IWEDIA Middleware announces the forthcoming availability of its Comedia DVB-CI+ host software

RENNES, France — IWEDIA Middleware, the international provider of embedded DVB-based software solutions for digital television devices, today announced that it will make DVB-CI+ (Common Interface Plus) host software available in the middle of Q4, 2008. The announcement was made to coincide with the opening of IFA, which is taking place in Berlin from August 29th through September 3rd.

DVB-CI (Common Interface) was designed to create an open retail market in the pay-TV landscape, based on the use of a removable security module. It has had only mitigated success so far, because major stakeholders (content owners, pay-TV operators and CAS vendors) consider that the solution is not secure enough for the delivery of premium content and so have been reluctant to use it.

In an initiative bringing together four first-tier TV set manufacturers and two major Common Interface Conditional Access Module (CICAM) makers, DVB-CI+ dramatically enhances the security level of CI. It introduces mutual authentication between the module and the host receiver and ensures that the signal is never transmitted in the clear between the two.

By mandating a subset of MHEG-5 for the man-machine interface, CI+ opens the door to pay-TV services with attractive user interfaces. The MHEG-5 applications are either stored within the module or retrieved by the module over the broadcast network. They are then transmitted to the host receiver to be rendered to the end user.

The specification offers all the benefits of DVB-CI for the delivery of pay-TV services without compromising security. It has rapidly gathered momentum, with major operators and CAS vendors announcing they will be using it.

IWEDIA has been working on DVB-CI ever since the inception of the original specification fourteen years ago. Since then, millions of units of its robust and reliable Comedia DVB-CI host software have been deployed embedded within set-top boxes and digital TV sets.

IWEDIA has upgraded its existing software solution to make it compliant with DVB-CI+, and will be marketing the enhanced solution in the middle of Q4, 2008. The product package includes a set of tools to ease porting, integration, and validation of the software within the targeted device. Scalable access to IWEDIA’s experienced professional services team is also available.

Patrick Desproges, CEO, IWEDIA, says: “With this enhanced security level, we foresee a bright future for DVB-CI+. By leveraging our DVB-CI expertise and success, this new offering, which combines software products with professional services, puts us in a position to provide manufacturers with a risk-free way of entering this market in good time.”