Project: Push VoD & PVR

Push Video-on-Demand solution

With this project the Pay-TV provider SKY Germany (formerly known as Premiere) introduced a new Video-on-demand service via satellite. As responsible system architect I had to design a product that guarantees error-free video quality, secure content protection, independence of the return channel, and flexible business models. Therefore the solution comprised:

• A carousel protocol for transmission of the movies
• An enhanced conditional access system
• An adopted MHEG middleware for a PVR
• A downloadable movie browser application

My service included the following:

• Conception of the system
• Development of the end-to-end system architecture
• Application design and specification
• Definition of content management and processes
• Coaching of project manager, programmers, and graphical designers

In advance of the development of the Push VoD system I modelled and specified the hard disk recorder that is used for both recording of Pay-TV content and providing the VoD service.

Premiere Direkt+

This application was part of the Push Video-on-demand System of Pay-TV provider SKY Germany. As the system designer in the creative team I performed the following tasks:

• Specification of dialogue structures, API calls, data structures, and operation
• Consulting for user interface design
• Testing and quality assurance
• Coaching of programmers, graphical designers, and product managers

In this project I designed and specified the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that later was used for the Push VoD service of German Pay-TV provider Premiere. The device provided several features according to the business models of the client:

• Automatic splitting of event-based recordings
• Parental control according to German law
• Restricted digital rights for selected premium movies
• Multi-stream selection

In the specification I ensured that all legal, functional and quality requirements of the Pay-TV provider have been met, but also that there is enough space for the manufacturer to find unique selling positions.