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Aiming to speed up service provider deployment cycles, Broadcom's new RDK-infused chips for video set-tops and gateways weave in new app framework and Metrological's App Store.
Broadcom has made some video-facing additions and enhancements to set-top and gateway chipsets that employ the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the pre-integrated, open source software platform managed by a joint venture of Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications.
Aimed to help cable operators and other service providers accelerate their deployment cycles for pay-TV services and integrated apps, Broadcom's latest RDK-powered chips tie in the latest RDK Application Framework and Metrological's App Store.
Those chipsets, the BCM72180 and BCM72604, also bake in support for 4K/Ultra HD video and underpin RDK Video Accelerators, which are reference set-tops that enable vendors and service providers to develop, test and launch new video apps while still maintaining control of the user interface, consumer apps and set-top box data.
RDK's ecosystem currently runs to more than 400 companies, including a mix of CPE manufacturers, chipmakers, software developers, systems integrators and service providers. Service providers that have adopted RDK (RDK-V is for video devices and RDK-B is for modems and other broadband devices) include Comcast; Liberty Global; Cox Communications; Portugal's NOS and NOWO; Japan's J:COM; Malta's Melita; Germany's Vodafone and Tele Columbus; and Canada's Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron.
Broadcom will show off its RDK Video Accelerator chips at this month's IBC show in Amsterdam at the CommScope and Kaon booths.
Why this matters
By integrating more video capabilities and Metrological's App Store, Broadcom's latest line of RDK chipset should help service providers expand and speed up their ability to blend in third-party OTT apps as well as new native apps alongside their traditional pay-TV offerings.
These new video-focused enhancements for Broadcom's RDK silicon are also coming online as platform competition heats up and as service providers formulate their next-gen video product roadmaps. Though several major MSOs are using RDK, pressure in the video market is also being applied worldwide by Google and its Android TV Operator Tier. Amazon, meanwhile, appears eager to break into the service provider market with a version of its Fire TV platform that is optimized for pay-TV providers.
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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading
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