Serial numbers

This document describes the serial numbers of the Motorola IP-STBs. There are two different serial number formats

One format holds ten digits (no letters). Only the first nine digits are significant. The last digit is a control digit. Products with this type of serial number is e g the IP-STB 500/700, the VIP1500, VIP1700 and the VIP1900 series. The value set is 0-9999999999.

The other format gives a serial number formed of 12 digits/letters: ABCCDDEEFFFF. A = Manufacturer ID (= M), B = Country code, C = Year (last two digits), D = Week, E = Production line, F = Production counter (0000 - ZZZZ). Products with this type of serial number is e g the VIP1200 series.

Serial intervals

Serial number intervals are used for making certain IP-STBs to embark on a certain action, such as receive a remote reboot command or receive a certain IIP distribution.

Targets including serial numbers may be specified in the IIP distribution file as well as in the remote reboot request file.

Element Required Comment Value set
SerialIntervalStart No No IP-STBs with serial number less than SerialIntervalStart will receive this IIP. SerialIntervalEnd must be specified if this element is specified, no open intervals are allowed. 10 digits OR 12 digits/letters.

Examples: 1234567890, M90603FA0284
SerialIntervalEnd No No IP-STBs with serial number larger than SerialIntervalEnd will be affected. SerialIntervalStart must be specified if this element is specified, no open intervals are allowed. 10 digits OR 12 digits/letters.

Examples: 1234567899, M90603FAAAAB

So how can the IP-STB read a 12-digit serial number interval?

Well, first it makes sure that the Manufacturer Id, Country Code and Production Line letters are the same in both SerialIntervalStart and SerialIntervalEnd. Then they are removed from the serial number. This will give us a new number which has 8 digits/letters (CCDDFFFF). The FFFF part is then transformed into a 6 digit integer giving us a 10 digit integer which is comparable. This is a description of the FFFF notation:

Start End Quantity
00019999
9999
A000A999
1000
B000B999
1000
thru
C000Z999
24 x 1000 = 24000
AA00AA99
100
AB00AB99
100
thru
AC00AZ99
24 x 100 = 2400
BA00BA99
100
BB00BB99
100
thru
BC00ZZ99
(24 x 100) + (24 x 26 x 100) = 64800
  1. All numerics will count from 0 to 9.
  2. Alpha characters are inserted on the left-most position.
  3. Upon reaching max numeric (9 in all numeric positions), the right-most alpha character will be incremented from A thru Z.
  4. Upon reaching max numeric (9 in all numeric positions) while all alpha characters are Z, the next left-most numeric position will become a character position, and all characters will reset to A and all remaining numerics will reset to 0.

Total counting ability is as specified below. The counter is reset (to 0001) every week.

StartEndQuantity
000199999999
A000Z99926000
AA00ZZ9967600
AAA0ZZZ9175760
AAAAZZZZ456976