How to Wake Up Cable TV Set-Top Boxes to Send Emergency Broadcast
1
Author 1Sungwon Byon, 2Eui-Suk Jung, 3Eunjung Kwon, 4Yong-Tae Lee and 5Hyunwoo Lee
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Korea, {swbyon, esjung, ejkwon, ytlee, hwlee}@etri.re.kr
Abstract - Cable TV Set-top box is one of major home
electronics which can receive public broadcast signals in
an emergency situation. The set-top boxes stay in standby
mode while not being used. In the standby mode, the set-top
boxes cannot receive information broadcasted for
emergency. To receive the emergency information, the set-
top boxes in the standby mode should be transited to
operation mode. WOL (Wake On LAN) based 2 step wakeup
scheme can be applied to transfer Cable STBs from standby
mode into operation mode.
Keywords: emergency broadcast, cable TV, remote wakeup
1. Introduction
Cable TV (CATV) Set-top box stays in standby mode or
power off mode to save power while not being used. In an
emergency situation like an earth quake or a tsunami, the
situation should be informed to the people around the
disaster area. When the emergency takes place, public
broadcast system delivers the information about emergency.
People who are watching TV can receive the information
and alert. The broadcasted emergency information is
displayed as a subtitle in TV screen. The subtitle can be
broadcasted as a part of channel contents. In some
situations like Video-On Demand (VOD) content is being
watched, the subtitle can be broadcasted through separate
path. In any case, people watching TV can understand the
emergency situation. Fig.1 shows an example of subtitle
broadcasting. People watching the screen can receive the
information about the emergency situation.
Fig. 1. Subtitle for Emergency Information Broadcast
When a TV is turned off or in standby mode, the emergency
broadcasting cannot reach to people around the TV. The TV
display can be turned on when CATV set-top box (STB)
transits to operation mode which provide necessary signal
to TV set via HDMI. When the CATV STB is powered off,
it is impossible to wake up. But when the STB stays in
standby mode, it can be waked up. In the emergency
situation, the STBs are waked up, and the emergency
information is delivered and displayed through the STBs.
As an effort to reduce the power consumption, the
978-1-5090-5140-3/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
standby state is divided into two different standby modes
[3]. One of the modes is active standby which turn off audio
and video components. In active standby, main processor
and communication module are enabled to receive
broadcasting signal. Since all processes are running in
active standby mode, it is possible to transfer STB mode via
network to operation mode. In the active standby, it is
obvious that a process can wait for the remote wakeup
request which transfer the STB mode to operation mode.
The other standby is passive standby mode which consumes
less power than active standby. In the passive mode,
processors and software processes are suspended, execution
context is saved into memory and most of hardware
components are powered down. Unlike active standby,
there is no process to receive remote wakeup request.
In CATV broadcast environment, there are many STBs to
wake up in emergency situation. Therefore, the wakeup
method should be performed efficiently in short time. If it
takes too long time to wake up the STBs, people in
emergency area cannot receive the information in golden
time. In this paper, it is proposed how to wake up the
CATV STB in passive standby.
2. Related Works
There were a few proposals to wake up PCs in IP
network environment. And some of those proposals can be
applicable for CATV STBs. In [1], Polisave system is
proposed, which is a client-server implementation for
remote mode control. Polisave users can schedule the
power mode of their PCs through a Server. The Server
maintains the information required modifying the power
mode and co-works with PC installed client. The Server and
PC installed client provide users interactive and scheduled
PC state control. In Polisave, the server collects information,
like IP, MAC and state from the client. To transfer the PCs
to operation mode, Wake On LAN (WOL) magic packet is
sent to PCs which stays in passive standby mode. The
system is not to control devices simultaneously but to
control each PC state separately. To wake up the CATV
STBs in emergency situation, all devices in emergency area
should be waked up as fast as possible. To send wakeup
request to each of devices is not efficient.
In [2], a power management method is proposed as a
part of smart grid for home appliances.
The cable STB has On-mode and standby mode. On-
mode is a state in which video output is enabled and
watching TV is possible. The standby mode of a CATV
STB can be divided into three different standby modes to
reduce power consumption [3]. The STB power modes and
transitions between the modes are depicted in Fig.2, which
is proposed in [3]. Networked standby mode is newly
introduced. Networked standby mode is almost same as the
passive standby. But in networked standby, the STB can be
waked up via networks. The networked standby is devised
to reduce the power consumption of the active standby.
Table 1 shows three standby modes and their function state.
In active standby, CPU, software processes and network
interface module are operating, whereas, in passive mode,
all of them are disabled. In networked passive, network
interface is partially enabled. As a consequence, the power
consumption of networked passive is greater than passive
standby and less than active standby mode.
Table 1. Three standby modes and properties
All functions of the STB are suspended in networked
standby except part of LAN interface to detect WOL magic
packet. When a server sends WOL magic packet sent from
remote site, the packet arrives at the LAN interface
regardless of STB power mode. In the networked standby,
the LAN interface which is partially enabled detects the
magic packet and initiates the mode transition to the active
standby following arrow T2 in fig.2 Arrow T3 is triggered
by power on button of remote control unit (RCU). In the
mode transition model, when a STB stays in the active
standby enough time without anything to do like software
or firmware update, the STB transits to networked standby.
Fig. 2. Three standby mode and mode transition diagram
To send a wakeup request, User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
is used in [3]. The WOL magic packet is sent with UDP.
The UDP based WOL magic packet has some problems to
be used as wakeup message. The problems are related with
routing information timeout maintained in Cable Modem
Termination System (CMTS). In [3], a network
management scheme introduced to resolve the problems.
With the scheme, UDP based WOL magic packet can be
applicable as a wakeup request.
In this paper, standby modes and transition model are
same as the ones proposed in [3] except for some
modifications which are related with network standby. In
CATV emergency broadcasting environments, there is also
same network problem as routing information timeout
described in [3]. It is assumed that the proposed solution in
[3] is applied in this paper.
3. Cable STB Operation Environment
In Fig.3, the operation environment is depicted, in which
a wakeup server can wake up cable STBs from remote site
and cable STBs display emergency information after the
waking up. The operation environment for waking up
CATV STB consists of wakeup server, Network and cable
STBs. The wakeup server sends wakeup request in
emergency situations like earth quakes, tsunami etc., which
is in Head-end system. CATV STB receives data and
control from the wakeup server through cable TV networks.
Fig. 3. CATV Network Components and Configuration
The network consists of two parts. One is IP network
between the wakeup server and cable modem termination
system (CMTS). The IP network is between servers in
Head-end system, which is ordinary network in Internet
environment. The other part is cable network between
CMTS and cable STBs. The cable network is operating
based on hybrid fiber coaxial cable. The cable network is
different from IP network in connecting network node.
Wakeup Server
The wakeup server maintains the STB information
including states like {On, Active, Passive, Networked}, IP
address, MAC address, port number and subnet mask. STB
state is consists of four modes like On-mode, active standby,
passive standby and networked standby. During On-mode
and active standby, the wakeup server can communicate
with STBs. Therefore, when a STB is in active standby, it is
possible to convert the STB state into On-mode by wakeup
request from wakeup server if the STB can handle the
request. But, when STB goes into passive mode, the
wakeup server cannot interact with STBs. Therefore STBs
in passive mode can be waked up only from RCU.
While a STB is in networked standby mode, the STB can
be waked up by wakeup server as well as RCU input. In an
emergency situation, the wakeup server sends wakeup
request to the STBs which stay in active standby or
networked standby. To make a wakeup message for a STB
in networked passive standby, the wakeup server makes a
WOL magic packet with MAC address of target STB. After
making the packet, the wakeup server sends it through UDP
protocol to STB’s IP address and port number, which is
collected from STB reports.
Cable Network (HFC)
Fig.3 shows how wakeup server and Cable TV STB are
connected. The STB has a cable modem which is connected
to CMTS located at Cable Company’s head-end. In this
case, wakeup server and CMTS may be connected with IP
network on same site. In the network, CMTS operates as a
router in IP network, which interacts with STB directly in
layer 3.
After the server generates a wakeup request for a STB, the
request is delivered to CMTS which communicates with
cable modem (CM) via radio frequency (RF) on hybrid
fiber coaxial (HFC) cable. Then the CMTS converts the
wakeup request and sends it through HFC cable. In the
cable TV networks, the CMTS acts as a last router in IP
networks.
Like the last router in IP network, the CMTS maintains
ARP information which consists of MAC address of
Ethernet controller and IP address of the cable STB. When
the STB generates Ethernet data packets to send out, the
packets are delivered to CM and the CM converts the
packets and sends them to CMTS via HFC. While a cable
STB is in connected-passive standby, CM should be
operating to deliver wakeup request to Ethernet controller.
The CM is a module not required in IP networks and causes
more power consumption in the connected-passive standby.
While CMTS keeps the ARP information for the STB, the
wakeup request is delivered to Ethernet controller via CM.
If the ARP information is expired, the CMTS cannot deliver
the wakeup requests. For CMTS, the ARP timeout is about
10 minutes - 24 hours, which is configured by Cable
Company. It is assumed that the solution proposed in [3] is
applied for ARP timeout problem.
Cable STBs
In the CATV environment, STB RCU has two power-off
buttons for active and passive standby. Networked standby
is only reachable through active standby because of limit
number of power-off buttons. Fig.4 is modified version of
mode transition diagram in fig. 2. The mode transition is
same as the diagram in fig. 2 except T4 and T8. In fig. 4, T4
is changed and T8 is newly inserted. When a STB stays
long enough in active standby, active standby transited to
networked standby following T3 arrow. While a STB stays
in active standby, wakeup server can send a wakeup
message which can be handled by a process in active
standby to convert STB state into On-mode following T4.
There is no technical barrier to implement this kind of
transition which is just to wait a network request and turn
on A/V output. T4 transition can be triggered by predefined
IP data packet through network. While the STB stays in
networked standby mode, when a wakeup message is
delivered, the STB state converted to On-mode following
T8 which is triggered by WOL magic packet. When RCU
power-on input is detected during STB is in passive standby,
active standby and networked standby, the standby modes
are transited to On-mode following T6, T2, and T7.
Transitions to passive and active standby from On-mode are
triggered by two different RCU power-off buttons whereas
exiting from the standby modes to On-mode can be
triggered by same power button.
Fig. 4. Modified Mode Transition Diagram
Cable STBs have CM and Ethernet controller as
communication modules. Ethernet controller is connected
to CM. In the view of the Ethernet controller, beyond the
CM is not subject to care. Therefore, HFC cable cannot be a
problem for Ethernet controller. The interval between
CMTS and CM is transparent for the Ethernet controller.
Since STB has IP stack, it can communicate with wakeup
server through IP layer. On the IP layer, the cable STBs
connected to CMTS directly. Since CMTS acts as a router
in IP networks, it delivers wakeup requests to the target
STB. Wakeup server creates the wakeup request in IP layer.
Since the WOL magic packet operates in MAC layer,
CMTS converts the IP layer wakeup request to MAC layer
data packet, and then send the packet to the Ethernet
controller.
4. STB Wakeup Scheme
In an emergency situation, to wake up efficiently all STBs
which stay in networked passive standby, other than
sending unicast wakeup request to each STBs sequentially
is required.
Wakeup Type
To wake up STBs efficiently, the STBs which stay in
networked passive standby and in the same subnet are
grouped into two types. One is type 1 STB and the other is
type 2 STB.
Fig.5 Two types of CATV STB wakeup.
There is only one type 1 STB in a subnet. Except for the
type 1 STB, others are type 2 STB. Type 1 wakeup is
executed by the type 1 wakeup request which is generated
by the wakeup server. Type 1 wakeup request is UDP based
WOL magic packet. Type 1 wakeup request traverses
through CMTS and arrives at Ethernet port of type 1 STB.
Type 2 wakeup is triggered by type 1 STB. After type 1
STB is waked up, the type 1 STB create type 2 wakeup
request and send it to all of type 2 STBs in same subnet.
The type 2 wakeup is executed by WOL multicast. The
type 2 wakeup request is sent with multicast. The multicast
layer 2 data packet can be received by all type 2 STBs in
same subnet. Therefore, by wakeup server’s sending type 1
wakeup request to type 1 STB, all STBs in subnet can be
wakeup.
Wakeup Sequence
Fig. 6 shows the data flows of the wakeup scheme.
Fig. 6. Data flows of wakeup scheme
When a STB moves to networked standby, the STB
sends a wakeup type query to wakeup server. The wakeup
type query is to determine if the STB is type 1 or not. When
the STB sends query, IP address, subnet mask, and MAC
address are sent. If there are already other STB which is in
same subnet and in networked passive standby, then
wakeup server responds with type 2. Otherwise the
response is type 1. After type 1 STB is determined, other
STBs get type 2 wakeup response.
In emergency situation, the wakeup server sends wakeup
request to type 1 STB. Type 1 wake up request is delivered
through CMTS. After type 1 STB is waked up, the STB
creates a type 2 wakeup request data packet based on
multicast. The type 2 wakeup request is sent to CMTS.
Then, CMTS delivers multicast based type 2 wakeup
request to subnet. Since the multicast protocol is part of
DOCSIS 2.0 specification, the multicast based wakeup
request can be delivered through CMTS.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, a remote wakeup scheme is proposed for
cable TV STB. In an emergency situation, it is required to
wake up STBs which stay in standby mode as fast as
possible. In unicast based wakeup scheme, wakeup server
sends wakeup request as many times as the number of
STBs. When there are many STBs to wake up, unicast
wakeup scheme is not proper. The proposed wakeup
solution is much more efficient than traditional wakeup
scheme. The wakeup server sends a wakeup request a
subnet. The number of subnet can be much smaller than the
number of STBs
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by ‘The Cross-Ministry Giga
Korea Project’ grant from Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning, Korea [GK16P0100, Development of
Tele-Experience Service SW Platform based on Giga
Media].
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