate that such a agenda fulfills the 1996 law's claim that cable companies acquiesce two-way advice on their networks, and that OCAP fulfills abstruse goals far in balance of those all-important for such two-way communications.