IPTV vendors are announcing a new wave of certified pre-integrated multi-vendor IPTV platform solutions that hinge on middleware but include other systems, in partnership with global integrators. By Steven Hawley In recent months, many of the key IPTV infrastructure suppliers have announced multi-vendor systems that have been pre-integrated, tested and co-marketed by the companies that have partnered. It is apparent that each of them is organised around a single IPTV middleware system, which acts as the hub of a wheel around which are arrayed video headend equipment, servers, set-tops, systems management platforms and other elements.

First mover

In the years leading up to 2003, these partnerships were for collaborative marketing. Few telcos had implemented commercially-available IPTV software platforms and the small IPTV middleware vendors needed all the help they could get to establish reference-able accounts. Arguably, Alcatel was first mover in this integrated systems trend, as it was an equipment and support partner for iMagicTV, the IPTV middleware developer that Alcatel initially co-founded and later acquired altogether. Another example was Minerva Networks’ 2002 ‘IP Television Alliance’ consisting of Minerva, Nortel Networks, SGI, nCUBE (now CCOR), Pace Micro Technology and others. In 2004, Israel-based IPTV middleware provider Orca Interactive began to announce relationships with regional and global systems integrators, including Hewlett-Packard, as a way to demonstrate that its product had adequate applications programming interfaces and documentation to allow third-parties to implement the Orca product.

By then, Tier-1 telcos had begun to announce intentions to introduce IPTV. In many cases, they expected their existing systems integration partner to implement the IPTV system. One effect was that integrators had to learn IPTV-specific systems with which they were not familiar. Another was that, suddenly, the IPTV vendors were compelled to offer robust and well-documented interfaces between products, ideally based on existing IT and Web standards, so the telco’s chosen integrators could implement them.

Integrated systems

During 2005, integrated systems announcements came from Siemens, whose SURPASS Entertainment system incorporates the Myrio middleware that it acquired during that year, while others were made by Minerva Networks (with Nortel Networks as integrator), Orca Interactive (with Lucent) and InfoGate Online (with Unisys). In the first half of 2006, Kasenna, Minerva Networks and Telefonica announced additional pre-integrated multi-vendor solutions surrounding their respective middleware offerings. Today, integrated solutions are offered by a number of company groups and tend to be comprised of the same types of systems, albeit from different vendors. Although the Tier-1s arguably provided the catalyst for significant product changes, another difference between them is that they have been targeted at different telco segments. In all cases, the systems are promoted as leveraging the collective experience of the partners, and each of the groups has allied themselves with at least one global systems integrator that provides the middleware vendors with channels of distribution and technical support into geographic regions that they can’t easily reach directly.

Pre-integrated systems are now available from the following companies:

* InfoGate Online middleware with Optibase encoders, BitBand video servers, Irdeto content protection, Occam Networks access, Amino CPE with Unisys as the integrator; targeting independent telcos and property developers

* Kasenna middleware with Kasenna’s own video servers, Tut Systems encoders and SecureMedia content protection, with LTS and other regional integration firms, targeting independent telcos in North America

* Microsoft middleware with Alcatel networks. With IBM (for applications servers and video server hardware) and with HP (for element management and applications server hardware); working with Alcatel’s systems integration arm and other global integrators and targeting Tier-1s

* Minerva Networks middleware with BitBand and Latens Systems with Nortel Networks as integrator; targeting independent telcos

* Orca Interactive middleware with Lucent network equipment, SeaChange VOD, Widevine content protection, and integrators including Lucent and Hewlett-Packard; targeting Tier-1s and Tier-2s

* Siemens’ SURPASS Home Entertainment system with Myrio middleware, Verimatrix content protection, C-COR video servers and video headend equipment from TANDBERG Television, with Siemens or IBM Global Services acting as the integrator; targeting Tier-1s

* Telefonica’s Imagenio middleware with Lucent network equipment, supported by Lucent Worldwide Services and targeted at Tier-1 carriers.