Light Reading

The Cable Show 2010: New Product Recap

Here's a handy guide to some of the more significant product announcements from The Cable Show 2010

Light Reading
May 17, 2010
URL: http://www.lightreading.com/the-cable-show/the-cable-show-2010-new-product-recap/240122579

As you can see in this video, there was a lot going on at The Cable Show 2010, and you had to move fast to see all that the show floor had to offer:

{videoembed|192034}

Don't fret if you missed something. In this special feature, we look back at a selection of new telecom products and services announced during, or for, The Cable Show 2010 held on May 11-13 in Los Angeles. Products are classified for easy reference by the following very broad terms:

This special feature follows the same format as the New Product Recaps for previous months, and is additional to the scheduled May 2010 Recap, which will follow as usual. Please refer to those features for a full explanation on the classification choices and the overall aim of the new product alerts:

Unlike many of the old grumps in our business, we welcome release announcements from vendors for consideration for inclusion in the next New Product Recap. Please email a copy of the release to editors@lightreading.com.

Here's a hyperlinked contents list:

— Tim Hills is a freelance telecommunications writer and journalist. He's a regular author of Light Reading reports.

Next Page: Carrier Transport, Fixed Access & IP Applications

Arris Group Inc.
CORWave DW
A dual-density forward optical transmitter intended especially for operators with facility constraints that are planning to add new services, but the device also provides very low power consumption, the company says. It has two transmitters in the space formerly occupied by a single transmitter. Features include: (a) Up to 8 wavelengths in the O-Band optical spectrum; (b) Up to 40km reach in an all-digital environment; (c) Fixed and variable outputs; (d) Flexible wavelength combinations; (e) Optimization for both analog and digital channel loading; (f) Backwards compatible with legacy CHP chassis; (g) Front and rear fiber connections; and (h) Monitoring and management by the CORView Element Management System.

Hitachi Communication Technologies America Inc. (Hitachi-CTA)
10G EPON and 10G DePON Optical Network Units and Linecards
These are new additions for the Salira product line. The company says that 10-Gbit/s DePON offers the combination of high bandwidth, lower cost, and effective service control required for high-volume business and residential services. Docsis over EPON (DePON) gives MSOs the ability to manage and operate EPON networks with their existing Docsis infrastructures, thus preserving the existing investment in Docsis management, servers, applications, and operations. The wavelengths used in 10G-EPON are allocated to ensure coexistence with existing GEPON and RF video to enable support for symmetric 10-Gbit/s ONUs, asymmetric 10/1-Gbit/s ONUs, and symmetric 1-Gbit/s Onus, as well as radio-frequency video overlay on the same optical distribution network.

itaas Inc.
tru2way Twitter Application
Provides Twitter interactive capabilities on tru2way-enabled set-top boxes. Customers who are already using Twitter on their PCs or other devices can view tweets on TV, and can simultaneously view the TV and track Twitter responses.

Nortel Networks Ltd.
Communication Server 2000 (CS 2000)
This is a SIP engine enhancement to the carrier VoIP and multimedia softswitch. The company says that the new centralized SIP engine capability allows service providers to quickly and cost-effectively deliver advanced SIP services and applications to subscribers, including services such as unified communications (UC), Web-based UC collaboration, video and multimedia conferencing, hosted call center, and other services. It allows service providers to deliver SIP and non-SIP communication capabilities across the entire network using one Adaptive Application Engine.

Panasonic
AJAX-CE
This remote user-interface technology uses Asynchronous JavaScript and XML CE. The company is offering this technology to MSOs to establish it as the baseline RUI technology to deliver a rich user interface with minimal integration effort, as it can extend the MSO’s content and services to any device on the home network, the company says.

SeaChange International Inc.
Intelligent Video Platform 2.0
This enhanced multi-screen and over-the-top video solution includes support for Adobe’s new Flash Player 10.1 software and Flash Access 2.0 content protection; integrates Envivio’s 4Caster C42 encoders; and enables HTTP live and on-demand streaming to the Apple iPad.

Zodiac Interactive
PowerUp Advanced Messaging Solution (AMS)
According to the company, this is the first server-based offering to deliver multi-screen, bidirectional connectivity between set-top boxes (STBs) and mobile Internet devices. It is platform agnostic and can incorporate tweets, Facebook updates, RSS feeds, broadcast walled-garden content, and any other applications able to be invoked by addressable set-top box messages.

Next Page: Telecom Software I

Active Broadband Networks Inc.
Active Resource Manager
The company says that this is the first resource-aware dynamic service solution based upon PCMM. Applications or services can query the extensive subscriber, network, and resource information collected and computed by the Active Resource Manager using a Web service HTTP/REST API and then make new or modified service requests using a PCMM HTTP/REST API that provides the same functionality as the CableLabs API without the complexity of SOAP. The Active Resource Manager maintains an accurate, comprehensive Docsis network topology and, based on the request, forwards the appropriate PCMM message directly to the CMTS, alleviating the need for a policy server and simplifying the deployment of Resource Aware Dynamic applications.

Subscriber Service Control System
Combining top device profiling with Internet usage quota management, this system provides a system for computing Internet usage, managing usage quotas and heavy-use subscribers during periods of network congestion. It allows the creation of subscriber profiles that manage separate or combined quota usage and peak usage to identify subscribers whose service should be dynamically modified. It includes integrated PCMM that can communicate directly with the CMTS or via a PCMM policy server. It also includes a notification API for integration with subscriber notification systems.

ActiveVideo Networks Inc.
CloudTV
A platform integrated with SMiT CI Plus modules to provide enhanced interactive television, it enables operator-branded menuing on CI Plus-enabled televisions, even without a set-top box, when combined with the Ethernet or WiFi connectivity of the host TV as a return channel.

Affinegy Inc.
DigiDo Platform
This has been enhanced to integrate AVG Technologies Internet Security 9.0. The platform is a flexible, extensible suite of digital lifestyle enablement applications, which allow consumers to install, manage, and expand their home data and entertainment networks. The integration is intended to allow service providers to offer consumers the first easy-to-use and comprehensive secured Internet experience, whether at home or on-the-go, the companies say.

Applied Broadband Inc.
Pipeline Broadband Intelligence Product Suite
This enhanced version of the suite includes an improved Universal IP Detail Record (IPDR) Engine as well as two new applications, Pipeline Meter and Pipeline Analytics. The suite allows cable operators to extract historical and real-time intelligence from their networks to address metered billing, bandwidth management, subscriber policy enforcement, and other business objectives. The enhancements to the Pipeline IPDR Engine include handling all advanced service definitions and IPDR requirements in the Docsis 3.0 standard; using semantic routing to send IPDR streams from one CMTS to multiple network and service management applications; and real-time stream processing to eliminate delays from batch processing.

BelAir Networks Inc.
BelAirOS Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) module
Designed to optimize network resource utilization and service mix for service-provider WiFi, the module embeds policy enforcement, traditionally an edge-network-based function, into any BelAir networks access point.It integrates directly with the carrier edge (for routing and tunneling) and core (for policy management). Capabilities and applications include dynamic local offloading, dynamic tunneling, QoS from core to end customer, and multi-carrier virtual networks.

BelAirOS Very High Capacity and Interference (VHCI) module
According to the company, the module is designed to address the opportunities and challenges of serving a high density of WiFi-access users within a relatively constrained area. It encompasses software features such as modulation control, adaptive cell size control, and AP load balancing, as well as network planning guidelines and monitoring and management features that deliver high throughput while minimizing interference and its effects.

Concurrent Computer Corp.
MediaHawk VX
A video delivery system whose features include: (a) Integrated streaming and download delivery (HTTP progressive download, dynamic bit-rate HTTP streaming, RTSP streaming featuring gatling resiliency); (b) Support for Web and wireless connected devices (Apple iPhone and iPad, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight [Smooth Streaming]); (c) Origin server, content delivery, and edge caching functionality; (d) 3D content support; (e) Support for multiple hardware platforms (up to 20-Gbit/s output per rack unit, integrated 100% solid-state cache, ultra-high-capacity storage).

HITS
3DTV interactive application
This is an Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) enabled interactive application that allows 3D and 2D content to be viewed simultaneously. The technology can be employed by MSOs to ensure that visual elements such as text or buttons can be delivered in high-quality, viewer-friendly feeds to 3DTV subscribers, the company says.

AxIS ETV Solutions for Programmers
This managed solution for delivering enhanced television (ETV) applications to cable systems includes data PID (packet ID) distribution, management, and monitoring from the HITS Advanced Interactive Services (AxIS). The service allows cable programming networks to deliver ETV applications without integrating them into their linear programming, incurring incremental transponder costs, or harming video quality, the company says. Because the HITS AxIS platform delivers the data feed terrestrially, a television programming network can add ETV applications without affecting its existing satellite loading or the quality of its audio and video distribution.

Next Page: Telecom Software II

Incognito Software Inc.
Broadband Command Center
An auto-configuration server component has been added to allow the software to provision TR-069 devices. It extends the Broadband Command Center’s capabilities by allowing existing customers not only to manage multimedia gateways for value-added features such as gateway configuration, VOIP, WiFi, 3G femtocell, and IPTV set-top box services, but also to support service expansion to non-cable systems such as DSL, PON and WiMax, where TR-069 is the dominant provisioning and management system.

Kansys Inc.
Event Visibility Platform (EVP)
This event-management platform gives carriers the ability to mine, associate, and leverage event data, and is provided on a customized, software-as-a-service framework for content, voice, and data events. The platform's event-centric modules are designed from a content, voice, and data perspective, while event and revenue assurance are consistent across each domain. Carriers can also utilize other modules such as subscriber behavior, audience measurement, carrier access billing, and bandwidth consumption.

Mixed Signals Inc.
Sentry
ETV digital content monitoring enhancements enable the system to monitor enhanced television (ETV) and advanced advertising applications based on the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF). The company says that, for EBIF-based applications to work properly, triggers must be embedded into program streams, and, when these triggers are activated (by viewers), the additional data must be delivered to set-top boxes. Determining if all these steps are performed correctly across an entire channel lineup is not possible by simply measuring packet loss alone or using other first-generation approaches for ensuring quality of experience (QoE).

OpenTV Corp.
EclipsePlus/xG OnDemand
This advertisement campaign management solution for on-demand TV is currently a beta release, and supports the back-office requirements to monetize dynamic VoD inventory such as short-form (pre-, mid-, and post-rolls) and long-form (showcase) advertising. The solution allows sophisticated management of copy versions and audience segmentation to provide relevant, audience-specific advertising to viewers. Supporting the SCTE-130 family of standards as well as CableLabs specifications for advanced advertising, it uses Web-based technologies to link content management, audience qualification, and placement opportunities to make the most out of an operator’s VoD programming, the company says.

Sandvine Inc.
Network Data Analytics
This is a subscriber data management solution that is designed for the broadband data market and focuses on providing business intelligence by managing and analyzing data. Capabilities include: (a) Analysis that correlates and compares network trends and predictions across access technologies to assist in capacity planning and the definition of service tiers; (b) Measurable business impact through detailed market segmentation and subscriber persona modeling; (c) Network-wide visibility to provide insight into application-level network traffic; (d) Integration with billing systems and other account metrics for a holistic view of market segmentation; and (e) Customizable dashboards with easily understood metrics and visuals that can be tailored to functional roles and responsibilities.

Sigma Systems Canada Inc.
Subscriber Information Service (SIS) Version 2.0
Enhancements include: (a) Support for EBIF interactive TV environments; (b) Stronger privacy policies for more secure management of subscriber information; and (c) Improved performance to ensure sub-second response times for run-time advertising requirements. In addition, SIS 2.0 includes the latest support for SCTE 130 compliance.

XIS
This solution for content management and advanced advertising offers a bundle of backplane services, defined by the SCTE 130 standard for advanced advertising, that works with any front-end system also defined by the standard. It consists of a Content Information Service (CIS) and Placement Opportunity Information Service (POIS) provided by This Technology LLC, and a Subscriber Information Service (SIS) from Sigma Systems that connects into an Ad Management Service (ADM) or Ad Decision Service (ADS) to enable a turnkey, open standards approach to managing content, inventory, and subscriber information for advanced advertising in linear, interactive, dynamic, and IPTV environments.

THX Ltd.
THX Media Director
This cable-network metadata technology delivers metadata over a cable network to a high-definition set-top box to enable the subscriber’s TV and home audio system to automatically select the appropriate aspect ratio, color space, surround sound modes, 2D and 3D display features, movie/sports/games modes, and other settings unique to the content being presented. The technology is designed to integrate with existing cable infrastructure, including the installed base of set-top boxes via firmware update.

Next Page: Video Infrastructure

Arris Group Inc.
IP Video Architecture
The company says its new architecture supports operators that prefer to start with a hybrid IP and MPEG/DVB approach as well as those that want to migrate to a full IP architecture in one step. It comprises various elements, including: (a) EGTVIPr Video Transcoding Platform; (b) Docsis 3.0 C4 CMTS; (c) ServAssure network monitoring system; (d) ConvergeMedia Management back-office software and streaming servers; (e) ConvergeMedia SkyVision ad insertion system; and (f) Whole Home Solution of gateways and IP media players. It is intended to scale cost effectively from initial small trials to network-wide regional or national deployments. This is accomplished by re-using a substantial portion of existing headend equipment including existing CMTS infrastructure, which will eventually transition to the Converged Multiservice Access Platform (CMAP) architecture.

Touchstone
A new series of Docsis 3.0 embedded multimedia terminal adapters (E-MTAs), the first four new models in the series are: (a) The TM802 E-MTA, with 8x4 channel bonding and battery backup; (b) The TM902 E-MTA, with 8x4 channel bonding, without battery backup; (c) The TG852 wireless gateway, with 8x4 channel bonding, 802.11n wireless capability battery backup, and 4-port GigE routing; and (d) The CM900 data modem, with 8x4 channel bonding. The company says that subsequent models will have similar options for 802.11n wireless functionality; will be available with or without battery backup; and will have advanced diagnostics and reporting capabilities, as well as a variety of other features and configurations designed to meet the evolving needs of cable operators around the world.

XMS Mini and XMS 2K Flash
Providing new solutions for the ConvergeMedia XMS Distribution Platform, the XMS Mini is designed to provide cost-effective video on demand (VoD) and advertising insertion capabilities for hospitality and small service provider deployments, like VoD in a Box. The XMS 2K Flash is a scalable content delivery device utilizing Flash solid state storage technology. The company says it offers high performance, low power consumption, and solid state reliability, particularly suited for the content distribution network (CDN) edge.

Blonder Tongue Laboratories Inc.
EdgeQAM-420
This is an encrypted EdgeQAM, which accepts HD content through its GbE input interface, and delivers up to eight outputs in QAM format, protected with Pro:Idiom encryption, in the 54 to 864MHz range. It can be configured with four output modules, each delivering up to three adjacent QAM outputs. Each QAM channel can contain two HD programs encoded in MPEG-4 or MPEG-2 for a total of 24 HD programs per unit. The QAM is designed to accept up to one GbE of input from several sources; to transcode program streams into QAM; and to add Pro:Idiom encryption to each program stream. This allows the operator to aggregate up to 24 HDTV programs over eight QAM RF channels suitable for delivery over a standard coaxial distribution network in commercial facilities such as hotels, hospitals, assisted living residences, and universities, the company says.

HDE-2H-QAM
This is a 2:1 encoder and multiplexer that accepts and auto-detects up to two inputs in HDMI and YPbPr (component) formats; digitizes and MPEG-2 encodes each into an HD-1080i/720p stream; and multiplexes the resulting two streams into one QAM output. Any combination of input multiplexing is allowed – for example, 2xHDMI or (1xHDMI) + (1xYPbPr). The encoder supports Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding and Closed Captioning (EIA-608), and is equipped with an EAS interface and an ancillary ASI output port.

Cisco Systems Inc.
uBR-MC20x20V and uBR-MC88V
These are cable-modem termination system (CMTS) linecards. The uBR-MC20x20V is a Docsis 3.0 Broadband Processing Engine, with 20 upstream and 20 downstream channels per module and fits into the company's uBR10012 CMTS chassis. Each uBR10012 can hold eight linecards. The uBR-MC88V supports eight upstream and eight downstream channels and is designed to add Docsis 3.0 capabilities and help extend the life of the uBR7200 Series CMTS platform, the smaller predecessor of the uBR10012. The older card for the uBR7200 Series supplied eight upstream and just two downstream ports.

Motorola Inc.
APEX1500 Edge QAM
Designed, according to the company, to provide a flexible, high-density, universal edge QAM to enable more cost-effective deployment of service providers' narrowcast content to subscribers, it offers a standards-based solution with support for SDV and VoD, including Modular Headend Architecture (MHA), VoD encryption, and RF port-level redundancy in a two-rack-unit platform. It also supports full-session VoD encryption, allowing every VoD session to be uniquely encrypted for each set-top. Additionally, when used with the Motorola SDV solution, it supports edge encryption of SDV streams for Mediacipher markets, thus eliminating the need for a separate, centralized network encryption device.

DCX3501-M
This is an all-digital, high-definition, dual-tuner MR-DVR set-top box that offers an integrated MoCA home networking interface, which allows it to serve as a multimedia hub for sharing content with other compatible devices in the home, creating an IP home network, the company says. It is compatible with the company's DCT legacy software API set and is tru2way-capable for compatibility with both new and already deployed applications. It includes an internal 500GB hard drive in a new design, allowing easy upgrade and replacement by the cable operator. DVR expansion is also supported via the external hard disk drives (eSATA).

RX48
This is a cable-modem termination system (CMTS) blade that provides a dedicated upstream blade designed for the company's BSR64000 CMTS. A fully optimized RX48 provides nearly 1.5 Gbit/s of upstream capacity per module, and is a candidate for Docsis 3.0 installations that use upstream channel bonding to produce upstream bursts of 100 Mbit/s or more. According to the company, the use of the RX48 and the existing TX32 Decoupled Downstream module helps the BSR64000 now offer the lowest I-CMTS power performance rating (kilowatt-per-hour to Docsis channel ratio) in the industry.

Universal Remote Control Inc.
UR2-DTA
This user remote control is designed to operate digital-to-analog converter boxes, which many operators have rolled out as temporary solutions for reclaiming bandwidth, the company says, and for which typical OEM remote controls for these installations commonly only operate the converter box. The UR2-DTA is an efficient two-device remote that is specifically intended for use with a digital-to-analog converter and a television set.

Vividlogic
VividLogic tru2way software
Available fully integrated with an optimized version of the OCAP Reference Implementation (OCAP RI) from CableLabs, this is said by the company to represent the first commercially available comprehensive tru2way solution to include all software components necessary for a tru2way set-top box, pre-integrated with the Intel Media Processor CE Family and Broadcom 7420 SOC.

— Tim Hills is a freelance telecommunications writer and journalist. He's a regular author of Light Reading reports.

Back to Introduction


Copyright © 2012 United Business Media LLC, All rights reserved.