Content and Product Definition

1. Overview

SSP offers APIs to the operator to define linear content (channels and EPG events), products (subscriptions, pay-per-view), and their relationship.

These data allow SSP to find the product that provides access to a given linear content and then authorize license requests based on the rights for the requesting device, stored in the SSP Authorization Server.

Linear content and products can be used to authorize licenses for both DVB/IPTV and/or OTT use cases.

2. Live Channel Management

SSP exposes a Topology Management API that allows management (creation, retrieval, modification, and deletion) of channels and services.

Channels are the logical entity that represents a linear TV channel, identified by a unique key.

Services represent the actual video streams.

• Each service must be linked to one channel at creation time.

• A channel may have several services linked to it. For instance, services with different quality levels, or picture-in-picture services.

• A channel may be used for DVB/IPTV, OTT, or both.

  • In the case of OTT:

    • The channel definition shall include the same DRM identifier used in the OTT live packager to scramble the channel.

    • The channel definition may include a list of tracks (e.g., audio, SD, HD) as well as a set of usage rules per track.

• Channels may include a set of usage rules to define how the content can be used by the client, for instance for output control.

  • For DVB/IPTV, please refer to (23.48) Content Usage Rules for broadcast.

  • For OTT, please refer to (23.48) Content Usage Rules for OTT.

• Each service includes the encryption mode and the access criteria reference (ACref) that shall be shared between the DVB/IPTV MUX/SCS and SSP for scrambling and global entitlement (ECM) generation.

• The service shall be removed before deleting the channel linked to it.

The SSP Topology Management API spec is available here.

3. EPG Schedule and Commercial Offer Management

SSP exposes an API to upload the EPG schedule of linear channels, define products, and link existing linear TV content (channels and events) to those products, following different commercial models.

3.1. Subscription Model

• Manage (create, retrieve, modify, and delete) subscription products.

• Assign one or multiple channels to a given subscription product. 

• For each channel, the subscription can be defined to provide access to the channel for DVB/IPTV, OTT, or both.

• This assignment can be scheduled in the future, to enable license pre-delivery.

• Channels can be removed from existing subscriptions. As before, this operation can be scheduled in the future.

• The API allows you to retrieve all the channels assigned to a given subscription product as well as to retrieve all the subscription products that provide access to a given channel.

3.2. Pay-per-View Model

• Create pay-per-view products.

• Upload the EPG event schedule for an existing channel and a given time window.

• Assign one existing EPG event to a PPV product (single event PPV) or multiple EPG events (season ticket).

• Retrieve all the events assigned to a PPV product as well as all the PPV products assigned to an EPG event.

3.3. Black-Out Management

SSP allows the operator to black out selected EPG events to certain users. This is enforced at the license level, as blacked out events are protected with a special key.

Black-out data flow is as follows:

• First, the operator shall define the black-out areas in SSP. From the SSP perspective, black-out areas are logical entities that may or may not correspond to topological or geographical areas. This is done using the Topology Management API.

• Second, the operator shall assign each account to one or multiple black-out areas. Again, no check is performed on the SSP side, this assignment is completely up to the operator. This is done using the Account & Device Management API.

• Finally, the operator can black out an existing EPG event for one or multiple blackout areas. This is done using the EPG Schedule Management API.

Once this has been done, SSP will not deliver the license required to watch that event to STBs whose account has been assigned to one of the blacked out areas.

If the EPG event is linked to a PPV product, the operator can choose the scope of the black-out: holders of the subscription to the channel or all users. In the former case, holders of the PPV product will still have access to the EPG event even if they are inside one of the blacked out areas.

The SSP EPG Schedule and Commercial Offer Management API spec is available here.

4. Pre-delivery Constraints (DVB/IPTV Subscription)

DVB/IPTV uses a model with license pre-delivery. This model removes the need for the device to connect to the license server each time a new service playback is requested by the end-user. This allows to reduce and drastically smooth the license requests.

The drawback is that an update of the subscription model (e.g., new product linked with a channel) may request to deliver new licenses, including to the devices that have already the right for the channel, which may produce high peaks of license requests.

The recommended practice to avoid such load is to schedule the channel/product line-up change well in advance, so that the license pre-delivery mechanism will take care of delivering the new required keys to all devices. The precise time period for this scheduling depends on the configuration of the system. Please contact your NAGRA support engineer for further details.

If this is not possible due to operational constraints (e.g., emergency change, or initial modification is wrong), SSP proposes three different modes that may be used depending on the operator constraints.