Shenzhen ERI DVB-CI+ 2.0 USBs may come out by the end of 2020

DVB World – The new version of the CI+ module has a new form factor in the shape of a USB stick and these could be released into the market before the end of this year.

CI+ (CI Plus or Common Interface Plus) started back in 1996 as a specification that extends the original DVB Common Interface standard (DVB-CI, v1) found in digital broadcasting. A CI+ module inserted into the corresponding slot of a compatible TV set allows users to subscribe and watch a payTV service from a payTV service operator, without requiring a set-top-box.

Until now, CI+ modules have taken the guise of a PCMCIA card, which virtually all TV sets sold in the EU are mandated to provision for. In a region where 45 million TV sets are sold every year, around 5m CI+ modules are sold annually, meaning that around one-eighth of these ports are occupied.

The next-generation CI+ 2.0, the next step up from CI+ 1.4, has taken on a new USB-based form factor, partly because most TVs now support them and equally because it is in this way no longer a single purpose interface on the TV, which has been a complaint in the past. This means no dedicated host ports are needed, even for UHD and no unused slots for TV manufacturers, according to Alexander Adolf of LG Electronics and chair of the DVB TM-CI Plus module. PCMCIA cards are clunky pieces of hardware that have “lost their cool”, he said.

Adolf explained that as much of software has been kept the same as possible to ease integration. CI+ 2.0 simplifies things by taking away all but the session and applications layers found in PCMCIA CI+ 1.4 modules. The cooperation also remains the same between the DVB (which publishes the technical spec) and CI+ LLP on the other (which handles compliance and testing).

“New USB form factor, the same great product,” was Adolf’s message to the audience at DVB World in Copenhagen. He made it clear there is no official timeline set as yet for the release of CI+ 2.0 products but when pushed on the subject said he thought “later this year” to be a realistic expectation.

Interestingly, when asked if the new form factor will have a positive impact on sales, the audience was mainly optimistic, but the ‘Yes’ camp (44) only narrowly beat the combined No’s (22) and Don’t knows (11).

In response to a question on whether the new form factor will be approved by the EC as meeting their directive, and how to ensure that any TV that has that a USB slot meets those directives because supporting new CI+ requirements might not happen automatically, Adolf admitted it’s too early to tell whether this would require a software upgrade on legacy TVs or something more complex. He is also still unsure whether the new form factor could open up new opportunities and use case applications for CI+.

Source:www.csimagazine.com