CI+ Integration FAQ
Costs
What does it cost to build a CI+ device ?
To a certain degree, this depends on the device configuration and the amount of certification test attempts. In general, the following costs should be taken into account in the project planning phase:
- CI+ license fee (12.000 € for Device Licensees - annually)
- device registration fee (2.000 € - per device)
- device credentials (starting at 300€ per 10k batch)
- optional: test kit purchase
- certification test fee
For test kit and certification testing fees, please contact the test center monopolist Eurofins for the latest prices and T&C. According to our experience, the total license fee and certification cost overhead for a first CI+ product has reached approximately 150.000 € for a normal PVR-enabled STB product since the CI+ 1.4 certification regime is in place.
Application engines
Do CI+ devices need to support MHEG-5 or HBBTV ?
No. Up to and including CI+ 1.3 it was mandatory to support MHEG-5. In CI+ 1.4 this requirement has been dropped. There has never been a requirement to support HBBTV.
Do CI+ devices need to have a network connection ?
No, but devices which have a network connection do need to support the CI LSC resource and meet certain performance requirements.
Security
Do CI+ devices need to support "secure boot" ?
Only for devices supporting ECP ("enhanced content protection" for 4K/UHD content), the CI+ license agreements explicitly stat that a secure boot chain is a requirement. For all other CI+ devices, the requirement usually still applies due to the fact that this is the only way to properly protect the per-device unique RSA keys.
Do CI+ devices need to support a TEE (trusted execution environment) ?
ECP devices need a TEE according to the license agreements.
For all other devices a TEE is helpful but not required.