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Recent action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress has the television industry scrambling. At the request of the FCC, Congress established February 14, 2009 as the hard date for the shut-off of analog television broadcasts. As a result, manufacturers are busily converting their existing product lines and creating new digital television (DTV) receivers, while over-the-air broadcasters and cable operators are installing new digital equipment that is compatible with the receivers at stations throughout the country.
But, the digital television technology being implemented is still maturing. Unlike analog-based television sets, today’s digital televisions are chock full of complex software. Like computers, digital televisions have operating systems and software applications with high-speed processors and system-level software that makes them run. While the digital and high-definition technology advancements result in ultra-crisp picture quality and blow-your-mind sound, digital televisions are a lot less stable than the old time picture tube analog TVs. Just like a computer, digital TVs will inevitably require software updates to fix bugs and support the latest changes in the still maturing DTV specifications and standards.
The Need for TV Software Update
Software updates are a fact of life for complex computing devices. For more than 50 years, the television industry has been operating on analog technology. Analog televisions contain little or no computational abilities, and have been sold and marketed much the same as any other home appliance. Thanks in part to FCC mandates and low cost digital circuitry; the digital age is reaching the most powerful of all home appliances - the TV. Digital televisions will easily compete with home computers as the most complex device in the home.
Just like computers need updating, evidence exists to verify the need to reliably and routinely deliver software updates to televisions. Currently, manufacturers deliver updates to a consumer’s TV using media devices (such as, USB drivers, compact flash cards, and/or memory sticks) or by sending technicians to a person’s home. These methods are costly; ranging from $30 for a mailing to $250 for a visit.
Beyond televisions, companies have routinely updated the software within other types of electronic devices. TiVo, for instance, downloads a new software patch to its customers DVR devices about once every three months. Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta update their set-top boxes every two months on average. PC users know that Microsoft distributes Windows XP patches weekly.
US Falls Behind
It seems other geographies have a jump on the US when it comes to the issue of DTV software maintenance. In other parts of the world, DTV manufacturers, broadcasters, and technology providers have worked together to address the problem. In Japan, for example, these groups have created a solution based on the ISDB/ARIB standard and most DTV manufacturers use it to send regular software updates to DTV devices in the field. In the United Kingdom, where they’ve adopted the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard, a similar method is used to distribute updates to deployed DTV devices. Television manufacturers use this service on average 2.5 times a year to deliver software updates to their customers.
In the United States, DTV manufacturers rely on what seems like archaic methods by comparison – either mailing out the update or sending a technician to visit the consumer’s home. Still, others put faith in what are hopefully technology savvy consumers and provide web based download facilities, instructing the user on how to manually update the software on their own TV. All-in-all, even with these methods in place, DTV consumers have get a raw deal when it comes to dealing with issues that naturally occur in these complex television products.
Take for example what happened to a major television manufacturer in February when they announced the existence of a critical software bug which affected hundreds of thousands of sets worldwide. The embarrassing bug prevented users from shutting off the set – unless it was unplugged. In order to fix the problem, the manufacturer offered to pay for a technician to visit affected consumers’ homes. The manufacturers also alternatively provided a Web site where consumers could download and manually install the software patch.
It’s clear that the situation in the US needs a remedy. What’s missing is a low cost, widely distributed alternative solution that can deliver software patches easily to consumer sets. In turn, the solution will protect the manufacturer from product recalls or a device failure and protects consumers from faulty TVs and expensive repair charges.
The UpdateTV Solution
Until now, there was no cost effective means through which new software could be delivered to digital TV devices. As an independent company, UpdateLogic Inc., has worked diligently to create a better solution to the issue of distributing software updates in the United States. Its solution, called UpdateTVTM, consists of a nationwide network for both terrestrial and cable distribution of software updates in the U.S.
UpdateLogic has developed tools which manufacturers can use to enable a DTV device to receive software patches as they are released. Using UpdateTV, manufacturers can keep DTV devices in the U.S. market up-to-date as software bugs arise and standards evolve. UpdateTV mutually benefits consumers, manufacturers and network operators alike and ultimately helps assure a successful transition to digital television within the U.S.
Single-Point Ubiquitous Distribution
UpdateTV uses terrestrial broadcast bandwidth from Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations nationwide as the point of entry for distribution to maximize the reach of the UpdateTV network. Terrestrial broadcast allows direct access to DTV receivers with antennas and, perhaps more importantly, direct entry to cable networks (via legal contracts) without the need for additional infrastructure. To enable the terrestrial network, UpdateLogic will place data insertion servers and other related equipment at major terrestrial stations in the PBS network throughout the U.S. UpdateLogic already has completed an agreement with National Datacast Incorporated (NDI), a subsidiary of PBS, to lease bandwidth from the terrestrial PBS stations. Through a network operations center (NOC) owned and operated by UpdateLogic, data is delivered to all terrestrial servers simultaneously. These servers generate a data carousel that is multiplexed with video and audio data at each of the PBS stations – all of this information is delivered directly to terrestrial receivers.
National Datacast and PBS are the optimal terrestrial network providers for “datacasting” – the act of delivering electronics data across communication network infrastructure. PBS has the greatest number of digital broadcast stations, covering the vast majority of the U.S. population. PBS and NDI are working on several other datacasting initiatives including distribution of electronic programming TV guide data. As a result they have applicable knowledge and experience to help UpdateLogic establish and maintain the UpdateTV solution.
Leveraging PBS’s extensive network allows the UpdateTV data to reach the greatest number of terrestrial DTV receivers. Through legally binding carriage contracts, the UpdateTV data signal can also be carried forward on cable networks. Ultimately, this assures that the UpdateTV data carousel can be distributed to the greatest number of television sets by UpdateLogic for the benefit of consumer electronic vendors, cable network operators and consumers alike.
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