At the 2016 INTX: The Internet & Television Expo, RDK Management, LLC today provided an update about the continued global adoption of the RDK software solution, a pre-integrated software bundle that provides a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment for TV and Internet service providers.

“2016 is going to be a great year for the RDK community,” said Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management, LLC. “On the video front, more operators across North America and Europe are developing and deploying products using an RDK-based software solution for STB’s, RDK-V (video). On the broadband front, we have recently made a new RDK software solution available for broadband gateways called RDK-B (broadband), which is in use by leading SoC and CPE suppliers, and making its way onto software roadmaps of operators around the globe.”

“It’s well known that our X1 set-tops rely on the RDK-V software solution,” said Sree Kotay, Executive Vice President and Chief Software Architect, Comcast Cable. “What is less known is just how far we have come with RDK-B over the past year. We already have the RDK-B software solution enabled in broadband gateways in subscribers’ homes today, and RDK-B will serve as the underlying software on our broadband devices going forward.”

“Liberty Global has deployed an RDK-V solution to power our Horizon service, and those deployments continue to scale across our global footprint,” said Bill Warga, Vice President of Technology at Liberty Global. “We also recognized that broadband devices, similar to STBs, would greatly benefit from having more software commonality, standardization, and openness. We are very strong proponents of RDK-B, and we look forward to working with the RDK community to drive its adoption even further.”

“Progressive operators are investing in a new class of home networking equipment capable of supporting higher speeds, more end-user devices, and array of new services,” said Keith Wehmeyer, general manager, Cable Business Line of Intel’s Connected Home Division. “We look forward to working with operators and equipment manufacturers implementing the RDK and have integrated the RDK-B solution onto Intel ® PUMA™ chipsets to address the next generation needs of broadband operators.”

RDK Functionality

The open RDK software solution enables TV and Internet service providers to standardize certain elements of customer-premises equipment and also to easily customize the applications and user experiences that ride on top. RDK-V provides a common method to manage various video functions on set-top boxes such as tuning, IP video, third party DRM, and media streaming/DLNA.

RDK-B provides common methods to manage complex broadband functions such as homenetworking interfaces, including Wi-Fi and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), wide area networking, local area networking, device management and diagnostics, smart home / IoT (Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee) and video service (multicast video). Both software solutions are available at no cost to RDK licensees in an open source manner, and RDK community member companies can contribute software changes and enhancements to either RDK stack.

RDK Community Growth and Deployments

Since last year’s INTX Show, the number of companies licensing the RDK has increased by more than 50 new companies and now stands at more than 275 total companies across CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and pay TV service providers. Service providers can either license the software directly, or receive the software through a third party, such as a RDK-licensed systems integrator, set-top box supplier or software vendor.

The RDK software solution is currently deployed as part of leading TV service offerings from pay operators such as Liberty Global, Cox Communications, and Comcast. In fact, the number of RDK device deployments has tripled since last year’s INTX, from 5 million to more than 15 million devices, a figure expected to grow throughout 2016. More than 25 total cable, satellite and telco providers across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia are members of the RDK community.

Upcoming RDK in Action

Leading members of the RDK community will be exhibiting and speaking this week at the INTX: Internet and Television Expo from May 16-18, 2016 in Boston. Full details are available at https://www.intxshow.com/. The following month, Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management, LLC and other members of the community will speak at ANGA COM in Cologne, Germany from June 7-9, 2016.

From July 19-21, RDK Management LLC will host a Tech Summit for licensees in Louisville, Colorado, which will include intensive hands-on training of RDK-based hardware, software, and emulators. The RDK community will also be heavily represented at the annual IBC conference in Amsterdam from September 8-12, and the RDK European Summit for operators.

About RDK Management, LLC

RDK Management, LLC is a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Liberty Global created to administer the Reference Design Kit (RDK) software. The RDK software provides a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment (CPE) from TV and Internet service providers, including set-top boxes, gateways, and converged devices. The RDK community is comprised of more than 275 companies including: CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and service providers.