Set-top Box Research Articles

Potential risk of IoT device supporting IR remote control

Infrared (IR) remote control technology is widely applied in daily human life. IR remote control signals are a simple, safe and reliable resource that can help to control nearby electrical appliances. With the development of Internet of things (IoT) technology, an increasing number of IoT devices supporting IR remote control access the Internet. In this paper, a malicious IR hardware module (MIRM) is made. The MIRM is implanted into a keyboard in an air-gapped network to control nearby IoT devices to leak sensitive data out. In our attack experiments on a smart TV set-top box, the rate of the covert channel can reach 3.15 bits/s. The potential risk that IoT devices can be exploited maliciously to leak sensitive data is revealed. Finally, a list of countermeasures is presented to enhance security of IR remote control and eliminate such covert channels.

Automatic Functionality Verification of Hybrid Set-Top Boxes With Dynamic User Interface

Modern set-top-box (STB) user interfaces (UI) contain increased amount of animations/effects compared to standard UIs, thus demanding a new approach for accurate and cost-efficient STB functionality verification. In this paper, a fully automated system for functional failure detection in hybrid STBs with dynamic UI is proposed. It consists of image capturing unit, testing tool, and hybrid STB being verified. The automatic verification of hybrid STB functionality is performed by comparing the captured image of the dynamic UI to the referent image captured from referent STB. The system incorporates a new algorithm for image similarity measurement, adjusted for image alterations which often appear in dynamic UIs. Algorithm utilizes image feature extraction and comparison to determine captured and referent image similarity and to make decision regarding STB functionality. The proposed system was compared with existing fully automated system for functionality verification of an STB device with static UI. Tests were performed on both computer generated and live stream cases. For this purpose a new freely available computer generated image alterations database is created. The results show that the proposed system achieves higher performance and robustness, in terms of measuring image similarity despite alterations caused by dynamic UI effects.

QCon: QoS-Aware Network Resource Management for Fog Computing.

Fog computing is a new computing paradigm that employs computation and network resources at the edge of a network to build small clouds, which perform as small data centers. In fog computing, lightweight virtualization (e.g., containers) has been widely used to achieve low overhead for performance-limited fog devices such as WiFi access points (APs) and set-top boxes. Unfortunately, containers have a weakness in the control of network bandwidth for outbound traffic, which poses a challenge to fog computing. Existing solutions for containers fail to achieve desirable network bandwidth control, which causes bandwidth-sensitive applications to suffer unacceptable network performance. In this paper, we propose qCon, which is a QoS-aware network resource management framework for containers to limit the rate of outbound traffic in fog computing. qCon aims to provide both proportional share scheduling and bandwidth shaping to satisfy various performance demands from containers while implementing a lightweight framework. For this purpose, qCon supports the following three scheduling policies that can be applied to containers simultaneously: proportional share scheduling, minimum bandwidth reservation, and maximum bandwidth limitation. For a lightweight implementation, qCon develops its own scheduling framework on the Linux bridge by interposing qCon’s scheduling interface on the frame processing function of the bridge. To show qCon’s effectiveness in a real fog computing environment, we implement qCon in a Docker container infrastructure on a performance-limited fog device—a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B board.

A Program Optimization Method for Embedded Software Developed Using Open Sources

Program optimization or software optimization is the process of modifying a software system to make some aspect of it work more efficiently or use fewer resources. When developing software for embedded systems, open source libraries are usually used. An Embedded software built using a variety of open software and libraries is apt to have too many unused codes because open source libraries contain many functions and features to be used in various applications. In this paper, we describe the process of a library optimization method to reduce memory consumption for the user interface software of a set-top box product. The overall optimization process uses freeware tools developed for the Linux operating system. We devised an optimization technique to compensate for operation imperfections in the target system. The original Qt library of 19.57 MB was optimized to be 7.26 MB in program image size. In the case of the DirectFB library, 3.2 MB was reduced to 2.4 MB. The optimization process can be applied to any embedded software that are developed with open source libraries or sources.

Audio and Video Technologies: Recent Advances in Consumer Electronics

Our everyday lives are crammed with consumer electronics (CE) systems, ranging from smartphones, smart devices, set-top boxes, video consoles, and tablets to washing machines and kitchen appliances. A CE device is heavily reliant on audio and video technologies for its successful smart functioning. With the evolution of these sophisticated devices and technologies, data (such as images, sensitive information, and so forth) security has become a major concern that requires immediate attention. Another facet of these technologies that needs attention is optimization of data redundancy, coverage area, and energy expenditure of CE systems, such as video devices. This special section aims to publish novel solutions with respect to these aspects of audio and video technologies for CE applications.

Artificial Intelligence for Detecting Media Piracy

Pay TV has evolved from a walled garden, set-top box model to include online services. Although there are numerous operator and consumer benefits that result from this shift, it also opens up tremendous piracy threats that are a nightmare to control. The sheer volume of information being shared in a more open environment means that manpower alone is insufficient to process and detect threats effectively. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology develops in the media space, its application in security must focus on more than closing gaps and locking down assets. Security threats must be spotted and managed faster and more efficiently, before a security instance even occurs. In this paper, we explain how to leverage AI to fight piracy by using content monitoring solutions that search and identify pirated content on the internet. At the core of this technology is an AI-powered computer vision system that identifies the original source of distributed content based on the visual information present in the image (e.g., broadcaster logo). We cover practical issues around building such a system, including its workflow, training, and performance. <disp-quote xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> In this paper, we explain how to leverage AI to fight piracy by using content monitoring solutions that search and identify pirated content on the internet. </disp-quote>

A program-driven approach joint with pre-buffering and popularity to reduce latency during channel surfing periods in IPTV networks

Internet protocol television (IPTV), which is quickly growing in popularity, can provide hundreds of channels; however, finding a desired IPTV channel among hundreds of channels is a difficult and time consuming issue. Since the very big number of channels, and the delay in switching between them due to network bandwidth limitations, can make it difficult for viewers to find the content they want. To solve this problem, we propose a novel method to reduce channel surfing period that is called Pre-Buffering join with Program Driven (PBPD) method. It is noted that the number of channel switches has a main effect on the channel surfing period. Our proposed method is based on programs; it means that instead of choosing channels, users select their desired programs by which they can reach the channels playing the programs. In addition we send all channels playing the selected program type plus one channel (most popular) from each group of channels playing other types of program in time slots to the STB(set-top box) including minimum one I-frame and finally we use popularity to select the channel in the STB. Simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the number of channel switches, waiting time for the delivery of the earliest key-frame after selecting a channel and average time to join a broadcasting group; therefore, the proposed method has a good performance in comparison to other methods.

Android Based Interactive Service for Self – Learning on Set Top Box

Android Based Interactive Service for Self – Learning on Set Top Box

Performance evaluation and analysis of 64-quadrature amplitude modulator using Xilinx Spartan FPGA

This paper proposes the design of 64-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation using the Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) coding and XILINX SPARTAN Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) real-time implementation for validation. QAM is used in modern digital communication applications like set-top box, satellite TV, wireless and cellular technology etc. In this paper, 64-QAM is implemented and compared with three different XILINX SPARTAN FPGA devices say 3A DSP, 3E and 6E. The power, current and thermal parameters are performed and compared. The power consumed for the design of 64 QAM using the Xilinx SPARTAN 6E FPGA device is 0.014W and 15.9 C/W of Effective TJA for the XILINX SPARTAN 3A DSP FPGA. The device utilization of the 64-QAM design using the XILINX SPARTAN 3A DSP is low.

A new Information publishing system Based on Internet of things

A new information publishing system based on Internet of things is proposed, which is composed of four level hierarchical structure, including the screen identification layer, the network transport layer, the service management layer and the publishing application layer. In the architecture, the screen identification layer has realized the internet of screens in which geographically dispersed independent screens are connected to the internet by the customized set-top boxes. The service management layer uses MQTT protocol to implement a lightweight broker-based publish/subscribe messaging mechanism in constrained environments such as internet of things to solve the bandwidth bottleneck. Meanwhile the cloud-based storage technique is used to storage and manage the promptly increasing multimedia publishing information. The paper has designed and realized a prototype SzIoScreen, and give some related test results.

Providing Traditional Computational Facility through TV SetTop Box

Providing Traditional Computational Facility through TV SetTop Box

Network-Assisted Management of Power-Efficient Set-Top Boxes for Enhancing User Experience

For the power-efficient set-top boxes, passive-standby mode was proposed as the lowest power mode. However, the power-efficient set-top box in the passive-standby mode provides low quality of user experience (e.g., update problem and latency for full activation). In this paper, network-assisted management method is proposed to enhance user experience by reducing the set-top boxes’ latency for full activation and by facilitating update for the set-top boxes. The network-assisted management enables a set-top box assistance server (SBAS) to analyze the frequently used time of the set-top box and to receive update schedule from the set-top box operator. The SBAS schedules standby modes of the set-top boxes for enhancing user experience by using the frequently used time and update schedule.

Designing an Easy-to-Deploy Improved DVB-C Set-Top Boxes With a Backward Compatible Square-Root Nyquist Filter

The set-top boxes based on the digital video broadcasting-cable (DVB-C) standard have been deployed worldwide for decades, and the square-root raised cosine filter is specified as its receive filter. Recent years, plenty of the preferable square-root Nyquist filters have been developed. It is eagerly desired to upgrade the filter in DVB-C system. However, because a great number of the set-top boxes are still in operation, the upgraded new set-top boxes are required to coexist with the already deployed old ones. Theoretically, it requires the receive filters in both the old and new set-top boxes satisfy the Nyquist criterion with the same transmit filter. Up to now, there is no acceptable solution to this problem. This paper proposed a backward compatible square-root Nyquist filter design method, which enables the old set-top boxes to coexist with the upgraded new one. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed filter enables both the old and new set-top boxes to work properly, in terms of satisfying the Nyquist criterion, achieving the required stop-band attenuation and satisfying other requirements defined by the DVB-C standard. The experimental tests and simulation results have also demonstrated that the proposed filter has increased the spectrum utilization by 14% compared with the DVB-C standard, and with much lower computational complexity.

TV Viewing and Advertising Targeting

Television, the predominant advertising medium, is being transformed by the microtargeting capabilities of set-top boxes (STBs). By procuring impressions at the STB level (often denoted “programmatic television”), advertisers can now lower per-exposure costs and/or reach viewers most responsive to advertising creatives. Accordingly, this study uses a proprietary, household-level, single-source data set to develop an instantaneous show and advertisement viewing model to forecast consumers' exposure to advertising and the downstream consequences for impressions and sales. Viewing data suggest that person-specific factors dwarf brand- or show-specific factors in explaining advertising avoidance, thereby suggesting that device-level advertising targeting can be more effective than existing show-level targeting. Consistent with this observation, the model indicates that microtargeting lowers advertising costs and raises incremental profits considerably relative to show-level targeting. Further, these advantages are amplified when advertisers can buy in real time as opposed to up front.

Rancangan Sistem Monitoring Suhu dan Kelembaban Perangkat Set Top Box pada Internet Protocol Television Mengunakan Jaringan Local Area Network (LAN)

This design was created to facilitate the monitoring the factor of the internet protocol television damage through technician server room. Cause of damage factor that will be monitoring are temperature, humidity and voltage on the device. Component used to monitoring the temperature and humidity is DHT22 sensor on the set top box device on internet protocol television. Basic concept of this design is DHT sensor will send the information about temperature and humidity alteration to Arduino UNO that will be processed by Arduino UNO. Data received from sensor processed by Arduino UNO and sent by ethernet shield to computer server. It will be discussed more clearly in this paper and more completely about the work principle of monitoring set top box system design on internet protocol television.

Human-Driven Edge Computing and Communication: Part 1

The articles in this special section focus on edge computing. The vision of edge computing considers that tasks are not exclusively allocated on centralized cloud platforms, but are distributed toward the edge of the network (as in the Internet of Things and fog computing paradigms), and transferred closer to the business thanks to content delivery networks. The traditional gateway becomes a set-top box machine, with additional computation and storage capabilities, where micro-tasks can be offloaded first, instead of directly to the cloud. Mobile edge computing can also be a more suitable approach to also extract knowledge from privacy sensitive data, which are not to be transferred to third party entities (global cloud operators) for processing. The proliferation of the networking connectivity and the progressive miniaturization of the computing devices have paved the way to sensor networks and their success in the automation of several monitoring and control applications. Such networks are built in an ad hoc manner and deployed in an unsupervised manner, without an a priori design. The consequent availability of long-range communication means at certain nodes of those networks has enabled the possibility of the Internet connection of the sensor network to make use of cloud-based services.

Performance Analysis of Game Engines on Mobile and Fixed Devices

Mobile gaming is an emerging concept wherein gamers are using mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, to play best-seller games. Compared to dedicated gaming boxes or PCs, these devices still fall short of executing newly complex 3D video games with a rich immersion. Three novel solutions, relying on cloud computing infrastructure, namely, computation offloading, cloud gaming, and client-server architecture, will represent the next generation of game engine architecture aiming at improving the gaming experience. The basis of these aforementioned solutions is the distribution of the game code over different devices (including set-top boxes, PCs, and servers). In order to know how the game code should be distributed, advanced knowledge of game engines is required. By consequence, dissecting and analyzing game engine performances will surely help to better understand how to move in these new directions (i.e., distribute game code), which is so far missing in the literature. Aiming at filling this gap, we propose in this article to analyze and evaluate one of the famous engines in the market, that is, “Unity 3D.” We begin by detailing the architecture and the game logic of game engines. Then, we propose a test-bed to evaluate the CPU and GPU consumption per frame and per module for nine representative games on three platforms, namely, a stand-alone computer, embedded systems, and web players. Based on the obtained results and observations, we build a valued graph of each module, composing the Unity 3D architecture, which reflects the internal flow and CPU consumption. Finally, we made a comparison in terms of CPU consumption between these architectures.

Statistical Analysis of the User Viewing Pay Channels Behavior Based on RFML Model

Based on the two-way digital cable set-top box return real-time data acquisition, pay channels on Xi'an 27966 users viewing data and analyze the users’ data. First of all, pay channels to build RFML model user viewing behavior. Then, using descriptive statistical analysis and RFM model to analyze and build the user behavior index calculation model. Finally, according to the analysis results, the study could give the conclusion that the score of CCTV the first theatre channel is highest and the Laughter theatre channel and charming music channel have the lowest score.

Your smart home or your (private) life?

Internet service providers (ISPs) can peek at the baby monitors, TV set-top boxes and even vibrators that people use in their own homes, as long as the devices are connected to the Internet. And it works even when gadgets are set up to protect privacy. But recent US policy changes to what data ISPs can sell made people wonder if the firms could start profiting from smart-home data. So Noah Apthorpe at Princeton University and his colleagues set up a mock smart home, complete with seven Internet-connected devices, to find out what they might reveal.

New Design of a Fiber Channel-Embedded Set-Top Box for IPTV Networks

The Internet protocol television (IPTV) service enables people to enjoy various Internet-based services via conventional TV watching. In the IPTV system, a set-top box (STB) is the key since it works as a terminal device that can relay real-time multimedia content from the Internet. However, the current IPTV STB functions as an attached device in a local area network although the actual IPTV network is usually served by an optical fiber-based network such as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Therefore, we introduce a novel fiber channel (FC)-embedded IPTV STB to fully use the sufficient optical fiber-based network bandwidth such as 1 Gbps. To verify the IPTV network capabilities by impact of the FC-embedded STB, we evaluate the performance of the FC-embedded STB-attached IPTV network architecture via extensible simulations in terms of an average startup-delay, an average reject ratio, and the number of concurrent users. Surprisingly, the suggested IPTV system demonstrates superior average startup-delay (less than 15 msec), an acceptable average reject-ratio less than 3%, and an almost linear increasing number of concurrent users, which reveals that the FC-embedded STB significantly affects the entire FC-AL-based IPTV network performance by efficiently facilitating the broadband optical fiber bandwidth.