The AT&T datacasting system is designed to disseminate digital information over a wireless

broadcast network using a connectionless, UDP-style, communication protocol. Because it

operates using a single, narrow-band, radio-frequency transmitter, it is inherently more secure

than traditional wireless networks which operate using bi-directional, spread-spectrum

technology, where any node on the wireless network is visible to any other node on the

network, and can therefore be used to “hack-into” the network traffic.

The configuration of the AT&T-ATSC3.0 broadcast system is illustrated below:

The Customer Datacenter is where the desired broadcast content is generated. It is typically a customer-owned and operated facility manned by a production team responsible for creating the digital “show” to be viewed by the consumer.  The digital stream generated by the datacenter is transmitted over AT&T dedicated fiber (not the internet) to the CeWi Data Packager software program where it is converted to the proprietary IP stream and sent to an ATSC Scheduler located in the television station datacenter.  If a synchronized video/audio stream is to be broadcast, the Scheduler will multiplex it into the stream at that point.  The scheduler may or may not be co-located with the television exciter/transmitter, but if it is not, the multiplexed data stream will then be sent to the exciter over AT&T dedicated fiber for broadcast at the desired location.  All data up to this point is either being processed on customer servers or transmitted to AT&T processing equipment over dedicated AT&T data connections.  At no point is it exposed to conventional internet traffic.



The one and only point where the data stream is visible to the public is when it has been broadcast over the public television station.  While it can then be received and processed by any ATSC3.0-compliant television receiver, said receiver would have to have the digital encoding algorithms loaded before the data stream can be processed.  Typically, the reception of the ATSC broadcast is done using an AT&T mobile receiver, paired to a mobile phone using Bluetooth®, and viewed using a custom app on the phone.  The appropriate algorithm is embedded inside the app where it is not exposed to the user.  There is also an encryption key embedded in the broadcast such that if the receiver is not tuned to the proper transmitter, no data will be processed.

In summary, here are the key features that make the AT&T Datacasting solution the most secure way to disseminate digital information to large numbers of mobile devices:

• All network traffic emanates from a single source (an FCC-licensed television transmitter)
• Everything being sent to the transmitter originates from the customer data center.  AT&T has no control over message content.
• The broadcast is “one to many”, and each receiver is isolated from every other receiver.
• Similar to the old pager systems, while each receiver can “see” the entire broadcast traffic, the only messages they can decode are the ones authorized by the app running on the phone.
• There is no way any of the receivers can influence the message traffic coming from the transmitter
• All message traffic being sent to the transmitter is being carried over AT&T dedicated infrastructure.
• Several different data streams can be encoded over the same broadcast
• A consumer facing stream
• An administrative stream for staff
• A security stream for law-enforcement and security personnel
• The app on the phone controls access to the various streams.