Set-top box software architectures for digital video broadcast and interactive services

Consumer and business demand for multimedia services has led to a proliferation of solutions that provide a wide range of services such as digital television, Internet connectivity and others. Set-top boxes (STB), the consumer device employed in digital video broadcasting networks, are mainly used for digital television reception and also for interactive services such as Internet access or home shopping. This paper presents the software architecture of two generations of STBs called the d-box. The first generation of the d-box has a monolithic software structure with a native application programming interface. In particular we discuss the application download mechanism in detail. With the introduction of Java language and a layered software approach it is possible to reach both goals, namely writing system independent applications and adapting to new hardware platform without a significant change in the d-box software. The second part of the paper discusses the software architecture of the second generation of the d-box focusing upon the employed inter-process communication. In addition an example of a user interface dialog for the set-up is presented taking into account that both novices as well as experts are every day users of the d-box.