The document discusses the integration of interactive TV systems with IoT and cloud computing, highlighting the advanced capabilities of set-top boxes as smart IoT devices. It covers the role of cloud services in enhancing traditional TV functionalities and the significance of big data analytics in personalizing user experiences. The evolution of interactive TV is traced back to earlier technological milestones, stressing the ongoing alignment with modern IoT and cloud trends.

1. How Interactive TV system overlays on IoT and
Cloud Computing Trends
By Sheetal Gangakhedkar
August 8th, 2016
Dedicated to the SeaChange International, InHome team affected by California division closure.

2. Interactive TV System
Nucleus Cloud TV
Platform (Gateway)
Managed IP
Delivery
Network
&
RF Headend
Smart Home
Cloud Back-office Services
Ref: some images from schange.com

3. How Interactive TV set-top maps to IoT device
Interactive TV set-top can be considered as an advanced, complex and smart Internet of Things (IoT) device for user
entertainment, it is integrated and monitored by cloud based systems and services, and end user devices like remote
controller, companion devices (PCs, tablets, smart phones, DLNA players, ...). It also offers its services to other user
devices. It is a smart and complex IoT device.
• Instead of monitoring with sensors, it is an interactive device, its sensors engage users and monitors their
interactions.
• It has ubiquitous (limited to a home) networking options - like WiFi, Ethernet, MoCA. Device itself is or connects to a
home networking gateway.
• Device security, end-to-end network and data security is key, as it handles high value content.
• Managed by end user and user’s mobile devices, and remotely managed and monitored by cloud based systems.
• Deployed in mass numbers against private cloud based headend and web services.

4. How Interactive TV maps to Cloud Computing
Interactive TV technology makes a dumb TV smart, it makes this by offering services from the head-end. The head-
end is analogous to a Cloud, and is a multi-vendor service environment, where end-to-end security, content
protection, delivery infrastructure and reliability are the key requirements. The head-end includes the following major
components:
• (NaaS) - Broadcast and IP network services, Content Delivery Network (CDN), load-balancer, IP Routers, DOCSIS
CMTS, or FTTH.
• (IaaS) - Infrastructure services like DHCP, DNS, NTP, FTP, Firewall, storage, computing hosts, security framework,
and maintenance tools.
• (SaaS) - Back-office services that are load-balanced with fail-over services. These include many, covered in the
table below.
Interactive TV platforms have taken a ladder approach to reach the Cloud, so UI/UE applications are created by
blending the local platform services with the cloud web services.

5. How Interactive TV maps to Cloud Computing
(SaaS) - Back-office services that are load-balanced with fail-over services. These cloud or head-end services
include:
• Channels, Events, video-on-demand (VOD)
catalog metadata web services.
• Subscriber management services, with
customer and device profiles.
• Search and Recommendation services.
• PVR scheduling and Network or Cloud PVR
services.
• eCommerce that includes content purchase,
subscription services and other applications.
• Usage tracking, User measurement, Service
quality tracking services.
• Remote device management services and
operator consoles.
• Application Update and Software Update
publishing services.
• Third-party Apps and App Store services.
• Automated back-end ingest services, to keep
all service data up-to-date.
• Service update, subscriber and device
notification services.
• Multiple content protection services.

6. How Interactive TV maps to Big Data
Interactive TV data gathered in the cloud, carry the same Big Data signature of 3Vs - Volume, Variety and Velocity. This
Big Data includes:
• Huge volumes of data is periodically ingested into the back-office via the backend systems. This includes channels,
program events, VOD catalogs, audio/video content, applications, device/platform firmware updates, products,
offerings, country specific usage rules, images and posters data, and much more. This raw Big Data is analyzed and
converted to structured and smart data, accessible as a web service.
• A huge volumes of personalized data is generated by cloud connected user devices like STBs, mobile devices, and
PCs. This includes user’s preferences, settings, likes/dislikes, favorites, content ratings, purchases, search and
recommendation requests, UI navigation data, program content selections, audience measurements, device
measurements, service quality measurements, recording requests, content playback state and bookmarks, user’s
local and network recordings and bookings requests, learn events. This personalized data is low volume, but can
have high velocity from large (in millions) Interactive TV deployments a cloud supports.
• Big Data Analytics is happening in the cloud, in almost real-time for generating relevant search and
recommendations results, targeted video or web advertisements, promotions targeted for the region and user’s
past behavior, preferences and profile. All this is to upsell high value assets to the users at the right time.

7. How Interactive TV maps to Delivery Infrastructure
Most Interactive TV services are mostly managed services, and carry high-value content from content producers, no
asset or service can be compromised, all security aspects including head-end/cloud security, end-to-end networking
security, device and application authentication and authorization, content protection, conditional access, content
entitlements, digital rights management, device security certifications, and privacy are necessary for this system.
Hence, all managed services are deployed in a closed and managed environments or Private Cloud. A measured
elasticity is provided in this system, as each service is specialized and optimized to deliver protected content and
personalized data services. Non-critical data refresh by devices is randomized to avoid flooding cloud services.
Delivery infrastructure provides the needed network QoS all the way to the home, for all the managed devices in a
customer home. Infrastructure and services are tested for peak communication loads, as TV users follow the crowd.
If it is a football game or Olympics or a popular event, large percentage of users will trigger a recording request.
Interactive TV users want to watch live TV, and their local recordings, even if the back-office or cloud services go
down, usually platforms are expected to operate in this offline mode for upto 48hrs.

8. How Interactive TV maps to UI/UE Front-ends
HTML Web Browsers are omni-present, a lot of user-experience is delivered to users-on-browsers. There is a huge
developer community across the globe, designing and developing dynamic web sites and publishing web services.
The need to use HTML browser technology on TV devices was initiated by Netscape in 1996, via their startup Navio,
which merged with Network Computer by Oracle, to become NCI, then renamed to Liberate Technologies, later
acquired by SeaChange International and Comcast.
Browser technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, DOM, CSS, Canvas, AJAX, Web Sockets, Server-sent Events, HTML5
Messaging, JSON, HTTP, HTTPS, Cookies, Internationalization and other rendering engine advances, has led to
creation of compelling content, application frameworks and new user-experiences, hence wanting to use browser for
Interactive TV set-top-box as a HTML5 applications platform is an easy decision, but the hardships come with the
devil. TV set-top-box hardware now a days has a lot of processing power and memory to run a browser with mulitple
full-screen UI applications.
Open standards, quick and dynamic UI updates, readily available Content Management Systems, and using your
standard PC browsers for UI development are also some factors that reinforce using Browsers as UI/UE front-ends.

9. Conclusions
Interactive TV space is quite old, it started for me in Feb 1999 at Network Computer Inc (NCI), a merger of Navio
(Netscape startup) and Network Computer (Oracle startup). Web enabling and making TV set-top box (traditionally a
closed device) into an Interactive TV platform, can be considered as a Smart IoT device or Cloud TV platform.
The servers that provide user and application data via JSON/XML over HTTP, and serve UI applications are now called
SaaS Cloud Services. All the massive amounts of non-personal and personal structured data that resides, and is
constantly getting analyzed and regularly refreshed, in these back-office servers, is now called Big Data and Data
Analytics.
Analog TV to Digital TV transformation that happened in 1990s, gave birth to Interactive TV, and digital transmission
networks. The use of browsers for Interactive TV set-top as UI/UE front-end in Liberate Technology days, was
revolutionary then, and is still the trendy option, as most Internet user-experience is delivered to users via browsers.
All industries are aligning their products to this broad IoT, Big Data and Cloud Computing trend.
May the force “of Interactive TV technology” be with you, in this era of IoT and Cloud Computing. Use the force, Luke!