Advanced Digital Broadcast Inc. added an important piece to its digital set-top puzzle Monday by securing a license for Motorola Broadband 's MediaCipher conditional access (CA) technology.

The license will give ADB the ability to build and market set-tops based on MediaCipher, a conditional access system in use by more than half of all U.S. cable operators and more than 2,000 headends worldwide. ADB has integrated more than 10 CA systems so far, and expects to begin integrating MediaCipher into its set-tops later this year.

Motorola, meanwhile, hopes the ADB pact will help it to expand the international reach of its conditional access technology.

"Motorola is committed to supporting open architecture systems and to making our conditional access technology available to set-top manufacturers internationally," said Dan Sutorius, Motorola Broadband's VP of market development, in a statement.