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OpenCable Application Platform

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OpenCable Application Platform, or OCAP, is a Java-based middleware that resides on advanced cable television set-top boxes and tru2way® televisions which brings two-way interactive services to the cable customer. Specified by CableLabs for the cable operators of North America, examples of OCAP applications include eCommerce, online banking, Electronic program guides, and digital video recording. Utilizing the middleware that resides on the specific set-top box or television, applications are not bound to a specific channel, allowing the application to persist even when the viewer tunes away from a specific television channel.

The OpenCable Application Platform provides a set of specifications to achieve the goal of interactive service delivery by meeting three key objectives: 1. Defining the next-generation digital consumer device. 2. Encouraging supplier competition. 3. Creating a retail hardware and software platform.

The OpenCable specifications include both hardware and software specifications. The hardware specifications describe a baseline host device configuration for accessing interactive services and are interoperable with cable systems throughout the U.S., thus creating a retail solution for consumer electronics products for cable. The software specifications, coupled with the hardware specifications, solve the problem of proprietary operating system software, thereby creating a common platform for interactive television applications and services.

On January 8, 2008 Cable Labs announced [1] the Tru2Way brand for the OpenCable platform, including OCAP as the application platform.

Technical overview

OCAP is the Java based software/middleware portion of the OpenCable initiative. OCAP is based on the Globally Executable MHP (GEM)-standard, and was defined by CableLabs. Because OCAP is based on GEM, it has a lot in common with the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP)-standard defined by the DVB project.

OCAP specifications are publicly available on the CableLabs website (see link in External Links section below).


Globally Executable MHP

MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) was developed by the DVB Project as the world's first open standard for interactive television. It is a Java-based environment which defines a generic interface between interactive digital applications and the terminals on which those applications execute. MHP was designed to run on DVB platforms but there was a demand to extend the interoperability it offers to other digital television platforms. This demand gave rise to GEM, or Globally Executable MHP, a framework which allows other organisations to define specifications based on MHP.

One such specification is OCAP, the OpenCable Application Platform created by CableLabs which has been adopted by the US cable industry. In OCAP the various DVB technologies and specifications that are not used in the US cable environment are removed and replaced by their functional equivalents, as specified in GEM. On the terrestrial broadcast side, CableLabs and ATSC have worked together to define a common GEM-based specification, ACAP, which will ensure maximum compatibility between cable and over-the-air broadcast receivers. ACAP has recently been elevated to the status of "ATSC Proposed Standard" and cooperation with DVB is on-going. Both OCAP and ACAP services are now on air in South Korea.

References

  1. ^ "Tru2way Brand to Succeed 'OpenCable Platform' in Consumer and Retail Settings". 2008-01-08.

See also


Current events


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