Three Digital Set-Top Makers Sign CableLabs® PHILA Documents

Three set-top manufacturers have signed the CableLabs® POD-Host Interface License Agreement (PHILA), CableLabs announced in a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

On December 22, 2001, Pace Micro Technology PLC signed the PHILA; two additional companies, Motorola Broadband Communications Sector and Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., each signed the PHILA earlier in the year.

The PHILA is a portion of the CableLabs OpenCable™ project; companies that sign the accord receive a license to deploy proprietary technology necessary to manufacture OpenCable set tops. The agreement focuses on the copy protection technology of the connecting point between an OpenCable™ point-of-deployment (POD) card and the OpenCable set-top box.

This interface is the link that allows a retail cable box to be portable across a variety of different cable system headends by standardizing the communication between individual addressable POD modules and the connected set-top terminals or navigation devices.

“Having three large consumer electronics manufacturers show their interest in making OpenCable boxes by signing the PHILA validates the cable industry’s commitment to this advanced digital service provisioning platform,” said CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green.