RDK Americas Summit
At the 2018 RDK Americas Summit, RDK Management, LLC and Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO) announced they have entered into a strategic development agreement. The initiative will integrate chipset-level software development kits (SDKs) from Broadcom with RDK’s open source software. This new effort will provide a common software porting layer to simplify and standardise RDK deployments across CPE suppliers used by video and broadband service providers worldwide.
Historically, each CPE manufacturer uses slightly modified SoC-layer software to support RDK-based devices, even when using the same Broadcom SoC and same version of RDK software. The new approach announced today will allow for a more efficient process to keep Broadcom SoC SDK versions in sync with RDK versions.
Strategic Partnership
Specifically, RDK Management LLC will work with its strategic partners and Broadcom to coordinate RDK based code changes to Broadcom SDK porting layer versions. RDK Management and Broadcom will then synchronize the release of new RDK versions with the new Broadcom SDK porting layer versions that Broadcom makes available to its licensees. This new effort will optimize and streamline service provider’s efforts to develop and deploy software used on Broadcom-powered devices.
“Broadcom has been a pioneering and leading contributor within the RDK community for years,” said Steve Heeb, President and General Manager of RDK Management LLC. “This new collaboration further strengthens our collective ability to meet the needs of service providers around the globe. By simplifying and streamlining the underlying software, services providers and their CPE suppliers can focus more of their attention on enhancing customer experiences that drive business results.”
“Broadcom is always looking for ways to enhance efficiency and better serve our customers, and this new effort with RDK Management LLC aims to do just that,” said Rich Nelson, senior vice president and general manager, Set Top Box and Cable Modem Division at Broadcom. “We believe that optimizing the RDK-SoC SDK porting layer will enable CPE manufactures and service providers to deploy and iterate even faster. Broadcom has supported the RDK since its inception, having shipped millions of RDK-powered chipsets used by leading Video and Broadband services providers, and we look forward to its continued adoption across the globe.”
Set-top box focus
The companies also noted they will initially focus on Broadcom set-top box (STB) SoC’s and RDK-V (video) software, but expect to include broadband gateway SoC’s and the RDK-B (broadband) software in the future. To date, more than 25 total service providers across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia are members of the RDK community and are in various stages of evaluation, testing, trials, or deployment. There are also now more than 300 technology companies in the RDK community across CE manufacturers, SoC vendors, software developers, and system integrators. In general, new RDK software is released every two weeks, and member companies are downloading RDK software components more than one million times every month.
Source: Digital TV News
*Broadcom is a founding member of DTVKit
