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Game Consoles to replace Cable boxes and the connected home starts in 2014

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This is a long vision for the Connected Home | World from 1995 by leaders in the industry (Sony, Microsoft, Intel and others ATEF = XTV and NRT) and it kicks off in 2014 (EDIT: Tivo suit this April 2014 moves it to June 2015) due to FCC mandates for the cable industry and ATSC 2.0 (1080P, S3D, XTV, NRT). They have to replace all tru2way boxes (DVR, VOD....) with DLNA-RVU Gateway boxes either with head (has a HDMI port) or headless. For Comcast which is setting many of the standards a X5 is headless and X1 has a HDMI port (Notice the X1, and XB1 similarity in name).

All industry players agreed on DLNA and open source software standards so that all platforms and devices can interface/talk to each other (no walled ecosystem) and one standard DRM scheme (not open source and sometime in 2011 Microsoft's Playready DRM was chosen). Microsoft officially started work on Playready in 2007.

Edit: Cable Labs Paper on DLNA CVP2 has everything outlined in fairly easy to read language

What does this mean for the consumer; with a Cable gateway box connected to your home network, all connected platforms can display HD TV without a cable box provided it supports h.264 and DLNA cvp2. This includes all game consoles with DLNA support as well as phones, tablets and some Smart TVs. This makes game consoles more valuable.

http://www.accton.com/Newspage.asp?sno=82 said:
At the recent May 2012 NCTA Cable Show in Boston, Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable CEO told attendees at the opening session that traditional digital cable set-tops will become extinct and eventually replaced by smart TVs and other IP-connected devices such as gaming consoles.

With a media gateway, Cable Operators can deliver a mix of everything from home automation, home security, and multi-screen video (wireless distribution of video to PCs, tablets, and mobile phones in the home) in addition to online gaming and video conferencing services.
These open source standards point to features we can have. See the following picture:

3.jpg


From the above; Samba is a open source Linux standard for File access. So planned is File support which would allow Connected platforms like a Windows 8.1 PC to have an open standard to support remote file access for diskless game consoles. Then we have rumors of a Diskless Xbox 360 refresh that can use shared drives as well as remote play on the XB1 and Windows 8.1 PCs.

Also allowed by the FCC and supported by Playready is the use of a PC as a Cable box DVR which should also be supported by the XB1 and PS4.

I've been following Sony since 2010 and have made multiple posts pointing out connections between the open source software choices and Standards that Sony has been making (DLNA in 2003) and what's coming. HTML5-WebGL Browser Desktop was one of the first predictions for the PS3 and we see that in the PS4 but not yet in the PS3. The PS3 software stack supported the older CEA-2014 proposal and the PS4 supports the CEA-2014B. I assume the PS3 will eventually support the newer CEA revision.

Linux Gnome mobile libraries which includes Cairo, Gstreamer, BlueZ, Mono and Glib (any application that calls Glib is considered a Gnome application. Gnome Mobile is the minimum set of libraries to support GTK Webkit designed for mobile like phones) have made it into the PS4 as Free BSD versions except for Gstreamer. The PS3, Vita and I believe the PS4 are using GTKWebkit 2 APIs with Cairo. Gnome Mobile Linux is also the Comcast Cable SDK for their Open Source software in gateway boxes but they use the QT interface library not GTK+, Samsung also chose QT.

The XB1 and PS4 hardware designs are to support the above in addition to playing games. Rumors that include the above features understanding that DLNA-RVU is designed to support Game and media remote play with an open source standard using a standard DRM over the network are likely correct even though many have a hard time believing them.

Edit: Tivo suit moves this to 2015. The CES 2014 Keynote is to be given by the President of Sony, Microsoft is to have the largest presence ever at CES (in private rooms). You will hear about the connected Home | World, machine to machine, the internet of everything, Media Gateways and DLNA-RVU..
 

Kucan

Member
I think set-top boxes and smart TVs beat them to it.

Though I'd love to consolidate all my media into one point, I'm probably not going to use a console to do so when other machines can do it better for the most part.
 
I think set-top boxes and smart TVs beat them to it.

Though I'd love to consolidate all my media into one point, I'm probably not going to use a console to do so when other machines can do it better for the most part.
Yeah, Samsung and Sony Smart TVs use DLNA-RVU now with Direct TV receivers but mainstream -----Cable TV has been replacing DVR boxes with X1 gateways that have a HDMI port but they have not yet implemented DLNA-RVU.

The plan is to make game consoles more attractive than other STBs or TVs with features not possible without the hardware power in those consoles. There is a wide range of possible features that will be implemented starting with XTV and multi-video stream applications for sports which smart TVs can support. The hook is that to support ATSC 2.0 features with an older 1080P TV you will need a game console or STB that supports h.264, 1080P,S3D, a browser and storage for NRT.

In the documentation for Headless Media gateways is that DLNA clients will support a 15 min RAM loop for REW-FF and the DVR will be in the cloud. The PS4 with 256 meg of DDR3 attached to the second custom chip has enough memory to do a low power 15 minute video loop.
 

RkOwnage

Member
Not sure I follow completely but something tells me the 300gb cap that Comcast enforced a few months ago that already almost causes problems for me is going to definitely cause problems. :(
 
Not sure I follow completely but something tells me the 300gb cap that Comcast enforced a few months ago that already almost causes problems for me is going to definitely cause problems. :(

I f'n hate this data cap BS. We have at&t DSL where I live, and our cap is a ridiculous 150GB. It really pisses me off that there is nothing I can do about it right now. Hopefully Google Fiber spreads out faster.
 
Not sure I follow completely but something tells me the 300gb cap that Comcast enforced a few months ago that already almost causes problems for me is going to definitely cause problems. :(

They brought it back ? 0_O Anyway if somebody from them calls me and say I use 2 much internet, on the spot I will tell him to cancel my account. By the way I have a similar looking modem like on this picture.... piece of shit with horrible wifi signal :p
 
Not sure I follow completely but something tells me the 300gb cap that Comcast enforced a few months ago that already almost causes problems for me is going to definitely cause problems. :(
Netflix is moving to HEVC (h.265) which will half your issue with a cap. They are also planning to support ultraHD (4K) TVs at some point with the same codec. The PS4 and XB1 are planning to support 4K video so they must support HEVC. The PS3's Cell can support HEVC also as seen in Toshiba 4K TVs with a Cell processor but the PS3 HDMI can only support 24Hz 4K..

The features I am talking about with a media Gateway box have no cap and the open source standards can be used in the home to support diskless game consoles as well as remote game and media play.

On May 17, 2012, we announced the suspension of our 250 GB usage allowance and that we would trial and launch new data usage plans. We will continue to contact the very small number of excessive users about their usage, which can be indicative of security or related issues.

Latest Comcast on internet caps
 

tw1164

Member
You're crazy. The cable companies have been wanting to drop support for cablecards for years. I've used both Verizon and Comcast for cable, and most of their tech don't even know what a cablecard is.

I think AT&T has already dropped using a 360 as a cable box. Cable boxes are cash cows, and easy to support. They want you to use their equipment.
 

Breemin

Member
With my cable provider I need to use their box no matter what I put in front of it. That's another reason I don't have an Xbox one. I already have too many boxes in my entertainment center.

I choose PS4 simply because I only want a gaming console with none of the cable TV fluff.
 
You're crazy. The cable companies have been wanting to drop support for cablecards for years. I've used both Verizon and Comcast for cable, and most of their tech don't even know what a cablecard is.

I think AT&T has already dropped using a 360 as a cable box. Cable boxes are cash cows, and easy to support. They want you to use their equipment.
On the contrary, the industry consensus is that a headless Gateway using Cloud DVR is more cost effective. I can link an article for that or you can search for media gateway and headless gateway articles. Read the links I posted in the OP. http://www.accton.com/Newspage.asp?sno=82
 
didnt comcast just encrpyt there cable so that you NEED a comcast cable box in order to view cable
Yeah the FCC made a deal with Cable companies. http://semiaccurate.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193935&postcount=24

CableCARD was designed to give people choices in using a cable TV receiver -- the idea was that you could pop a company-supplied card into any cable TV box and it would work well. You should have even been able to pop a card into a properly-equipped TV and it would work.

Well, cable companies dragged their feet and in the end, most people didn't even try to get their own cable boxes. A few companies, like TiVo, jumped on the trend and did so with some success. In the end, though, CableCARD didn't catch on and its "successor" Tru2way never got off the ground at all.

Seeing this, the FCC made some changes. In exchange for letting cable TV companies encrypt all of their signals (not just the higher-numbered channels) the FCC plans to implement an authentication service that could be built into any external device.

The OP is not speculation....move on and ask questions about what can be done with the REVOLUTION in how media and games are going to be supported in the home.
 

satam55

Banned
Proof Jeff knows what's talking about:


Cable companies ordered to support HD content streaming within homes by 2014
By Aaron Souppourison December 6, 2012 07:23 am

verizon-fios-tv-remote2_1020_large_large.jpg


The FCC has ordered cable operators (and TiVo) to update their cable boxes to include support for HD streaming over home networks to devices like PCs, smart TVs, and tablets. In addition to video streaming, cable boxes must also allow HD video recording on external devices through home networks. By June 2nd 2014 the vast majority of set top boxes will have to support an open standard
, although cable companies with fewer than 400,000 subscribers have been given an extra three months to implement the changes.

The commission originally ordered cable companies to support network-based streaming back in 2010, but TiVo protested the order saying "if each cable operator deploys set-top boxes with its own understanding of an open industry standard, the result may be an outcome that is neither standard nor open." The FCC has now clarified that an open standard should enable companies to work together without consultation, explaining that video streaming should work even if the cable company and (for example) PC manufacturer have never had any contact with each other.

Both the FCC and Verizon have cited the successor to the DLNA Premium Video Profile, which should be agreed upon at some point next year, as an example of a compliant protocol that cable companies could adopt. In order for the standard to comply, it must support "recordable high-definition video, closed captioning data, service discovery, video transport, and remote control command pass-through."

It'll be down to each company to choose the standard they want to use, but whatever happens, customers should be free to watch (and record) their cable TV content on any household device they choose.



http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/6/3...network-hd-streaming-recording-fcc-order-2014
 
Proof Jeff knows what's talking about:
There is one error in the article you cite: "The commission originally ordered cable companies to support network-based streaming back in 2010," In 2010 the FCC ordered cable companies to comply by end of 2012 but the TiVo suit extended that to June 2014. This only matters now in speculation regarding the Xbox 361 which was to support DLNA-RVU and 1080P to be released at the end of 2012.


Edit, another Linked in post with "June 2011 – November 2011 (6 months) Mountain View 32nm xbox first silicon to 1.1 tapeout"
 

satam55

Banned
There is one error in the article you cite: "The commission originally ordered cable companies to support network-based streaming back in 2010," In 2010 the FCC ordered cable companies to comply by end of 2012 but the TiVo suit extended that to June 2014. This only matters now in speculation regarding the Xbox 361 which was to support DLNA-RVU and 1080P to be released at the end of 2012.

Speculation

The Xbox 361 was never released but Oban, a 32nm SOI CPU was produced Dec 2011 for Microsoft and rumors have it as the CPU to be used for both the Xbox 361 and the Yukon version of the XB1. Because 2.5D stacking was not ready, the Yukon design became the Durango without BC and the Xbox 361 was delayed to mid 2014. This impacted the PS4 which was (rumor) supposed to get 2.5D stacked DRAM instead of GDDR5 to support the same bandwidth at lower power. 32nm SOI CPU package would have to be 2.5D attached to a AMD APU using HPM bulk silicon, same for a Xbox 361 that was supposed to have more a more modern AMD GPU.

Jeff, How do you know RVU is the standard that everyone is gonna choose? According to that article the cable/satellite companies can use any open standard they want.
 
Jeff, How do you know RVU is the standard that everyone is gonna choose? According to that article the cable/satellite companies can use any open standard they want.
It was later revised to DLNA and the RVU org and DLNA org ported features to DLNA to support RVU. Also see the Media gateway picture in the OP where it says DLNA Media server.

As discussed below, we clarify the elements of an “open industry standard” for purposes of Section 76.640(b)(4)(iii). We conclude that the processes that the Digital Living Network Alliance (“DLNA”)23 uses to develop and adopt its home networking specifications satisfy the elements of an “open industry standard.” We thus believe that the home networking solution that DLNA is working on now — a successor to the current “DLNA Premium Video profile”24 — will meet the output requirements in Section 76.640(b)(4)(iii) as long as it supports the required features of recordable high-definition video, closed captioning data, service discovery, video transport, and remote control command pass-through.

DLNA's Promoter Members include: ACCESS, AT&T, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Cisco, Comcast, DIRECTV, DTS, Dolby Laboratories, Ericsson, Google, HP, HTC, Huawei, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm , Samsung, Sony, Technicolor and Verizon.

The DLNA Premium Video profile is a set of standards that “can allow consumers to stream their favorite television programs and movies to DLNA Certified® products such as digital televisions, tablets, mobile phones, Blu-ray disc players and video game consoles.
Notice ACCESS which makes the front end for the PS3 and Vita browser as well as the cable companies. Also if you look at Playready clients, it includes most of the cable companies and TV manufacturers. Then look at Playready features and you get a good idea as to what's coming. I started a thread at SemiAccurate on this.
 
Sony Nasne, a Media gateway that serves media via DLNA to the Vita and PS3 now has new features with firmware update 2.0. which match the OP media gateway.

PS Vita or Android™ based smartphones, users can access their "nasne" not only from home network but also from outside to search and enjoy their content, as well as to forward it to SNS through comfortable user interface*3. I.E. the Nasne becomes a network drive accessible from inside and outside the home.

*1 System software version 2.00 is targeted at both currently available model with 500GB HDD (CECH-ZNR1J) and newly announced model with 1TB HDD (CECH-ZNR2J).
*2 "Anytime Access" feature does not support access to DTCP-IP content, PS Vita game data and saved game data from outside of home network.
*3 The feature become available by registering "nasne" to each of dedicated applications that users want to access within the same network.
*4 "naspocket™" will be supported by PS Vita system software version 2.60 or later.
*5 "nasne™ ACCESS" will be supported by Android version 2.3 or later.
*6 By choosing index, users can jump from the whole list of files to targeted files.
*7 Single "nasne" can share files with 2 "nasne" via "nasne™ Share" feature
*8 In order to use Reader Store, it is required to register for My Sony Club (free of registration and annual fee)
*9 Version 1.40 of " Reader™ for PlayStation®Vita" e-book application offered by Sony Corporation will be supported by PS Vita system software 2.60 or later.
 

satam55

Banned
It was later revised to DLNA and the RVU org and DLNA org ported features to DLNA to support RVU. Also see the Media gateway picture in the OP where it says DLNA Media server.



Notice ACCESS which makes the front end for the PS3 and Vita browser as well as the cable companies. Also if you look at Playready clients, it includes most of the cable companies and TV manufacturers. Then look at Playready features and you get a good idea as to what's coming. I started a thread at SemiAccurate on this.









Hey Jeff, I think I found the name for the new DLNA premium video successor. The new standard is called "DLNA CVP-2 (Commercial Video Profile-2)".:
DLNA Members Meeting sees ACCESS Demonstrate Enhanced Support for Upcoming DLNA CVP-2 Standard

Oberhausen, Germany, October 8, 2013 − ACCESS CO., LTD, a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, today announced that it will demonstrate its NetFront™ Living Connect solution for ‘studio confident’ media sharing supporting the new DLNA Commercial Video Profile-2 (CVP-2) guidelines during the DLNA Members meeting in Hawaii on Thursday, October 10th.

The CVP-2 guidelines were developed by the DLNA in conjunction with the service providers to improve the digital delivery of movies and network television to the home. The CVP-2 guidelines enable secure playback across multiple devices such as TVs, tablets, smartphones, Blu-ray players, game consoles and more while also providing advanced protection for the copyright owners and content providers.

This new standard allows the operators to leverage standardised technologies such as HTML5 Remote User Interfaces (RUIs), HTTP Adaptive Delivery and Authentication, on top of its already available DTCP-IP-based link layer protection, to stream premium content inside the home. CVP-2 also includes new 3D Media formats, ‘Diagnostic’ and ‘Low Power’ mode capabilities to improve the service delivery to the customer. Support for CVP-2 will be available in ACCESS’ NetFront Living Connect Technology Component and NetFront™ Browser NX 3.0.

“By developing a modular product package for both our technology component and our browser, we are providing support for CVP-2 for both client and server,” said Dr. Neale Foster, VP of Global Sales IA,ACCESS. “This product extension for CVP-2 shows our investment in providing timely support for media sharing standards and in helping operators meet the FCC connectivity mandate for the US cable industry to comply with an open industry standard.”

ACCESS’ tailored approach enables operators and middleware companies to choose the most relevant functionality for their activity. The solution can be deployed on multiple devices, including Video Gateways, STB, Smart TV’s, Video Player devices, tablets and smartphones.

To ensure the operator can easily deploy CVP-2 while retaining the ‘studio confident’ security required by the market, ACCESS also provides an API layer for integration with existing Conditional Access (CA) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, while NetFront Browser NX’s advanced HTML5 support enables the operator to build a consistent user experience on connected devices.

This new development continues to ensure that ACCESS is at the forefront of delivering the latest in DLNA functionality. ACCESS believes that standards are critical in driving the multi-screen revolution forward and that DLNA is the only standard that can securely deliver media sharing at a mass-market level. The demonstration will show ACCESS’ capabilities to offer an entire solution for operators to implement DLNA CVP-2 on various platforms such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs), gateways and tablets.

http://gl.access-company.com/news_event/archives/2013/131008/






According to this article, it's already been demonstrated working on a Sony PlayStation:
A Closer Look at DLNA
By: Nov 29 -0001 - 07:00pm

Boston - No shortage of new technologies to sample at last week’s Cable Show, where the pace of innovation showed was an all-out sprint.

One I’d heard about, but not yet seen, was tucked in a corner of the CableLabs CableNEXT exhibit area. That’s where technologies based on open standards lined a back wall, with MSO-staffed demonstrations of their work to break free of the proprietary shackles of yore.

It was a Cox demonstration of DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), which up until last week I’d described as the way your connected stuff identifies itself to your other stuff, by way of an icon. Just as your PC screen shows icons of your local or networked hard drives, your TV might show your PC as an icon, or your stereo, or your tablet.

The Cox demo obsoleted that explanation. Here’s what matters in DLNA now: It’s a way for cable operators to provide multiroom DVR, without hardware “clients” attached to any of the nonprimary screens.

The two-part demonstration started with a DLNA subset called “CVP-1,” tech talk for letting the navigation environment of a Sony PlayStation (in this case) show listings of which stored and live titles are available for viewing. Good start, but potentially tricky if viewers don’t want to “learn” a new navigation environment, one for each connected screen.

Right next to it was a demo of “CVP-2,” where cable content was accessible on those other screens, with consistent navigation. Cox developed its own navigation system, which it calls “Trio,” and it showed up in place of the Sony PlayStation navigation. The thinking: People really don’t want to have to think about how to find their content, as they move from one screen to the next. Better to present it in reasonably the same manner.

All in, it means that soon enough, you’ll be able to play out your DVR content on your laptop, or your game console, or your tablet. Content providers like it because it’s delivered securely (using DTCP-IP).

The “CVP” in DLNA stands for “Commercial Video Player.” It’s a set of guidelines for premium video, which device manufacturers use in their product development.

No one at CableNEXT would venture a guess as to how soon DLNA CVP-2 will get into consumer homes - sounds like a 2014 thing, conservatively - but when it comes, and if it’s for real, it will solve a fairly important gap in today’s home networking features.

In closing: Just prior to last week’s show, when digging around for something else, I came upon a 1990 article I wrote about what was big, in tech, at that year’s NCTA convention. Answer: Jamming oscillators and interdiction technologies, to do side-of-the-house descrambling of TV signals, so that TVs inside worked without set-tops. Also: The cautious expectation that, someday, we might use our cordless phones as TV remote controls.

Man, have we come a long way.

http://www.multichannel.com/blogs/closer-look-dlna

More info: http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/the-cloud-delivers-premium-tv-on-more-devices-faster/

Live Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xxg8yVVlys
 
consoles are massive overkill both in terms of price and also power requirements for this kind of usage. While cable box hardware will change naturally (just as it has always done), video game consoles are not part of that evolution.
 

IrishNinja

Member
I'll believe it when I see it

^
honestly most HDTV's easily hook up to PC & have great streaming options (though i empathize with sports fans), realistic or not i wish more consoles would focus on playing games over this kinda thing
 
Hey Jeff, I think I found the name for the new DLNA premium video successor. The new standard is called "DLNA CVP-2 (Commercial Video Profile-2)".:

According to this article, it's already been demonstrated working on a Sony PlayStation:
Good find.

NP2013103186_fig011.jpg


Big question is when are the PS3 and PS4 getting firmware updates to support CVP-2?

CVP-2 is just at the demo stage and using keywords I was able to find a Comcast Whitepaper that lists CVP-2 as released to the public Public I01 – February 15, 2014 .

Likely the Blu-ray, DVD, HTML5 <video>, DLNA and video chat player will be the same so any changes touch all modes. The PS3 DLNA has not been changed and HTML5 <video> has not been implemented. My guess is that only developer PS3s have a CVP-2 version of DLNA. Likely the PS3 and PS4 are getting CVP-2 DLNA 2/15/2014 or later.

http://html5.cablelabs.com/dlna-cvp-2/index.html said:
This functionality enables service providers, worldwide, to offer their interactive program guide, linear programming as well as on demand services to DLNA devices. The client and server device implementations are being developed on linux PC platform and are based on open source components such as Rygel, dLeyna, GStreamer, etc. These reference devices plan to include support for MPEG-DASH, Diagnostics, Low Power management, Authentication features, as well as, baseline DLNA DMS and DMP/DMR/XDMR functionality with trick modes and DTCP-IP. The client reference device implementation also integrates DLNA HTML5 RUI reference implementation being developed by CableLabs.

Page 16 on give a easy to follow picture summary of what's coming.
 
consoles are massive overkill both in terms of price and also power requirements for this kind of usage. While cable box hardware will change naturally (just as it has always done), video game consoles are not part of that evolution.
The PS4 is nearly identical to top end Samsung TVs as far as features and software stack. Didn't you read all the articles about Xbox one being used by cable providers. Top end cable boxes are to support Voice recognition with some speculating gesture.

Samsung 2013 Smart TV Platform - Gesture and Voice Control, Touchpad Remote Control and Second Screen Support $1400 and the same size set without these features is $700. $700 more for S3D and voice/gesture with a Xbox selling for $599....price is not an issue...only power use.

Comcast's X1 remote app gains voice commands on iOS, Android update in the works So add your phone cost to the X1 and it only works with the Living room X1 gateway box with HDMI not with any of the other room Smart TVs or STBs.

Cable box hardware is going to evolve to offer more features while Game consoles can offer the same features with software upgrades just as the PS3 has done in the past. The only issue is power use.

Speculation has a 32nm Xbox 361 and 22nm PS3.5 being released in 2014 that IPTV streams using much less power and supports both DLNA client and server as well as hardware codec decoder and encoder for video chat. Price for a diskless Xbox 361 is $149.00. Windows 8.1 as well as Nasne can support remote drive access. XB1 mentioned with the Xbox 361 refresh rumor and PS4 could also support remote drive access.

California is expected to have mandates for Game console power use by 2015-2016 that will require all game consoles to reduce the power used especially for IPTV streaming.
 
Can someone explain what this means in easy terms :p
In the short term:

Any device that supports DLNA-RVU can play media served on your home network by a Cable Media gateway which the FCC has mandated that all Cable Box DVRs must support by June 2014. You do not need to pay your cable operator $10 -$15 per month, you can use a Game console and watch HD TV including 1080P, S3D and XTV which are new features that are also coming in 2014 for Over the air and Cable.

In the long term:
1) Because Open software standards based on webkit and support libraries are used in the server and clients and everyone will have a home network, it opens up the home for The Connected Home Vision.
A) Hardware standards are part of this with Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and Miracast support as well as Gigabit LAN and WiFi N.
B) Hardware standards include both hardware decoder and h.264 encoder. This supports RVU server ability - Remote Desktop, Video chat (Skype), Remote game play, second screen...
C) DRM Security dictates a hardware root of trust boot and protected memory.
D) Power modes like Standby and Network Standby have mandated power use and IPTV is expected to have mandates in the future. In the first case it allows for a always on low power mode that can detect a Skype call or request for service over the home network.

Sharing of Drives, even Sony Blu-ray drives will be shared. Blu-ray platforms will also support both RVU client and Server modes. A Blu-ray player anywhere on the home network can serve to any DLNA-RVU client. You can remote play Blu-ray from anywhere in the home to anywhere else in the home.

RVU requires remote control pass-through and can support games.

Games running on XB1, PS4 and Steam Box will be RVU playable on any RVU client that can interface with a Bluetooth controller like the PS4's. The PS4 controller will be useable with other platforms.

Speculation: refreshed Xbox 361 and PS3.5 will support remote playing of games over the home network. Diskless versions will use Drives in Sony platforms like blu-ray and Nasne and likely XB1 as well as Windows 8.1 platforms.

There is a chicken and egg issue here with Sony and Microsoft expected to partner in projects and platforms to promote the advantages in the consumer Connected Home | World. Already rumored is a Sony Mobile phone with Windows 8.

This is world wide support for the connected home driven by the CE industry (CEA-2014). 2014 CES should have many announcements.

In a few years, many are predicting 5 years, the Cable Television industry will transition from Cable Media Gateways where TV programming still comes into the home as a DLNA-RVU served TV channel to IP gateways where DOCSIS 3 transitions to DOCSIS 3.1 where many more channels are used to provide a massively wide bandwidth cable modem and TV programming will then be pure IPTV. DLNA-RVU CVP-2 already has provisions for this. Page 18 in this PDF. As far as the the consumers Gateway box is concerned, with the all IP model, the DLNA server is eliminated or moves to the cloud. Google TV is then needed in some use cases for discovering/searching for media. Anytime anywhere media is then a reality.
 

satam55

Banned
A) Hardware standards are part of this with Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and Miracast support as well as Gigabit LAN and WiFi N.

Jeff, the PS4's wireless chip doesn't support NFC or Miracast.

Info on the PS4 & Xbox1's Wireless Chips:

PS4: Marvell Avastar 88W8797 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8797/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/assets/marvell_avastar_88w8797.pdf)

Xbox1: Marvell Avastar 88W8897 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/assets/Marvell-Avastar-88W8897-SoC-PB.pdf)


Sony really needs to release a new PS4 model/hardware revision with the same wireless chip as the Xbox1 for 2 reasons:

1.. That is where tech is headed

2. Sony is pushing Remote Play, Second Screen, & Gaikai as core features of the PS4. It's ridiculous they wen't cheap with the wireless chip.
 

AmyS

Member
Anyone remember this?

Xbox 2 + PC = ?
Microsoft thinking about a machine that would play both console and PC games.

May 27, 2004
: 10:58 AM EDT
By CNN/Money staff writer Chris Morris


NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Two months ago, Microsoft spoke glowingly of bridging the gap between the PC and Xbox. Now the company is considering erasing that gap completely.

While Microsoft has publicly avoided discussing its next generation machine, it has been quietly conducting studies on the consumer appeal of a hybrid device that would play both PC and Xbox games.

"We would be remiss if we didn't look at consumer scenarios that take advantage of our strengths," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft's home and entertainment division. "[But] this is one amongst many, many other consumer scenarios that we're looking at."

The B/R/S Group, a California-based market research company that lists Microsoft and the Xbox division specifically as clients, has been gathering consumer feedback on a device it refers to as Xbox Next PC "a videogame console system with a hard drive and a built-in fully functional PC." Mention of the device came on one of several slides shown to focus groups.

One slide describes the unit, which would require a PC monitor or high definition television, as being backward compatible with current and next-generation Xbox titles. It would also play PC games and include a fully functional version of Windows, CD burner, DVD player (with remote control), built-in access to Xbox Live and a hard drive. Control-wise, the system would come with both a keyboard and mouse and a standard Xbox controller. The price point this particular study tested was $599.


B/R/S officials declined to comment for this column, citing a strict confidentiality agreement with Microsoft.


The point of the study that included the Xbox Next PC was to determine what consumers want to see in next generation machines and what they're willing to pay for those features. Gathering pricing sensitivity data for products is one of the most challenging market research projects for hardware developers.

It's important to note that any product looked at in these sorts of studies is conceptual and may undergo dramatic feature changes before hitting the market if, in fact, it manages to emerge from the doors of the R&D labs.

"If you put two and two together, there's no doubt there's a great opportunity to put the two platforms together," said Moore. "Obviously with a company like Microsoft this is something we have to look into and ask about. Is it actionable today? Probably not, but it's something we need to look at."

There is, of course, a greater question of whether consumers would have any interest in a console/PC hybrid. Game machines, historically, have evolved rather slowly. Large leaps haven't been rewarded. Sony learned this lesson with the introduction of the PSX, a combination PlayStation 2/Digital Video Recorder, which sold poorly in Japan and has yet to receive a U.S. launch date.

Microsoft first showed interest in bringing the PC and Xbox closer together in March at the Game Developer's Conference, when it unveiled XNA, a software development platform meant to allow developers to skip writing boilerplate code that often bogs down the time it takes to create a game.

The same platform would open up cross-platform integration opportunities, letting PC and Xbox owners play in the same world, though each would have different experience. (PC gamers, for example, could act as virtual generals in a strategy game, coordinating troop movements, while Xbox players playing an action version of the same title would fight the battles.)

"There will come a day in the not too distant future that [PC] games will be interchangeable between Windows and the Xbox," Moore told me at the recently completed E3 trade show.

Should Microsoft move forward with a hybrid machine, it will likely come after a standalone Xbox 2 unit is released. As for when we'll see next generation Xboxes on store shelves - officially, Microsoft isn't commenting, but it has been giving publishers guidance to plan for a 2005 launch.

That's a short time frame, which might raise some questions about why the subject of Xbox 2 is being so studiously avoided. The answer's simple. Xbox has momentum right now and its holiday line-up of games (led by titles such as "Halo 2") is strong. Talking about Xbox 2 would distract consumers, which could significantly cut into sales across the board.

"Xbox has got so much going for it as we go into the holidays that anything that disturbs the ecosystem for us is bad for business," said Moore
.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/26/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/
 

AmyS

Member
Microsoft has wanted to do an all-in-one machine to take over the living room ever since the first Xbox was merely a rumor, when they learned what Sony had planned to put into PS2.


Microsoft reportedly working on game console

Paul Thurrott Apr. 27, 1998

Microsoft Corporation reportedly intends to allow its next-generation WebTV device to compete with the Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation game consoles.

In Early April, the company bought CagEnt through its WebTV division, acquiring all of the assets of CagEnt and its key personnel. Microsoft's plan is to use the MX technology as the core of its next WebTV device, which will clearly be used for more than Email and Web browsing. In fact, Microsoft has quietly been gaining the knowledge it needs to compete in the game console market through its parternship with Sega and it's likely that a Microsoft-backed, Windows CE-based WebTV device could even be co-created with that company.

http://windowsitpro.com/windows-server/microsoft-reportedly-working-game-console




Microsoft's X-Box: Fight for the future?
As rumors fly about a Microsoft game console, one thing's clear: It has the team to make it.


This month's reports that Microsoft is working on a game console to rival Sony's PlayStation 2 came as little surprise to at least one industry executive.
"I guarantee you that if there's a group that knows how to build a video game machine, it's the one inside (Microsoft subsidiary) WebTV," said Hugh Martin, former CEO of 3DO Systems Inc., which challenged the established video game industry more than five years ago.

Martin, now CEO at Optical Networks Inc., should know. You see, those WebTV engineers used to work for him at 3DO.

If WebTV does produce the rumored console, it will mark the end of a long trek for those engineers.

Long journey
When Martin was at 3DO, it was a hot startup, bringing a 32-bit game console to market almost two years before Sony produced the PlayStation. But in 1996, 3DO faced the truth: It had lost the war, selling only a million units. It scrapped its plans for a 64-bit next-generation device, known as the M2, and sold its hardware division to Samsung, a Korean consumer electronics manufacturer.

Samsung had its new company, now called CagEnt, poised to excel in the PC graphics market, scoring deals with arcade machine maker Konami and semiconductor manufacturer Cirrus Logic. By spring 1997, however, both deals had crumbled and an ailing Samsung was looking to sell CagEnt.

After a near-miss with Nintendo, Samsung sold the group to WebTV, which was by then a Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) subsidiary. The engineers, and almost all of the advanced graphics technology -- moved with the company. "Those guys are still there," said Martin. "They are inside WebTV in Palo Alto (Calif.)."

WebTV is open about why they bought CagEnt.

"(CagEnt) had both the intellectual property and people that we were interested in," said Alan Yates, director of marketing at WebTV Networks. While he would not confirm the existence of the X-Box project, Yates admitted, "You will see future versions of WebTV that will use the video capabilities that we acquired, as well as the 3-D capabilities."

Yates added that, while the technology was there to make an X-Box device, "our strategy right now is very, very clear: to provide additional functionality for TV."

That may change, and quickly, analysts said. With Sony using the PlayStation 2 as a "Trojan horse" to become the center of home entertainment, Microsoft should be looking at games as well.

"For Microsoft to get plugged into (the gaming console market) would not be a big stretch for them," said Jae Kim, analyst with entertainment technology watcher Paul Kagan Associates. "At the very least, it would provide another gateway into the living room."

Game developers think so, too.

"Can you see 200 million connections to the Internet and Microsoft not being a part of it?" asked one gaming industry source on condition of anonymity.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...r-the-future/103341+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
 
Also allowed by the FCC and supported by Playready is the use of a PC as a Cable box DVR which should also be supported by the XB1 and PS4.
Allowed, or required? Can Charter elect to not allow this, for example?

How many streams will this support? Right now, I have four DVRs in the house, allowing for simultaneous viewing/recording of eight shows simultaneously. How many shows will I be able to watch/record with the new system? Do we still need tuners in the house, or will the shows be streamed directly from Charter, or what?


Jeff, the PS4's wireless chip doesn't support NFC or Miracast.

Info on the PS4 & Xbox1's Wireless Chips:

PS4: Marvell Avastar 88W8797 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8797/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/assets/marvell_avastar_88w8797.pdf)

Xbox1: Marvell Avastar 88W8897 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/assets/Marvell-Avastar-88W8897-SoC-PB.pdf)


Sony really needs to release a new PS4 model/hardware revision with the same wireless chip as the Xbox1 for 2 reasons:

1.. That is where tech is headed

2. Sony is pushing Remote Play, Second Screen, & Gaikai as core features of the PS4. It's ridiculous they wen't cheap with the wireless chip.
I see it lacks NFC, but I'm not sure why that would affect things like Remote Play or Gaikai. What do you find lacking, specifically?
 

satam55

Banned
Looks like Jeff was right:

Dish Network app turns your PS3 or PS4 into a virtual set-top box

Virtual Joey app pledges to provide a "nearly identical" experience to the hardware-based version.

by Eddie Makuch on January 6, 2014

Today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Dish Network announced that it will launch a new application on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 this spring that will allow owners to use those systems as virtual Dish set-box boxes.

2414326-joey.jpg


Of course, you'll need a Dish Hopper subscription to make use of the service.

The "Virtual Joey" app pledges to provide a "nearly identical" experience to the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR's hardware-based Joey, which allows users to watch live TV and recorded programs.

The software-based Virtual Joey clients will operate on PlayStation users' wireless or wired networks. Once installed, customers can operate the Virtual Joey on PS3 or PS4 using a Dish remote or DualShock controller.

If you're attending the 2014 CES this week, you can check out a demo of the Virtual Joey app at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Central Hall at booth #8243.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dish-network-app-turns-your-ps3-or-ps4-into-a-virtual-set-top-box/1100-6416965/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI9RV5mkD8E
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Sony Nasne, a Media gateway that serves media via DLNA to the Vita and PS4 now has new features with firmware update 2.0. which match the OP media gateway.

PS Vita or Android™ based smartphones, users can access their "nasne" not only from home network but also from outside to search and enjoy their content, as well as to forward it to SNS through comfortable user interface*3. I.E. the Nasne becomes a network drive accessible from inside and outside the home.

*1 System software version 2.00 is targeted at both currently available model with 500GB HDD (CECH-ZNR1J) and newly announced model with 1TB HDD (CECH-ZNR2J).
*2 "Anytime Access" feature does not support access to DTCP-IP content, PS Vita game data and saved game data from outside of home network.
*3 The feature become available by registering "nasne" to each of dedicated applications that users want to access within the same network.
*4 "naspocket™" will be supported by PS Vita system software version 2.60 or later.
*5 "nasne™ ACCESS" will be supported by Android version 2.3 or later.
*6 By choosing index, users can jump from the whole list of files to targeted files.
*7 Single "nasne" can share files with 2 "nasne" via "nasne™ Share" feature
*8 In order to use Reader Store, it is required to register for My Sony Club (free of registration and annual fee)
*9 Version 1.40 of " Reader™ for PlayStation®Vita" e-book application offered by Sony Corporation will be supported by PS Vita system software 2.60 or later.

IP restricted I assume? I'd love to have a nasne set up in Japan and stream to my PS4 in the UK.

As for usage caps - presumably as these will still require you to have a cable subscription (to have access to the channels), then cable companies would whitelist these streams so they don't count towards caps?

I hope this comes to Europe too - I'd love my Tivo to be able to stream to my ipad.
 
I love Jeff Rigby threads. Always loads of cool advancements and thoughts in them.

I just want to know how long it will be till we got homes like in the movies where your dinner is ready for you and your home has AI and talks to you etc.

Sony TV's with build in Playstayions, digital only. It would be glorious.

That's the world I want to live in.
 
Jeff, the PS4's wireless chip doesn't support NFC or Miracast.

Info on the PS4 & Xbox1's Wireless Chips:

PS4: Marvell Avastar 88W8797 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8797/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/assets/marvell_avastar_88w8797.pdf)

Xbox1: Marvell Avastar 88W8897 (http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/, http://www.marvell.com/wireless/avastar/88W8897/assets/Marvell-Avastar-88W8897-SoC-PB.pdf)


Sony really needs to release a new PS4 model/hardware revision with the same wireless chip as the Xbox1 for 2 reasons:

1.. That is where tech is headed

2. Sony is pushing Remote Play, Second Screen, & Gaikai as core features of the PS4. It's ridiculous they wen't cheap with the wireless chip.
Again Good find.

I wasn't aware of the difference. BUT only NFC is a absolute no for support. Direct WiFi thus Miracast, can be initiated even if only one platform has hardware support. As you mentioned in another thread, Direct WiFi platforms can usually maintain connections both direct peer-peer and to the home wireless router at the same time. The PS4 WiFi chip supports Ad-hoc and infrastructure and can support two simultaneous radio connections at the same time so I'm not clear as to why it can't support Direct WiFi. In any case, if the PS4 has a wired internet connection then the WiFi radio is free to do direct WiFi if the handheld supports it.

RE: allow or require PCs to be able to act as DVRs. The FCC requires the IPTV stream served by the Cablebox DLNA-RVU server be in a form that is recordable. Copyrighted media will be protected by Playready DRM DTCP-IP which also adds metadata to the DVR encrypted and saved file defining how it can be played and how long it can be stored. As long as the Computer DVR DRM supports the same, it will be streamed to the computer for recording.

@mrklaw RE: Sony Nasne coming to other countries. I don't know why it hasn't. IF Nasne can't be used with US Cable TV or Cable companies will be providing their own Gateway platforms and the Nasne has no market, there is still OTA which also needs a DLNA DVR server and STB at TVs to support OTA ATSC 2.0. Nasne $200 (500Gb version) is competing with limited feature 2 Terabyte DLNA network servers (without tuners) at $120. I'd buy a Nasne for my OTA Antenna considering it can also be used with Vita and Android platforms.
 

Respawn

Banned
You're crazy. The cable companies have been wanting to drop support for cablecards for years. I've used both Verizon and Comcast for cable, and most of their tech don't even know what a cablecard is.

I think AT&T has already dropped using a 360 as a cable box. Cable boxes are cash cows, and easy to support. They want you to use their equipment.
I use a cable card in my TiVo. F them.
 

satam55

Banned
Looks like Jeff was right:

Dish Network app turns your PS3 or PS4 into a virtual set-top box

Virtual Joey app pledges to provide a "nearly identical" experience to the hardware-based version.

by Eddie Makuch on January 6, 2014

Today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Dish Network announced that it will launch a new application on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 this spring that will allow owners to use those systems as virtual Dish set-box boxes.

2414326-joey.jpg


Of course, you'll need a Dish Hopper subscription to make use of the service.

The "Virtual Joey" app pledges to provide a "nearly identical" experience to the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR's hardware-based Joey, which allows users to watch live TV and recorded programs.

The software-based Virtual Joey clients will operate on PlayStation users' wireless or wired networks. Once installed, customers can operate the Virtual Joey on PS3 or PS4 using a Dish remote or DualShock controller.

If you're attending the 2014 CES this week, you can check out a demo of the Virtual Joey app at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Central Hall at booth #8243.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dish-network-app-turns-your-ps3-or-ps4-into-a-virtual-set-top-box/1100-6416965/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI9RV5mkD8E



Video of the PS4 app in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAuxCGOz6po
 
DTCP/IP was developed by five companies, chip maker Intel and the four CE makers Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba. This group, referred to collectively as 5C, formed an entity called the Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator to license the DTCP technology.

The DTLA site currently posts the DTCP-IP standard as: Windows Media DRM 10 and future versions, licensed by Microsoft Corporation (provisionally approved) and Microsoft's Playready is backwardly compatible with Windows Media DRM 10.

DLNA has evolved from the initial version which supported CEA-2014 (bitmapped pictures for menus) to CEA-2015B which uses HTML5 for the UI. The Commercial Video Profile has evolved from CVP1 to CVP2 which allows both local DLNA servers and remote servers like we see with Netflix, all with HTML5 UIs. cvp2 also specifies DASH adaptive streaming and again Playready APIs which are also used locally for DTCP-IP. cvp2 also supports hbbTV and the US XTV which I think would also support NRT and second screen.

The PS3 DLNA still supports CEA-2014 not CEA-2014B. As such it can't be used from the XMB to support Dish's CEA-2014B version. Sony will update to CEA-2014B and DLNA cvp2 as they have plans mentioned in the Sony CES Keynote.

Playstation Now is Gaikai streaming to nearly all CE platforms with a screen. It starts on Sony platforms and talk has it spreading to other non-sony platforms.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2014/01/07/ces-live-sony-ceo-delivers-keynote/ said:
House introduces a new streaming game service called PlayStation Now that delivers library of PlayStation games from the cloud. The service will also (at some point) allow non-Sony console owners to also play the games. The service is going to beta at the end of January and will roll out this summer.

Sony is also announcing a cloud-based TV service that will be tested in the U.S. later this year. Will offer a library of movies and TV shows on demand, personalized channels/menu and live TV.
DLNA CVP2 will support both local Live programming from Cable Media gateways and streaming services. A Cable labs/ARM video demos the CVP2 ability.

Over the next 5 years it's predicted that home Cable service will evolve as follows; it and whats coming to the connected home is in this PDF.

Current DVR box
June 2014 DLNA-CVP-2 media gateway with HDMI and Hard disk Comcast X1
X5 headless gateway still supporting TV channels with or without Hard disk but no HDMI still DLNA CVP2 Comcast X5
Headless gateway still supporting TV channels with DVR in the cloud.
Full IP model with DLNA in the cloud or true IPTV and a resurgence of Google TV or something like it (CVP2 still supports this). ** Sony jumps to the endgame **

Cable companies will transition first because the FCC has mandated they must and then as Cloud service are developed, they will move to the all IP model because it's cost effective.

Sony's streaming service using DLNA CVP2 will also offer Google TV like search features by multiple categories. The Sony streaming service sounds like an updated version of Google TV with Sony also streaming content. This matches what Microsoft predicted for the PS4 (some form of Google TV) in the leaked Microsoft powerpoint.
 
oh my god, I did not expect them to be this far.

I'm not sure why but that kind of blew me away, the CES reveal had me thinking that this was in the very early stages and I'm not sure why because that looks brilliant, It's going to be hitting the market much sooner than I thought.
Cable Box DVRs are required to support this by June 2014.

Imagine blu-ray players on your home network that act as DLNA STBs for a 1080P TV and also as DLNA Server so that any platform that supports DLNA can view TV and Blu-ray. Imagine a Xbox 361 that is both DLNA client and server and allows Gaikai like playing of Xbox 360 games on Smart TVs or through a PS4, XB1, Steambox on plain 1080P TVs.

PS4 and XB1 will be both DLNA clients and servers.
 
Comcast DLNA Client
Implementation Guide
Comcast-SP-DLNA-CIG-I01-130314 Publicly Issued March 14, 2013.


Information released at CES 2014 from ST Microelectronics:

PDF from ST Microelectronics on their Connected home products and plans till 2020 and a major part is using 28nm FD-SOI for Set Top Boxes and Media Gateway hubs to support 1080P to ultraHD as well as connected home products. They consider this market to be a major part of their portfolio going forward. To this point I have not seen any articles on the products St Microelectronics will be supporting with the FD-SOI technology they ported to Global Foundries to handle the expected volume (billions of STBs and Gateway/hubs).

Market leadership in Set-Top-Box through focused portfolio
&#8226; Complete portfolio for the US cable market
&#8226; Leading the transition to the HEVC and Ultra HD Client/Server and Home Gateway
&#8226; World-class IP portfolio, enabling Ultra HD multi-screen video processing & seamless home connectivity

Transition to Client & Server models happening now (DLNA CVP2) High value market $1.6B TAM in 2013 for ST
6 billion TV Hubs and gateways in 2013 (many have to be replaced) to a total of 20 billion world wide by 2020.

The entire world is transitioning to the same client-server model for Cable TV and ultraHD standard with TVs incorporating support for OTA ATSC 3.0 by 2017-2020. Over The Air will likely support the same Client server model as the proposals for ATSC 3.0 incorporate expensive front end tuner circuitry and antenna tuning that should be in the same box connected to the One Antenna serving the home.

ST Microelectronics and ARM IP to support ultraHD efficiently is moving to FD-SOI from 28nm bulk silicon.

Page 15 has a good summary of features:

Content Anywhere DLNA CVP2
&#8226; Securely distribute premium content to retail connected devices
&#8226; One Server Box per Home distributes the premium content of the service provider

Multi-stream transcode Network-Attached Storage
&#8226; Quad Transcode Server
&#8226; Addressing NAS emerging market ** allows DVR and diskless game consoles - STB as PCs as well as Media STBs**

&#8226; Android TV applications
&#8226; Integration of TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) & SDP (Secure Data Path)
&#8226; Linear-TV services integration

Data Gateway Smart-Home services
&#8226; ST Smart Home as a service of the gateway
&#8226; Multi Standard connectivity support : Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Zwave, GreenNet, NFC&#8230;.
&#8226; New sensors and use cases : eHealth, GreenNet
&#8226; STiD12x has DOCSIS 3.0 Certification by CableLabs®
&#8226; Outbound/Inbound phone call
&#8226; Complete SW stack from eRouter to packet cable

Page 17:
Towards Tomorrow&#8217;s Digital Home STi8K&#8482; Architecture
&#8226; ARM®v8 Cortex&#8482;-A53/A57 64-bit processor technology
&#8226; FD-SOI 28nm process technology for the best power-to-performance ratio (28nm means this will be forged now - 2015 not at some future 20nm or smaller node)

Client and Server
&#8226; 4K Ultra HD video at 60 frames per second
&#8226; 10-bit High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)
&#8226; 2D/3D graphics, native 4K resolution & OpenGL 3.0
&#8226; Smooth-swipe user interface
&#8226; HDMI 2.0 / HDCP2 for advanced secure connectivity

The Future Home Gateway solution (Transition to all IPTV media gateway (DLNA server in the cloud or Google TV model)
&#8226; DOCSIS 3.1 for uncompromised bandwidth
&#8226; Wire speed routing capabilities
 
logo.jpg


Home Gateway Initiative

The HGI, founded in 2004 by nine telecom operators, is shaping the next generation of internet and voice services. Starting from use&#8208;cases and service needs, the HGI sets requirements for Home Gateways, infrastructure devices and the home network. The HGI now has over 60 members from across the globe, representing the entire spectrum of players in the broadband home area. 

Home Gateway Initiative => to enable a rapidly expanding range of use cases, apps and services. These will naturally include all the media services gateways are currently capable of delivering, building out from there for deployment of emerging smart home functions. We envisage that users will be able to use smart phones or other devices to manage all their voice, data and video services in the home, as well as all the other applications that will be integrated into the gateway. The latter will include energy management, environmental control, smart metering, security surveillance and remote healthcare, which already at various stages exist now, but as islands of automation requiring separate devices for control and with no synergy between them.

 
 

tino

Banned
Why use a $500, 100+ watt box to do the job of a $50 10 watt box? It's just silly consider the long term power draw.
 
Why use a $500, 100+ watt box to do the job of a $50 10 watt box? It's just silly consider the long term power draw.
Yup but if you notice just about every DLNA article or artwork mentions or shows a game console being supported.

Except for the AMD GPU and GDDR5 (PS4), the XB1 and PS4 should be able to support IPTV in the 10-20 watt range. Both support power gating the GPU off but the OS software is not yet doing so.

The PS4 has the ARM second custom chip with 256 meg of DDR3 memory....doesn't that memory overkill for Standby or Southbridge imply a low power mode for IPTV? In any case Sony has said that future PS4 refreshes will use less power.

A hardware codec has it's own small amount of memory (about 10 meg) and a IPTV player using hardware codecs uses memory in the 1-2 meg range (excluding the video out frame buffer) and DRM typically needs a small amount of memory so what is the extra 200 megs used for? The PS4 OS uses a WebGL UI so HTML5 or most of the HTML5 software stack is always resident in memory...that's about 30 Megs. Is it in ARM controlled DDR3 memory or APU GDDR5 memory? If the OS is in ARM DDR3 memory that implies but doesn't prove a second smaller low power GPU for the UI. Too much is still unknown <sigh>. At this time it doesn't seem like the Browser UI is being generated by the AMD huge gaming APU. That could be poor code so who knows.

Good article explaining in simple terms DLNA CVP2 and the reasons for the eventual migration of the DLNA server to the cloud and at that point the media gateway is a pure IPTV DOCSIS cable modem. Remember back when the Sony president said he was considering creating a IPTV network and everyone scoffed because of caps and streaming overhead....it is practical in about 2-5 years to have a IPTV network when as the following shows, the DLNA server moves to the cloud.

NP2013103186_fig022.jpg
 
Food for thought and speculation. The Audio DSP in the PS4 "can decode 300 MP3 streams" according to Sony. There is only a need to process 22 audio streams so why the overkill (assuming that creating 22 individual sound channels requires more power than MP3 decoding it's still overkill).

1) A DSP can be used as an intermediate step in a three tier (CPU, DSP, GPU) low power to high power and resolution video recognition.
2) A DSP can be used to decode HEVC provided it's powerful enough and memory is fast enough.

So I started searching for DSP & HEVC. Some interesting facts found so far outlining the use of HEVC in Handhelds and in the connected home are found in this CISCO paper on HEVC &#8211; Driving Disruption in Multiscreen Converged Service Delivery Architectures.
With the passage of time more 4K channels will appear along with more 4K decode capable devices in the form of next generation games consoles, etc.

The replacement cycles for these consumer-purchased devices are much shorter than Service Provider equipment and we can expect HEVC-capable devices starting in 2014 with the mobile space leading the charge followed by tablets, game consoles and connected 4K TVs.

Even with these challenges the authors believe that HEVC will become one of the, if not the, fastest embraced video codec seen in the video delivery marketplace driven through the combination of fast-paced consumer device evolution and the leverage of Internet-style delivery mechanisms. Its complete adoption will likely rely on the embracement of a unified platform by Service Providers to address both their managed and unmanaged devices.
Information on Kaveri's UVD & VCE as well as they don't support HEVC but AMD is going to release: "Together with Telestream, AMD has developed HEVC codec that uses HSA that's able to play 4K HEVC content on Kaveri with a very low load on the CPU." A Look At HEVC And How It Pertains To Advanced Micro Devices

HSA can use CPU, DSP, FPGA, GPU as CPU to decode HEVC and the PS4 is supposed to use the same AMD TrueAudio as Cadence Tensilica-based DSP engine. The AMD GPU can be used for HEVC software decode but with it's use, the PS4 power needed jumps to 90 watts. Can a Tensilica DSP be used for HEVC decoding?

HEVC encoding requires much more processing power and AMD has developer lectures on how HSA and hUMA are needed for HEVC encoding as both CPU and GPU are needed with information passed between the CPU and GPU during the encoding process.

HEVC h.265 Patent pool does not include the following: Among the prominent AVC/H.264 licensors missing from the HEVC/H.265 list so far are Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Dolby Laboratories, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Sharp, and Samsung. The more companies that don't join the MPEG LA effort, the more complicated it is to adopt HEVC. Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Dolby each had dozens of patents in the AVC/H.264 pool.

Google's VP9 and HEVC to be supported by both Samsung and Sony TVs.

TrueAudio is based on technology from a company called Tensilica. AMD has used several (reportedly three) Tensilica HiFi EP DSPs for its chip. Tensilica has plenty of experience when it comes to audio, as Tensilica DSPs are used in smartphone chips, TVs and Blu-ray players. And it's not limited to just audio, as Tesilica's website claims the video decoders in AMD's recent GPUs are also (partially) based on Tensilica technology.

Sony paper on the uses for HEVC in a Standard TV 6 Mhz TV channel which include multi-view which can be used now for Sports events.
 
It would help if Jeff started posting a "what I think is happening" with a lower paragraph with "heres why"

Im a pretty tech literate guy, but reading his posts just make my eyes hurt. Its hard to seperate the opinion and speculation from the facts and information.
 
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