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Tutorial on IPTV and its latest developments

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 Tutorial on IPTV and its Latest Developments
Amal Punchihewa, Ann Malsha De Silva
School of Engineering and Advanced Technology
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 4442
Email: g.a.punchihewa@massey.ac.nz

Abstract—This tutorial presents on IPTV technology. providers. For traditional telephone service providers, Triple
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is a system through which Play is delivered using a combination of optical fibre and
television services are delivered using the architecture and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies to its residential
networking methods of the Internet Protocol suite over a
base. Cable television operators use a similar architecture
packet-switched network infrastructure. IPTV services may be
classified into three main groups: live television, time-shifted called hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) to provide subscriber
programming, and video on demand. homes with broadband, but use the available coaxial cable
IPTV can be viewed on a display with a set-top box that rather than a twisted pair for the last mile transmission
accesses channels, subscription services, on demand and other standard. Subscriber homes can be in a residential
interactive multimedia services over a secure, end-to-end environment, multi-dwelling units, or even in business
operator managed broadband IP data network with desired offices.
QoS to the public with a broadband Internet connection.
From the service provider’s perspective, IPTV
This tutorial also discusses the IPTV architecture, network
technologies, implementation of IPTV, different types of STBs encompasses the acquisition, processing, and secure
that are being used with in New Zealand, the standards, delivery of video content over an IP based networking
different business models, hardware and software of IPTV. infrastructure. The type of service providers involved in
deploying IPTV services range from cable and satellite TV
I. INTRODUCTION carriers to the large telephone companies and private

I N 21st century the access with broadband internet and network operators in different parts of the world.
downstream data rates of several Megabit per second The Fig. 1 shows us a block diagram of simple IPTV
(Mbit/s) is making a steady progress. With the increasing system.
number of households are getting used to video streaming
and download, using the Internet Protocol (IP) to enable
interactive retrieval of video content from the Web. This
type of IP based television service is known as WebTV [1].
However, WebTV does not provide a guaranteed quality of
service (QoS). Therefore now the telecommunication
companies are making an attempt to overcome the
deficiencies of WebTV and launched the so-called IPTV.
A. What is IPTV? Fig.1: Simplified IPTV system [3]
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a system where a
digital television service is delivered over Internet Protocol B. IPTV Features
network [2]. Werner [1] describes that “IPTV is not a well- IPTV has number of features. According to [4], these
defined term and may be a source or ambiguity and features are:
sometimes confusion”. (i) Support for interactive TV: The two-way capabilities
IPTV is a television service where content can be of IPTV systems allow service providers to deliver a wide
displayed on a display with a set-top box that accesses range of interactive TV applications such as standard live
channels, subscription services, on demand and other TV, high definition TV (HDTV), interactive games, and
interactive multimedia services over a secure, end-to-end high speed Internet browsing.
operator managed broadband IP data network with desired (ii) Time shifting: IPTV in combination with a digital
QoS to the public with a broadband Internet connection. video recorder permits the time shifting of programming
IPTV system may also include Internet services such as content.
Web access and VOIP where it may be called Triple Play (iii) Personalization: An end-to-end IPTV system supports
and is typically supplied by a broadband operator using the bidirectional communications and allows end users
same infrastructure. IPTV is not the Internet Video that personalize their TV viewing habits by allowing them to
simply allows users to watch videos over the Internet in a decide what they want to watch and when they want to
best effort fashion. IPTV technology offers revenue- watch it.
generating opportunities for the telecom and cable service (iv) Low bandwidth requirements: Instead of delivering

978-1-4244-8551-2/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 45 ICIAfS10

every channel to every end user, IPTV technologies allow II. CURRENT IPTV AND ITS EVOLUTION
service providers to only stream the channel that the end
user has requested. This attractive feature allows network A. IPTV Deployment
operators to conserve bandwidth on their networks. IPTV is a system of delivering television content to
(v) Accessible on multiple devices: Viewing of IPTV consumers over the infrastructure of the Internet. With the
content is not limited to televisions. Consumers often use proliferation of broadband networks set up by telephone
their PCs and mobile devices to access IPTV services. companies to offer broadband Internet to consumers, IPTV
has overcome the problem of having limited bandwidth that
C. IPTV Advantages
was once a major barrier to deployment [6].
(i) IPTV signals are 100% digital, so the days of analogue Currently there are two different ways consumers can get
TV are fast becoming a thing of past. IPTV. They can buy a "set top box" which will convert an
(ii) IPTV works on any existing internet connection. So we IPTV signal and play it on their television. The other option
just need to install the set-top-box and power it on. is to watch on a PC. Many IPTV service providers also offer
(iii) IPTV doesn’t require wires to get its signal. The newest voice and data capabilities with the IPTV service, making it
IPTV set-top-boxes work on wireless signals. a true "triple play" use of the broadband network. In the
(iv) Programs can be stored on servers and ready to view market of broadband applications IPTV is a major upset.
with the click of a button on IPTV remote (in contrast to With the advent of IPTV, many cable television companies
linear broadcast TV). are being expelled from the market of providing low cost
D. Video on Demand television, data and voice broadband applications to
consumers.
The idea of video-on-demand is to allow viewers to watch
any programme they desire whenever they want to watch Business applications are also in development. Services
such as streaming video are widely available on IPTV due to
[5]. But as the technology advances and costs come down,
the scalability of the medium. The categories within IPTV
video on demand (VOD) becomes more and more attractive
to service providers. are still evolving, but possibilities are still wide open as to
which of the many versions of IPTV will become standard.
The basic concept of VOD is based on video
programming that is stored and then delivered to a viewer Companies are in the initial struggle to become leaders of
the market, but at this point it is anyone's game. There is no
when it is required. This storage can take the form of a
doubt that IPTV is the next generation for television content,
centralised server that is equipped to send programming
simultaneously to a hundreds of viewers, or it can take the but it has yet to be determined which companies will be the
benefactors of the innovations that are now taking place [6].
form of more distributed storage throughout the network. At
the limit, individual storage devices for each viewer can be B. Global Growth of IPTV
located in individual STBs [5]. Worldwide subscriber base for IPTV services is expected
Unicast connection is set up between the customers’ STB to expand more than 26 times from 2005 to 2010 [7].
and the delivering streaming server. The signaling for the According to the Al-khatib and Alams’ research [7] global
trick play functionalities (pause, wind, and rewind) is IPTV subscribers are expected to grow from 2.4 million in
assured by Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). The most 2005 to over 63 million in 2010. Fig. 2 shows the expected
common codecs used for VOD are MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. rate of growth of IPTV subscribers.
E. Triple / Quadruple Play
Triple play refers to multiple services being delivered by
a single service provider, such as voice (telephony), data
(internet access) and television services. Quadruple play
adds mobile telephony to the mix [5].
From a service provider perspective, triple play services
offer the combined cash flow from three separate services
that can be used to pay for a common network that is Fig. 2 Expected growth of IPTV subscriber base [7]
capable of delivering all of them. Service providers usually
offer discounts to customers who buy more than one service, The IPTV subscriber base is expected to generate more
which has proven to be a successful marketing policy. than $27 billion in revenue for all IPTV services in 2010 [7].
Triple play focus on a combined business model rather IPTV subscriptions are poised to grow from over 30 million
than solving technical issues or a common standard. in 2010 to 68 million by the end of 2014, according to
Quadruple play is often supported by dual-mode GSM plus forecasts from analyst from Strategy Analytics [7].
Wi-Fi cell phones that shift from GSM to Wi-Fi when they
come in range of home wired for triple play service.

46
 III. IPTV BUILDING BLOCKS
The Fig. 3 shows the basic building blocks that are
required for implementing IPTV. The home gateway has to
have powerful processing power and enough network
bandwidth to provide networking service and to cope with
various customers. In order for a system operator to deliver
IPTV, it would require encoding, broadcast, and do the
appropriate management before the end user can connect
their set-top-box.

Fig. 4 Typical IPTV System Architecture [5]

Broadcast information coming from an antenna or a

satellite dish at the Super Head-end is mainly distributed
using MPEG-2 multi-program transport stream (MPTS) to
the video service node. The distribution of the actual SDTV
or HDTV channel content is performed using various
devices on the access network, such as digital subscriber
Fig. 3 IPTV Basic Building Blocks [8] line access multiplexers (DSLAM) and other technologies
like fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) can be used to interface with
IV. IPTV ARCHITECTURE the user’s STB. For IPTV, each channel is distributed using
A typical IPTV architecture is comprised of the following a multicast IP address.
functional blocks:
(i) Super head-end: Where most of the IPTV channels enter V. IPTV NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES
the network from national broadcasters.
IPTV technology is part of a new breed of services
(ii) Core network: Usually an IP/MPLS network
designed to facilitate access to video entertainment. It
transporting traffic to the access network.
provides access to digital TV over the IP transport medium
(iii) Access network: Distributes the IPTV streams to the from a head-end device to the end user’s TV set-top box
DSLAMs.
(STB). Most service providers use a dedicated transport
(iv) Regional head-end: Where local content is added to the
network to support IPTV.
network.
(v) Customer premises: Where the IPTV stream is A. IP Distribution to the STB via DVB IPI
terminated and viewed. DVB has had a technical ad-hoc committee (TM-IPI)
For a very large IPTV delivery system, there is often a dedicated to IP distribution to the STB since 2000. It has a
hierarchy of facilities constructed to deliver video signals responsibility to provide a standard for the IP interface
across a large extent of territory. One Super Head-end can connected to the STB. The special feature about this
serve millions of customers by processing the video technology in contract to the other standard bodies and
channels that are common to all subscribers across the traditional broadcast methodology is that it starts at the STB
serving area. A Video Serving Office is located in each and then works to outwards [9]. The standards bodies of
region as required to handle local programming and TM-IPI are shown in Fig. 5.
channels specific to a single city or geographic area. The (i) DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) for the home
Remote Terminal can serve as a Regional Head-end that network.
contains the equipment needed to actually deliver the (ii) HGI (The Home Gateway Initiative) for the standards
programming to customers in local area. surrounding the residential gateway between the broadband
connection and the in-home network.
(iii) ISMA (The Internet Streaming Media Alliance) for the
transmission of AVC video over IP.

47
 (PoP) at the DSL access multiplex (DSLAM). The technical
challenge for IPTV is the short time delay during channel
hopping [1].

VI. IPTV STANDARDS AND SOLUTIONS

Setting standards for IPTV would be difficult at best.
There are multiple areas to cover, as IPTV is very broad
subject, and the medium was not intended to transport audio
and video when it was created. Moreover, some specific
Fig. 5 IPTV related activities of selected standardisation bodies [9]
features of this medium allow some services while outdating
(iv) DSL Forum for the standards surrounding DSL and some of the former schemes based on broadcast [10].
remote management of in-home devices including STBs and Standardization is important in the telecommunications
residential gateways. industry. Especially when talking about such a complex and
(v) ITU which, via the IPTV Focus Group, is standardizing large system as IPTV. So it requires many standards for the
the distribution and access network architecture. user’s vote to be securely recorded when pressing the red
(vi) ETSI which, via the NGN initiative, is standardizing button on the remote control. The main standards body for
the IP network carrying the IPTV. IPTV has emerged to be ETSI (European
(vii) ATIS which, via the ATIS IPTV Interoperability Telecommunications Standardization Institute), through the
Forum (ATIS-IIF), is standardizing the end-to-end IPTV branch that develops standards for the “next generation
architecture including contribution and distribution. networks”, which many telecom operators are deploying.
Table 1 shows the organisations that are working to develop
standards for IPTV.
B. IPTV over DSL versus DVB over satellite and cable
In contrast to other technologies, the difference in TABLE 1: THE STANDARDS ORGANISATIONS DRIVING IPTV [11]
IPTV over DSL is that the client-server architecture used for Name Focus Type of Primary
organization industry
IPTV sit between the provider backbone and the IPTV
Open End-to-end IPTV Industry Telecom
home. The difference here is that not a single programme IPTV service, including consortium
goes automatically into the IPTV home. A simplified Forum interaction and
comparison of IPTV over DSL with the DVB-S and DVB-C quality of service
ITU-T IPTV Focus Group Formal Telecom
is shown in Fig. 6. standards
organization
ETSI IPTV based on IMS, Formal Telecom
TISPAN and referencing standards
relevant standards organization
for the transport
layer
ATIS IPTV for cable TV Membership Cable-TV
providers organization
SCTE Technologies related Industry Cable-TV
(Society of to digital cable association
Telecomm television
unications
Fig. 6 Comparison between IPTV over DSL with the DVB-S and DVB-C Engineers)
[1] DVB IPTV and interactive Industry Broadcasting
Forum television, primarily consortium
The coloured (if printed in black and white, the different for broadcasters

grey lines) lines represent the different television

programmes of a digital bouquet that are bundled together in
VII. SET-TOP BOXES
one or more multiplexes. Each of these carries a multi-
programme transport stream (MPTS) [1]. Similar to An IP set-top box is a dedicated computing device that
Broadband cable head-end, the DSL head-end picks up the serves as an interface between a television set and a
satellite signals and converts them to IPTV signals. But the broadband network. In addition to decoding and rendering
difference is that when we press the button of an IPTV broadcast live TV signals, a set-top box provides
remote control, it is communicate back via the return functionality that includes video-on-demand (VOD),
channel to the service provider. Then the server routes the electronic program guide (EPG), digital rights management
requested programme as a single programme transport (DRM), and a variety of interactive and multimedia
stream (SPTS), over the backbone to the point of presence services. Set-top boxes can support additional features such

48
as Web browsing, e-mail and viewing e-mail attachments, can have the access to TiVo internet features [14].
advanced multimedia codecs, home networking and PC A TiVo box acts like a digital tuner, giving the access to
connectivity including playback and rendering of content Freeview HD channels and the ability to record them. It will
stored on the PC (photos, music, and personal videos), also provide internet access to pay-per-view movies and TV
gateway functionality, instant messaging (IM), and real-time shows. Fig. 7 shows TiVo set-top box, remote controller and
voice over IP (VoIP). These types of advanced Wi-Fi wireless access device.
functionalities are in demand by end-users, enable
incremental network operator service opportunities, and
allow set-top box manufacturers to easily offer a large range
of differentiated devices [12].
Also to provide secure delivery of satellite data
in IPTV systems, service providers charge subscribing fee
by scrambling the program in conditional access system Fig. 7 TiVo Set-top-Box, wireless adopter and remote controller [15]
using control words. At the receiver end, smart card is used
to decrypt the control words and transfer them back to set- Some of the TiVo STB features are summarised below.
top box to descramble the scrambled program. Therefore, (i) Vital statistics: The TiVo box is 42cm long, 32cm wide
secure communication between set-top box and smart card and 7.5cm tall.
is closely related with the benefit of service providers and (ii) Hard disk: 320 GB (up to 250 hours Standard
the legal rights of users [13]. Definition or 120 hours of High Definition, dependent on
Current set-top box development is driven by service station broadcast formats recorded).
provider requirements and customer demand for new (iii) Composite video and stereo out, HDMI output.
features. Priorities for service providers include the capacity
to deploy, using minimal capital expenditures, new revenue- TiVo features for Telecom customers [16] are;
generating services and multimedia and entertainment- (i) The HD DVR allows viewer to play, pause or rewind live
oriented applications on a set-top box to meet changing TV and record two programmes at once.
customer requirements over time. Service providers also (ii) The 14-day on-screen TV Guide makes it easy to
need to ensure that copyrighted content is protected from schedule the recording of free-to-air programmes and see
unauthorized distribution. To accommodate these what’s coming up on the box. The Now Playing list shows
expectations, the set-top box operating system platform all the programmes that viewer have already recorded.
must be extensible and remotely upgradeable, and include (iii) The Season Pass Manager automatically records every
both rich multimedia technologies and fundamental security episode of the favourite series for the whole season.
features, such as access control. (iv) The WishList search finds and records programmes that
feature viewers’ favourite actor, director, team or topic.
A. Basic Functions (v) Viewer can restrict programmes, lock channels or set
The main job of the STB is to receive the incoming IPTV ratings to shows that are unsuitable for children with TiVo
signal and convert it to a video signal that can be displayed KidZone.
on the viewers’ television. This also provides the user (vi) Using the remote scheduling tool via the internet,
interface that allows viewers to select the video viewer can set their TiVo to record when they are away
programming to be viewed. To do these tasks STB has the from home.
following functional elements [5]:
C. My Sky HDI Set-top-box
(i) Network Interface, to receive the IPTV signals and The MySky HDi is a Personal Video Recorder (PVR),
transmit user commands. just like the original MySky box. The “i” in MySky HDi
(ii) Video and audio outputs, which are connected to the refers to interactive offerings; ie: the box is allowed to
viewers’ video display and speaker system. receive internet-delivered television (IPTV) from Sky [17].
(iii) User interface, both on the front panel of the STB and Another feature that differs from the old Sky box is that the
by way of an on-screen display and remote control. stunning High Definition output delivers to HDMI-capable
(iv) Conditional access hardware/software, to support secure TV sets.
viewing of valuable content. The new box has twice the theoretical capacity of the
(v) Hard disk drive, for recording video programs. original MySky (320 Giga Bytes vs 160 Giga Bytes).
However, in practice, consumers can only access 160GB to
B. TiVO Set-top-box store recorded programmes and the remainder is for
Telecom New Zealand and Hybrid TV has the exclusive operating system software and to store pay-per-view
rights of TiVo products and only its broadband customers programming downloaded to the box.

49
 The MySky HDi comes with four tuners, but only two are http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=Zz8IYrcApPoC&pg=PA131&dq
=current+IPTV&hl=en&ei=gcOtS-
enabled in the first release. So initially you’ll be able to vNF4W6swP6pfz2Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
record two Sky channels at once, just as the existing box &ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=current%20IPTV&f=false
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