DLNA Jumps the Pond

After gaining steam in the United States since its founding in 2003, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) Interoperability Guidelines are being adopted by operators in Europe to allow consumers to play protected video on such DLNA-certified devices as digital TVs, Blu-ray disc players, game consoles and set-top boxes. (For more, see DLNA Advances Playback of Video Across DLNA Certified Products).

According to Dr. Stephen Palm, senior technical director/Broadband Communications Group at Broadcom, "With DLNA, premium video content comes in from the service provider, goes to a gateway and can be distributed to smaller clients inside the home. For the North American market, we see continuing momentum. We’re seeing Europe and emerging markets going after DLNA on the software side and DTAs (digital terminal adapters) on the reclaiming-spectrum side."

For example, DLNA is deployed on Orange devices, including the Livebox residential gateway, and the IPTV and media center set-top. “The new DLNA Interoperability Guidelines are an opportunity for Orange to offer our customers a real multi-screen experience by enabling us to deliver TV services over numerous screens inside the home," noted Paul-François Fournier, executive vice president at Orange Technocentre, in a statement. "Content-rights owners benefit from having their premium video securely delivered to all of these new screens." (Editor’s note: The DNLA is showing its certified products at IBC 2011 at the Amsterdam RAI, Sept. 8-13.)

Adds Broadcom’s Palm, "The DLNA technology has been completed, but just having the spec is only part of it. You have to have operators willing to use it."

Other European providers throwing their support behind DLNA include Portugal Telecom and BSkyB.

Household penetration of connected products, including connected TVs, game consoles and Blu-ray players, has grown to nearly 40 percent in Western Europe, according to a recent Parks Associates consumer survey of 10,000 broadband households across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

As for Broadcom, it is tapping into the global DTA trend, this week announcing its 40nm HD Cross-Platform Global DTA system-on-a-chip (SoC) product family featuring:

• The BCM7542 HD DTA SoC that targets ISDB_T broadcasting countries including Japan and South America;
• The BCM7552 HD SoC for DVB-deployed countries in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America;
• The BCM7582 HD DTA SoC aimed at the global cable broadcasting market and featuring advanced security; and
• The BCM7592 dual-mode HD DTA SoC that supports DVB-C, DVB-T and ISDB-T dual-mode HD broadcasting, targeting China, India and other developing countries.

-Linda Hardesty