Cable's evolving access network and the industry's broader drive toward an all-IP infrastructure will lead off the discussion and debate at Cable Next-Gen IP Strategies: Entering the Zettabyte Era, Tuesday's Light Reading Live event at The Cable Center in Denver.

The first half of the day will primarily focus on Docsis 3.1 and the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP), two platforms that will play key roles in setting cable's future technology roadmaps.

Docsis 3.1 eyes a multi-gigabit future
CableLabs's Docsis 3.1 specs are targeting speeds of 10Gbit/s downstream and 1Gbit/s upstream, promising to help cable operators squeeze more life out of their hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks and delay the need for expensive fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) upgrades. (See Docsis 3.1 Targets 10-Gig Downstream.)

New CableLabs President and CEO Phil McKinney will provide an update on the R&D house's major initiatives, including Docsis 3.1. That will be followed by a keynote on Docsis 3.1 from Cox Communications Inc. VP of Architecture John Civiletto, and a panel dedicated to 3.1 developments that will include insight from Daniel Rice of CableLabs; John Chapman of Cisco Systems Inc.; Jorge Salinger of Comcast Corp.; Jeff Finkelstein of Cox, and Peter Percosan of Cable Europe Labs.

Salinger will also update attendees on Comcast's trial and deployment plans for CCAP, a new, super-dense architecture that will not just accommodate Docsis 3.1, but put cable on a path toward an all-IP platform. Vendors and operators will then discuss CCAP product roadmaps and deployment plans in a panel to include John Horrobin of Cisco; Gerry White of Motorola Mobility LLC; Shane Eleniak of CommScope Inc.; Tom Gonder of Time Warner Cable Inc.; and John Dickinson of Bright House Networks. (See What Comcast Learned From Trying Out CCAP.)

John Holobinko, the VP of strategy and business development for Motorola Home, will then outline how he expects the cable network to evolve over the next decade in order to deal with future capacity requirements and competitive market forces.

And there's more: IP video, mobility and IPv6
The second half of the day will cover cable's IP video migration, highlighted by Q&A with Richard Buchanan, the VP and GM of content operations and engineering at the Comcast Media Center (CMC), and a case study from Allen Broome, the VP of IP video engineering at Comcast Cable.

Steve Shannon, GM of content services, for Roku Inc., will shed light on how the consumer electronics industry will participate in cable's IP video transition.

The day will be capped off with panels dedicated to cable's growing mobile activities and its IPv6 transition.

Here's the day's full agenda. Please check back with Light Reading Cable early and often for ongoing coverage from the event.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable