The Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and broadband gateways, has been deployed by operators in more than 25 million devices worldwide, up 67% from a year ago.
That’s according to the RDK Management LLC, the joint venture of Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications, which announced the updated figure at the 2017 Connected TV World Summit in London.
Membership of the RDK community, which includes service operators, chipmakers, software firms and device makers, now numbers more than 300, the JV said.
RDK Management said more than 25 cable, satellite and telco providers around the world are in various stages of evaluation, testing, trials, or deployment. Known examples of service providers that have adopted RDK or plan to do so include Comcast, Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications of Canada, NOS of Portugal, Liberty Global, Cox Communications, Vodafone (formerly Kabel Deutshland) and Tele Columbus of Germany, and Switzerland’s The Quickline Group.
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RDK has been adapted for video devices (RDK-V), supporting a common framework for functions such as tuning, IP video, third-party DRM and media streaming, as well as broadband CPE (RDK-B), and support for a wide range of networking and IoT interfaces, including WiFi, MoCA, Thread and Zigbee. Both options are designed to accelerate the development of new products.
“Due to the passion and maturation of our community, the RDK has become a prime software development platform that powers more than 25 million set-top boxes and broadband gateways used by pay TV operators around the world,” Steve Heeb, president and GM of RDK Management LLC, said in a statement. “On both the video and broadband front, operators are actively embracing our transparency and open-source software, collaborating with leading technology companies, and contributing new innovations back to the RDK community. Together, we’ve embraced the best practices of the software industry, enabling operators to iterate faster than ever before.”
At the event, a keynote panel about RDK today will feature Heeb; Fraser Stirling, SVP hardware development & AI at Comcast; Pedro Bandeira, director product development, NOS Portugal; Olivier Philippe, VP, entertainment technology, Liberty Global; and Christian Constant, VP, product development entertainment, Vodafone Germany.
