Next steps in conditional access solutions
The Kudelski Group has developed comprehensive and scalable solutions that address all types of platforms, whether they use satellite, cable, digital-terrestrial, IP or mobile technologies. These solutions also adapt to hybrid platforms, meeting their needs in terms of security, content management and functionality. The Kudelski Group's offering now covers the entire digital television ecosystem including conditional access, middleware, content management and protection, interactivity, user interfaces and security modules.
NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS: security for IP and hybrid networks
The convergence of broadcast (DTT and DTH) and broadband (cable and DSL) environments represents an opportunity for operators to enhance their product offering and provide viewers with more interactive and on-demand services. In the original bi-directional networks, the return channel was a telephone line, but this has now shifted to an IP connection that is always active, and this drives a need for specific security solutions.
Nagravision's next generation conditional access solution, NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS (Embedded Link CAS), is specifically designed to protect live video content over "always-on" IP managed networks. This state-of-the-art security system leverages an innovative combination of software and a hardware root of trust using Nagra On Chip Security (NOSC). NOSC has been certified on over 30 chipsets from all the major chipset suppliers and has already been deployed in over 30 million set-top boxes and digital TV sets.
The NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS solution won a TelcoTV Vision Award at the 2009 Telco Awards in Orlando, Florida. These awards recognize the most innovative and visionary new products, services or applications unveiled in the communications industry. NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS was singled out in the conditional access prize category. Nagravision deployed the ELK-CAS solution for several operators in 2009, including Elisa in Finland, SFR in France and EchoStar in the USA.
End-to-end solutions for IPTV networks
NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS is also the security component of Nagravision's global IPTV solution.
The IPTV market is continuing to grow throughout the world. Today, tens of millions of consumers access TV content via IP technology (internet). The Kudelski Group is well positioned in this market, thanks to an integrated solution tailored to the specificities of IP networks and covering the entire delivery chain, from the headend to consumer devices.
Nagravision's integrated, end-to-end solution is designed for telecom and cable operators who want to rapidly launch IPTV services. It comprises three components: a state-of-the-art Service Delivery Platform (SDP) combined with a comprehensive Content Management System (CMS), NAGRA Media ACCESS ELK-CAS for conditional access, and the Nagra Media Guide.
Operators can use this solution to offer:
- subscription to live TV
- pay-per-view
- video on demand
- PVR (hard-disc decoder) applications
The NAGRA Media Service Delivery Platform (SDP) won a 2009 Infovision Award, which was presented by the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) at Broadband World Forum Europe 2009. The Infovision awards honor some of the most notable broadband products, services and applications. The solution won the award in the category of "Content, Entertainment, Applications, and Services". The platform was developed by Quative, a wholly owned Kudelski Group subsidiary, and is provided by Nagravision as a cornerstone of the NAGRA Media IPTV solution. Quative specializes in products for hybrid IP deployments. The NAGRA Media SDP provides a highly effective and affordable IPTV solution for smaller networks. The multi-operator capability makes it possible to achieve economies of scale across multiple deployments, thus significantly lowering the investment threshold for each individual deployment.
Operators are provided with their own web-based management interface to select online which linear or on-demand content packages they want to publish on their networks. Additionally, they can rebrand the advanced browser-based user interface. This means that operators are truly able to manage their own subscribers, including not only access to content but also the look and feel of the user interface.
NAGRA Media PRM
NAGRA Media PRM (Persistent Rights Management) is a security solution for VOD and DVR that is based on NAGRA On-Chip Security (NOSC) technology. It is independent of the Conditional Access System and deployed as a standalone component. This makes for short time-to-market, regardless of whether it is deployed on new or existing set-top boxes. NAGRA Media PRM gives operators gateway control over content consumption and delivery.