When is “off” really “on”? When you turn off your TV, STB, PC or many other home CE devices they are actually still on.

These devices in fact consume huge amounts of electricity – even when you think they are switched off or are in standby mode.

Why are CE devices designed to stay on?

According to James Field, NDS Director of Technology, New Initiatives,
“Pay-TV systems require that TV set-top boxes maintain a constant network connection so that the consumer’s electronic program guide information is up to date and the STB is ready to wake up automatically precisely when the subscriber wants to record content.”

In addition, software updates, pushed content and other information is usually delivered overnight when the STB is apparently inactive. “When you think about it,” Field says, “it’s not surprising that the standby power consumption of most STBs is almost the same as when they are on.”

This explains why “off” can sometimes still be “on.”

This also explains why Field is helping NDS join News Corporation’s worldwide initiative to reduce energy consumption.

The actual figures may come as a shock. In the UK, the government recently published a white paper entitled “Meeting the Energy Challenge.” Among its calculations the research indicates that the equivalent of $1.8 billion in energy is wasted annually on devices that are not in use or are in standby mode.

The challenge: Figuring out consumption

“Most people today are aware of the negative effect of energy usage on climate change. The problem is understanding what to do about it,” Field says. “NDS develops software for digital pay-TV operators. We work closely with the world’s leading set-top box manufacturers. As such we have the opportunity to introduce new standards and technologies that will save energy.”

As a first step NDS has already deployed automated technology that puts STBs in standby mode when no one is watching, Field says. “Next, it’s time to address the power consumption of STBs even when they are in standby mode.”

To make a rough estimate, Field suggests taking a figure of 10W power consumption for an STB in standby mode. If you multiply this constant load by 500 million digital STBs [the global forecast for the next five years] you immediately understand that reducing standby power consumption is an important issue. “It’s actually like saving the equivalent carbon emissions of five ‘super’ power stations,” he says.

Is there a conflict between the advanced functionality consumers expect in their set-top boxes and standby power consumption? If so, is there a solution?

“NDS is working with its partners and industry bodies to develop new technologies that will enable standby power consumption to be drastically reduced,” Field says. Among the energy saving possibilities, NDS is considering a number of possibilities.

Gateways can do more

Jungo is the NDS company that provides residential and business gateway software platforms and applications. Gateways are replacing modems and routers by enabling broadband operators to deliver managed revenue-generating services to the digital home.

According to Derry Shribman, CTO of Jungo, “the idea is to think outside the box -- the set-top box,” he says. He explains that gateways consume less power than STBs. “If 10W is a good estimate for the power consumption of a set-top box, gateways consume much less.” The question is how can gateways help reduce power consumption.

Shribman gives the example of a set-top box that is in standby mode but needs to record a movie. “Something has to wake up the STB and that can be a gateway.” Otherwise the box has to remain in standby mode.

Gateways can do more. “In order to power down an STB an assistant is required in the home. The gateway can be that assistant,” Shribman says.

Jungo is considering another energy saving direction: the desktop PC. “Why do PCs have to stay on,” he asks. Peer-to-peer operations require a 500W device to remain active.

To avoid this Jungo has added peer-to-peer functionality to its gateways. “The gateway is a very low power device. It obviously doesn’t have enough computing power to replace the PC, but it can perform the peer-to-peer functionality with much less power.”

“What we are planning is to let the gateway take over some of the long term processing events. Much less power is consumed because the gateway does less than a PC. But it can certainly wake up a PC or other CE device whenever necessary.”

“The potential savings are huge if gateways are used instead of the devices that consume much more power,” Shribman says. “Gateways can enable the larger devices to be turned off, rather than just being in standby mode. Everyone wins because everyone saves,” he says.

Decreasing energy consumption without sacrificing functionality is the name of the game. NDS and Jungo are joining in the worldwide effort to manufacture systems that are environmentally friendly. When this effort is successful, perhaps then it can be said that “off” really is “off.”

For more information:

Jungo

Question: What can some PMPs (portable media players) do that video iPods can’t?
Answer: Securely transfer pay-TV content so that it can be watched anytime and anywhere.

Of course there are some complications. Having witnessed the damage done to the music industry by unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing, video content owners are concerned about the piracy that may result when their valuable content is copied to external devices.

To meet this challenge, NDS is coupling its expertise in technology solutions for digital pay-TV platforms with PMP vendors. The first outcome of this initiative has been with Maxian, a South Korea-based manufacturer of portable media players (PMPs). Together they have developed the first pay-TV enabled PMP using NDS VideoGuard PMP™ technology. Their collaboration was first demonstrated in September at IBC 2007 in Amsterdam.

Secure transfer of content

What does this mean? Pay-TV platforms can now offer the secure transfer of content from DVRs or PCs to PMPs so consumers can watch that same content on the go. There are already 8.8 million DVRs worldwide that are equipped with NDS VideoGuard.

VideoGuard PMP uses SVP (Secure Video Processor) technology which is ideally suited to protecting content on PMPs.

Consumers are enthusiastic about the new level of simplicity that VideoGuard PMP delivers. It enables them to copy episodes of their favorite TV series or movies directly from their DVR to a PMP – using their remote control.

Operators are just as enthusiastic because it not only extends the value of their service, but it can also support revenue generating business models, including subscription, content rental and purchase.

Legal downloads to PMPs

Nigel Smith, NDS Chief Marketing Officer says the partnership between NDS and Maxian gives consumers “the first easy-to-use PMP products that connect directly with a pay-TV content service to provide legal downloads of movies, sports and TV shows.”

Consumers today watch most of their TV entertainment at home -- via their monthly pay-TV subscription. What this partnership does is open up all sorts of engaging ways for consumers to get more out of their pay-TV content because the PMP easily synchronizes with the set-top box or PC via a USB 2.0 port.

“This means that if subscribers have a DVR at home, then all unwatched episodes of a series like ‘Heroes’ for example, can now be downloaded to the PMP so they can watch them on the go. It’s that simple,” says Howard Silverman, NDS Product Marketing Manager.

“We’ve made certain that it will be easy to use and that there are no new features that consumers have to learn. Basically, it works with the same remote control they already use.”

This application also expands the capabilities of wireless (Wi-fi) networks. “With VideoGuard PMP, consumers can access great content directly via a Web-based VoD catalog,” Silverman says. Using Maxian’s built-in browser, they can also access the operator's Web portal or even a third party content provider and download a movie directly to their PMP. What is significant about this technology is that once the content is downloaded, no further connection with the portal or any DRM server is needed to play the content.

Integrating PMPs into the Pay-TV Service

According to Han-hong-Choi, Maxian’s VP of Marketing: “The integration of the PMP into the pay-TV service significantly extends the choices that the pay-TV operator can provide – generating extra revenues through new business models and also achieving higher subscriber retention by offering a service on their terms, regardless of time, location or device.”

Maxian devices featuring VideoGuard PMP can securely receive premium video content in a variety of ways. “This creates additional revenue channels and business models, thanks to the robust security platform,” Han-hong-Choi says.

Usability is clearly the key requirement for both consumers and operators. What consumers want is a seamless user experience that enables them to transfer content from their DVR or PC to their PMP quickly and easily. Operators are interested in new ways to increase the return on their content investments and to generate new revenue streams.

“The VideoGuard PMP solution means that for the first time consumers can access high value content they have already paid for – provided by their cable, satellite or telco provider – and view it anywhere, at any time,” Silverman says.

The bottom line is that the success of portable media players is about great design, a great user experience and great content. “All three are important,” he says, “but content is king. VideoGuard PMP with SVP security unlocks this content for the PMP market. This makes it a major opportunity for PMP vendors to offer new content flexibility and choice to consumers.”

For more information:

VideoGuard
VideoGuard PMP
Maxian
SVP

In 1989 Kevin Costner starred in a movie about an Iowa farmer and dyed-in-the-wool baseball fan with an inner voice that tells him, “If you build it they will come.” The “it” in this case is a regulation baseball field; “they” are the baseball legends of a previous generation. To the bemusement of his neighbors, Costner builds a baseball field in the middle of his corn field. Lo and behold, “they” come and play the best game ever. Hence the movie’s title “Field of Dreams.”

A similar act of faith is being made by telecoms and cable operators that are embarking on building their own fields of dreams – next-generation networks that bring 100 Mbit/sec of bandwidth into the home, even though it is still unclear which services are going to work, whether any “killer applications” exist or how long it will take to get a return on a multibillion dollar investment.

The attitude seems to be, “If you build it, the applications – and the profits – will come.” History suggests that this is not such a crazy approach. After all, around 100 years ago the builders of national electricity grids envisaged providing homes with lighting and heating. They did not suspect that their networks would power computers, dishwashers and PlayStations.

Similarly, the engineers that laid hundreds of thousands of miles of copper wire in the 1950s and 1960s to enable basic voice telephony could not have imagined that these same twisted pairs would in the next century be used to send electronic mail, films and music around the world.

While ADSL has been good enough so far, there is a limit to what those old wires can do. Hence, in anticipation of the new services that will come once the network is built, we see operators around the world striving to take optical fiber closer to the home or all the way into it. While the best that can be offered by ADSL is up to 25 Mbit/sec – only those living close to the exchange can get the full speed – a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network can offer 100 Mbit/sec to all homes on the network.

The multibillion-dollar investment in next-generation networks might be boldly going where no telco has gone before, but though the final destination is uncertain, it is not all unknown territory.

Bandwidth-hungry video services, most notably HDTV, top most operators’ lists, while other products will exploit the symmetrical infrastructure that gives users upstream speeds to match the downstream.

This is a radical change from current ADSL networks where upstream is usually ten times slower than downstream. This symmetry facilitates multiplayer online gaming and virtual reality simulations, both of which could be offered in HD format. It also opens the door to ultra-fast peer-to-peer file sharing, which in turn is sure to open a Pandora’s Box of next-generation piracy. This means that next-generation digital rights management (DRM) technologies will be required to fight it.

Roland Montagne, Head of Broadband Practice at IDATE, a consultancy based in Montpelier, France, looks to countries where deployment is more advanced. In “FTTx Economics: Keys to a Profitable Venture” published in September, he suggests that while in Japan, extra bandwidth has been the main selling point, in the US it has been HDTV. Overall, he says, there is no clear killer application that will work across different markets.

Meanwhile “The NGN Debate: Light-Speed Networks at a Cost,” a report on next-generation networks published by Fitch Ratings agency in the US in August endorses that view, saying: “What is less clear is what new services will be available or the cash-generating ability of this investment.”

Building these new networks is no easy or trivial matter: IDATE estimates that in France alone the cost of building fiber-to-the-home in the 10 biggest cities (40 per cent of the population) could reach €11 billion ($16 billion). In the US, leading telco giant Verizon is planning to spend €8 million ($11.5 million) to reach 20 million homes with FTTH, while Japan’s NTT is committing €37 billion ($54 billion) to reach 47 million homes, according to consultancy CapGemini. These figures are taken from a report entitled, “Prospects for Next Generation Broadband Deployment in the UK,” published by the Broadband Stakeholder Group in the UK.

Variations based on fiber

There are several variants of technology based on optical fiber and a confusing array of acronyms and jargon. “FTTx” has emerged as an ugly generic means to describe various formats, including: fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the-building (FTTB), fiber-to-the-street cabinet (FTTC), fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) and fiber to the last amplifier (FTLA).

Over these infrastructures operators can use different technologies – such as VDSL (Very High Speed DSL) and PON (Passive Optical Network, a point-to-multipoint, fiber-to-the-premises architecture) – with varying degrees of bandwidth to deliver their services.

So far, France Telecom is the only European telco that is committed to deploying FTTH – and that is largely because it faces intense competition from cable and independent DSL operators that are doing the same. Others have committed to FTTC or other FTTx variants.

But UK incumbent BT, while implementing a £10 billion ($21 billion) “21st Century Network” upgrade of the core network to IP technology, does not yet plan to upgrade the access network, the local loop that connects the core network to the home. It has so far committed to build fiber deeper into the network only in new 'greenfield' housing developments. For the time being, BT believes that the 50 Mbit/sec that can be offered by running VDSL over the existing copper network will be sufficient bandwidth for the services likely to be required.

As this suggests, the UK is not in the fiber vanguard. According to UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom that may not be too much of a problem and “first mover advantage” may be of limited value. “Future Broadband: Policy Approach to Next Generation Access,” an Ofcom document released in September suggests that, “It may be that the efficient deployment of next-generation access is simply earlier in some other countries than in the UK. We do not yet see evidence that the UK will be significantly disadvantaged economically or socially as a result.”

It is the UK’s very success with current generation networks – broadband is available to 99.6 percent of homes, more than in any other G8 nation – that is one reason why there is less urgency to upgrade than in some other countries. Another factor is television.

The UK has a mature pay-television market (via satellite, cable, digital-terrestrial and ADSL), but in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands pay-television has not taken off to the same extent and next-generation broadband offers a way to leap directly to HD-based IPTV services.

In some countries, France for instance, the need for an FTTx solution is greater because the copper local loop involves distances between exchanges and homes that are too large to be suitable for technologies such as VDSL.

Old architecture

We may be talking about ultra-modern networks, but some of them are going to be built along some very old-fashioned architecture.

In France, independent telcos Free and Neuf Cegetel are using public sewers to lay their new fiber cables, an approach which IDATE estimates could reduce capital expenditure by nearly a third.

Ofcom also envisages that part of the next-generation, 21st century network will be built using the sewer system that is one of the great legacies of the Victorian era.

Ironically, with the amount of pay-TV content which is “adult” in nature, the Victorians might well have considered the sewer to be the most appropriate place to distribute it.