RDK Community Expands worldwide

Philadelphia – April 24, 2015

In advance of the 2015 INTX: The Internet & Television Expo, RDK Management, LLC today provided an update about the continued global progress and adoption of the Reference Design Kit (RDK), a pre-integrated software bundle that provides a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment from TV service providers. Members of the RDK community, including CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers will showcase their RDK-related products and services at the upcoming show, the largest industry event in North America.

“The RDK provides a modern software platform on which pay TV providers worldwide can provide new
video services to customers,” Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management, LLC.
“The community is starting to take advantage of the benefits of having source code access for their STB
software, and the RDK continues to gain traction around the globe – as will be showcased prominently at
INTX 2015.”

The RDK was created to accelerate the deployment of next-gen video products and services. It enables
TV service providers to standardize certain elements of these devices, but also to easily customize the
applications and user experiences that ride on top. Technically, the RDK acts like a universal SoC
(system on chip) adaptor across customer-premises equipment from various suppliers. It provides a
common method to manage complex video functions such as tuning, conditional access, third party DRM,
and stream management. The RDK software is available at no cost to RDK licensees in a shared source
manner, and RDK community member companies can contribute software changes and enhancements to
the RDK stack.

Growing RDK Community

Since last year’s Cable Show, the number of RDK licensees has grown more than 63 percent and now
stands at more than 220 total licensees across CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers,
system integrators, and Pay TV service providers. During this same period, the number of Pay TV
operators that have directly licensed the RDK has grown by 60 percent and now stands 25 total cable,
satellite and telco providers across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Notably, the RDK’s
impact on the operator community exceeds the number of operator licensees. Pay TV service providers
also have the option to receive the software through a third party, such as a RDK-licensed systems
integrator, set-top box supplier or software vendor.

Global Device Deployments

The RDK is now deployed in more than 5 million devices around the world and growing rapidly. The RDK
provides the technical foundation for a wide range of STBs from leading manufacturers. Companies
including ARRIS, Cisco, Humax, Pace, Samsung, and others have developed RDK-based STBs that are
in various stages of testing, trials, or deployment with operators globally.

Recent and Upcoming RDK Initiatives

Most recently, RDK Management, LLC and Metrological announced the availability Metrological’s RDK
App Emulator, which enables developers to prototype, develop and test RDK applications via a laptop
without using a physical RDK device or set-top box. Interested developers can access the RDK
Emulator by visiting: www.metrological.com.

Beyond the existing video-centric set-top box solution (RDK-V), members of the RDK community are
working on a RDK solution for broadband devices (RDK-B). The community feels that broadband devices,
similar to STBs, can benefit from a software baseline of commonality and standardization that could be
enhanced by an RDK-like structure. RDK-B is currently being developed by key operators, SoC
companies and OEM companies. RDK Management, LLC plans to make the solution available as soon
as the software and minimal support aspects are ready for the community, and is targeting the second
half of 2015. RDK Management, LLC is also working with the community on a longer term plan to provide
an advanced support program including additional training, an emulator, a TDK, development tools and
test suites in a similar manner as is provided for the existing RDK-V solution today.

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). The RDK is a standardized software bundle designed to provide a
common framework for powering customer-premises equipment (CPE) from TV service providers, including set-top
boxes, gateways, and converged devices. The RDK is supported by more than 220 licensees including: CE
manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers.

Press Contact

Jeremy Pemble 

JLM Partners

jeremy@jlmpartners.com

206-381-3600

Renee Burch

JLM Partners

renee@jlmpartners.com

206-381-3600

RDK Management is an open source consortium that manages the Reference Design Kit (RDK). RDK is an open source software platform for the connected home that standardizes core functions used in broadband devices, set-top boxes, and IoT. It enables operators to manage their devices; control their business models; and customize their apps, UIs and data analytics to improve the customer experience and drive business results. The RDK community is comprised of more than 600 companies including: CPE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, system integrators, and service providers.  For more information on the tools, training, and events provided by RDK Management, please visit: www.rdkcentral.com.  

Privacy
Terms & Conditions

Stay Updated

Copyright © 2019 RDK Management, LLC