What is USP, how does it work, and what value does it deliver to the broadband industry?

Developers submit app (App Warehouse), service providers select subset of available apps to provide to their customers (App Store), and customers choose the app/Value-Added Service that fits their needs.

By John Blackford, Broadband Forum Chairman and OB-USP-Agent project lead

The User Services Platform (USP) is a standardized data model, architecture, and protocol for managing, monitoring, upgrading, and controlling connected devices in the smart home.

Internet service providers (ISPs), device vendors, and application vendors have a key opportunity to reduce customer churn and bring USP-based solutions and value-added services to the market faster and more cost-effectively.

By combining the best of open standards with the latest software developments, ISPs have the tools to deliver a future-proofed connected home experience.

How does USP work?

USP is transforming connected device management and customer support in the broadband industry, offering real-time device data and control for ISPs in the customer premises.

A remote device management and control protocol, USP sees management entities separated between an Agent and Controller. The network is made up of USP Controllers and Agents, which manipulate different Service Elements. Service Elements are data model components (defined in the well-known TR-181 data model) that consist of objects and parameters with a specific set of functionalities.

What is a USP Agent and Controller?

Agents are responsible for exposing these Service Elements for consumption by one or more management controllers. They typically reside in Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), such as a broadband router, set-top box, or Residential Gateway (RG) and provide a set of services, such as a firewall, a DHCP server, or something as common as a speed test. They can also be run within a CPE as part of a containerized application running within an execution environment.

The Controller is the software that interacts with the Agent to retrieve data and configure device settings. USP allows multiple Controllers to talk to an Agent at the same time. A Controller may be an Auto Configuration Server (ACS) on the ISP’s network, helping configure and manage routers, or it can live inside the device, smartphone, tablet, or even within a containerized application running on the device.

When was OB-USP-Agent launched?

In 2019, Broadband Forum launched our open-source project, OB-USP-Agent (OBUSPA), which creates a reference implementation of the USP specification from an “Agent” perspective. The project acts as a starting point for software developers to base their implementations on and provides device vendors with a code base to integrate into their devices. As an open-source project, it is a baseline platform for more services and applications, with updates to the code available as the implementation matures.

How has it progressed so far?

There were significant upgrades made to USP 1.3 and TR-181 Device:2.16, which allow ISPs to manage individual smart home applications separately and without complicated and monolithic firmware updates. The new features added to the standards help support diversified, interoperable applications and services that can be implemented a single time in a containerized framework and then deployed in different devices.

The software lifecycle of an application can be managed by the ISP, streamlining the process of introducing differentiated value-added services, such as cybersecurity, remote working, or gaming. This provides ISPs with the potential to increase their average revenue per user (ARPU).

Why is OBUSPA so important?

OBUSPA continues to be a key component in open-source middleware solutions as it enables the decentralization of a device’s data model into USP-enabled containerized applications.

Often regarded as the glue that holds applications together, open-source middleware solutions safely navigate issues typical of stunted ecosystems. Acting as the layer between two systems for communication, it reduces fragmentation and addresses integration issues.

Offering more flexibility, interoperability, and customization than proprietary middleware alternatives, open-source middleware avoids technology or vendor lock-in. Those involved have access to the source code, development process, and community feedback.

What are the latest developments?

The OBUSPA group has completed its work on Release 8 (codenamed the Heron release), implementing the new features from USP 1.3 and TR-181 Device:2.16 to enable software modularization and a host of other improvements.

Containerization ensures that individual components can be upgraded without the need to upgrade the whole firmware. Previously, when an ISP wanted to deploy a new service, app vendors and CPE firmware vendors would need to work together to integrate the software into the firmware, build a new version of the firmware, and have this pushed out to all of the end-user’s devices.

Powered by the two standards, the Heron release ensures that individual applications can be deployed on a standardized platform that allows interoperability and innovation for a host of new services. This is because it provides a solution where each application can interact with and access a device’s data model to retrieve information and convey its capabilities to device management systems.

What does it mean for the industry?

The Heron release significantly reduces the time to deploy new services to as little as 2-4 weeks. Previously, it has typically taken ISPs 9-18 months to upgrade its whole firmware. Containerization allows us to make integrations more tailored and streamlined, while dramatically cutting down the overall deployment times.

ISPs will now be able to work with different firmware and application vendors to rapidly deploy new services. This opens the door to a set of highly curated value-added services that can easily be deployed to CPE managed by the ISP. This also underscores the Broadband Forum’s mission in helping the industry deliver an improved customer experience.

Read the full press release here.