PacketCable Multimedia (PCMM) policy server provider CableMatrix Technologies Inc. has acquired application manager platform developer Xinnia Technology. Terms of the deal between the two privately-held companies were not disclosed. As both companies have business operations in Chicago, the merged company's headquarters will be in the Windy City, while its R&D operations will remain in Israel. CableMatrix was one of five policy server vendors qualified by CableLabs in April during the first wave of testing for PCMM compliance. The other were Camiant, C-COR, Tazz Networks and Telcordia. Two other networking titans -- Juniper Networks and Siemens -- also disclosed plans to enter the policy server space at the National Show last month. It's a mighty crowded market. Through the Xinnia deal, CableMatrix is hoping to differentiate its solution. PCMM specifies a dynamic quality of service (DQoS) architecture for IP multimedia applications over DOCSIS 1.1+ data networks. This enables MSOs to guarantee bandwidth and latency for PacketCable NCS-based VoIP, plus SIP voice and video communications, as well as streaming media and gaming services. In PCMM, the policy server is the brains, managing DQOS through CMTSs. Application managers authenticate and manage users for individual services. It's key that policy server vendors deliver open, integrated application management platforms that enables MSOs to quickly and easily deploy new IP services. Otherwise, cable operators face countless custom integration projects for every new IP service they launch. This is where Xinnia fits in. CableMatrix will integrate Xinnia's 'Network Smart' application manager platform, including clever PC client software, into its On Demand Service Platform (ODSP). CableMatrix is no stranger to the cable industry. The company's origins trace back to Israeli broadband data and telephony equipment supplier GADline, which Com21 acquired for $94 million in stock in 2000. During Com21's collapse, GADline's management reacquired the company from Com21 and began operating as CableCom Solutions. CableCom then morphed into CableMatrix fueled by initial investments from Walden Israel, Veritas Venture Partners and EnerTech Capital, and a later investment by Intel Digital Home Fund.