Advances in conditional access technology

Advances in conditional access technology have been very significant over the last few years in response to changes in commercial relationships, the widespread introduction of digital TV, the increased capabilities of potential attacks, standardisation activities and the vast improvements in silicon manufacturing capabilities. This combination of factors has caused an interesting chain of developments in conditional access technology, which shows interesting applications of concepts from related fields to conditional access. This article analyses the changes in the commercial and technological environments and describes how it influences certain aspects of conditional access technology. The analysis also shows the various responses to the changed environment. Many of the responses are motivated by a fundamental re-thinking of conditional access concepts and principles. The article also describes how these new conditional access concepts can be significantly extended in both application fields and cost effectiveness. The result is an overview of an commercially very important field summarising the advances in conditional access technology