Data Operator

Location:

Washington, DC

Posted:

January 01, 2013

Contact this candidate

Resume:

Delivering Data to TV Guide

Consumer Electronic Devices

September 2011

Version 1.31

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Table of Contents

Scope 4

Definition of Terms 4

Referenced Standards 6

Background 6

Digital Data Streams 6

IPG Configuration 8

Cable-Ready 8

CableCARD 9

Set-top box 9

Analog Shutoff 10

Solution 10

SCTE 127: VBI in MPEG 10

New Standard Support 10

Use of SCTE 127 11

Transmission Model 11

Broadcaster 11

Reception and Retransmission 12

Transmission Challenges 13

SCTE 127 Support 13

Data Stream Passage 13

Broadcast Network 14

Summary 14

About Rovi Corporation 15

Contact Information 16

Tables

Table 1: Definition of Terms 4

Table 2: Rovi data Streams 7

Table 3: Data streams example 8

Table 4: Setup type support 9

Table 5: 8VSB receivers with SCTE 127 support 11

Figures

Figure 1: Data broadcasting 12

Figure 2: Retransmitting Rovi data services 13

Scope

This document describes how Rovi Consumer Electronic (CE) products will function following

the end of analog television broadcasts. These products have a built-in interactive program

guide (IPG) that allow consumers to view local program information customized for their

broadcast market. Products include analog and digital TVs and DVRs branded as TV Guide On

Screen or GUIDE Plus+ .

Federal law requires that full-power television stations in the United States discontinue

broadcasting analog television signals by February 17, 20091. Many Rovi CE products rely on

this analog broadcast to populate the IPG.

This document is intended for cable operator management and engineering, Rovi CE

manufacturing partners and broadcasters. It is intended to promote dialog between cable

operators and Rovi CE Broadcast Operations so that cable operators can provide seamless

operation of subscribers IPGs and thus reduce call volume.

Definition of Terms

Table 1: Definition of Terms

Term Definition

8VSB 8-level Vestigial Sideband, the modulation scheme used by terrestrial

broadcasters.

AMOL Automated Measurement of Lineup. Nielsen data.

ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee, the digital television broadcast

standard in North America.

CE Consumer Electronics.

CECB Coupon Eligible Converter Box, an 8VSB converter box that is NTIA approved.

CVCT Cable Virtual Channel Table, generalized as VCT in this document.

Down-convert Conversion of a digital video bitstream to analog.

Edge The last point of processing before distribution to subscribers.

FCC Federal Communications Commission.

IPG Interactive Program Guide. Refers to built-in CE Guide branded as TV Guide

On Screen or GUIDE Plus+ .

Legacy In this document refers to VBI data carried over digital infrastructures.

Public Safety and DTV. September 8, 2008. Federal Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C. http://www.fcc.gov/pshs/clearinghouse/dtv.html

Term Definition

MVPD Multichannel Video Programming Distribution. Includes cable operator or

direct to home satellite systems. Also referred to as Multi-System Operator

(MSO).

NABTS North American Broadcast Teletext Specification, VBI data.

NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the agency

administering the TV converter box coupon program.

NTSC National Television System Committee, the analog television broadcast

standard in North America.

OTA Over-the-Air terrestrial broadcast.

PES Packetized Elementary Stream, method for dividing elementary streams into

packets within a digital bitstream.

PID Packet Identifier.

PSIP Program and System Information Protocol, metadata describing a digital

bitstream.

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, the modulation scheme used by most

cable systems.

SCTE Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers.

SCTE 127 Specifies a mechanism for the carriage of Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI)

data in North American digital television bitstreams.

SMPTE Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

STB Set-top box or cable box.

TVCT Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table, generalized as VCT in this document.

TVG2X TV Guide 2x VBI waveform, a unique waveform patented by Rovi. It is twice

the density of the closed captioning waveform.

VANC Vertical Ancillary Data Space.

VBI Vertical Blanking Interval.

Referenced Standards

The following standards are referred to in this document:

ANSI/SCTE 127:2007 Carriage of Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) Data in North

American Digital Television Bitstreams, Society of Cable Telecommunications

Engineers, Exton, PA, 2007. http://www.scte.org

SMPTE 2031 Encoding of data within the VANC in HD-SDI streams, SMPTE, 2007.

http://www.smpte.org

A/99 Carriage of Legacy TV Data Services, ATSC, July 23, 2008.

http://www.atsc.org/

A/65 Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast and Cable,

ATSC, May 9, 2006. http://www.atsc.org/

Background

For over ten years consumer electronic (CE) manufacturers have sold products featuring TV

Guide On Screen, the leading interactive program guide (IPG) for the U.S. consumer

electronics (CE) market. CE manufacturers integrate TV Guide On Screen directly into TVs,

digital televisions (DTVs), digital video recorders (DVRs), DVD recorders, and digital converter

boxes helping consumers find the shows that matter most to them.

These devices operate independently of cable system set-top box (STB) interactive guides.

The CE Guide relies on information delivered through local broadcasters. These broadcasting

partners host equipment provided by Rovi to insert data into their broadcast signal. CE devices

with a built-in IPG decode this data to populate a program listings grid. The broadcasted data

supports all lineups in the local broadcast market, including cable operators and over-the-air

(OTA) lineups.

There are over 11 million devices distributed in North America. Rovi licenses the IPG

technology to manufacturers who embed the technology in CE products. Rovi supports these

products in the U.S. and Canada through a network of partnering broadcasters, enabling

consumers to enjoy this service subscription free.

Digital Data Streams

There are three digital data streams that Rovi employs to support end-user CE Guides.

VBI data stream

The VBI data stream carries SCTE 127 data, also known as VBI in MPEG. This provides a

mechanism for the carriage of Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) data or legacy data services. All

encoded VBI fields are contained in a single stream, so there is only one SCTE 127 stream per

MPEG program. If a broadcaster or MVPD chooses to encode, for example, Nielsen AMOL or

North American Broadcast Teletext Specification (NABTS) data into the stream, the encoding

device will add these services to a single SCTE 127 stream. Cable operator video encoders

have the capability to remove an SCTE 127 stream. Video encoders must be enabled to

generate an SCTE 127 data stream.

As long as analog VBI data continues to be included in broadcast station transmissions, SCTE

127 data may be generated from two sources:

1. A headend video encoder may convert analog VBI into an SCTE 127 data stream.

2. An ATSC broadcaster may originate an SCTE 127 data stream.

Datapipe data stream

In addition to SCTE 127 data, Rovi generates two datapipe streams. These streams contain

proprietary private data that only Rovi-enabled CE devices can decode.

CE Guides rely on the presence of a unique registration descriptor format identifier to locate

Rovi data. Rovi format identifier field values are registered with the Society of Motion Picture

Engineers (SMPTE) Registration Authority2. Multiplexers, cherry pickers or stream groomers

may need to be configured to pass format identifier values. See Table 2 below for the unique

format identifier values. Table 3 below is an example of the three data streams as seen by a

bitstream analyzer.

Table 2: Rovi data Streams

Format ID3

PID Purpose Typical Stream

PID type

VBI data5 Legacy TV Guide data service: none 272 (dec.)/ 0x6

setup, lineup, listings, ads 0x110

TVG1 (ASCII)/

TVG1 Digital TV Guide data service: 273 (dec.)/ 0x5

0x54564731

setup, lineup, listings, ads 0x111

See http://www.smpte-ra.org/

The registration descriptor format identifier value must not change.

PID numbers may change.

Data stream containing VBI data per ANSI/SCTE 127 2007.

Table 3: Data streams example

stream_type = 0x06 (PES packets containing A/90 streaming, synchronized data)

elementary_PID = 0x0110

descriptor_tag = 0x45 (VBI Data Descriptor)

stream_type = 0x05 (ITU-T Rec. H.222.0 ISO/IEC 13818-1 private_sections)

elementary_PID = 0x0111

descriptor_tag = 0x05 (Registration Descriptor)

format_identifier = 0x54564731 (TVG1)

descriptor_tag = 0x0f (Private Data Indicator Descriptor)

descriptor = 64:61:74:61 (data)

IPG Configuration

CE manufacturer implementation of the IPG varies. Many devices currently in use have an

analog tuner only. Some have both an analog and digital tuner. There is variation in how

consumers choose to set up the CE device and connect video, but as long as the cable system

delivers analog video to subscribers, there is an opportunity to support analog-only CE Guides.

See Table 4 below for a summary of supported setup types.

Cable-Ready

The Cable-ready or straight cable setup is the most common setup type. The IPG plays an

important role for this user base because there is no IPG available through the cable operator

for this setup type.

Analog

If analog video is available on the system, CE Guides may receive data via the analog VBI. For

many devices this remains the only mechanism for receiving data.

Digital

CE Guides that are capable of decoding Rovi digital data streams may operate on cable

systems that provide an unencrypted digital QAM signal to subscribers.

Encoding Virtual Channel Table (VCT) data from broadcasters allows CE Guide listings to

match with the corresponding major-minor channel format so the Guide may direct tune to

digital broadcast channels. For example, an unencrypted multiplex may be modulated to

physical QAM channel 82. If the VCT is encoded with the stream, the user will be able to direct

tune by entering 4-1, the broadcaster s branded channel. The Guide is populated by default

with all of the area broadcasters branded major-minor channels. The VCT is part of the ATSC

Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP), specified in standard A/65.

CableCARD

Digital-analog channel mapping

Analog-only CE Guides are only able to decode VBI data if that channel is tunable in the

channel map. A digital simulcast may prevent analog-only CE Guides from tuning to the

analog host station present on the cable. Many major cable systems have added an additional

channel entry in the digital lineup to allow CableCARD TVs to tune to the analog channel. This

allows the CE device to discover Rovi data during a channel scan. Most devices that have

relied on this remapping will continue to rely on VBI received through this mapping. It is

important that this mapping remain in place following the digital transition in order for analog

CE Guides to continue to operate.

Digital-capable CE Guides have no barriers to decoding digital broadcast streams found in the

channel map.

Set-top box

Guide setup through a set-top box (STB) has limited support. Digital data PIDs do not pass

through DVI, HDMI or component video. Only analog VBI has the opportunity to pass through

a STB. When Guide implementation supports STB setup, users may connect an IR extender to

allow the Guide device to control the STB. This requires that the STB has an analog tuner.

Some Guide implementations support the use of a splitter to receive Guide listings data via

cable ready while viewing programming through a STB.

Table 4: Setup type support

Setup type Decodes analog VBI data Decodes digital data PIDs

Analog cable ready Yes No

Digital cable ready Yes Some models. Requires

unencrypted QAM channel.

CableCARD Yes. Requires analog signal to be Some models

tunable in channel map.

Set-top box Yes, if STB has analog tuner and No

analog channel is mapped.

Analog Shutoff

Federal law requires full-power broadcasters to terminate their analog broadcasts at midnight

on February 17, 2009. Some broadcasters have received FCC permission to terminate the

analog broadcast early. This may be due to analog transmitter failure or voluntarily

termination as part of a test market.

How will analog CE Guides continue to receive VBI data when broadcasters cease transmitting

VBI?

Solution

SCTE 127: VBI in MPEG

In 2007 the SCTE formally adopted standard SCTE 127, The Carriage of Vertical Blanking

Interval (VBI) Data in North American Digital Television Bitstreams . Before adoption it was

referred to as DVS 706. Some video encoder and decoder manufacturers began supporting

this mechanism before the standard was officially adopted. This standard provides a

mechanism for preserving VBI data when converting between analog and digital video signals.

In July 2008, the SCTE 127 standard was recognized by the ATSC in standard A/99, Carriage

of Legacy TV Data Services. The ATSC standard also refers to SMPTE 2031, Carriage of

DVB/SCTE VBI Data in VANC, which provides a mechanism for preserving VBI data in the

Vertical Ancillary Data Space (VANC) of SD-SDI and HD-SDI signals.

These standards provide methods for retaining legacy VBI data as digital video is transported

throughout an infrastructure regardless of the format, whether uncompressed (SD-SDI or HD-

SDI) or compressed (MPEG).

New Standard Support

Many digital video encoders and edge decoders currently support SCTE 127. A software or

firmware patch may be necessary to successfully encode or decode SCTE 127 data.

8VSB broadcast receiver manufacturers have also begun to implement SCTE 127 capability.

Rovi has worked with major MSOs and receiver manufactures to alert them of this feature s

importance. See Table 5 below for a list of models.

Table 5: 8VSB receivers with SCTE 127 support

Manufacturer Model Note

Cisco/Scientific Atlanta D9887

KTech DVM-150E may be retrofitted

with 2196D AFD card

Motorola DSR6000

Scopus IRP3900

Sencore OpenGear chassis card MRD chassis card under

development

Tandberg RX8320

Use of SCTE 127

SCTE 127 is most applicable to cable operators for in-plant signal processing and distribution.

It allows legacy VBI data to be retained as signals are converted between analog and digital

formats. Professional 8VSB broadcast receivers, digital video encoders and edge

decoders/processors must all support SCTE 127 for VBI data to be successfully delivered to

subscribers.

Transmission Model

Broadcaster

Rovi Broadcasting partners use a Norpak TES8 data encoder to encode the three data streams

within their ATSC broadcast. In most cases Rovi has ensured that these data streams are

included in all output paths, including the over-the-air ATSC broadcast as well as fiber feeds to

cable operators. This encoding equipment receives data that is generated daily by Rovi servers

and sent over a secure VPN connection.

A single broadcaster in each market transmits data supporting all CE Guides and all available

lineups in that market. Contact CE Broadcast Operations to determine the host station for a

specific broadcast market.

Figure 1: Data broadcasting

Reception and Retransmission

Signal processing varies, so it is important for cable operators to ensure that the Rovi services

are transmitted through the plant. Note it is acceptable for the data stream PID numbers to

change as the stream is processed. Described below are the most common distribution

scenarios. Other scenarios may also successfully retransmit Rovi data. Contact CE Broadcast

Operations to discuss specific solutions.

HD down-conversion

In this scenario, the MVPD receives the broadcast signal using an 8VSB broadcast

receiver/decoder, either via fiber or an over-the-air antenna. The digital stream may be

passed through as ASI or HD-SDI. An analog composite video signal is also generated for

analog subscribers. In this scenario it is critical that the 8VSB receiver be SCTE 127 capable so

that VBI may be included in the SD analog signal.

In some systems, the SD analog signal may be re-encoded into an MPEG bitstream for in-plant

distribution. The MPEG encoder must be SCTE 127 capable so that the VBI is retained. The

stream may be passed through a multiplexer, modulator, distribution network, then to an

edge decoder, where the SD stream is converted back to analog composite video. The edge

decoder is the final piece that must be SCTE 127 capable so that VBI is generated for the

subscriber.

HD-to-SD direct conversion

In this scenario, the MVPD maintains a digital format until the edge decoder converts to

analog video. An HD-to-SD format converter is used to create the 4:3 aspect ratio SD

program. In this case, only the edge decoder needs to be SCTE 127 capable.

Figure 2: Retransmitting Rovi data services

Transmission Challenges

SCTE 127 Support

MVPDs must ensure that the 8VSB broadcast receiver used to receive the host station

supports SCTE 127. See Table 5 above for a list of 8VSB receivers with SCTE 127 support.

The video encoder and decoder used to convert the host station must support SCTE 127.

Data Stream Passage

Cable operators must ensure Rovi digital data streams pass through the cable plant with the

registration descriptor format identifier values intact6. Most multiplexers provide a simple

method for passing the data stream PIDs, but many times the registration descriptors are not

passed through unless an operator specifically enables them.

Refer to Table 2 for format identifier values.

Broadcast Network

Rovi has deployed encoding equipment to cover a majority of U.S. households. However, the

data broadcasting network is not 100% complete. Rovi expects to continue deploying

equipment at broadcast stations beyond the February 2009 analog shutoff. Contact CE

Broadcast Operations to determine which broadcaster in a particular market is transmitting

data.

Summary

Rovi is committed to support the CE Guide user base in partnership with MVPDs. We view

subscribers with CE Guides as mutual customers. When our mutual customers are satisfied,

call volume is reduced and both the cable system and Rovi succeed. Contact CE Broadcast

Operations to discuss specific plant issues.

About Rovi Corporation

Rovi Corporation is focused on revolutionizing the digital entertainment landscape by

delivering solutions that enable consumers to intuitively connect to new entertainment from

many sources and locations. The company also provides extensive entertainment discovery

solutions for television, movies, music and photos to its customers in the consumer

electronics, cable and satellite, entertainment and online distribution markets. These solutions,

complemented by industry leading entertainment data, create the connections between people

and technology, and enable them to discover and manage entertainment in an enjoyable form.

Rovi holds over 4,600 issued or pending patents worldwide and is headquartered in Santa

Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world

including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about

Rovi can be found at www.rovicorp.com.

Contact Information

CE Broadcast Operations

209 Burlington Road, Suite 101

Bedford, MA 01730

781-***-****

abp4mh@r.postjobfree.com

TV Guide, TV Guide On Screen, and GUIDE Plus+ are registered trademarks of Gemstar-TV

Version 1.31

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