Copy protection -- the proverbial fly in the ointment.
eetimes.com
Sony 1394 chips could boost DTCP encryption scheme
By Junko Yoshida
EE Times
(05/27/99, 1:43 p.m. EDT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a move to end the continuing copy-protection
debate over digital interfaces for consumer appliances, Sony Electronics
this summer will roll out IEEE-1394 chips that secure the transmission of
digital audio and video content. The chips could give an edge to the digital
transmission content protection (DTCP) scheme over the rival extended
conditional access (XCA) approach.
Semiconductor divisions of Japan's two consumer-electronics giants —
Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. — each launched their
own DTCP-enabled IEEE-1394 chips in Japan last year. But Sony's
announcement of the CXD-3204 and CXD-3205 versions of its
IEEE-1394 chips will mark the company's full-fledged introduction of
DTCP-enabled IEEE-1394 devices in the United States.
The consumer-electronics industry remains split over competing encryption
schemes for digital interfaces. Zenith Electronics Corp., which along with
Thomson Consumer Electronics is heading one group of manufacturers
fighting over the digital-encryption interface, favors the smart-card-based
renewable encryption scheme called XCA. The other group, led by Sony,
favors DTCP's encryption-based IEEE-1394 link layer.
With the emergence of Sony's DTCP-enabled 1394 chips, many industry
sources predict the market may finally start solidifying around that interface
to connect digital cable or satellite set-tops, VCRs, DVD players and PCs
to DTV sets. This development could come as early as Christmas.
"Sony has the first-move advantage," said Jay Srivatsa, senior industry
analyst at Dataquest (San Jose, Calif.), a market research firm. "The new
DTCP-enabled chips will essentially remove the last stumbling block for the
digital-interface debate."
"The presence of a real solution available today is a quantum leap in the
course of the digital-interface debates," said Jodie Hughes, general manager
and senior vice president of the semiconductor business division at Sony
Electronics.
Mark Kirstein, vice president of research at In-Stat Group (Scottsdale,
Ariz.), agreed. "I think XCA is significantly behind in development
compared to DTCP. I don't expect to see any XCA production boxes this
year."
Sony's devices are a single-chip IEEE-1394 controller solution that
integrate DTCP technology in the link layer with the physical layer.
Designed for use in digital set-top terminals and other digital appliances, the
chips support the DTCP-based, secure, two-way transmission of digital
content across the IEEE interface at speeds of up to 200 Mbits/second.
At a time when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is urging
the industries to come to an agreement on compatibility between DTV
service provided by cable and other video distribution services and
consumer-electronics equipment, Sony's chips could play a critical role in
determining the future of digital interfaces that connect a DTV with a
set-top box.
The DTCP is a specification that defines a cryptographic protocol to
protect audio/video entertainment content from illegal copying, interception
and tampering as the content traverses such high-performance digital buses
as IEEE 1394. Developed by five companies known as the 5Cs — Hitachi
Ltd., Intel Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Sony and Toshiba
Corp. — the technology is available for licensing in two forms. The "use
license" is for system OEMs and the "development intellectual-property
license" is for semiconductor companies. Sony has added DTCP's
IP-based encryption/decryption block to its IEEE-1394 chips.
The CXD-3204, supporting two ports, and the CXD-3205 with three
ports, are designed to allow a single chip to control multiple IEEE-1394
interfaces. Both chips encrypt and decrypt digital content in real-time with
no load on the consumer appliance's microprocessor. Samples of the
CXD-3204 and CXD-3205 are priced at $25 and $30 respectively.
Volume shipments are slated for August.
With companies such as AT&T, an emerging cable power, planning to
deploy millions of digital set-tops next year, it appears that the cable
industry's consensus is also forming around the 5C scheme. "I don't see a
solution [to the copy-protection problem] besides 5C," said Laurie
Schwartz Priddy, senior vice president for advanced technology at AT&T
Broadband & Internet Services.
Sony's IEEE-1394 chips are based on the "proven design" of Sony's
CXD-3201R, a separate link layer chip with a DTCP
encryption/decryption feature, launched in Japan late last year, according to
Sony's Hughes. That chip was designed into Sony's SkyPerfect TV digital
set-tops, Hughes said.
There are other notable features to the new chips. By integrating the link
layer and the physical layer in a single-chip IEEE-1394 controller, each
new version of the chip is offered in a compact low-voltage package.
Another important element is that the solutions support isochronous data
transfer. "This is absolutely essential to manage a live video transmission
reliably, offering as high a level of performance as possible," said Hughes.
Sony is thinking ahead by anticipating that its new IEEE-1394 chips will be
used in home servers or advanced set-tops functioning as a gateway or
bridge to the home-network applications. Each chip is designed to handle
simultaneous transfer of two isochronous signals. Thus, when the chip is
used in home servers, for example, it can allow for simultaneous recording
and playback, or simultaneous playback of two signals. Multiple ports
made available on the chips also enable connection to multiple appliances
to form a home network. The CXD-3205 device with three ports, for
example, could function more as a master controller in the home network,
said Hughes.
The CXD-3204, meanwhile, incorporates both parallel and serial
input/outputs for MPEG transport streams, making it functional for digital
set-tops and other applications.
Both CXD-3205 and CXD-3204 integrate the IEC958 audio interface,
previously known as the Sony-Philips Digital Interface.
—Additional reporting by George Leopold
"May you have copy protection in the products you sell, and none in your home unit".
FredE |
