OpenVault adds network troubleshooting tech as cable preps for DOCSIS 4.0

Broadband data and analysis company OpenVault is expanding into the world of proactive network maintenance (PNM) via the acquisition of Nimble This, a company founded by cable industry vet Brady Volpe that specializes in monitoring and troubleshooting RF and DOCSIS broadband networks.

OpenVault originally approached Nimble This about reselling its PNM products. "But the more we talked, it made sense to combine forces," OpenVault CEO Mark Trudeau said.

Financial terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, but Volpe, whose company competes with companies such as Viavi, is staying on as chief product officer of OpenVault. Volpe founded Nimble This in 2013 and he's worked for several test and measurement companies that have been tied to M&A activity over the years, including JDSU, Sunrise Telecom, C-COR and Filtronic Sigtek.

Nimble This' product lineup includes upstream spectrum analyzers, full-band capture analyzers (which provide visibility into RF signals in broadband subscriber homes), PNM tech that finds network impairments and a mobile app that incorporates access to downstream and upstream spectral analysis.

Trudeau said the deal effectively helps to round out his company's expertise, with Nimble This' focus on RF tech complementing OpenVault's traditional focus on IP-based technologies.

RF expertise

"Our main focus has always been at the RF level," Volpe said of Nimble This. "We find physical plant problems in the outside plant and in the subscriber's home. Beyond that, we can really tell the cable operators where those problems are – in the home or in the outside plant – and what the problem is and where to go look for it."

By coming together with OpenVault, operators will have both RF and IP visibility, giving them a "complete picture of where the problem is," Volpe added.

In addition to collecting and analyzing broadband network data, OpenVault has increased its focus on Profile Management Application (PMA) technologies. Initially supported by DOCSIS 3.1 and extended to DOCSIS 4.0, PMA helps operators boost the data performance of cable modems. It does that by enabling DOCSIS modems, individually, to use the best possible modulation for every frequency in the cable spectrum rather than limiting that to the best modulation that all modems on the system can use based on variables such as interference and noise levels.

Trudeau said the acquisition would also expand OpenVault's customer base, including the addition of several Tier 1 operators that use Nimble This' product lineup. Following the deal, he estimates that OpenVault now works with more than 80 operators worldwide.

Gearing up for DOCSIS 4.0

Trudeau and Volpe believe both PNM and PMA will take on much greater roles as cable operators push ahead with DOCSIS 4.0, an emerging CableLabs specification that adds spectrum that can fuel symmetrical multi-gigabit broadband services.

Volpe said that DOCSIS 4.0 is "significantly more complex" for operators and their technicians as more frequency spectrum is added to the mix. He said some in the industry view PNM as a requirement for operators to effectively manage and deploy DOCSIS 4.0 networks.

"We think the market opportunity is huge for our combined solutions," Trudeau added.

OpenVault's deal for Nimble This arrives about 18 months after it acquired Velocidata, a data specialist that helped to underpin OpenVault's PMA capabilities.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading