The Future of Open Cable Systems: Conditional Access Migrates to DCAS

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated a more open cable television system that would free the consumer from having to purchase or lease a set-top box (STB) from a single manufacturer or cable system operator. One of the problems that needed to be addressed was the number of proprietary, incompatible conditional access systems that different operators had deployed.

Recently, the FCC issued new requirements to migrate to an open system that will support flexible, downloadable security services. The industry response has been the development of a new architecture called Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS). This article outlines one DCAS implementation that employs ARM TrustZone technology as its security foundation.