DRM workflow analysis for over-the-top HTTP segmented delivery

Monetization of premium video content requires two key components: quality and security. In the mobile space, quality issues have been largely address in recent years through faster CPUs and segment-based HTTP adaptive bitrate de livery (e.g., Apple^® HTTP Live Streaming, Adobe^® HTTP Dynamic Streaming, and Microsoft^® Silverlight™ Smooth Streaming). This has enabled plethora of new services to de liver high definition video to smart phone and tablet devices. This in turn has brought mobile digital rights management (DRM) under increased scrutiny. Existing DRM guidelines are geared toward monolithic file distribution to fixed end points. The emergence of segment-based HTTP distribution protocols has produced unforeseen issues in existing content delivery workflows. Support for over-the-top (OTT) delivery has further complicated DRM enforcement. In this paper we analyze the impact of segmented OTT delivery on traditional content preparation and distribution workflows. We discuss the use of pipelining for optimizing transcoding, segmentation, and encryption workflows. We also address security and scalability concerns related to key generation, device registration, and key distribution workflows. Together, these work flows provide the necessary components for an efficient and secure OTT content delivery platform.