If you are a SmartLabs customer you can download the administrator guides below using your SmartLabs Tech Support Center login credentials.

If you are interested in more technical details about SmartLabs products, please contact our sales team at sales@smartlabs.tv.

• SmartTUBE 9.2:
  • Administration Guide — PDF
  • OSS/BSS Integration API — PDF
  • EPG Import Format — PDF
  • VoD Metadata Import Format — PDF
• SmartMEDIA 9.2. Administration Guide — PDF
• SmartCARE 9.1. Administration Guide — Web Help
• UDRM. Administration Guide — PDF
• How-to Articles — Web Help

Note: The administrator guides provided in the Web Help archives must be extracted, and the index.html file should be opened.

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SmartTUBE is a complex solution that enables operators to deliver both OTT and IPTV services to subscribers. Its primary objective is to offer a range of subscriber-level services, including:

• Live TV, Catch-up, nPVR and other related services
• VoD content watching and purchase directly in the app
• High quality content playback on end-user devices of various types 
• Access services and watch content on multiple devices at the same time 
• Fast and convenient search for TV channels, programs and VoD content

The SmartTUBE comprises the SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and SmartTUBE Applications tailored for different end-user devices such as STB, mobile, tablet, Smart TV, media players, and PC.

SmartTUBE SDP is the core component of the SmartTUBE, responsible for managing services, users, content, pricing, metadata, end-user device provisioning, and dynamic ad insertion. It provides seamless interaction with billing systems, payment gateways, and third-party information systems installed on the operator’s side. All features and capabilities of the SmartTUBE SDP can be managed through a single web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. 

SmartTUBE architecture

The SmartTUBE SDP architecture integrates 5 functional modules:

• Subscriber Management: Enables operators to oversee service accounts, end-user devices, profiles, service bundling, tariff plans, and multiple tenant configurations. A comprehensive and time-tested API provides seamless integration and interaction with OSS/BSS systems and payment gateways. Learn more…
• Content Management: Offers comprehensive support for both TV-related services and xVoD services:
  • Enables operator to manage TV services, including control over channel streaming and encryption settings, channel bundling and regional availability, EPG import from external providers, support for nPVR and Catch-up service assurance subsystems, and other functionalities. Learn more…
  • SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of Video on Demand (VoD) content, enabling operators to manage the movie and series library from both local operator’s sources and external content providers. The SmartTUBE SDP empowers operators to oversee content metadata, regional accessibility, pricing policies, and other key features of the VoD service. Learn more…
• Marketing: Offers operators various tools and opportunities to promote content and services to subscribers, such as banners, custom content rails, automatic content recommendations, marketing notifications, and dynamic ad insertion management with an option to integrate with external ad management system. Learn more…
• Reporting & Analytics: Provides operator with current statistics on content consumption, subscriber demand for specific services, and customer base analytics, enabling timely business decisions. Learn more…
• System Management: Ensures the operation of the platform as a whole, allowing operators to manage system settings, automate system processes, control access for platform users, alert for failures, provision end-user devices, localize and customize the SmartTUBE Apps, and more…

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings, all enriched with advanced features of cutting-edge streaming applications. Learn more…

SmartTUBE Applications

Subscriber Management Entities

• Service Account
• Device
• User Profile
• Service Bundle
• Pricing Plan
• Price List
• Discount

The diagram below demonstrates the relationship of these entities:

Diagram 1. Relationship of SmartTUBE SDP subscriber management entities

Service Account

Service Account contains information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it on the platform. It is characterized by a unique identifier, status (active, blocked, etc.), and login/password common for all subscriber’s devices (used for device authenticating).

The following operations can be performed on Service Accounts:

• Multiple Devices can be linked to a Service Account for using them in parallel by a subscriber.
• The set of services available to the subscriber is determined by the Pricing plan assigned to the Service Account. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to a Service Account.
• Multiple User Profiles containing personalized content consumption restrictions and settings can be assigned to the Service Account.
• Operator can specify the trial period for the account and manage its duration, along with setting the account status after the trial period expires.
• Management and synchronization of the linked SmartTUBE SDP and OSS/BSS accounts are performed via SmartTUBE API. Subscriber’s personal data is stored on the OSS/BSS side only.

Device

Device uniquely identifies subscriber’s device on the platform. Each Device can only be linked to a single Service Account and characterizes by

• Unique identifier (UID)
• Device Type: Determines the device functionality when interacting with the platform. For example, use different TV streams on devices of different type, use different banners or channel logos, etc.
• Individual login/password used for authenticating device on the platform.

Operator can perform the following actions with Devices:

• Limit the number of Devices that can be linked to the same Service Account (with differentiation by device type) and/or simultaneously consuming services. Subscribers can exceed the set limits by purchasing a corresponding Service Bundle.
• Link Devices to a specific region, allowing for the management of regional streaming.
• Enable/disable DVB-T input, unprotected analog outputs, and HDCP protection of HDMI outputs on STBs that support this functionality.
• Factory reset and reboot on STBs
• Create an SSH tunnel to Devices (if it is technically possible)
• Manage firmware and installed apps on Linux and Android-based STBs, as well as configuration parameters on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including mobile and Smart TV platforms. These actions are performed with SmartTUBE Device Manager.

User Profile

User Profile contains individual age restrictions for viewing/purchasing content and TV channel sorting settings. Each User Profile also stores individual viewing history, lists of favorite channels, movies, reminders, recordings, and purchased movies.
Multiple User Profiles can be linked to the Service Account, meaning they can be shared across all Devices linked to the Service Account.

Profiles have the following set of parameters:

• Nickname
• Collection of Profile Icons to choose from
• PIN code: Used to secure the profile from unauthorized access and editing, and to prevent unauthorized purchases of content and subscriptions to services.
• Default Access Level: The highest age rating of content that a user can view without entering a PIN. Content with a higher age rating is considered adult content.
• Maximum access level: The highest age rating of content to be displayed in the TV channel list and VoD library. Content rated above this level is hidden from the app’s UI.

Pricing Plan

Pricing Plan is a collection of multiple Service Bundles and Discounts that enable operator to manage the service provisioning rules for subscribers. For this purpose, the Pricing Plan is assigned to the subscribers’ Service Accounts. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to the same Service Account. Each Pricing Plan can be shared across multiple Service Accounts.

Pricing Plan allows to control the following provisioning conditions of each Service Bundle and Discount:

• Validity period of the bundle/discount within the Pricing Plan
• Type of devices to which the bundle/discount to be applied
• Bundle/discount status at the time the Pricing Plan is applied. Can be Active, Not active or Invisible (the bundle/discount is disabled and hidden for subscribers).
• Duration following the Pricing Plan activation, after which the bundle/discount becomes inactive.

• Allow subscribers to enable/disable the bundle/discount in the app
• Hide the bundle/discount from subscribers within the app. This way, the bundle/discount can only be activated by the operator or through subscription to other dependent bundles/discounts.
• Hide the bundle/discount after unsubscribing and set the corresponding Service Account state accordingly

Service Bundle

Service Bundle is a collection of content or services offered to subscribers for a fee or at no cost. For the Service Bundle to be available to subscribers, it must be included into the Pricing Plan. Multiple Service Bundles can be included into multiple Pricing Plans.

The cost of a Service Bundle for a subscriber is determined by the Price Lists.

SmartTUBE supports the following types of Service Bundles:

• TV Channel Bundle: A collection of channels provided to subscribers within the bundle.
• DVR Bundle: A set of TV channel with Catch-up services enabled. It offers control over archive storage depth, as well as the provision of TSTV and/or Pause Live services for each channel individually.
• VoD Bundle: Outlines the pricing model (TVoD, SVoD, AVoD, FVoD) for the movies/series within the bundle, their linkage to the operator’s local movie/series library or external content providers, offline movie viewing capabilities, and connection to a VAST server for AVoD content.
• nPVR Bundle: A collection of channels eligible for nPVR services. It allows to manage the following bundle attributes:
  • Recording Time Quota: Maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
  • Recording Storage Quota: Storage duration of subscriber recordings.
  • Notification Quota Level: Threshold at which the subscriber is notified about approaching to the Recording Time Quota.
  • Quota Overspending Limit: Maximum amount a user can go over their Recording Time Quota. If the quota is exceeded, the user must delete the extra recordings before scheduling more.
  • Restriction to record the ongoing or finished TV programs
  • nPVR Duration: Period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed.
• PPV Bundle: Sets the pricing rules for pay-per-view TV programs. The operator can choose to charge a fixed price for the whole program or charge based on the minutes watched.
• Device / Session Limit as a Bundle: Allows subscribers to increase the number of devices linked to the Service Account and/or Devices simultaneously consuming services beyond the limit set by the operator.

Price List

Price List determines the cost and provision conditions of the Service Bundle. Price Lists can be of two provision types:

• One-time Purchase: Involves a single payment for the Service Bundle for a specific rental period (such as a day, month, year, or lifetime). Payment is handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.
• Subscription: The Service Bundle is provided for a certain period of time and involves periodic payment. The subscription charges and payment frequency are handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.

Multiple Price Lists of the same provision type but with different prices and non-overlapping validity periods can be assigned to the same Service Bundle. That is, at any given time, a Service Bundle can have only one active Price List of a certain provision type.

For the TVoD content, it is also possible to set different prices and rental periods for each type of movie assets (e.g. SD and HD). Additionally, the asset price may vary depending on the Service Bundle or content provider.

Discounts

Price List can be optionally adjusted with Discount of the following types:

• Overriding discount: Overwrites the cost of the Price List with its own.
• Percentage discount: Specifies the percentage of discount applied to the cost of Price List.

The Discount is applied to the Pricing Plan. Thus it overlaps all Price Lists of all Service Bundles included in the Pricing Plan.

The provision conditions of Discount (validity period, device type dependence, etc.) are managed by the Pricing Plan.

The Price List and Pricing Plan can only have one active Discount at any given time, but one Discount can be applied to multiple Price Lists and Pricing Plans.

Subscriber Registration and Sign-In Options

SmartTUBE SDP offers various options for registering and signing in subscribers on the platform:

• Sign-in by Login and Password: These credentials can be set for the entire Service Account or a specific Device.
• Passwordless Sign-in: Operators can register devices on the platform without requiring login credentials if they manage the customer’s home network and know their IP address.
• Trial Sign-in: Operators can set a trial period for subscribers and specify what types of devices they can use during this period.

Multiple Tenancy Configurations

The multitenant configuration allows the following resources and features to be individualized for each tenant:

• Service Accounts and Devices
• Service Bundles and pricing rules
• Access rights to SmartTUBE Admin Console for tenant employees
• Statistical reports
• Limited apps’ UI customization:– Tenant logo on the splash screen when starting the app

  – Tenant logo on the status bar

  – Selector color

  – Limited styling features on the Home screen

  Please note that the app remains the same for all tenants. The operator cannot change the app icon and name individually for each tenant!

• Subscriber notifications
• Licensing calculations

At the same time, each tenant may utilize shared content (TV channels, EPG, VOD library) and metadata sets.

Platform administrators have full access to all platform resources.

SmartTUBE SDP provides a suite of tools designed for Content Management Departments to control TV-related content and VoD movie/series library. The platform also supports the import and management of multilingual Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and VoD-related metadata.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE SDP capabilities enable operators to manage TV content distributed over IPTV, OTT, and DVB-T/T2/C networks and provided with the following TV services:

• Live TV: Real-time television streaming.
• Catch-up: Services allowing subscribers to watch TV programs for a period after they have aired. Recording of the source streams is done on the operator’s equipment using hardware or software (e.g. SmartMEDIA Content Delivery Subsystem). Services include:
  • Pause Live (Restart TV): Allows to pause, rewind, and fast-forward within the ongoing TV program.
  • Start Over: Allows to start watching the ongoing TV program from the beginning.
  • Time Shift (TSTV): Allows to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward completed TV programs within a time frame determined by the operator.
  • Catch-up Content Library :  Enables access to selected TV programs recorded by operator and provided to subscribers via content rails on the SmartTUBE Apps’ Home screen.
• nPVR: Cloud recording of completed, ongoing, and upcoming TV programs initiated by a subscriber.

Management of TV-related content

• Channel Management
  • Channel Metadata: Provides control over the channel title, description, number in the channel list, and topics. The channel can have a single logo for display on all device types or multiple logos optimized for each one.
  • Streaming Settings: Allow to configure channel streaming sources, URLs for multicast or unicast outgoing streams, URLs of DVR and nPVR servers, define encryption types for different device types, set regional restrictions or block the channel broadcast immediately.
  • Age Restrictions: Each channel is assigned an age access level, dictating its visibility in apps and user access with or without a PIN code. For more details, check User Profile.
  • Channel Sorting: Operator can control channel sorting in apps by combining sorting by channel number and fixed channel position.
• Program Management
  • Program Metadata:  Provides control over original and custom program titles, serialized TV show attributes, release country and year, poster, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
  • Automatic EPG Import: Supports XMLTV, a widely used standard for describing TV listings, and SmartLabs EPG XML, a simplified XML format developed by SmartLabs and detailing all EPG metadata processed by the SmartTUBE SDP.
  • Catch-up Options: Allows to manage the availability of the program for catch-up services and the duration of availability.
  • Blackout: Operator is able to block broadcasting of certain programs by replacing the video stream with a predetermined image.
  • Restriction for nPVR Recording for Certain Device Types
  • Additional Program Logo Overlay: Overlaying additional logo on top of the video stream of a specific TV program. Implemented in conjunction with the SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System.
• Closed Caption (CC) Management: Allows to manage the selection of CC tracks present in the original channel stream and available to subscribers.

SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of the Video on Demand (VoD) content providing, allowing operators to manage the movie and series library from both local storage and external content providers:

• TVoD (Transactional Video on Demand): Allows a user to access a movie/series by making a one-time payment. After the purchase, the user has a limited time to watch the movie.
• SVoD (Subscription Video on Demand): Provides a user with long term access to a range of movies/series by subscribing either through a single payment or periodic charges.
• AVoD (Advertising Video on Demand): Offers a user free content access supported by ads that are displayed before (pre-roll), after (post-roll), or during (mid-roll) video playback.

Management of xVoD Library

• Content Metadata: Operator can manage a wide range of content metadata including original and custom titles, release country and year, posters and screenshots, distribution period, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
• Content Assets: Enables operator to manage assets for movies, series episodes and their trailers. Each movie and episode can have several asset versions (e.g. SD, HD, UHD) for different device types, encryption options, content providers, pricing and bundling rules. Assets can be individually enabled for offline viewing by subscribers within the SmartTUBE Apps.
• Regional Restrictions: Regional restrictions can be applied at the movie and series level.
• Integration with VoD Content Providers: SmartTUBE offers streamlined integration schemes with a number of content providers.

Radio Stations

SmartTUBE SDP provides features for managing radio station broadcasting with configuration options similar to those available for TV-related content.

The SmartTUBE solution provides Marketing Departments with a variety of tools to promote content and services within the SmartTUBE Apps:

• Banners
• Content Rails
• Content Recommendation Engine
• Ad Insertion Management
• Marketing Messaging

Banners

The banner carousel is located at the top of the Home screen of all SmartTUBE Apps. Each banner may have individual images for end-user devices of different types and can lead to the TV channel, program, xVoD content, genre, service, or external URL.

Operators have the option to display a static, non-clickable banner when users pause content in the full-screen player. This banner disappears on resume, and operators can configure a rotating list of such banners to display with each pause.

Operators can manage the following banner attributes and options:

• Display Options of Banner Carousel:
  • Regular Banners: Regular opaque banners with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
  • Faded Banners: Banners with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the Main menu and first Content rail.
  • Banners with Auto-play Trailers: Faded banners of the movie or series that starts playing the trailer automatically when it’s in focus after a set time. It is available for Large-screen Apps only.
• Display Options for the Banners in the Full Screen Player when Paused:
  • Regular Banners: Only regular opaque banners are accepted.
  • Image Scaling: Banners are stretched to fill the screen without breaking the image proportions.
• Display frequency in the carousel: Allows to set each banner to high, medium and low priority for display in the carousel.
• Time frame and duration to display
• Display only for certain Device types and Pricing plans

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, TV Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels and movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

Content Recommendation Engine

SmartTUBE SDP features an integrated module for the automatic generation of xVoD content recommendations called SmartTUBE Recommender. This module periodically analyzes subscriber views of content, content characteristics (such as genres, countries, descriptions, etc.), and optionally, user characteristics (such as gender, age, geolocation). It then generates ordered sets of xVoD content recommendations for each user and sets of similar movies/series for each user.

SmartTUBE Recommender provides two types of recommendations:

• User-based: Calculated based on the user profile settings, the user’s viewing preferences and their similarity to other subscribers, and so on. This type of recommendation is only available in conjunction with the SmartCARE (SmartLabs analytics software for IPTV/OTT networks).
• Context-aware: Calculated based on the similarity of movie metadata (description, genres, cast, etc.)

The generated recommendations can be displayed in SmartTUBE Apps on content rails, in movie detail cards, and in the player.

Ad Insertion Management

SmartTUBE is an integral component of SmartLabs Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) solution that enables operators to dynamically insert or replace ad blocks in live video streams, pre-recorded, and xVoD content. Thanks to VAST protocol support, operator can partner with third-parties or create its own campaigns within SmartTUBE SDP without relying on external ad services.

The SmartLabs DAI solution is made up of three key modules:

• SmartTUBE Advertising Decision System (ADS): Carries information about advertisers, ad campaigns, ad creatives, placement dates and duration, types, target devices, target content, and other parameters. Using this data, ADS can make a decision which ad fits a specific insertion opportunity. The ADS also provides campaign performance reports highlighting key metrics. Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE SDP.
• Server-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System
• Client-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE Apps
  The Server-side and Client-side ad insertion modules request an ad decision from the ADS via the VAST protocol. The ADS finds a matching set of ads based on the request targeting criteria and responds with a VAST response carrying the data about the ad to be inserted.

There are 2 use cases for using the SmartTUBE DAI:

• Ad insertion into HLS / DASH streams for OTT subscribers: Involves inserting ad blocks on the SmartTUBE App side and getting data on them within the stream playlists/manifests. The preparation of playlists/manifests and ad creatives to be sent to the device is performed on the SmartMEDIA side.
  
• Ad insertion into linear TS streams: Involves inserting ad blocks directly into the source TS streams using SmartMEDIA components. The resulting TS output can be distributed over IPTV networks, or pushed to satellite or DVB-C head-ends:

Marketing Messaging

SmartTUBE allows to send messages to the end-user devices via SmartTUBE Admin Console or OSS/BSS API. It can be used for notification about new services, promotions, technical works, etc. The messaging can be performed either individually to a specific subscriber or massively using filters on the subscriber base.

Message sending can be scheduled with filtering recipients by user identifier, pricing plan, and tenant. Additionally, messages can be sent automatically for events like first authorization, account creation, service subscription/unsubscription, and pricing plan changes.

Operator can manage the following message attributes:

• Message text: Allows to insert such user-identifying variables as user ID, device ID, and service account number.
• Expiration period
• Display duration
• Number of message reminders and their display duration
• Tenant relation
• Appearing animation: Slide-down or pop-up
• Image, icon, and URL of a video to be attached to the message
• Message opacity
• Link to the service bundle, xVoD content, TV channel
• Delivery type:
  • Long Polling: Messages are sent using Long Polling mechanism and displayed as a modal window in the SmartTUBE App only after it is launched.
  • Push: Messages are sent using the Apple APN and Google GCM services and displayed additionally in the notification shade regardless of whether the SmartTUBE App is running or not.

Message recipients can be specified by a list of device IDs or selected based on the following criteria:

• Account login, number, name, status
• Account creation date
• Pricing plan
• Service bundle presence in the Pricing plan
• Status of the service bundle
• Device type
• App version
• STB UID
• IP address
• Date of linking the device to the account
• Last stored device location
• Last device authorization date

The SmartTUBE reporting system offers Marketing, Sales, and Content Management Departments with real-time and historical statistics of content consumption and specific resource/service demand among subscribers.

• Service accounts and devices:
  • Created/deleted accounts report: Number of accounts added/deleted for the period.
  • Service accounts not authorized till now: List of accounts without authorizations for the period until today.
  • Service accounts without new connections: List of accounts without new device connections for the period until today.
  • Individual service account reports: History of service bundle subscriptions, status changes, nPVR usage stats and errors, accepted text offers, and pricing plan changes.
  • Number of pricing plan changes:  Number of pricing plan shifts for the period with specifying the previous/new plan.
  • Percentage of accounts by state: Number and percentage of accounts by status on the day specified.
  • Percentage of users by pricing plan: Number and percentage of accounts by pricing plan on the day specified.
  • Devices: Detailed info on the devices authorized during the period with filtering by the service account, as well as device name, UID, and type.
  • Device UID changes:  Change history of the unique identifier of each registered device.
• Service and content consumption:
  • Service consumption:  Number of service accounts subscribed to specific service bundles during the period.
  • Service consumption in detail: Details on subscriptions to service bundles during the period with details on accounts and pricing plans.
  • Purchased TVoD movies: Brief report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • Purchased TVoD movies in detail: Detailed report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • SVoD metacontent view count: Report on SVoD content views during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • Detailed report by SVoD: Detailed report on SVoD content subscriptions during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • VoD view statistics: General report on the number and duration of xVoD content views with grouping of results by periods (hour, day, etc.) and filtering by viewing duration of each movie/episode.
  • Channel coverage: Details on TV channel audience and viewing duration in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (day, month) and filtering by channel, device type, pricing plan and viewing duration.
  • Channel viewing statistics: Number and duration of the channel views in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (5 min, hour, day, etc.) and filtering by channel, device type, and viewing duration.
  • TOP 10 most viewed TV programs: Number of viewers of the 10 most popular TV programs for the period with filtering by channel.

The following reports provide a real-time view of the devices and apps used by subscribers:

• Service account w/o devices:  List of accounts with no devices connected or devices with no UID.
• Device combinations on service accounts: All unique combinations of devices linked to accounts, itemized by state and number of accounts, as well as by number of devices. 
• Statistics by device types: Number of devices of different types currently registered on the platform.
• Statistics by app versions: Number of devices of different SmartTUBE app versions with filtering by device type, device model, and app version.

The majority of SmartTUBE system functions are accessed and controlled through the web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. Fine-tuning of platform functionality is carried out through configuration files of SmartTUBE SDP components. Together, these management tools provides System Administration Departments with complete control over platform aspects and features described below:

• End-user Device Provisioning: SmartTUBE SDP includes SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service with the web console for managing firmware, apps and configurations on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including Linux and Android STBs, mobile and Smart TV platforms.  This console enables software artefacts management (STB Linux and Android firmware, private app repository for AOSP, configuration files), device grouping (production, staging, etc.), HTTP and Multicast firmware distribution, software version tracking, update strategies management (soft update, force update, minimal allowed version), etc.​
• Process Automation: Various service tasks (e.g. EPG import, cache data reload, etc.) can be performed automatically at set schedule.
• Admin Console Access: Operators can manage users with specific access roles like Administrator, Content Manager, Business Manager, Technical Support Specialist, and Analyst. Multiple roles can be assigned to a user, defining access to different features within the console.
• Failure Alerts: Provides email alerts for failures related to OSS integration, EPG and VoD metadata import, database connection limits, and SmartMEDIA warnings.
• Device Geolocation:  To manage access to content based on IP address range, operators can assign IPTV devices to specific subnets or utilize data from third-party services like Maxmind (under a separate contract) to determine the geo or network location of OTT devices. Operators can also restrict access to services for mobile devices when transitioning between network connections (e.g., from home network to cellular one). 
• License usage statistics: Provides detailed information about installed licenses, including their types, number of service accounts and active devices used.  
• License features: Operators can manage the availability of features that depend on the license type. 
• Rebooting STBs: Enables remote reboot of STBs  by a list of UIDs or by matching conditions.
• Cache Server Data Reload: Allows to manually update metadata and system settings on cache servers to quickly pass changes to devices. 
• Data Export: SmartTUBE Admin Console allows to export any data stored in the SmartTUBE SDP database to CSV format.

Apps Localization and Customization

SmartTUBE provides a comprehensive toolkit for localizing and customizing SmartTUBE Apps’ UI and UX. This process occurs in two stages:

• Initial: Performed by SmartLabs specialists at the stage of system commissioning.
• Operational: Performed by the operator during the system operation.

Initial customization allows to adjust the UI within the existing structure (layout of the main components, animation logic, etc.) and includes the following possibilities:

• Interface Localization: SmartTUBE provides the ability to localize the interface to the operator’s language by the operator. English is supported by default. Localization in languages using fonts containing hieroglyphs, arabic script and other specific alphabets, is discussed separately.
• Operator Logo: Can be placed in the various parts of UI (upper left corner, placeholders, splash screen, etc.);
• Color of Selected Elements
• Animation of Waiting States

Operational customization allows the operator to change the representation of the Home screen and Movies/Series sections by uploading the corresponding configuration files to devices via SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service for managing firmware and apps on all types of IPTV/OTT devices.

Security Mechanisms 

SmartTUBE system protects IPTV / OTT services and confidential information from unauthorized access at different levels utilizing the following mechanisms:

• Device activation and user authorization: Each time a device attempts to connect to the SmartTUBE SDP, the system compares its device ID and serial number with the values stored in the DB when the device was activated. If the device ID and serial number do not match, the device is not allowed to access services.
• Connection sessions management: SmartTUBE SDP uses special identifiers to manage each connection session with devices. Each connection session lives for a limited period, after which the session closes and SmartTUBE SDP stops the information delivery to the device. This also avoids the memory shortage and related security issues on STB devices.​
• Token-based authorization: SmartTUBE SDP issues a unique token to each device upon authorization on the platform. This token is then passed by the device in all requests to the platform and SmartMEDIA streaming servers for the OTT TV channel streams. This process ensures that only authorized devices can access the SmartTUBE platform and view content securely.
• Secure access to SmartTUBE Admin Console: Provided by the authorization mechanism with the login and password issued by the system administrator.
• OSS/BSS API Access: Interaction with SmartTUBE SDP from the OSS/BSS side via API can be protected with login and password. 
• Network-level security: The HTTPS protocol with SSL certificate management is used for interactions between devices, external systems, and SmartTUBE SDP. Session control is used for interactions between platform nodes and the database.
• Protection against STB duplication: STB has built-in protection against duplication, which prevents the possible device counterfeiting.

Licensing 

The SmartTUBE licensing policy offers two license types, SmartTUBE Basic and SmartTUBE Ultra, providing operators with different levels of features and functionality to choose from.

How many licenses do I need? 

SmartTUBE is licensed according to the number of service accounts and active devices. You can purchase one or more simultaneously active licenses of the following subtypes:

• License by accounts: This method considers only active service accounts — accounts with the status other then Suspended, Trial closed, Closed, Deleted, regardless of whether the subscriber uses the services or not.
• License by devices: This method considers only active devices — devices with a non-empty UID and linked to the active account, which were authorized at least once and (optional) with the date of the last authorization is no more than N days ago. Operator can specify which device types will be considered by this license.
• License by service account with devices: This method considers only active service accounts to which only the specified types of devices can be linked. The operator should specify the number of active devices licensed under one license.

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings.

Note:  As we continually enhance the UI and UX of SmartTUBE Apps, please note that the screenshots below might not reflect the latest versions.

Home Screen

The Home screen is the first screen the user sees after loading the app or hitting the ‘Home’ button. Operators can customize it’s layout by managing Top banner, Main menu, and a set of Content rails.

Top Banner

Operator can choose one of the following options to display the Top banner:

• Regular banner: A regular opaque banner with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
• Faded banner: An opaque banner with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the main menu and first content rail. Optionally, the faded banner can automatically play the movie trailer after a set amount of time when it is in focus.

Main Menu

The Main menu on large-screen devices can be displayed in either a vertical or horizontal arrangement. For horizontal layouts, menu items can be enhanced with icons or presented as plain text. The Main menu may include the following items:

• TV: Displays channels and programs as a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.
• EPG: Displays a classic EPG grid showcasing TV programs’ durations on a horizontal timeline. Users can to select a program for additional information and functions, with a window displaying the current broadcast.
• Search: Allows to search through all types of content, displaying TV programs and VoD content on one screen.
• Movies: Displays the movie library with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of content rails.
• TV Series: Displays the series library featuring posters and titles presented in either a mosaic view or themed rails list. Each poster serves as a visual representation of a series, enabling users to delve into a series card. From there, subscribers can choose the desired season and episode for viewing.
• Radio: Opens the list of IP radio stations available for listening.
• My [operator name]: Allows a subscriber to access personalized content such as watch history, favorite channels and movies, personal recordings, reminders, and purchased movies.
• Applications: Provides access to the library of Android apps available on Android TV / Android STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App acts as a launcher.
• Settings: Provides access to the user profile settings and system settings (time zone, network settings, video output modes, etc.).

The main menu on mobile devices typically includes the following items: Home, My, Search, and Downloads. The Downloads section allows users to access content that has been downloaded for offline viewing. Additionally, users can navigate to the TV, Movies, and Series pages using the top menu located on the Home screen.

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE Apps provide users with access to the comprehensive functionalities offered by the SmartTUBE solution for TV-related services:

Channel List with Program Guide: Displays channels and programs in a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.

EPG Grid: A classic Electronic Program Guide available for large-screen devices. TV programs are displayed horizontally with durations on a timeline. User can select a program for more info and functions, with a window showing the current broadcast.

Theme-Based Channel Filtering: User can filter channels by themes (such as sports, news, entertainment) or genres of currently airing programs (if the genres are provided by the EPG provider) by opening a filtering panel.

Detailed TV Program Information: Provides in-depth details about TV programs in full-screen view, including extended description, cast, recording quota used, availability period of recorded programs, and other relevant data.

Reminders: Set alerts for upcoming TV programs with a pop-up before the show starts. All reminders are displayed in a dedicated menu.

Upcoming Broadcasts Recording: Allows users to schedule recordings of individual programs or entire series episodes for viewing at a later time. The list of all recordings can be found in a dedicated menu.

Favorite Channels: User can mark preferred channels for quick access. The favorite channels appear first on the Home screen and in the channel filtering section.

Watch History: The list of recently viewed programs, with the option to resume from where the user left off. Users can also choose to clear their entire watch history or remove individual items.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for large-screen devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, and pausing catch-up content.

Revealing the program guide rail for the current channel, enabling setting reminders or recordings for upcoming programs. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, selecting the audio/video/subtitle track, viewing the program details, and checking the stream technical information.

Quick channel selection panel allowing to switch channels visually without leaving full screen mode.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, pausing catch-up content, as well as selecting audio/video/subtitle tracks.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, sharing the stream across other subscribers’ devices, and exploring additional functions.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices can be controlled by tapping, swiping, and sliding:

• Short tap: Opens playback controls and settings menu, which disappear after 3 seconds of no user activity.
• Double tap in the center: Switches between full-screen and portrait mode.
• Double tap on the left/right area: Rewinds backward/forward for 10 seconds.
• Swipe left/right: Switches channels.
• Slide by the left/right area: Controls the brightness and volume, respectively:
  

VoD Content

SmartTUBE Apps offer fast navigation and search within the VoD content library, payment options, a recommendation tool that suggests relevant content based on subscriber preferences, and other helpful features:

VoD Content Catalog: Displays available content with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of themed rails.

Content Filtering: Users can filter content by type (movies, series, for kids), genre (adventure, comedy, detectives, etc.), production year, country, and other criteria.

Detailed Content Description: Provides information on the movie description, directors, actors, ratings, age restrictions, release year, screenshots, etc. for selected content.

Detailed Series Description: In addition to the information described above, this feature offers a convenient way to select from the various seasons and episodes of a series.

Trailer Viewing: Users can watch trailers within the movie card if available.

List of Favorites: Allows users to save their preferred movies for convenient access and later viewing.

Full-Screen Player: Content is played in full-screen mode with playback controls, video quality and aspect ratio options, audio track and subtitle selection, content recommendations (in the large-screen apps), adding to favorites, and technical information about the stream (in the large-screen apps).

Skip Opening and Credits: The full-screen player allows users to skip the movie’s opening credits and jump straight into the action. At the end of a series episode, users can bypass the final credits and start the next episode immediately. This feature includes a timer for auto-skipping the opening and automatically starting the next episode, with progress displayed on the button.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

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Radio Stations

SmartTUBE Apps for STB and Smart TV support the radio station broadcasting:

Media Player

The Media player integrated into SmartTUBE Apps offers all the essential features for a seamless and enjoyable content-watching experience. It may support different audio/video codecs and streaming protocols, such as MPEG-DASH and/or HLS, depending on the device.

Adaptive Streaming Support: Automatically switches between bitrates within the media stream based on network bandwidth. This prevents playback from stopping when bandwidth decreases; instead, it shifts to a lower quality stream. When bandwidth improves, video quality is restored.

Playback Control: Lets users rewind, fast forward, and pause catch-up and xVoD content. When a video is rewound or paused, thumbnails appear above the progress bar.

Audio Track Selection: Users can choose from multiple audio tracks available within the stream.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

Subtitles and Teletext Display: Apps can display subtitles and teletext in various formats, including DVD, DVB, SSA/ASS, SRT, WebVTT, CEA-608/708 Closed Captions, SMPTE-TT, and Teletext. Supported formats may vary by device.

Aspect Ratio Options: Enables users to align the content frame’s aspect ratio with their device’s screen.

Stream Details: Depending on the stream type, users can view information such as the current bitrate, the number of decoding errors, and other relevant details that may be helpful for troubleshooting and contacting technical support. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Playback from a Saved Position: Apps remember where a user stopped watching a movie or program and provide the option to resume from that point or start over.

Processing of Ad Inserts: The app for large-screen devices can detect the start/end marks of ad inserts within the stream. It can handle these ads in different ways, such as preventing users from rewinding during catch-up playback. Additionally, the media player can work with VAST servers within the AVoD service.

Content Purchase and Subscriptions

SmartTUBE Apps offers users a range of features to manage service subscriptions, purchase content, and stay updated on options that enhance their service experience:

• Service Management Menu: Users can view and manage available services, including adding or canceling subscriptions, along with detailed information about offered content and terms.
• Subscription Recommendations: The app highlights both current and additional subscription options, with non-subscribed channels clearly marked and easily accessible for purchase.
• Content Purchase Options: Movie/series costs and purchasing options are displayed on detailed information cards.
• Purchase History: Subscribers can track their transactions in the ‘Settings’ menu.

Screen Sharing

The Screen Sharing feature allows users to effortlessly transfer their streaming session between devices, such as from a mobile device to a Smart TV or STB, and vice versa. The SmartTUBE platform supports the following technologies to implement the Screen Sharing feature:

• Apple AirPlay: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS Mobile App to other devices that support AirPlay 2 technology.
• Google Chromecast: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS/Android Mobile App to the Google Chromecast devices and TVs with built-in Chromecast support.
• SmartLabs Screen Sharing: A proprietary technology enabling user to transfer streaming between devices using SmartTUBE Apps. Users can continue watching a movie or TV channel on a mobile device or move content from a mobile device to a large screen while maintaining the current position. After transferring, playback can be controlled remotely from the mobile device.

Content Search Screen

SmartTUBE Apps allow users to search through all content types, including TV programs, movies, and external services like YouTube. The search is performed by title (in the current app’s UI language and original title) and description, with suggestions appearing as user type. The Apps support multilingual keyboards and shows structured results for various content types on the same screen.

Displaying Operator Messages

The operator can send subscribers messages that they may open immediately or later in the message history. The message can contain both text and images. Urgent messages are displayed as a full screen window. Watermark messages are overlaid on top of the video stream.

Logging In

Depending on the operator’s settings, subscribers can access services by logging in with or without username and password entry. New users may also be offered a trial period to explore the services and app features.

User Profiles

If multiple users share an account, they can create personal Profiles to customize settings like parental controls, channel sorting, and content restrictions. Profiles are shared across all devices and can be PIN protected. The master Profile can manage other profiles. This helps prevent unauthorized access to paid or adult content by minors and provides personalized content recommendations.

Profile general settings

Kids profile gives parents control over their children’s viewing experience. In addition to the maximum age level for TV channels and VOD content, the Kids profile allows to manage the downtime interval and the daily viewing limit.

Kids profile settings

System Settings

Users can access various system settings, including time-zone correction, UI language, audio/subtitle language prioritization, timer to stop playback when idle, video aspect ratio, and player menu auto-hide timeout. Support page provides information for contacting operator and sending reports for technical analysis.

STB users have additional options:

• Reset to factory settings
• Firmware update
• Standby timer
• Video/audio output format
• Network settings

Supported Devices

SmartTUBE solution supports a wide range of devices, allowing IPTV / OTT operators to reach a larger audience. The list of supported devices can be expanded through integration work. Below are the device requirements. These requirements do not include restrictions related to the use of various protocols and formats of video delivery (HLS, DASH, etc.), CAS/DRM systems, and other restrictions related to the hardware and software implementation of the listed devices by their manufacturers.

Linux based STB

To run SmartTUBE App on STB using a Linux kernel OS, you need to have SmartSDK. At the moment SmartSDK is supported on hardware platforms HiSilicon, STMicroelectronics, Amlogic, Broadcom, Sigma Designs from STB manufacturers such as SmartLabs, Albis, Arris, and others. To clarify the list of supported hardware platforms and integration options, please contact SmartLabs representatives.

iOS

• iPad with iOS 11 or later
• iPhone with iOS 11 or later

Android

The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.

• Tablet PC with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later
• Smartphones with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later

Web Browsers

We strongly recommend using installations with Widevine DRM enabled. Support for other web browsers is on request.

Smart TV

• LG with WebOS 4.0 and later Support for Netcast and earlier versions of WebOS could be provided by additional request and subject to technical feasibility (depends on used DRM, streaming protocol, and etc.).
• Samsung with Tizen OS SmartTUBE App support all model years available for publishing at the Samsung app store portal
• Hisense (VIDAA OS)
• Whale OS — an operating system for Smart TV, which is now integrated into the products of many world-famous brands, including Philips, TCL, Haier, AOC, Sharp, BenQ, Konka, Changhong, NovaTek, Amazon, Google, Alibaba, Huawei, DSP Group, and etc.

Android based STB and Android TV

• Supported OS Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and Android TV v9.0 or later. See also the requirements for AOSP STBs.
• The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.
• SmartTUBE App on AOSP devices can be installed as a Launcher.

Amazon Fire TV

• Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
• Amazon Fire TV Stick
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
• Amazon Fire TV Cube

Support for Device Features

* The PiP feature is available on iOS devices for HLS streams only. 

Support for Content Delivery Protocols and DRM Systems

SmartTUBE is a comprehensive software solution designed for building OTT, IPTV and Hybrid TV services. At its core is a robust platform comprised of server-side components, offering extensive APIs and a flexible architecture, enabling operators to provide end-users with a complete set of video streaming services. Complementing the platform, our solution includes a suite of client apps tailored for various devices, ensuring a seamless user experience and end-to-end functionality. Below is a description of the main solution components.

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of applications for the supported end-user devices. Depending on the device platform, the functionality of SmartTUBE apps may vary slightly.

SmartTUBE Applications

SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) is the core of the solution responsible for managing services, subscribers, content, pricing, metadata, end-user device provisioning, advertising, etc. Provides interaction with billing systems, payment gateways and 3rd-party information systems installed on the operator’s side.

Management of TV services, subscribers, tariff plans, meta content, etc., as well as system administration is performed via SmartTUBE Admin Console.

SmartTUBE Admin Console

SmartTUBE SDP interaction with external systems, such as VoD content libraries, EPG providers, OSS/BSS, recording servers, etc. is performed through the corresponding APIs.

The initial deployment of the SmartTUBE server is usually carried out by SmartLabs specialists during the project commissioning phase. This document serves as a reference guide for advanced users who intend to set up a distributed component structure, where each component is installed on a separate machine. It also provides information on integrating with your existing databases and configurations.

SmartTUBE installation requires manual configuration from a repository. Please follow the steps outlined below to successfully install SmartTUBE.

1. Connect the repository (for the repository details contact the SmartLabs official representative).
2. Install Java JDK from the repository:

Alternatively, you can download the rpm-package from the official source http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html and install it:

3. Install and run Elasticsearch (reference guide: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/7.8/rpm.html):
4. Import the Elasticsearch PGP Key:

5. Create a file called elasticsearch.repo in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory:
   

6. Install Elasticsearch:

7. The RPM for Elasticsearch v7.8.1 can be downloaded from the website and installed as follows:

This command compares the SHA of the downloaded RPM and the published checksum, which should output elasticsearch-7.8.1-x86_64.rpm: OK.

8. Start the Elasticsearch service:

9. Add these settings in the configuration file /etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml:

10. Restart the Elasticsearch service:

11. Set the password for built-in users:

12. Follow the on-screen instructions.
13. Remember the password for the elastic user. It will be needed in the SmartTUBE Cache client configuration.
14. After you install Elasticsearch, enable the service autorun

    RHEL7: # systemctl enable elasticsearch.service

    and run the service:

    RHEL7: # systemctl start elasticsearch.service

15. Install PostgreSQL (reference guide: https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/YUM_Installation)
16. Install the ps-rpm file corresponding to your OS version and the required version of the package (https://yum.postgresql.org/repopackages.php), for example:

17. Check the packages available for installation: # yum list postgres*
18. Install PostgreSQL (the command depends on the package version you are installing):

19. Initialize the database

    RHEL7:

20. Enable the service autorun

    RHEL7: # systemctl enable postgresql-9.6.service

21. Run the service

    RHEL7: # systemctl start postgresql-9.6.service

22. Download the database dump: # yum -y install postgresql-initial
23. Install SmartTUBE from the repository

24. Make the following changes to the configuration file /opt/smartlabs/smarttube5/conf/modules/cache-server.conf:
    

Where elastic_user_password — password for elastic user generated in Step 3.

25. Make the following changes to the configuration file /opt/smartlabs/smarttube5/conf/modules/data-server.conf:
26. Find the database section;
27. Change the IP and PORT and DB reference in the connection-string parameter;
28. Add the password for DB access;

Example of the correct section configuration:

29. Open the configuration file /opt/smartlabs/nginx/conf/nginx.conf. It should contain the following:

30. Configure the /opt/smartlabs/smarttube5/conf/modules/report.conf file with the IP, port and DB name. It should look like this:

31. If you need to apply other changes to configuration files, see their description in the Configuration files part. Normally, you can work with default settings.
32. Add the rule to iptables (# vi /etc/sysconfig/iptables)

Restart the service

RHEL7: # systemctl restart iptables.service

If the service is not set for the RHEL 7 iptables (you can see it by the empty file /etc/sysconfig/iptables), do the following:

33. Disable firewalld

34. Delete it from autorun

35. Install the package with utilities

36. Add iptables to autorun

37. Run the service

38. Add the rule from above and restart the service
39. Run the smarttube5 service:
    
    RHEL7: # systemctl start smarttube5.service
40. Check the operability:

The response must be 200 OK.

Here you can find hardware requirements for the SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform depending on the scale of the subscriber base and the system functionality.

Demo Configuration

IPTV / OTT | ≤ 10 subscribers | 1 month EPG history | non-scalable | non-redundant

All components might be deployed on a single server.

Initial Configuration

IPTV / OTT | ≤ 10,000 subscribers | ≤ 100 live TV channels* | ≤ 1,000 VoD* |

1 month EPG history | scalable architecture | non-redundant architecture

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

* It also requires additional HW for streaming, e.g. SmartMEDIA.

Standard Configuration

IPTV / OTT | ≤ 50,000 subscribers | ≤ 200 live TV channels* | ≤ 2,000 VoD* |

1 month EPG history | scalable architecture | redundant architecture

This configuration is intended for small IPTV and OTT service providers, who need high service availability and scalability.

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

* It also requires additional HW for streaming, e.g. SmartMEDIA.

** Unnecessary when SmartCARE is installed.

Medium Configuration

IPTV / OTT | 50,000 – 200,000 subscribers | ≤ 300 live TV channels* | 2,000+ VoD* |

1 month EPG history | scalable architecture | redundant architecture

This configuration is intended for medium IPTV and OTT service providers, who need high service availability and scalability:

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

* It also requires additional HW for streaming, e.g. SmartMEDIA.

** Unnecessary when SmartCARE is installed.

Advanced Configuration

IPTV / OTT | 200,000+ subscribers | ≤ 400 live TV channels* | 2,000+ VoD* |

1 month EPG history | scalable architecture | redundant architecture

This configuration is intended for large IPTV and OTT service providers, who need high service availability and scalability and ultimate service performance.

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

* It also requires additional HW for streaming, e.g. SmartMEDIA.

** Unnecessary when SmartCARE is installed.

Scalability

For 200k subscribers N=2. N increases by +1 for each additional 100k subscribers.

The SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) provides access of digital TV subscribers to such services as Live TV, Pause Live, Video on Demand (VoD), Personal Video Recording (nPVR), Pay-per-view (PPV), etc. To implement them, SmartTUBE Server with the web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console is deployed on the operator’s side. This is the core of the platform and is designed to manage the entities below.

Subscriber Management Entities

For how to manage these entities, see subsections Pricing Plans and Service Accounts.

• Service Account — contains all information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it in the system. A subscriber can bind several devices — STBs, mobile devices, Smart TVs — to the account and use them in parallel within a device limit set by the operator. Typically, service accounts are created from the Account templates automatically, when a subscriber authorizes in the system for the first time. If an integration between SmartTUBE and operator’s OSS/BSS is configured, the service account corresponds to a subscriber’s account in the OSS/BSS. Subscriber’s personal data is stored on the OSS/BSS side only.
• Terminal (or Connection) — uniquely identifies the end-user device of a subscriber in the system. Each device should be bound to at least one service account.
• Device type — an attribute reported by each subscriber’s device to the SmartTUBE Server, through which the server determines the device functionality. Thus, you can, for example, limit the number of mobile devices on one service account, use different TV streams on devices of different types, use different promo banners or channel logos, etc.
• User profile — contains parameters of age restrictions for content watching and purchase, UI language preferences, personal content sorting, etc. customized by subscriber. Subscriber can create several user profiles. Profiles are bound to the service account, thus they are common for all devices of a subscriber. Profiles can be protected by a PIN code.
• Pricing plan — a fixed list of service bundles, can include services of different types. Allows to customize the delivering rules for each bundle. For example, you can enable a bundle by default or prevent the subscriber from disabling it.
• Price list —  contains the cost and usage conditions of each service bundle. There are two types of price lists:
  • One-time purchase — a fee for the service bundle paid once. You can specify additional rules for such bundles to configure differentiated pricing, for example, a rule to charge for the duration of the service (a day, month, year, forever, etc.).
  • Subscription — the service bundle is provided for a certain period of time and involves periodic payment. Subscription payment is handled by OSS/BSS.

Content Management Entities

The management of these entities is disclosed in subsections Setting Up TV Services and Setting Up xVoD Services.

• TV Channel — contains all information about a particular TV channel: URL of the channel stream, channel logo, description, regional restrictions, etc.
• EPG (Electronic Program Guide) — TV program guide for a particular TV channel, containing all information about Programs and their air date.  
• Movie — contains all metadata of a particular movie: title, description, cast, posters, links to assets, age restrictions, etc. One movie can be linked to assets of different content providers.  
• Series — each series contains metadata for the Seasons and Episodes that make up the series.
• Content Bundle or Package — a package of TV channels, VoD movies, personal recording limits, etc. The bundles can be delivered to all or specific Device types.

Content Promotion Entities

For how to manage these entities, see the subsection Content Promotion.

• Banner — contains information about a banner displayed in the SmartTUBE apps’ UI on the top of the Home screen (in the carousel). Banner may contain several images intended for different Device types.
• Recommendation — movie or series recommendation displayed on the Home screen of the SmartTUBE apps as a poster in the ‘Recommended content’ rail.
• Showcase — a list of movies or series recommended by the operator and united by a specific theme. Displayed on the Home screen of the SmartTUBE apps as a poster rail.

This article provides a comprehensive guide to setting up and managing TV and video-on-demand (VoD) services using the SmartTUBE platform. It covers key steps such as adding TV channels, managing electronic program guides (EPG), bundling channels into pricing plans, and configuring advanced features like Catch-up, nPVR, and Pay-Per-View (PPV) services. Additionally, it explains how to integrate VoD content from internal and external providers, automate metadata imports, and promote content using banners, recommendations, and showcases within the SmartTUBE apps.

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Setting up TV Services

Get Started

The SmartTUBE Admin Console allows you to manage a wide variety of TV channel metadata:

• View the channel list
• Add channels
• Manage the Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
• Set broadcast sources for different devices
• Set a channel access level
• Add channels to bundles
• Configure the stream and record encryption
• Manage the TV service cost
• Blackout some channel (stop streaming immediately), and much more

In order to provide TV services to your subscribers with SmartTUBE, you need to complete 4 steps:

Delivering the TV content must be allowed to you by the right holders. So, before providing it, reach an agreement with the owners.

1. Add channels

1. On the Channels > Channels page, click Add and enter the channel parameters you have received from the right holders. For some settings explanation, see below.
2. Set the Published flag for the channel
3. Click the Save button
4. If you are editing a single channel, to apply changes on end-user devices click the Refresh button
5. If you edit multiple channels sequentially, to apply changes on devices click the Refresh button on the Channels > Channels page after you have finished editing all channels. This way you will avoid a negative impact on the service.

2. Create or import EPG

Here you have 2 options: Manual and Automatic.

Manual

This method allows you to add EPG metadata for programs manually via SmartTUBE Admin Console — one by one:

1. On the Channels > EPG page, select a channel.
2. On the EPG pane, click the Add button and add program metadata.

Automatic

Manually adding metadata for all programs and channels can seem quite cumbersome. So we recommend you to automatically import and update EPG metadata from any EPG provider for all channels. To configure the automatic EPG import, read the section Importing EPG.

3. Add channels to bundles

1. Contact your Commercial Manager for information about the bundles you need to create for your subscribers.
2. On the Pricing plans > TV bundles page, click the Add button and create a new bundle. For more info on how to create a bundle, please see here.
3. On the bundle editing page, in the pane to the right, select the channels you want to add.
4. If needed, configure the Catch-up and nPVR services by following the instructions.

4. Add bundles to pricing plan

To make the channels from the bundle be available for a subscriber, this subscriber must be subscribed to the pricing plan including this bundle. You may set the bundle active by default, otherwise a subscriber will need to activate a corresponding service in the SmartTUBE App to get access to the channel.

1. On the Pricing plans > Pricing plans page, click the Add button and create a new pricing plan.
2. On the pricing plan editing page in the Services area, click the Add button and add the bundle created in Step 3.
3. Define the pricing rules for the bundle on the pane on the rig

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Importing EPG

You can manage the TV listings that are displayed in the SmartTUBE apps, and you can do it either manually in the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Channels > EPG, or automatically.

To configure automatic importing and updating of the EPG, follow the steps below:

1. Obtain the link to the EPG file from your EPG provider

The XMLTV and SmartLabs EPG XML formats are supported. Only HTTP is supported as the EPG delivery protocol.

2. Set the automatic EPG import

Set the job in Administration > Scheduled jobs with one of the following method and guiding the field tooltips:

• EPG import (in xmltv format) with channel identifier in request (xmltvepgimport#doimport) — allows you to import EPG by channel in the XMLTV format.
• EPG import with channel identifier in request (epgimport#doimport) — allows you to import EPG by channel in the SmartLabs EPG XML format.
• EPG import: all from xml (epgimport#doheapimport) — allows you to import EPG for all channels at once in the SmartLabs EPG XML format.

After setting the job, SmartTUBE will send to the EPG provider the following import request at the specified time and day:

• <job’s field epg-import.url>?channel=<channel’s external ID> — if the epgimport#doimport or xmltvepgimport#doimport methods are used.
• <job’s field epg-import.url> — if the epgimport#doheapimport method is used.

3. Check the EPG import for correctness

After importing the EPG make sure that the import has been performed correctly:

• Check that the EPG is displayed in the SmartTUBE Admin Console and in SmartTUBE Apps.
• Scan the log of the SmartTUBE Server SmartSDPCompContainer.log for errors.

4. Set the automatic deletion of obsolete EPGs

To delete old EPG from database, set the job in Administration > Scheduled jobs with the method Delete expired EPG (garbagecollector#deleteexpiredepg) and guiding the field tooltips.

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Catch-up and nPVR Services

The SmartTUBE platform allows you to launch Catch-up and nPVR services for your subscribers. Each service has a specific configuration described below.

Catch-up Services

Catch-up services — Pause Live, Start Over, and Time Shift — allow subscribers to watch current or finished TV programs for a certain period after they are aired. This period is determined by the operator.

Pause Live and Start Over

To configure the services Pause Live (pause the broadcast, continue watching, rewind within the current TV program) and Start Over (watch the current TV program from the beginning), follow these steps:

1. Add the channel into the DVR bundle.
2. Set the checkbox Use Pause Live on the bundle.
3. Set the Record duration value > 0.
   Record duration is the period within which Catch-up services are available. For example, if this parameter is set to “1 hour”, the subscriber will not be able to start watching the current TV program from the beginning if it started more than an hour ago.
4. Configure the DVR URL parameter in the Streams tab on the channel.

For the Catch-up services to work correctly, the channel must be recorded on a video server and the Record duration value should be shorter or equal to the recording window set by video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter Recording window.

Time Shift

In addition to the Pause Live and Start Over services you can set the Use TSTV checkbox to allow subscribers to watch finished TV programs.

nPVR Service

nPVR service allows recording finished, current, and future TV programs at the subscriber request.

General Configuration

To configure the nPVR service for specific channel, follow these steps:

1. Add the channel into the NPVR bundle.
2. Set the Recording time quota — limits the maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
3. Set the Records storage time — limits the storage duration of subscriber recordings.
4. Configure Video server name in the Streams tab on the channel.
5. Configure DVR channel ID, which must match the channel ID in the video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter ID.

This configuration will allow recording of future TV programs.

To enable the ability to schedule nPVR recordings in case if subscribers are going to exceed the Recording time quota set the Quota overspending limit parameter. In this case, when the subscriber is going to record a TV program or TV series and thus exceeds the Recording time quota:

• The SmartTUBE app displays a corresponding warning.
• The TV program is queued for recording, but is physically recorded by the video server only after the quota is released.
• Once the recording queue exceeds the Quota overspending limit, programs are no longer added to it.

Current and Past Broadcast Recording

To enable the ability to record the current TV program or finished TV programs, follow these steps:

1. Set the Allow current NPVR or/and Allow past NPVR checkboxes, respectively.
2. Set the NPVR Duration value > 0.
   NPVR duration — the period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed. If the duration is not set, the default setting in the SmartTUBE Server configuration file system.conf is applied:

For the Current and Past nPVR features to work correctly, the channel must be recorded on a video server and the NPVR duration value should be shorter or equal than the recording window set by video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter Recording window.

Instant nPVR Playback

Typically current and past broadcast recordings become available for playback after some time (5–10 minutes). To enable the ability to play the recording immediately after the recorded TV program is finished, configure the DVR URL parameter in the Streams tab on the channel.

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Catch-up Content Library

Catch-up Content Library is the SmartTUBE feature that allows you to record selected TV programs and provide them to subscribers as a content rail in the SmartTUBE Apps. Typically, this feature is available in the ULTRA version of SmartTUBE 8.4 and later and works in conjunction with SmartMEDIA recording server only.

In brief, the logic of how this feature works is as follows:

1. When importing EPG, SmartTUBE SDP selects TV programs with a special tag for the day ahead.
2. These TV programs are sent to the recording queue of the SmartMEDIA server. Technically, this is similar to recording future nPVR programs on request from subscribers.
3. Upon completion of recording, the programs become available to users in SmartTUBE Apps via content rails on the Home screen.

To provide this feature to your subscribers, follow the steps below.

Configuring the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ Feature

1. Mark TV programs to be provided as VoD

In the imported EPG file, mark the programs with the tag <details><public_npvr>1</public_npvr></details>. See examples here.

Currently, the SmartLabs EPG XML format is only supported by this feature.

2. Enable processing of tagged programs

If you already have EPG import set up, you need to do the following:

1. Go to Administration > Scheduled jobs and find the job(s) you are using to import EPG.
2. Make sure the job(s) uses the Method = EPG import with channel identifier in request (epgimport#doimport) or EPG import: all from xml (epgimport#doheapimport)
3. Enable the option Record ‘Time Shift as VoD’ programs. In this case, the processing of the tagged programs starts immediately after the EPG import is completed. If you want to separate these processes over time, uncheck this option and create a new job with Method = Record public NPVRs job (npvrpublicjob#record).

If you haven’t set up EPG import yet, you can read about how to do it here.

3. Create a special nPVR bundle

In the Pricing plans > Bundles & Packages > NPVR, create an nPVR bundle taking to account the field tooltips and the following instructions:

1. Name: Give the bundle an arbitrary, meaningful name.
2. Recording time quota: Maximum duration of recordings. Typically, an unlimited recording duration is used for the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ feature. Thus leave this field clear.
3. Recording storage time: Storage duration of recordings. Set a reasonable value depending on your business ideas and the capabilities of your content storage system.
4. Product offers: List of pricing plans the bundle is included to. Leave it clear at this step.
5. Notification quota level, Quota overspending level: Leave these fields clear.
6. Billing mode: Leave the default value — One stage.
7. Allow current nPVR, Allow past NPVR, NPVR duration: Due to the recording for the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ feature is made for one day ahead from the EPG import date, you can leave these fields clear.
8. Channels: List of channels for which the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ feature need to be enabled.
9. Other fields: You can fill in them depending on your requirements or leave them clear.

4. Create a special Pricing plan

In the Pricing plans > Pricing plans, create a pricing plan and add the created NPVR bundle to it — click  in the Services section. When setting up the bundle within the pricing plan, follow the field tooltips and the following instructions:

1. Service: Select the created NPVR bundle from the list.
2. Device type, Duration, Default state, A subscriber can manage the service, Hide at unsubscription, Hide, Account state when unsubscribe: Leave it clear.
3. Start date: It makes sense here to set a start date of testing the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ feature before it is commercially launched.
4. End date: Set the most distant date here, unless you plan to provide this feature for a limited period of time.
5. Price lists section: Leave it clear, do not add any price list.
6. Other fields: You can fill in them depending on your requirements or leave them clear.

Also, make sure the Pricing Plan contains an active TV bundle that includes a channel intended for the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ recordings.

5. Enable the feature on the SmartTUBE SDP side

In the SmartTUBE SDP configuration file system.conf, add the following setting:

6. Create custom rails on the Home screen in SmartTUBE Apps

Now you need to present the recorded programs to your subscribers. Currently, the ‘Catch-up Content Library’ content can be displayed in SmartTUBE Apps on the Home screen only. To do this follow the guidelines in Article “Configuring Custom Content Rails on Home Screen” (chapter “TV Program Rail”).

7. Check if this feature works correctly in SmartTUBE Apps

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PPV (Pay-Per-View) Programs

Pay-per-view (PPV) — a service allowing your subscribers to pay for watching individual TV shows. Such shows are usually provided by 3rd-party content providers and are marked in the EPG import file.

To enable this service, please follow the steps below.

1. Create PPV package

1. Go to SmartTUBE Admin Console > Pricing plans > PPV Packages.
2. Click the Add button and create a new PPV package guiding the tooltips.

Please pay attention to these fields:

• External ID — an ID of the PPV package in the EPG import file. Thus it should match to the <ppv_ext_id> tag contents.
• Billing mode — choose Two-step, if you need online interaction with the billing system of a 3rd-party content provider that provides PPV content of this package.
• Prices tab >  Price for program checkbox — set this checkbox if you want to charge the set fee for watching the entire program. If you want to charge this fee for every minute of watching, remove it.2

2. Add PPV package to Pricing plan

1. Go to Pricing plans > Pricing Plans.
2. Select the pricing plan the PPV package you want to include to or create a new one with the Add button.

Please pay attention to the following:

• If you want the customers can use the PPV package without additional subscription commands, set the Default state field to Active.
• If you want to allow subscribers to subscribe to the PPV package for an additional fee, create a Price list for it.

3. Add or check PPV markers in EPG

1. If you are preparing the EPG import file yourself, add the package External ID to this file (using the <ppv_ext_id>  tag).              
2. If you are using a 3rd-party EPG provider, please check that the PPV markers in the import file match the External IDs of the corresponding PPV packages.

4. Schedule the EPG import

Create a schedule for the regular EPG import.

5. Check PPV labels in the SmartTUBE app

Now you should see PPV icons on the PPV programs’ posters in the SmartTUBE app and the purchase dialog box when clicked.

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Setting up xVoD Services

The SmartTUBE SDP enables operators to consolidate movies and series from various sources into a unified catalog, offering the following management capabilities:

• view content list,
• add content,
• set a content access level,
• add content to bundles,
• configure content encryption,
• manage services cost, and more.

Each content unit can contain 1 or more assets (i.e. media files)  There are two types of content providers:

• Internal provider. Content is stored on SmartTUBE servers and played back from the operator’s equipment or using a CDN. Content metadata is entered manually via the Admin Console.
• External provider. Content is stored on the servers of an external provider and played back from its equipment. Typically, content metadata is imported automatically using the provider API.

Getting Started with xVoD Services

To launch VoD services, you need to follow these steps:

1. Add movies and series to catalog
2. Configure VoD bundles
3. Configure media assets
4. Configure price lists
5. Configure regular import of VoD metadata

1. Adding VoD Content

Depending on the type of provider follow the steps below to play content on end-user devices.

External Provider

1. Import VoD metadata using provider’s API

To configure automatic import of the external content provider metadata, please reach out SmartLabs Support.

The following items will be automatically created in the Admin Console after import:

• VoD bundle (if not already created).
• Content unit card, including:
  • content unit parameters;
  • asset parameters;
  • TVOD or SVOD price list with a linked VoD bundle.

If necessary, you can edit some data, such as a bundle name in different languages. However, keep in mind that when you re-import, the manually changed fields will regain the imported values.

2. Add a VoD bundle to the pricing plan

Select or create a new pricing plan on the Pricing plans > Pricing plans page. Add the VoD bundle in the Services section.

Depending on the content provision rule (see the topic “VOD Bundling”), the bundle settings in the pricing plan differ. The following settings are typical, but they may differ for different providers:

• TVOD: uncheck the A subscriber can manage the service flag, the Default state is Active.
• AVOD and FVOD: uncheck (if the bundle is required) or check (if optional) the A subscriber can manage the service flag, the Default state is Active. If necessary, set the pricing rules for the bundle in the Price lists* section, having previously agreed them with the provider.
• SVOD: check the A subscriber can manage the service flag, set the pricing rules for the bundle in the Price lists section, having previously agreed them with the provider.

Internal Provider

1. Get content distribution rights from copyright holders

The copyright holders should allow you to provide content to subscribers.

2. Create one or more VoD bundles

Content must be included in one or more VoD bundles. If necessary, create a new package on the “Pricing plans” – “VoD bundles” page (see the chapter “VOD Bundling”).

3. Add VoD bundles to the pricing plan

Select or create a new pricing plan on the Pricing plans > Pricing plans page. Add the VoD bundle in the Services section.

Depending on the content provision rule (see the chapter “VOD Bundling”), define the following settings:

• TVOD: uncheck the A subscriber can manage the service flag, the Default state is Active.
• AVOD, FVOD, SVOD (at the operator’s discretion). Example:
  • for a free bundle (typically AVOD, FVOD): uncheck the A subscriber can manage the service flag, the Default state is Active, do not set the pricing rules for the bundle in the Pricing lists section.
  • for a paid package (typically SVOD): check the A subscriber can manage the service flag, set the pricing rules for the bundle in the Pricing lists section.

Repeat for all bundles containing content.

4. Add the content you are going to provide to your subscribers

To add a series/movie, click the Add button on the Content > Series or Movies page and specify the following parameters:

• content parameters received from the copyright holders,
• assets,
• price lists.

Information on setting up assets and price lists is provided in the chapter “Configuring Assets and Price Lists in the Content Unit Card“.

After filling in all the parameters, check the Published flag and save changes.

2. VoD Bundling

When adding a VoD bundle please pay attention to the parameters below.

• External ID

Bundle ID used for integration with external systems, for example, with billing – to identify the bundle when sending requests to subscribe / unsubscribe the bundle from the subscriber. This field is not used for interaction with an external content provider. Instead, the settings on the right panel of the VoD bundle card are used.

• Content delivery rule

This field defines:

• for end-user devices — the method of providing a content bundle;
• for SmartTUBE server — if the provider is external, the package to place the content during import. See the description of the parameter “Service plan ID at provider’s”

Valid values:

• TVOD – paid, purchase;
• SVOD – paid, subscription;
• FVOD – free, subscription;
• AVOD – free, subscription, with advertising.

• Content provider

The Content provider values are passed from the Administration > Content Providers dictionary accessible for users with the Administrator role only.

• Service plan ID at provider’s

Bundle ID on the provider side. Used only for external providers.

On the SmartTUBE side, VoD bundles, into which the content is placed, are created in advance or when importing metadata. If the provider does not place content into packages on its side, the SmartTUBE sets the following values for the created bundles in this field when importing:

• DEFAULT_FREE_SVOD – for AVOD and FVOD;
• DEFAULT_SVOD – for SVOD;
• DEFAULT_TVOD – for TVOD.

• Information Fields

The following fields are only relevant, if the content is packaged by an external provider. They allow you to understand, what a package is on the provider side, and they are not passed to the end-user devices:

• The provider’s content title. Bundle name.
• The provider’s content duration. Content delivery duration after the subscription.
• The provider’s price. Bundle price.
• The provider’s content synopsis. Description of the bundle.

The values of the following fields are passed to devices (they can be edited in agreement with the provider, except for the TVOD price list):

• Name
• Comment
• Duration and price from the TVOD price list (for TVOD content) / pricing plan (for SVOD content)

3. Configuring Assets & Price Lists

A content unit can have one or more assets. Usually, the movie and TV series assets are specified in a similar way. So for the movie, a full description of filling in the parameters is provided (see the chapter “Configuring Movie Assets”), and for the series – only differences from the movies (see the chapter “Configuring Series Assets”).

To make the asset available to subscribers, you should add the price list(s) for it. For an external provider, price lists are added and configured automatically during import. So, changing them manually in Admin Console makes sense only for test purposes.

Asset parameters in the content unit card

Configuring Movie Assets

1. Add assets on the Assets tab

Set the following parameters for each asset:

• File name (for internal provider only)

This field defines the URL that the end-user device requests to play content. URL is as follows:

<provider_prefix>/<filename>.<provider_postfix>

This field can contain either an absolute path to the file or a relative path. In the second case, the prefix and postfix are specified on the Administration > Content providers > [any provider] page. This page is accessible for users with the Administrator role only.

The URL of all assets of the same provider must be specified in the same way.

You can set the asset path in the following ways:

• As absolute path in the File name field:

http://111.1.11.11/hls/VOD/smartlabs/movie.m3u8

• As relative path or <filename> only in the File name field, and <provider_prefix> with <provider_postfix> on the Content providers > [any provider] page:

File name: /hls/VOD/smartlabs/movie
Asset file prefix: http://111.1.11.11
Asset file postfix: .m3u8

File name : movie
Asset file prefix: http://111.1.11.11/hls/VOD/smartlabs/
Asset file postfix: .m3u8

• External content ID (for external provider only)

String ID of the content unit on the external provider side. Used by the SmartTUBE server to match content when importing data from the provider, and by the subscriber application to play the content. Filled in automatically when importing a movie.

• Encryption type

The system with which the asset is encrypted (for example, Widevine). If not encrypted, leave Not Selected.

• Content provider
  • INTERNAL – for internal content provider;
  • {External content provider ID}

• DRM identifier

DRM identifier used for encryption (should be provided by the party that encrypted the content).

• Available on mobile devices

If this check box is selected, this content will be available on mobile devices running iOS and Android.

• Set the price list(s) for each asset

• TVOD (one-time purchase). Create A TVOD price list, specify the VOD bundle, the price, the duration of the movie (if the duration is not specified, the asset will be sold as EST (indefinitely)), and the quality of the asset.
• SVOD (subscription). Create a price list in the Movie packages tab, specify the VoD bundle in it. The price for SVOD content is set in the pricing plan.

• After filling in all the asset parameters, check the Ready checkbox.

This means that the asset file is ready for playback on end-user devices. If the asset is not ready (for example, it is damaged), uncheck this checkbox, and the asset will not be streamed to devices. A movie without ready-to-play assets will not appear on devices.

Configuring Series Assets

To make a series available to subscribers follow these steps:

1. Add the series on the Series > [any series] > Provider relation tab. Set the required parameters:
   • Content provider – select Internal (since only the internal provider needs to manually fill in the parameters).
   • External content ID​ – arbitrary value (for example, ID of the series).
   • Add a TVOD or SVOD price list (the Movie packages tab), specify the VoD bundle and other parameters, similar to the movie. This price list will be used for billing the series as a whole.
   • Check the Ready checkbox.

2. Add at least 1 published season.
3. Add at least 1 published episode for each published season.
4. Add at least 1 ready asset for each published episode. Episode assets data is used to play content. Specify the asset parameters for each episode in the same way as for movies paying attention to the following rules:
   • Set the TVOD or SVOD price list to the episode only if you want subscribers to buy it separately from the entire series.
   • If an episode has a price list set and the subscriber has purchased the entire series that includes this episode, it also becomes available for watching by the subscriber.
   • If you want subscribers to buy each episode separately (without the ability to buy the entire series), set the TVOD price list for each episode and place the entire series into a hidden active SVOD bundle (i.e., set the Hide checkbox and the Default state = Active field for the bundle in the corresponding pricing plan).

4. Configuring VoD Import

On the Administration > Scheduled jobs page, you can create a job for regular VoD importing.

List of methods for regular execution

In the Method field you can choose one of the available importers:

• CableLabsFormat VOD IMPORT with vod identifier in request (cablelabsformatvodimport#doimport) — supports the SmartLabs VoD Metadata Format (based on Cablelabs 3.0) and importing from one provider.
• Import metacontent from external sources (metacontentimport#doimport) — supports the HBO VoD Metadata Format (based on Cablelabs 3.0) and importing from multiple providers.

Import of VoD Metadata in HBO Format

To perform an import using the metacontentimport#doimport method, specify the following parameters in the Method parameters field:

1. Metadata processing logic

Format:

“{external provider ID in lowerCase format}.use.provider.logic”: “{external provider ID whose logic should be used}”

The “logic” here means a set of settings and rules for processing metadata specific to each provider. Thus, in the example below, the FBOD provider will download content from the FTP server (access details are indicated below), with the same folder naming rules, using the same logic and in the same XML format as the HBO provider.

Example:

“fbod.use.provider.logic”: “HBO”

2. List of providers to process

Format:

“providers”: “{external provider IDs separated by comma}”

Example:

“providers”: “PROVIDER_1,PROVIDER_2,PROVIDER_3”

This parameter is optional. If not set, the job performs import sequentially for all active providers in the Administration > Content providers dictionary. This dictionary is accessible for users with the Administrator role only.

3. Other parameters specific to each provider

Format:

“{external provider ID in lowerCase format}.{provider-specific parameter}”: “{parameter value}”

Example:

“provider_1.ftp.server”: “172.20.50.54”,
“provider_2.content-sortBy”: “popular”,
“provider_3.overrideOriginalName”: 1

Example of the Method parameters string for multiple providers:

Notes

1. To successfully complete the job, all providers specified in its parameters must be present in the Administration > Content providers dictionary. This dictionary is accessible for users with the Administrator role only.
2. Parameters of steps a) and c) can be specified in the system.conf configuration file (in the metacontent section), observing the format: parameter = “value”

Example:

Import of VoD Metadata in SmartLabs Format

To perform an import using the cablelabsformatvodimport#doimport method, specify the following parameters in the Method parameters field:

• Content provider to process

Format: “defaultContentProvider”: “{External ID of the Content provider in the SmartTUBE}“

Example: “defaultContentProvider”: “PROVIDER_2”

This parameter is optional. If not set, the job performs import for the provider INTERNAL.

• DRM mapping. Allows to change the assets’ Encryption type specified by the <content:EncryptionInfo> XML section when importing.

Format:

• “drmTypeNameMap”: “{Name of the Content provider in the SmartTUBE}|{External ID of the Encryption type set in the XML imported}={Name of the Encryption type in the SmartTUBE}“ or
• “drmTypeIdMap”: “{Name of the Content provider in the SmartTUBE}|{External ID of the Encryption type set in the XML imported}={ID of the Encryption type in the SmartTUBE}“

You can also specify DRM mapping for multiple providers by using the * character as a separator (see examples below).

Examples:

• “drmTypeNameMap”: “PROVIDER_3|widevine=widevine_provider3*INTERNAL|widevine=widevine”

It sets the widevine_provider3  Encryption type instead of the widevine for the PROVIDER_3 provider.

• “drmTypeIdMap”: “PROVIDER_3|widevine=247824302*INTERNAL|widevine=240419092”

Notes

1. To successfully complete the job, the providers specified in its parameters must be present in the Administration > Content providers dictionary. This dictionary is accessible for users with the Administrator role only.
2. The job parameters can be specified in the system.conf configuration file (in the metacontent section) as follows:

5. Enable Watching VoD Offline (optional)

To enable offline viewing for specific movies, series, or episodes for your subscribers in SmartTUBE Apps, follow the steps below:

1. Access SmartTUBE Admin Console and go to Content > Movies/Episodes.
2. Select the desired movie or episode.
3. Enable the Download enabled option for the chosen asset in the Assets tab:
   
4. Enable the Offline content option for the Pricing plans > Bundles & Packages > VoD bundle that includes the selected movie/episode:
   
5. Update the setup.json configuration file to set “isDownloadOfflineEnabled”: true for the target end-user devices using SmartTUBE Device Manager.
   
6. Test the offline viewing feature in SmartTUBE Apps to ensure functionality.

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Content Promotion

The SmartTUBE platform provides the operator with a variety of features that enable the promotion of content or marketing activities within the user interface of SmartTUBE apps. Here they are:

• Banners
• Recommendations
• Showcases

Banners

Banners can be displayed on the Home screen above the Main menu and when content is paused in the player:

Regular Banner

Regular banner on the Home Screen

Regular non-clickable banner in the player when playback is paused
(available for SmartTUBE Apps v9.2 and higher)

Faded Banner

Faded banner on the Home Screen
(available for SmartTUBE apps v8.xx and higher)

Trailer-enabling Banner

The trailer-enabling banner is displayed at the top of the Home screen and starts playing the movie/series trailer a few moments after the user points to it.

Available for SmartTUBE apps v8.xx and higher.

Configuring Banners

Banners of all types are set up on the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Content > Banners page:

Banner upload areas

If you are using SmartTUBE apps 8.x and later, please upload Home screen banners considering the following guidelines:

If you have not see such tags in the Tagged logos area, please add them in the Dictionaries > Image Tags dictionary

In addition, you can explicitly define the Device types the tagged banners should be displayed on.

Configuring Features for Banners Displayed in the Player when Paused

Banners for the player are uploaded to the Logo area with no Image tag. In the SmartTUBE Apps, they are stretched to fill the screen on the smaller side. When deciding on the resolution, please refer to the recommended banner width provided in the table above.

Configuring Features for Trailer-enabling Banners

The SmartTUBE apps v8.xx and later features top banners to play trailers when in focus. These banners are also faded.

If your SmartTUBE app is not configured this way by default, you can add the parameters below to its configuration files setup.json and home.json using SmartTUBE Device Manager:

setup.json

home.json

Configuring Features for Faded Banners

If you want to leave top banners only faded without playing trailers, apply the settings below:

setup.json

home.json

Make sure to place important information within the safe zone indicated in the mockups below to keep it visible and prevent it from being obscured by UI elements. Text outside the safe zone may become unreadable.

Mockup for large-screen devices

Mockup for tablets

Mockup for phones

Recommendations

Add recommended movies and series in Content > Recommendations. Recommendation rails usually shown on the Home screen below the Main menu.

Showcases

Menu Content > Showcases allows to create additional thematic lists of content displayed below the Main menu as poster rails. Compared to the Recommendations, showcases have an extended set of settings:

Digital TV services require customers to subscribe to specific pricing plans, which offer a variety of service bundles tailored to different viewing preferences. These bundles can include combinations of TV channels, on-demand movies and series, DVR functionalities, and more, allowing operators to create flexible and customizable plans. This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to set up pricing plans, manage service bundles, apply discounts, and configure account settings to ensure seamless access to Digital TV services for subscribers.

Pricing Plans

In order for your customers to use Digital TV services, they must be subscribed to one of the pricing plans. Each pricing plan may include a unique set of service bundles — for example, a bundle with 50 TV channels + a bundle with the latest movies and TV series + a bundle with 10 hours of nPVR.

Creating a Pricing Plan

In the general case, to create a pricing plan you need to do the following:

1. Add the content in SmartTUBE Admin Console > Channels > Channels and/or Content > Movies/Series.
2. Create content related service bundles in Pricing plans > Bundles & Packages > [bundle type]. They may be of the following types:
   • TV — packages of TV channels available to subscribers;
   • DVR — enables TSTV & Pause Live services for selected channels and sets the duration of channel recording (channel rewind depth);
   • VoD — packages of movies and series available to subscribers. Allows to select delivery rule (SVoD, TVoD, etc.) for each movie, type of content provider (internal or external), VAST server for AVoD bundles, etc.
   • NPVR — determine the possibilities of personal recording of selected channels for subscribers. Allows to enable the recording of current and/or past programs, set the recording quota, notification about quota level, storage time of recorded content, period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed, etc.
   • PPV — set prices for paid (pay-per-view) TV programs. Such programs are typically marked with a special tag in the EPG imported from the EPG provider. You can set the price either for the whole program or for one minute of viewing.

Each type of bundle has its own parameters — specify them by following the hints.

3. Create auxiliary service bundles of the following type in Pricing plans > [bundle type]:
   • Device/session limit service — allows to set limits of number of devices simultaneously authorized under single service account or devices bound to the service account. So, you can offer your subscribers these limits as service packages.
   • Additional services — allows to pass the additional user-filled information (e.g. email, promocodes, subscriber suggestions, etc.) from the SmartTUBE app to the operator’s OSS/BSS when subscribing to the package.
   • Discounts — overlaps the price lists of the specified packages with its own. About setting up discounts, see here.
   • Discounts (percentage) — allows to specify the percentage of discount applied to the specified packages. About setting up discounts, see here.

Each type of bundle has its own parameters — specify them by following the hints.

4. Choose the 1-stage or 2-stage billing mode for the service:
   • 1-stage — for offline subscription/purchase of a bundle or when there is no need in online interaction with the external content providers. The logic of this mode is demonstrated by this scheme.
   • 2-stage — for online interaction with the external content providers (online cinemas, content aggregators, etc.). The logic of this mode is demonstrated by this scheme.

5. Add the pricing plan including the created bundles in Pricing plans > Pricing plans. For each bundle add one or more price lists and set other rules.

For detailed information on how to add a pricing plan in the specific case, see Setting up TV Services and Setting up xVoD Services.

Discounts

The SmartTUBE offers two types of discounts that can be applied to service packages (TV, VoD, DVR, etc.):

• Overriding discounts — rewrites the price lists of the service packages with its own;
• Percentage discounts — allows to specify the percentage of discount applied to the service packages.

This guide will help you effectively apply discounts to SmartTUBE service packages.

Overriding Discounts

To apply overriding discounts to service packages, follow these steps:

1. Create a Discount:
   • Access the SmartTUBE Admin Console and go to Pricing plans > Discounts.
   • Click the Add (+) button to create a new discount.
   • Fill in the discount properties following the tooltips around the fields.
   • Save changes by clicking the Save button.

2. Add the Discount to Service Packages:
   • Go to Pricing Plans > Bundles & Packages and open the details of the package(s) you wish to discount.
   • Add the created discount to the Discount field.
   • Save changes by clicking the Save button.

3. Add the Discount to Pricing Plans:
   • Navigate to Pricing plans > Pricing plans.
   • Open the relevant pricing plan(s) containing the service packages with applied discount.
   • In the Services section, click the Add (+) button.
   • In the panel on the right, choose the created discount in the Service field.
   • Specify the Start and End date of the discount.
   • In the Price lists section, click the Add (+) button to create a price list that should overlap the price lists of the service packages with applied discount.
   • Fill in other properties as per tooltips around the fields.
   • Save changes by clicking the Save button.
   • Optionally, create multiple price lists to provide different discounts for different time periods.

Percentage Discounts

The application of this type of discount differs from Overriding ones in two key respects:

1. When creating a discount, set the discount amount as a percentage in the Discount (%) field.
2. When adding the discount to the pricing plan, there is no need to specify the price list.

Change Log

SmartTUBE SDP 8.3

• New feature

Service Accounts

Creating Accounts

Service account is an object that contains all information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it in the system. A subscriber can bind several devices — STBs, tablets, Smart TVs — to the account and use them in parallel within the limit of devices set by the operator.

To make Digital TV services available to subscribers, they must be subscribed to a tariff plan that includes the corresponding content bundles (TV, VoD) and services (PVR, DVR, PPV). You can set the bundles as active by default or allow the subscribers to activate them in the SmartTUBE app’s UI.

There are two ways to create service accounts — Manual and Automatic.

Manual Account Creation

To add or edit a service account manually, create it in Service accounts > Service accounts or click an existing one for editing. Enter account details, including:

1. Set the account State, which defines if the subscriber has the access to the services provided by the pricing plan. The table below summarizes their implications on service access within the SmartTUBE App.

2. Add a pricing plan in the pane to the right, so that the subscriber can access the services provided by the operator.
3. Bind devices to the account under Connections. You need to create the login and password for every device; the subscriber enters them when starting the device for the first time, and thereby activates the device.

Services Management

See the list of services that are available for the subscriber under his pricing plan in the pane to the right.

To enable or disable a service click on it. To change the End date of the service for the current subscriber click.

Automatic Account Creation

You can configure the automatic creation of a service account at the first start of a device based on the device type. To do this:

1. Create a service account template for the device type in Service accounts > Service account templates.
2. In the template, specify the device type and a pricing plan that will be applied to the automatically created service account. If there is no template with the same name as device type, the default one will be used. The service accounts will be created for the devices automatically at the first device start and the chosen pricing plan will be applied to all of them.

Device & User Limit Restrictions

The SmartTUBE allows you to restrict access to the platform for subscribers with two option described below.

Restriction by the Number of Devices Simultaneously Authorized Under Single Service Account

1. To do this, open the Dictionaries > Sessions > Concurrent session limit dictionary.
2. Create a new limit with the Add (+) button.
3. Specify the Limit action which should be triggered when the subscriber tries to exceed the max number of devices receiving the service at the same time (the Quantity field):
   1. Disable content — playback of content is prohibited until the device is restarted;
   2. Exit from UI — device exits the SmartTUBE app;
   3. Unlink from group — device is unlinked from the service account.

4. Apply created limit to the service accounts in the Service accounts > Service accounts > [desired service accounts] > Session limit field (or using the SmartTUBE OSS/BSS API methods createAccount, updateAccount, and createAccountByTemplate).
5. You can also manage the sequence of deauthorization of devices by their type.For example, if the subscriber exceeds the limit on the number of sessions, you want STB to be disconnected from the service at the very last turn. To do this, setHigh in the Dictionaries > Device types > STB > Session limit priority field. This field sets the priority of deauthorization of devices of selected type linked to the account. I.e., when connecting new devices over the limit, devices with the High priority will be disconnected from the service last. Within each priority, the rule applies — the device that was authorized earlier is deauthorized first.And one more example. Suppose some service account have reached the device limit, and those devices have the

   High priority. If a new device with a  Low or Middle priority tries to authorize on that service account, it will be authorized, and the last authorized device with the High priority will be restricted.

Restriction by the Number of Devices Bound to the Service Account

1. To do this, open the Dictionaries > Devices > Device limit restrictions dictionary.
2. Create a new limit with the Add (+) button.
3. Add limits for devices of a certain type in the Limits section. This section sets the maximum quantity of devices of each type which could be linked to service accounts (devices without UID are not considered).

4. Apply created limit to the service accounts in the Service accounts > Service accounts > [desired service accounts] > Devices’ limits field (or using the  SmartTUBE OSS/BSS API methods createAccount, updateAccount, and createAccountByTemplate).

Device & Session Limits as a Service

In addition to binding to service accounts, you can provide limits to subscribers as a service. All you have to do is include them in a pricing plan. In this way, for example, subscribers with different pricing plans can have different limits.

This feature is managed in the same way as any other bundle (TV channels, VoD, DVR, etc.) — in the Pricing plans > Device/session limit service:

After filling out parameters standard for any other bundle, specify Device limit and Session limit in the right-side panel:

• If the customer unsubscribes from the Limits package, the original limits set for his account are returned.
• If you creates a new service account via OSS/BSS API method createAccount, please take into  account the following logic.

When a limit package is subscribed, SmartTUBE SDP simply copies the limits from the package to the subscriber’s account. If a subscriber’s account has already had limits set on it, SDP remembers them. This way, when the package is unsubscribed, previous limits are returned to the subscriber.

Thus, if when creating an account you want to simultaneously assign default limits to the subscriber and add a tariff plan that includes limit packages, you should

• add limits using the deviceLimit and sessionLimit params in the createAccount method and
• make sure the limit packages do not have the Default state = Not active in the subscribed tariff plan.

Profiles & Age Restrictions

If several users use the same device, they can customize the SmartTUBE app individually for themselves. Creating profiles, users can save PIN, parental restrictions, permissions to purchase content, channel sorting, viewing history, etc. For a complete list of parameters, see here.

User profiles in the SmartTUBE STB app

As an operator, you can create and manage profiles for the service account on the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Service Accounts > Service Accounts > [service account details] > Profiles tab. Moreover, you can create predefined profiles that will be automatically created along with the service account using templates (Service accounts > Profile templates). Profiles are displayed on all devices that are bound to the service account. In other words, profiles are associated with the account, not the device. You can also change password for any profile.

User profiles in the SmartTUBE Admin Console (on the service account details page)

Parental Control, Age Restrictions & Content Access Levels

Now let’s figure out how the user can restrict children’s access to adult content, for example. To do this, the user under Master profile need to create a separate profile with the following settings in the SmartTUBE app > Home screen > Settings > Profiles:

• Require PIN code — check Yes to allow a new user to log in to profile only with entering a PIN. If No, then any user will be able to log in to this profile without a PIN. Please note the following:
  • A service account always has at least one profile — a Master profile.
  • Master profile can edit the settings of any other profile (including its PIN), but cannot log in to another profile, if the user of Master profile does not know the PIN of desired profile.
  • Master profile cannot be deleted.
  • If the Master profile has a PIN, the settings of other profiles can be changed only with the PIN of the Master profile — not the PIN of these profiles. As well as their removal.
  • If the Master profile has no PIN, users of any profile can change the settings of any profile (including the Maser profile settings).
  • Each time you log in to the app or turn on the STB, you log in to the last used profile. If this profile has the Require PIN code — Yes setting, then the profile selection screen opens after launching.
• Define PIN-code — set a PIN that will be used to restrict access to this profile, purchases, subscriptions and adult content.
• Allow to subscribe & Allow to purchase —  these options are pretty clear.
• Select access level — set the maximum age rating of content this profile can watch without a PIN. Content with a higher age rating is treated as adult. Please note the following:
  • The PIN code will need to be entered each time the adult content is switched on again after returning to the Home screen or standby mode.
  • In the scenario “The user turned on the adult channel > Entered PIN > Watched the adult channel > Switched to the non-adult channel > Switched back to the adult channel” PIN re-entry is required.
  • In the scenario “The user turned on the adult channel > Entered PIN > Switched to another adult channel with the same age rating or lower” PIN re-entry is not required.
  • If the profile has the setting Require PIN code — Yes, then the user need to enter the PIN of this profile to access the adult content.
  • If the profile has the setting Require PIN code — No, then the user may enter the PIN of Master profile to access the adult content.
• Save current access level — set Yes to automatically increase the Access level of this profile to the age rating of the played adult content after entering a PIN.
  For example, if you have defined the Access level of 6+ and then started playing 12+ content and entered the correct PIN, the Access level will automatically increase to 12+. So the content with the age rating of up to 12+ inclusive will no longer require entering a PIN even after device or app restart.
• Select max access level — set the maximum age rating of content should be displayed in the TV channel list and VoD catalog. The content with a higher level will be hidden everywhere from the app’s UI. Please note the following:
  • The content with the maximum access level (age rating) specified in the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Dictionaries > Access levels dictionary is not displayed in the rails throughout the app’s UI.
  • The content with the maximum access level will not be displayed in the SmartTUBE iOS app in accordance with Apple’s policy of not displaying erotic content in any form.

Notes on Filtering Sensitive Content

• Content with the maximum access level is classified as erotic by SmartTUBE for iOS and is not displayed, in compliance with Apple’s policy prohibiting the presentation of erotic content in any form.
• To explicitly label erotic content, operators can create in the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Dictionaries > Content grouping > Content genres a dedicated genre with the Erotic content option enabled. This allows such content to be filtered by genre in SmartTUBE Apps.
• To prevent sensitive content from appearing in search results or to secure it behind a PIN in SmartTUBE Apps, operators can create a dedicated Access Level in the SmartTUBE Admin Console under Dictionaries > Access Levels, enabling the Hide from search option or Require PIN option (available starting from SmartTUBE SDP & Apps 9.4) as needed. This access level can then be applied to the relevant sensitive content.

Change Log

SmartTUBE SDP & Apps 9.4

• The Require PIN option is added to the SmartTUBE Admin Console under Dictionaries > Access Levels.

Information and Watermark Messages

Depending on your business task, you can send to end-user devices the messages of several types:

• Information messages — displayed in the app’s UI as a modal window with the ability to add some identifying information into the message text. This type of messages is well suited for notifying subscribers about promotions, new platform features, technical works, and so on.

Information message with MAC of the end-user device in text

• Watermark messages — overlay identifying subscriber data on top of the TV channel stream with the ability to set the text transparency, position on the screen, display duration, and TV channel. This type of messages allows you to prevent or complicate unauthorized copying of content on end-user devices.

Watermark message displaying MAC of the end-user device

To send a message:

1. Create it in Messages > Messages or Messages > Watermark messages, guided by the field tooltips.

Important notes:

• You can use the following user-identifying variables in the Message text field:

Example of a message text:

• {!USERID!} — user ID;
• {!DEVICEID!} — unique device ID;
• {!SAN!} — service account number.

• The field Message service type allows you select the message delivery technology for Information Messages:
  • Long Polling — Smartlabs notification — messages are displayed on the end-user device as a modal window in the SmartTUBE App only after it is launched;
  • Push notifications — Android push notification and Apple push notification — messages are additionally displayed in the notification shade regardless of whether the SmartTUBE App is running or not.

• The position of the Watermark Message on the screen is set by XY coordinates (Top and Left fields) from the upper-left corner of the screen as a percentage of its size.

2. Specify receivers of the message. There are two ways:
   • specify a list of MAC-addresses the message will be sent to. For this purpose click Send to MAC-addresses from the list and specify the list in the appropriate field or upload it in a file.

List format: 1 MAC-address in 1 row, duplicates are accounted as different addresses (message is delivered again). MAC-addresses are not validated, if there is a mistake in an address, the message will not be delivered and the system will not inform about the mistake.

• specify a receivers’ filter either in the message card or in Messages > Receivers’ filters:

Filter conditions is a groups of statements joined by AND. Each group consists of statements joined by OR. It means that a service account matches the filter conditions, if at least one statement in each group is true.

You can filter the message receivers by the following parameters:

• Service account number
• Login
• Service account state
• Device location
• Pricing plan
• STB MAC address
• Application version
• IP address
• Service available within the pricing plan
• Connection creation date (after / before): The date when the user device was bound to the service account.
• Not in pricing plan: The pricing plan to which the service account is not subscribed.
• Device type
• Last authentication date (after / before)
• Service is active for the service account
• Service is not active for the service account
• Service account name

3. Click
   

   

    to send the message.

If you want the message to be delivered to all subscribers, create a filter without conditions, save it and specify it in the Receivers’ filter field of the message. The delivery of such a message could take a long time depending on the subscribers number.

Message Delivery Statistics

When all the messages are sent, you can view the delivery statistics in the Message statistics tab or export it in CSV with the  button. Please note that the Status column of the CSV file has the following designation:  

• 0 — presumably not delivered
• 1 — delivered, but not read
• 2 — read
• 3 — deleted

Event-driven Notifications

You can create notifications which will be sent to chosen subscribers at specified events occurrence. The subscribers will see the messages in the SmartTUBE app.

To create an event-driven notification:

1. Add the message which you want to send in Messages > Messages, as described above.
2. Create a notification in Messages > Notifications, specify the type of event which will initiate the notification and event conditions.

E.g., if you want to send a message “The pricing plan was changed to ‘You kiddin’ me!'” at pricing plan changing:

1. Add the message with text “The pricing plan was changed to ‘You kiddin’ me!’.
2. Add the notification with the following parameters:
   1. Event type: Change product offer.
   2. Event variant: You-kiddin-me.
   3. Message: “The pricing plan was changed to ‘You kiddin’ me!'”.

Introduction

SmartTUBE ADS — a VAST server with a web console for managing advertising campaigns in IPTV and OTT networks. SmartTUBE ADS carries information about ad campaigns, their ad creatives, duration, dates, types, target locations, target content and other parameters. Using this information, the SmartTUBE ADS makes a decision about which ad is the right one for insertion in a specific insertion opportunity (Linear TS or OTT).

Logical input and output of SmartTUBE ADS

The ad insertion system (Linear TS or OTT) requests an ad decision from the SmartTUBE ADS via VAST protocol. The SmartTUBE ADS checks in its internal database to find a match set of ads based on the request targeting criteria, and responds with a VAST response carrying the correct information about the ad (or ads) to be inserted. In this VAST response, beacons information for the specified ads is also provided so that the ad insertion system can confirm insertion back to the SmartTUBE ADS. The SmartTUBE ADS can also report campaign performance.

There are 2 use cases for using the SmartTUBE ADS:

• OTT ad insertion for OTT HLS or DASH streams going to OTT subscribers.
• Linear TS streams that could be distributed on IPTV networks, or pushed to Satellite or DVB-C head ends.

System Workflow

The below diagrams explain how the SmartTUBE ADS works for Linear TS insertions and for OTT. Further details on the workflow are described for each use case.

OTT Ad Insertion

OTT ad insertion architecture

In case of OTT ad insertion (aka client-side ad insertion), the workflow steps are as follows:

1. The client player (SmartTUBE Player or 3rd party one) starts to play a specific stream (Live or VOD) that has ad insertion opportunities marked in the origin manifests coming from the SmartMEDIA Content Processor.
2. The client player sends a request URL to the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator to watch this stream. This stream request URL carries all the targeting parameters needed for the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator to use. For example, the request URL could look like this:

3. The SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator checks the origin manifest from the SmartMEDIA Transcoder for this channel or movie. If the origin manifest carries ad opportunities mark up, then the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator initiates the ad insertion workflow. If not, then nothing is done on the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator and it just passes the same manifest from the origin to the client player with no ad insertion.
4. In case there are ad availabilities inside the origin manifests, then the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator strips out the targeting parameters from the client request URL and use these parameters to form a VAST request to the SmartTUBE ADS. The VAST request to the SmartTUBE ADS is sent immediately. The VAST request URL could look like this:

5. The SmartTUBE ADS receives this VAST request and immediately checks in the database it has for campaigns matching this targeting criteria. Once a suitable campaign and creatives are found, the SmartTUBE ADS responds with a VAST response carrying information about the ad creatives to be inserted.
6. The SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator checks the creatives provided in the VAST response. If they are in the correct format and bitrates matching the stream it wants to insert it on, then it immediately starts replacing the main video chunks with ad chunks from the ad creative/s, and a ‘personalized’ manifest is prepared for the client and then sent to it for playback.
7. If the creatives described in the VAST response are in different bitrates and profiles, then the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator skips inserting creatives.
8. The VAST response provided to the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator has beacons URL’s for confirming playback. The beacons URL’s are then passed to the client in the manifest, and the player fires back the beacons to the SmartTUBE ADS while it plays the ads.

From the above steps, it follows that the SmartTUBE ADS has:

1. Received a VAST request with targeting parameters.
2. Checked in it’s campaigns database for matching ads that fulfill this targeting criteria.
3. In case it found a match, it responds with a VAST response to the SmartMEDIA Playlist Manipulator carrying the right information about the matching ads.
4. In case no match is found in the DB, then it responds with an empty VAST response declaring that no ads matched this targeting criteria.
5. The SmartTUBE ADS receives beacons confirming insertion of the ad.

SmartTUBE ADS workflow for the OTT ad insertion use case

Linear TS Ad Insertion

Linear TS ad insertion architecture

In the linear TS case (aka server-side ad insertion), the SmartTUBE ADS workflow is as follows:

1. The SmartMEDIA TS Splicer receives a TS stream over multicast with SCTE-35 markers.
2. The SmartMEDIA TS Splicer continuously checks the payload of the SCTE-35 signals for ad insertion opportunities.
3. Once it detects an ad insertion opportunity in the SCTE-35 payload, the SmartMEDIA TS Splicer requests the SmartTUBE ADS for an ad decision.
4. A VAST request is sent to the SmartTUBE ADS with the right targeting parameters.
5. The SmartTUBE ADS receives this VAST request and immediately checks in the campaign database it has for campaigns matching this targeting criteria. Once a suitable campaign and creatives are found, the SmartTUBE ADS checks if those matched creatives are available in the right format, codec and resolutions to be inserted on this particular TS stream. Reference to the correct set of creatives with the correct format, codec and resolution is then given in the VAST response back to the SmartMEDIA TS Splicer.
6. The SmartTUBE ADS responds with a VAST response to the SmartMEDIA TS Splicer. In this response, beacon URL’s are also provided for each creative to make the splicer able to confirm inserting them.
7. In case the SmartTUBE ADS cannot find matching campaigns and creatives, it responds with an empty VAST to the SmartMEDIA TS Slicer, and therefore, no insertion happens.

SmartTUBE ADS workflow for the Linear TS ad insertion use case

Ad Transcode Workflow

Transcoding of ad creatives is performed at the stage of creating and configuring the ad campaign via the SmartTUBE ADS Admin Console — during the process of uploading creatives to the server. The source ad files are sent for processing to SmartMEDIA Transcoder, which converts them according to the preconfigured transcoding profiles.

Configuring Ad Campaigns

To configure and launch your ad campaigns, you need to obtain SmartTUBE ADS Control Panel access credentials from SmartLabs Technical Support and follow a few steps below.

Interface Overview

After logging in to the panel, the Home page opens where you can see the main menu with ad campaigns configured.

Home page

The main menu consists of the following dictionaries:

• Creatives — list of ad creatives available for ad campaigns
• Campaigns — list of configured TV campaigns
• AVoD campaigns — list of configured AVoD campaigns
• Regions — list of regions used for ad targeting
• Channels — list of channels used for ad targeting

Below are several reports showing various statistics on ad campaigns.

1. Fill in the ‘Creatives’ Dictionary

Here you can upload ad master files using the Add (+) button and specify the following parameters for each of them:

• Name — Name of a creative
• External ID — ID of a creative for external systems
• Duration — Creative duration in format HH:MM:SS.mmm
• Priority — priority of the creative to playback
• Description — text description of a creative
• URL — link activated by clicking on the creative in the player
• Media Type — MIME type for the creative’s file container. For example, video/mp4 for MP4.
• Delivery — either progressive for progressive download protocols (such as HTTP) or streaming for streaming protocols.
• Width — the native width of the video file, in pixels
• Height — the native height of the video file, in pixels
• Is Addition — the sign of a dummy video clip (used to fill in the gap between the last ad in the sequence and the end of the ad window)

2. Fill in the ‘Regions’ Dictionary

This dictionary implies the presence of at least one ad display region with the following parameters:

• Name — Name of a region
• External ID — ID of a region for external systems
• Comment — Comment about the region

3. Fill in the ‘Channels’ Dictionary

To target ad campaigns by TV channels, specify them in this dictionary with the following parameters:

• Name — Name of a channel. If you use SmartTUBE as your Service Delivery Platform, select channels from the drop-down list.
• External ID — ID of a channel for external systems
• Description — Description for the channel

4. Configure TV Ad Campaigns

Now you are able to configure TV ad campaigns in the Campaigns dictionary.

Click the Add (+) button to add a campaign and fill in the following fields:

• Name —  Name of the campaign
• External ID — ID of the campaign for external systems
• Status — status of the campaign: Active, Inactive, Paused, Finished
• Priority — priority of the campaign among campaigns with the same targeting parameters
• Type — type of the campaign:
  • Linear — for the server-side ad insertion into multicast TS streams;
  • OTT — for the client-side ad insertion into HLS, DASH, MSS streams.

• Start / Stop time — start and stop time of the campaign
• Loading — the intensity of the campaign:
  • Front — the campaign creatives will be played with the highest intensity at the beginning of the campaign and with a lower intensity towards the end;
  • Back — the opposite of the Front;
  • Evenly — the campaign creatives will be played in random order.

• Description — description of the campaign

Campaign params

• Target
• Locations — regions where the campaign to be held
• OTT count — limit of views of this campaign’s creatives within the OTT ad insertion
• Creatives — list of creatives intended for the campaign
• TS insertion count — limit of views of this campaign’s creatives within the Linear TS ad insertion
• Channels — channels on which the campaign to be conducted

5. Configure AVoD Campaigns

Currently, the AVoD functionality is supported by the SmartTUBE apps for large-screen devices (STB, Smart TV, PC/Mac) only.

You can also  configure AVoD campaigns in the AVoD Campaigns dictionary.

Click the Add (+) button to add a campaign and fill in the following fields:

• Name —  Name of the campaign
• External ID — ID of the campaign for external systems
• Status — status of the campaign: Active, Inactive, Paused, Finished
• Priority — priority of the campaign among campaigns with the same targeting parameters
• Start / Stop time — start and stop time of the campaign
• Loading — the intensity of the campaign:
  • Front — the campaign creatives will be played with the highest intensity at the beginning of the campaign and with a lower intensity towards the end;
  • Back — the opposite of the Front;
  • Evenly — the campaign creatives will be played in random order.

• Description — description of the campaign

Campaign params

• Pre-roll / mid-roll max count — max number of creatives in the pre-roll / mid-roll sequence
• Pre-roll / mid-roll max duration — max duration of the pre-roll / mid-roll sequence, in seconds.
• Pre-roll / mid-roll can skip — mandatory viewing time of the pre-roll / mid-roll sequence, after which the subscriber can skip it.
• Mid-roll period, sec — period between mid-roll sequences
• Type — the moment when the ad blocks are played relative to the movie/episode:
  • Pre-roll — before the movie/episode
  • Mid-roll — during the movie/episode playback
  • Post-roll — after the movie/episode

• Creatives — list of creatives intended for the campaign
• Locations — regions where the campaign to be held

After you have configured the AVOD campaign, don’t forget to specify URL of the SmartTUBE ADS server in the AVOD bundles settings in the SmartTUBE Admin Console > Pricing plans > VoD bundles >[desired VoD bundle] >VAST server URL field.

Generating Reports

The SmartTUBE Admin Console allows you to create reports, filter data for them and export to CSV or XLS file.

Reports menu in the SmartTUBE Admin Console

In reports containing data on channel / movie views, one view is playback of the channel / movie by the subscriber device for at least 60 seconds.

Reports Description

• Created/deleted accounts report — the number of accounts added / deleted during the specified period. Deleted accounts — accounts that have passed to the “Closed” state.
• Service accounts not authorized till now — a list of service accounts without any activity (authorizations) for the specified period until today (set by field Days till now).
• Service accounts without new connections — a list of of service accounts without any activity (terminal connections) for the specified period until today (set by field Days till now).
• Service account w/o terminals — a list of accounts that either do not have any terminals, or all terminals have no UID.
• Number of pricing plan changes — the number of pricing plan shifts for the period with details by plan names.
• Percentage of accounts by state — the number and percentage of accounts by state on the specified day.
• Percentage of users by pricing plan — the number and percentage of accounts by pricing plan for the period.
• Statistics by device types — the number of terminals of different types.
• Statistics by app versions — the number of terminals of different SmartTUBE app versions.
• Terminals — detailed info on the terminals authorized during the specified period.
• Device online info — info on terminals currently viewing content.
• Service consumption — the number of accounts by consumed services (bundles).
• Service consumption in detail — info on the consumption of services, detailed by accounts.
• SVOD metacontent view count — info on the SVoD content consumption, detailed by the movie/series name.
• Detailed report by SVOD — detailed info on the SVoD content consumption.
• Channel viewing statistics — the number and duration of the selected channel’s views in Live / TSTV mode over the time interval.
• Device combinations on service accounts — all the unique combinations of devices connected to the accounts.
• Subscribed services — the number of service subscription facts in the specified time frame throughout the whole subscriber base.
• Subscribed services detailed info — the number of service subscription facts in the specified time frame with account detail.
• Purchased TVOD movies — the number of movie purchase facts in the specified time frame throughout the whole subscriber base.
• Purchased TVOD movies detailed info — the number of movie purchase facts in the specified time frame with account detail.
• TOP 10 most viewed TV programs — the number of TV program in-archive views for the specified time frame.

Licensing

The number of service accounts and the term of using SmartTUBE are controlled by the license. You can find the list of your licenses on the Administration > Licenses page.

List of licenses

Here you can see the type of licenses, their usage statistics, and warnings like License is expired or License is not signed. To see details on a specific license, click on its title.

License details

Adding Licenses

To purchase primary and subsequent SmartTUBE licenses, please send a request to the sales@smartlabs.tv, taking into account the information below.

• You can purchase one or more simultaneously active licenses of the following types:
  • License by accounts
    This method considers only active service accounts — accounts with a status other then Suspended, Trial closed, Closed, Deleted, regardless of whether the subscriber uses the services or not.
  • License by devices
    This method considers only active devices  — devices with a non-empty UID and linked to the active account, which were authorized at least once and (optional) with the date of the last authorization is no more than N days ago (set by the countActiveDevice.filter.byLastAuthDateInterval.period.days parameter of the system.conf file). You can specify which device types will be considered by this license.
    
    

    

  • License by service account with devices
    This method considers only active service accounts to which only the specified types of devices can be connected. Also you should specify the number of active devices licensed under one license.
    
    

    

    
    For example, if you set 3 devices here, and 6 active devices are connected to the same account, then this account will consume 2 licenses.

• All license types are independent of each other.
• If you reach the maximum number of service accounts or devices allowed by the license, new accounts or devices cannot be registered in the system.
• Licenses have an expiration date.​ If it expires and you do not prolong the license, your subscribers will not be able to use the services.
• Before any of your licenses expire, you will receive a notification when you log in to SmartTUBE Admin Console.
  
  

  

Please contact a SmartLabs representative by email sales@smartlabs.tv before your license expires to continue using SmartTUBE.

Multitenancy

Multitenancy is a software architecture in which a single instance of software runs on a server and serves multiple tenants. Systems designed in such a manner are “shared”. A tenant is a group of users who share a common access with specific privileges to the software instance.

For example, one global IPTV/OTT operator may have several regional divisions. The audience of these divisions may differ geographically, culturally, socially, etc. So may the content. For this case, SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) provides 2 options for multitenant architecture implementation:

1. Independent SDP instances used for each tenant. We recommend this option for tenants with a number of subscribers more than 10000–15000.
2. One SmartTUBE instance serves several tenants. This configuration is recommended if the tenants serve an audience of 2000–5000 subscribers.
   

Architecture options with multiple tenants

As for TV stream recording and content storage subsystem, in both cases it is recommended to place them close to the content sources. This ensures efficient localization of content and its seamless delivery to subscribers with minimal latency.

Multitenancy Features

1. SmartTUBE SDP contains a list of tenants. Some special parameters can be configured for each tenant, such as:
   1. Tenant name and description
   2. OSS/BSS integration URL
   3. Standard Tenant UI Customization parameters (detailed in point 7.)

2. Service accounts and terminals (client devices) have to be linked to only one specific tenant.
3. Pricing rules for services (TV channel bundles (Live, Time Shift, Catch-up, etc.), SVOD/TVOD bundles) could be managed for each tenant separately, but some tenants could use the same services and pricing plans.
4. Users of SmartTUBE Admin Console could be configured to have access and management rights for one or several tenants, so employees of one tenant will not have rights for viewing and managing content, services, accounts, etc. from other tenants. Users with administration rights could manage all tenants.
5. All content (TV channels, VOD movies and serials) is common for all tenants. SDP allows to combine content into different services for each tenant, providing a flexible management tool to enable content from a common headend and VOD library to be presented to multiple tenants.
   EPG is imported common for all channels and is available for all tenants.
6. All reports provide information for each tenant independently.
7. Operators can customize the following elements of SmartTUBE Apps UI dependent on tenant:

– Tenant logo on the splash screen when starting the app

– Tenant logo on the status bar

– Selector color

– Limited styling features on the Home screen

Details are provided in the configuration documentation.

Please note that the app remains the same for all tenants. The operator cannot change the app icon and name individually for each tenant!

8. Messaging system allows sending messages and notifications only to devices of a specific tenant.
9. Licensing calculation could be separate for each tenant, but administrators have access to full licensing information for the whole system.
10. Dictionaries (content genres, access levels, supported DRM types, languages, settings, and etc.) are common for all tenants and could be managed by system administrators only.

Configuring Multitenancy. Quick Guide.

If you choose the Option 2, you need to configure tenants the following way:

1. Log in to the SmartTUBE Admin Console under an account with the Platform administrator role.
2. Create billing connections in the Administration > Billings dictionary.
   Specify the Name, External ID, and URL of the OSS/BSS endpoint for each billing. For more details on OSS/BSS endpoint URLs, please see Method Invocation > On the side of OSS/BSS.

3. Create tenants in the Administration > Tenants dictionary, specifying corresponding billing connection in the Billing field.
4. Create SmartTUBE Admin Console users in the Administration > Users dictionary, specifying their affiliation to the tenants in the Tenants field.
   Read more about users and roles here.
5. Create content bundles as it described in the Setting up TV Services and Setting up xVoD Services sections.
6. Create pricing plans in the Pricing plans > Pricing plans dictionary, specifying their affiliation to a particular tenant in the Tenant field.
   Read more about creating pricing plans here.
7. Create service account templates in the Service accounts > Service account templates dictionary, specifying the pricing plan corresponding to a particular tenant.
   Read more about creating service accounts here.

Scheduled Jobs

If you need certain tasks to run automatically at set times, you can create a scheduled job it in the Administration > Scheduled Jobs section:

The type of a job is selected in the the Method field of a certain job:

To schedule a job, please specify it’s parameters in the Method parameters tab. Refer to the tooltips for guidance on each field. Once you have filled in the details, check the Active box to enable the job. Finally, click on Apply to save the changes. The job will then be added to the schedule and will run at the specified time.

You can modify any job, whether it’s active or not.

Job Execution Statuses

To the right of the job settings panel, information about its last execution is displayed: start and end time, IP of the executing SDP node, code and text of the execution error, current status. The job can have one of 3 statuses:

• Completed — the job is completed;
• Running — the job is currently running;
• Cancelled — the status is reset. It is assumed that the job was interrupted for some reason. This can happen, for example, if the SmartTUBE SDP restarts while a job is running.

After the job is launched, its status changes to Running. Parallel launch on other SDP nodes before the job completes is excluded.

If the task was Completed successfully, the Error code and Error text fields remain empty. Otherwise, they contain relevant information.

Auto Removing of Junk Service Accounts

Over time, SmartTUBE can accumulate junk service accounts, that can affect the number of accounts available under the license. They may appear for various reasons and usually have a number of similar features (for example, inactive or without connected services). Thus you can filter them and delete.

1. Create an Account Filter
   1. Go to SmartTUBE Admin Console > Administration > Filters for deleting service accounts
   2. Click the Add (+) button  and create the filter. Follow the field tooltips.
   3. Click the Save button to save the filter.
   4. Click the Reload button appeared to check the filtered accounts.

2. Create a Job for Periodically Account Removing
   1. Go to Administration > Scheduled jobs 
   2. Click the Add (+) button to create the job. Follow the field tooltips and these notes:
   3. Select the Delete inactive Service Accounts garbagecollector#deleteinactiveserviceaccounts method in the Method field.
   4. Select the filter you’ve created in the Filter for deleting service accounts field.
   5. Set the Store deleted items in Archive checkbox and the number of days to store. Thus you will prevent accidental permanent deletion of accounts.

6. Click the Save button to save the job.

Importing Currency Rates

As an additional service, you can provide your subscribers with currency exchange rates directly in the SmartTUBE apps. The main source of data is the European Central Bank (ECB), but you can use any other service providing currency rates in the same format if the necessary currencies are not in the provided list.

To import currency rates regularly, please create a job with the following required parameters:

• Method  — Exchange rates data import (currencyratesimport#doimport)
• URL  —  URL of an XML file with dynamically updated currency rates, e.g. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml for importing rates from ECB.

For the format reference, please see Currency Rates File Format.

Importing Weather Forecast

SmartTUBE apps allow you to provide your subscribers with a weather forecast. The Openweather service is used as the data source. If you do not know whether the corresponding module is installed on your system, please contact the SmartLabs Technical Support . Then create a job for regularly updating weather data:

1. Register on the website Openweathermap.org and get your unique API key {appid=} by following the instructions on the “Guide” page.
2. Create a new job using the weatherforecastsimport#doimport method in the Method field.
3. In the Method parameters > appid field, specify your Openweather API key.
4. In the Dictionaries > Cities > [desired city] > External ID field, specify the corresponding city ID on the Openweather website. You can find it on the https://openweathermap.org/city page after searching by the desired city. The last parameter in the URL is the city ID. Example for Moscow:

You can also specify the city geo coordinates in the Coordinates field. Example:

Please note that this field has a lower priority than the External ID.

Geoblocking

SmartTUBE SDP provides IP geofiltering of end-user devices in distributed IPTV/OTT solutions so that users access only that content, which is intended for distributing to them in their territory regions, and have no access to content intended for other territorial regions. IP geo filtering protects content from accessing by users from unauthorized regions.

How does it work?

In case of IPTV service, the service provider defines an IP subnetwork for each territorial region. In turn, each end-user device gets an IP address belonging to a particular subnetwork by the device’s physical location. This allows SDP to determine the device’s location by its IP with the appropriate API request to the service provider.

In case of OTT service, the geolocation of the device is performed using third-party services such as Maxmind (API is provided with a contract).

SDP allows you to apply geoblocking to TV channel broadcasting services grouped into service packages (Picture 1). Each service package includes information about the regions where enabled TV channels can be distributed to users.

Picture 1. Region-Level Content Specification

After the device startup, it sends the authorization request to the SmartTUBE server (picture 2). SmartTUBE server determines the device’s location by its IP and returns the list of service packages available to this region.

Picture 2. Separating Service Packages Between Regions

Processing Logic

A detailed description of the operation logic and geofiltration settings is provided below.

1. The end-user device starts up and sends an authorization request to the SDP, which includes the IP address.
2. SDP sends this IP either to a third-party geolocation service (in the case of OTT), or to the service operator (in the case of IPTV) in accordance with the API provided.
3. SDP receives the device’s location ID, which must match one of the location IDs in the “Regions” dictionary.
4. Then the following logic is applied:
   1. If the terminal has already been assigned a Region ID (via Admin Console or OSS API), then data from the geolocation system is ignored.
   2. If the terminal has not yet been assigned the Region ID (via Admin Console or OSS API), the Region ID came from the geolocation system is used.
   3. If the terminal is not assigned the Region ID via Admin Console or OSS API, and the geolocation system defines its location as “OUTNETWORK”, then the default Region ID is used (determined by the corresponding mark for the region in the SDP “Regions” dictionary).

5. The device is provided with a list of services corresponding to the assigned region.

Note: Region ID assigned via OSS API or manually via Admin Console has a higher priority than the Region ID saved during the last authorization. In other words, if there was at least one authorization, the terminal in the Admin Console will be assigned the last defined Region ID. But if the Region ID has been assigned via OSS API or manually via Admin Console, the Admin Console will display the assigned Region ID, and the Region ID obtained from the geolocation system will be ignored.

Configuring the Types of Content Delivery Subnets

SmartTUBE allows you to broadcast different URLs of TV streams to devices, depending on the type of content delivery subnet. To do this, you should configure a list of such subnets and their types.

1. Configure the default network type in the file /opt/smartlabs/nginx/conf/http.d/50_smtube_authgeo.conf. For example, “OTT”:

2. Specify subnets and their types in the file /opt/smartlabs/nginx/conf/http.d/geonetloc.inc. For example:

3. Reload or restart nginx.

How to redefine the streaming sources depending on the distribution subnet, see the section Redefining the Channel Streams Depending on Content Delivery Network.

Users and Roles

Only authorized users can view and make changes to SmartTUBE Admin Console entities. Users are created and edited on the Administration > Users page. There are 6 possible user roles with the following possibilities:

The Administrator can assign one or more roles to each user depending on the functions the user is going to perform. The interface is adapted to the convenience of each role, so the user sees only those entities that are needed to perform the user’s duties within the assigned role or roles. For example, report settings are not displayed for the VoD editor, whose main duty is to manage meta content. Only the Administrator can see all entities.

Deleting a User

A number of SmartTUBE Admin Console entities (pricing plans, content, service accounts, etc.) are associated with the user who created them. As a result, you should consider the following aspects of deleting users:

1. On the Administration > Users page, open the details page for the desired user and click the Delete button, and confirm the deletion in the pop-up window.
2. The system will check the entity relationships with this user. This process may take a few minutes.
   • If the check does not reveal any errors, the user will be silently deleted.
   • Otherwise, the error text will be displayed and the Force Delete button will appear. The forced deletion allows you to delete all the entities created by the user.

User Activity Monitoring

The Administrator can control user activity on the Administration > Users activity page. Tracking is performed for the following actions on the SmartTUBE Admin Console entities:

• Create
• Update
• Copy
• Delete

To manage the data storage time:

1. Open the Administration > Scheduled jobs page.
2. Create a job with the auditing#cleanlogs method.
3. In the system.conf file, specify the number of days of data storage using the auditing.shelfLife parameter. If the parameter is not specified, the default value of 60 days is used.

Failure Alerts

SmartTUBE provides an email alerting to failures in certain services. There are currently 4 types of notifications available:

• OSS integration errors
• EPG import errors
• VOD metacontent import errors
• Database connection limit errors

You can enable/disable them and specify a list of recipient mailboxes in SmartTUBE Admin Console > Administration > Email Alerts.

Dictionaries

A number of SmartTUBE Admin Console fields are drop-down lists formed from dictionaries, such as genres, countries, device types, and so on. You can edit dictionaries in the Dictionaries section. See below for some dictionary explanations.

Dictionaries menu of the SmartTUBE Admin Console

The Administration menu also contains the following dictionaries:

How to Avoid Metadata Duplicates

When you import EPG and/or VoD metadata from different providers, comparison of genres, countries, types and categories of content with existing ones is done by their External IDs. Thus, for example, several content genres with the same name, but differing only in External ID, may appear in the Content genres dictionary.

In order to avoid it, you can associate multiple genres or External IDs of a genre with a single content genre. The same is for the content categories, types, and countries.

Let’s consider three situations.

1. You have found duplicate genres
   1. Find the genre you want to subordinate to another.
   2. In the Add to the group dropdown field, choose the genre to which you want to subordinate it.

2. You know in advance (before importing) that the External ID of a certain genre does not match with an existing one.
   1. Find the genre you want to add an additional External ID to.
   2. Add a new External ID to the genre in the Linked external IDs tab.

3. You want to import EPG or VoD metadata and you don’t care.

In this case, two situations may occur:

3. If the External ID matches, the imported genre will be linked to the existing one without any problems.
4. If the External ID does not match, a new genre will be created. You can link it to another one later in the way described above.

Admin Console Tips & Tricks

In order to speed up your management duties, the SmartTUBE Admin Console has several useful features.

Multilingual Fields

Some SmartTUBE Admin Console entities may have multilingual fields (for example, movie name, country, director name, etc.). To fill them in multiple languages, follow these steps:

1. Add the language in the Dictionaries > Regional Settings > Languages dictionary.
   
   

   

2. Select a language from the drop-down list in the top panel.
   This will only affect the value of the fields, and the UI language will remain as it was selected on the login page.
   
   

   

3. Fill the fields in the selected language and save changes.
4. Repeat steps 2–3 for all needed languages.

Field Hints

SmartTUBE Admin Console has hints for the most critical fields. These hints can help you through the configuring process. To read a hint, hover mouse over the (?) icon next to the field.

Entity Details Without Leaving the Page

When you open some listing (for example, the list of channels, EPG programs or TV bundles), the pane to the right is empty. In order to view details on a list item in this pane, hover mouse over the item and click on the appeared Play Arrow icon.

Copying & Bulk Editing / Deleting

If you need to create an item similar to the already existing one, you may select it and click the Copy button.

If you need to change the same parameters for several similar items (for example, movies) to the same value you may use the Bulk editing feature instead of editing each item separately:

1. Select or filter the needed entries.
2. Click the Bulk editing button.
   
   

   

3. Click the Edit button to edit entries or Delete to remove them.

Quick Jump to the Next Item

If you are editing items sequentially, for example, a list of channels or movies, use the Left-Arrow and Right-Arrow buttons to quickly navigate between items.

Exporting Lists to CSV

You can export item lists (movies, service accounts, messages, etc.) to a CSV file by clicking the Export button on the correspondent page.

The SmartTUBE solution provides a suite of applications that support a variety of end-user device platforms. SmartTUBE applications for SmartLabs Android and Linux STBs are pre-installed on devices out-of-the-box. SmartLabs set-top boxes, as well as set-top boxes from other manufacturers that have been migrated to SmartLabs software, can be upgraded using SmartLabs Device Manager. All other SmartTUBE apps are ready to be published in app stores and/or manually installed on devices.

As a SmartLabs customer, you have access to the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space. This page features SmartTUBE apps that are ready to be downloaded, tested, and published to app stores or installed on STBs.

How to Install SmartTUBE Apps Manually

Before publishing your SmartTUBE apps on app stores, you can test their performance on your side. Just download them from your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space and follow the guides below:

• Installing SmartTUBE app on Samsung TV manually
• Installing SmartTUBE app on LG TV manually
• Installing SmartTUBE app on Hisense TV manually
• Installing SmartTUBE app on Android TV & Amazon Fire TV manually

How to Publish SmartTUBE Apps on App Stores

The SmartLabs team has extensive experience in publishing apps for various platforms. We can help you with publishing your SmartTUBE apps to app stores. In order for us to do so, please follow the instructions below.

Google Play

1. Register a developer account on the Google Play by following Google’s instructions.
2. Include our developers to your team.Add the android-dev@smartlabs.tv account to your team in the Google Developer Console with the access to applications created by SmartLabs. The invitation is sent in the Users and permissions section.
3. Copy or download the metadata template for the Google Play, fill it out and send to the SmartLabs Support Team.

Apple App Store

1. Register a developer account on the App Store by following the Apple’s instructions.
2. Include our developers to your team. Add an account with the Apple ID tester.smartlabs@gmail.com to your team with the role admin or application Manager for applications created by SmartLabs. This way we will be able to upload the final release builds to the TestFlight.
3. Grant us access to distribution certificates and application profiles in the developer account.
4. Create the provisioning profile, distribution certificate, so that we can download it on the Developer portal and create the Application ID.
5. Copy or download the metadata template for the Apple App Store, fill it out and send to the SmartLabs Support Team.
6. According to Apple’s rules, please provide us with the Application Privacy Policy. See an example here.

Samsung Smart Hub

1. Register a developer account on the Samsung Developer Portal.
2. Send the login and password to the SmartLabs Support Team.
3. Copy or download the metadata template for the Samsung Smart Hub, fill it out and send to the SmartLabs Support Team.

LG Content Store

1. Register a developer account on the WebOS TV Developer portal following the LG instructions.
2. Send the account login and password to the SmartLabs Support Team.
3. Copy or download the metadata template for the LG Content Store, fill it out and send to the SmartLabs Support Team.

Whale OS Store

1. Register a developer account on the ZEASN Developer portal.
2. Contact ZEASN team for business cooperation.
3. Send the account login and password to the SmartLabs Support Team.
4. After completing the registration process, we will send you a metadata template to fill in.

Amazon Store

1. Register a developer account on the Amazon Developer Portal.
2. Send the account login and password to the SmartLabs Support Team.
3. After completing the registration process, we will send you a metadata template to fill in.

The basic customization of SmartTUBE apps is carried out by SmartLabs.

For this purpose, please send us — at sales@smartlabs.tv or Support ticket — the information and image archives described below.

Please create simple, high-contrast images with recognizable shapes and minimal details for optimal visibility.

Note:

This information and materials are only necessary for the app branding. To publish apps to stores, additional images are required. Their specifications are sent on request.

Common Information

• Backend host
  e.g. https://fe.lime.clients.some.tv/
• Operator name
• List of UI languages to support
• List of languages the content search to support
• Default app’s UI language
• Default Android UI language (only for languages supported by Android 9+)
  Only for Android AOSP STB with firmware delivered by SmartLabs
• Do you need a language selection page, when the user starts the application for the first time?
  Only for Smart TV and STB devices
• Default time zone
• Operator’s official website
• Operator’s Tech Support phone
• E-mail (optional)
• License agreement text (optional)
  With localization for UI languages
• Application Privacy Policy
  See the example
• HEX-color of the selector
  Highlights UI elements with a background color on hover
• STB firmware update URL prefix (optional):

• • for Android AOSP STB with firmware delivered by SmartLabs: http://… (e.g. http://upgrade.some.tv/default-versions)
  • for Linux-based STBs: http://… or multicast (norm://…)

• Applications packages repository (optional)
  e.g. http://upgrade.some.tv/android-packages
  Only for Android AOSP STBs

Apps for Smart TV

Please add all images to the ZIP archive using the specified paths below.

All Smart TVs

Android TV

Requirements for the SmartTUBE Android TV app inherit all image requirements from the All Smart TVs section above.

App for Linux STB

Please add all images to the ZIP archive using the specified paths.

App for Linux STB Using Web Browser

Requirements for the Linux STBs using web-based SmartTUBE App inherit all image requirements from the All Smart TVs section above.

App for Android AOSP STB

Requirements for the Android AOSP STB with firmware delivered by SmartLabs inherit all image requirements from the All Smart TVs section above.

App for Web Browsers

Please add all images to the ZIP archive using the specified paths.

Apps for iOS/iPadOS (iPhone, iPad)

Use these units when creating images:

• px: Physical pixels (device-specific).
• pt: Resolution-independent points. Scaling depends on screen density:
  • @1x: 1 pt = 1 px
  • @2x (Retina): 1 pt = 2 px
  • @3x (Super Retina): 1 pt = 3 px

Please add all images to the ZIP archive using the specified paths.

Apps for Android Mobile

Please add all images to the ZIP archive using the specified paths.

In-App Loading Animation (optional)

Sprite animation is used to illustrate waiting states in the player, buttons and general waiting states. For this purpose, a sequential animation storyboard packed into a single image is used. Please, see the sample images here. Default animation speed — 18 frames per second.

Android Boot Animation (optional)

You can customize the visual experience of the boot up process.

You should modify the reference bootanimation-default-500×300.zip file in order to customize the boot animation. Instructions below:

1. Unzip bootanimation-default-500×300.zip
2. Add new top level folders

These folders represent sections of the boot animation. Each folder has a series of PNGs arranged alphabetically.

3. The first line of desc.txt represents the animation width and height in pixels followed by the frames per second:

Example: 1080 720 60.

Be mindful of these numbers — they are specific for each animation. Changing the numbers may create unpredictable visual effects.

4. Edit the following lines of the desc.txt file. Keep in mind, each of the bolded characters represent different sections of the boot animation.

Example: c 1 0 part1

The first letter (in the example above, “c”) is always “c” or “p”. “c” means the boot animation will play to completion, no matter what. “p” means the boot animation will play unless interrupted by the end of the boot.

The first number (in the example above, “1”) indicates how many times the animation will play — this must always be greater than zero for any partner-added folders. Only one animation can be marked as “0”, and that animation will play on an infinite loop.

The second number (in the example above, “0”) indicates the amount of frames to delay after the animation section ends. This is usually set to “0”.

The final argument (in the example above, “part1”) is the name of the folder inside the zip file.

5. Re-zip the file

Be careful not to compress the files when doing this — using the zip as a concatenation method is recommended: zip ../bootanimation-default-500×300.zip * -0 -r

6. Send the resulting zip file to SmartLabs representatives via SmartLabs issue tracking system.

Change Log

18.04.2025

• Update on image requirements for SmartTUBE Apps for various platforms without changes to animation requirements.

About SmartTUBE Device Manager

SmartTUBE Device Manager — a service with the web console for managing firmware, applications and configurations on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including Linux and Android STBs, mobile and Smart TV platforms. This console has the following key features:

• Software artefacts management (STB Linux and Android firmware, private app repository for AOSP, configuration files)
• Device grouping (production, staging, A&B, etc.)
• HTTP and Multicast firmware distribution
• Software version tracking and release notes
• Update strategies management (soft update, force update, minimal allowed version)

Interface Overview

After logging in, the Home page opens where you can see the summary table with information about the versions of firmware and system apps installed on STBs.

Home page with Main menu

The screenshot above shows that the SML-5051A devices from the Production group have the hi3798-3.5.4 firmware and Angry birds and Betacom system apps installed.

Each item of the Main menu, except for Home, is a dictionary containing information about firmware, Android apps, device groups, and STB models, respectively.

Filling in Dictionaries

Before uploading firmware, apps and configuration files to devices, you should fill out all the dictionaries.

1. ‘Device Models’ Dictionary

Add all STB models used on your platform to this dictionary by defining the following parameters:

1. • Device model name — used for STB identification in the SmartTUBE Device Manager interface;
   • Hardware revision identifier — device identifier (aka boardName) used for internal API requests and other SmartLabs applications. To obtain it, please contact Smartlabs technical support;
   • Product — identifier allowing to distinguish devices with the same Device model name, but differing, for example, in hardware configuration (memory size, optional connectors, etc.);
   • Type — device type: Linux, Android STB or Other (mobile iOS/Android and SmartTV).

2. ‘Firmwares’ Dictionary

Upload firmware files to the dictionary by following these steps:

• • Click the Add (+) button.
  • Fill in the following parameters:
    • Version — firmware version;
    • Type — device model for which the firmware is intended;
    • Firmware type:
      • Update — update within the current major version or
      • Upgrade — upgrade to a newer major version;
      • Upgrade to version (for Firmware type — Upgrade only);
    • Release notes.
  • Upload the firmware file using the Upload file button.
  • Click the Save button to save changes.

Now the firmware is ready for assignment to devices — the Is active flag is set to it. If you need to remove firmware from the list of available for installation, set the Is archived flag.

Later, if you need to add an incremental update to a specific firmware version, use the Add (+) button in the Incremental updates to area on the Firmware details page.

3. ‘Staging Groups’ Dictionary

For testing firmware and apps, multiple end-user devices can be separated into staging groups (the number of groups is not limited):

• • Create a group using the Add (+) button.
  • Specify the parameters:
    • Staging group name — used for the group identification in the SmartTUBE Device Manager interface,
    • Staging group external ID — unique group identifier used in internal API requests and firmware folder naming.
  • Add the terminal UIDs / MACs with the Add (+) button. (You can also do this later).
  • Click the Save button to save changes.

Now you are able to open group details and add more terminals.

• • One by one in the Terminal UID field.
    If you use SmartTUBE SDP as middleware, then the choice is performed by the devices’ UID registered in SDP. Otherwise, the MAC addresses are entered manually or