Motorola rolled out three new boxes — the first all-digital set-top family with built-in home media networking capabilities. They reportedly simplify whole-home DVR and share music and photos around the home. The QIP6416 is a HD-capable, dual-tuner DVR with watch-and-record capability; the QIP6200 is a single-HD tuner set-top; and the QIP2500 is a single-tuner standard-def model.

These three set-tops are the first to include built-in home media networking capabilities. Using MoCA technology, the QIP boxes can create a multimedia network using the existing coaxial cable net in the home. This network is capable of transporting high-def video, high-quality digital voice, and high-speed data to televisions, DVR, game consoles, wireless access points and home computers. The products also are unique because they support two different network architectures — both QAM and video-over-IP.

I Want My 'Just for Me' TV

Harmonic announced a multichannel digital mosaic system that it says seamlessly integrates with video headend, transport and customer premises equipment. The new IP-based ProStream 8000, an MPEG-in/MPEG-out software solution, tiles several channels within a single digital video stream, and offers the viewer a composite multiprogram view. In addition, the product enables promotions and previews, regional customizations, additional paid programming formats, as well as specialty program groupings including sports, news and children's channels.

"Television is rapidly evolving toward a model where users can receive a unique 'just for me' experience," said Gil Katz, director of digital video solutions at Harmonic. "In addition to offering a more visual way to navigate through a seemingly ever increasing range of programs, the ProStream 8000 affords a compelling and convenient way to cross-promote services, such as VOD within the broadcast environment."

Engineering, Management and Training Services

Cable and CE Bigs Powwow at CES

Cable and consumer electronics excecs took advantage of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month to discuss elements of their pending plans for system preparation and early trials of advanced interactive digital video technologies. CableLabs organized the news conference at CES where the execs focused on the OCAP and two-way OpenCable (digital cable-ready) devices.

Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable chairman/CEO, said that beginning in 2006 his company would deploy OCAP capabilities in headends serving five markets with a combined customer base of about 2.5 million consumers. Comcast Chair/CEO Brian Roberts said that his company would deploy OCAP in 2006 in Philadelphia; Denver; Union, NJ; and Boston.

Advance/Newhouse Chairman/CEO Robert Miron reported that his company would enable OCAP devices in Indianapolis. Charter President/CEO Neil Smit said OCAP will be deployed in select Charter markets beginning in 2006. Other cable companies making similar announcements included Cox and Cablevision.

Consumer electronics manufacturers LG Electronics, Panasonic and Samsung also were at the CES press conference. LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Digeo and other consumer electronics companies, have signed the CableLabs CableCARD Host Interface Licensing Agreement (CHILA), which defines the two-way host profiles that use OCAP, so that they can build two-way digital cable-ready products.

Distribution

Outside plant, construction, installation and transmission products including amplifiers, test and monitoring equipment, fiber-optic cable, conduit...

ADC Rises to the Cable Management Challenge

ADC added the RiserGuide on-demand cable management system to its FiberGuide family. RiserGuide is built on the Snap-Fit, which the company says provides flexible, optimized cable management and tool-free installation for both horizontal and vertical rack riser apps. Specifically, the system can be installed between active equipment racks or cabinets for a vertical application as well as directly in the rack or cabinet for horizontal apps.

WiFi/WiMax

Videophone Chipset Could Transform Voice

Broadcom released what it says is "the world's first Wi-Fi videophone chipset for wireless handsets and desktop video IP phones."

The Wi-Fi chipset includes support for high-resolution video communication standards including H.264 and H.263, video rates of up to 30 frames per second, and QCIF to CIF full-duplex video resolutions for sharp, smooth digital video that is interoperable with other devices and apps.

It also includes an integrated display controller that is capable of supporting a range of LCD displays, as well as PAL/NTSC TV-Out. The BCM4318E WLAN device supports WMM (a wireless quality of service protocol that gives priority to voice and video packets), WPA/WPA2 security, Broadcom's SecureEasySetup software, which provides device configuration with the touch of a button, and Broadcom's BroadRange technology for improved wireless range and coverage.

Sports Center on Your Palm?

MobiTV launched its WiFi-enabled MobiTV service for the Palm T|X handheld. It also made the service available to Palm Treo 600 users.

The company will deliver broadcast-quality television at 24 frames per second and offer more than a dozen channels including ABC News Now, Bloomberg, C-SPAN, Comedy Time, ESPN 3GTV, Fashion TV, Fox News, Fox Sports, MAXX Sports, NanoTV, The Weather Channel and ToonWorld TV, with more channels to be added. Subs will be able to connect to MobiTV over home and corporate WiFi nets as well as the over 30,000 WiFi hotspots.

Transport Platforms and Solutions

BigBand Strikes Up Cuda 6.0

BigBand Networks released Version 6.0 of its Cuda CMTS. It's currently available and can be installed on existing deployments by software upgrade.

The company says that Version 6.0 is designed to improve delivery of real-time services such as VoIP and IPTV. Features include support for hitless software upgrades that maintain service sessions through deployment modification, enhancement of integrated redundant elements with rapid failover time, standards-based integration with multimedia services, and robust signal delivery both upstream and downstream in multiple plant conditions.

Service Electric Opts for OpVista

Service Electric Cablevision has deployed OpVista's transport system, which uses the vendor's ROADM and Ultra-DWDM technology and its switch ring architecture (SRA). Service Electric serves approximately 300,000 subs across Pennsylvania.

The OpVista network deployed optically interconnects systems across Pennsylvania and New Jersey on two interconnected rings. It is 100% dynamically reconfigurable, provides fast optical protection, and spans 700 km with no dispersion compensation or regeneration. The network supports bidirectional transport of GigE for VOD, digital simulcast, VoIP and commercial IP data traffic, as well as unidirectional broadcast video traffic. The OpVista Intelligent Transport solution includes ROADMs based on a broadcast and select architecture providing point-and-click reconfigurability, and a switched ring network accommodating any-to-any traffic patterns with full mesh protection switching.

Moto Bulks Up M-CMTS and Channel Bonding Assets

Motorola acquired assets from Broadband Innovations, the San Diego-based developer of RF and digital technologies. This acquisition is said to strengthen Moto's modular CMTS (M-CMTS) and channel bonding solutions with patented innovations in signal transmission performance, size and power consumption.

Next-Gen Voice

VoIP, wireless voice, media gateways, multimedia terminal adapters, call management servers, PacketCable, SIP...

Whaleback Heats Up SMB Space with Biz Phone Solution

Whaleback Systems SMB1500 business phone solution

Whaleback Systems just released the SMB1500 business phone solution that operates over a broadband connection instead of a traditional phone line. It is the first and only premise-based and software-driven enterprise system on the market, according to the company. Whaleback says it reduces companies' telecommunications expenses and eliminates fluctuating monthly costs with an all-inclusive, flat rate per-station service package. The package includes unlimited calling throughout North America; an IP multi-line executive handset; voicemail, video calling, desktop messaging, remote access, caller ID, speed dial, call forwarding, direct inward dialing, local number portability, auto-attendant, first-class sound quality, E911 coverage, and U.S.-based technical support.

The SMB1500 is reportedly the only IP PBX with key system unit features such as shared and bridged line appearances, intercom with hands-free response and group paging. Whaleback's exclusive "Road Warrior Functionality" connects multiple offices, mobile employees and telecommuters, and one-click dialing enables users to highlight a phone number in any type of electronic file (PDF, DOC, PST, HTML, etc.) and instantly call the number without keying it into the handset.

Feature: Commercial Services Aim to Fill Cable's Dance Card: Part 1

By Laura Hamilton, Editor, Broadband Gear Report

Broadband cable has "danced with the one what brung ya" for many decades, and that's proven a sturdy strategy up to now. Cable's legacy is in the home, focusing on the video, voice and data consumer, and that usually is the first reason given if you ask why the industry hasn't made more inroads into supplying commercial services.

Serious Business

"As the modern cable 'TV' industry morphs into the broader telecommunications sector, its heritage in the consumer media domain may be forestalling an even bolder migration," Steven Rosati, partner at Accenture, said at SCTE's Commercial Services Symposium in September. "Not only is the small and medium business (SMB) commercial services market larger than the entirety of U.S. cable industry revenues, it is also growing faster than the market for residential video, data and voice services."

Rosati is quick to point out that the world of commercial communications operates under stricter performance demands and exhibits far less tolerance for even rare or isolated network failures than the residential marketplace. "Cost-effectively achieving a commercial services operational presence at scale requires working with partners from the beginning, mitigating the risk of repeating the CLEC history," he warns.

Grab Your Partner

Accenture is one of the companies offering managed services to MSOs looking to expand services to SMBs. The company offers a low-risk "testing" environment with "no or a low upfront investment (but still with service level agreements)."

Whaleback Systems also is hanging its hat firmly on cable's opportunities in the commercial space.

"The majority of the operators we talk with are more interested in developing partnerships with existing specialists in business customer support," Wray West, founder and VP of engineering at Whaleback, recently told Broadband Gear Report. "In this model, the operator provides reliable access bandwidth and reliable PSTN connectivity and they work hand in hand with a local IT or telephony business supplier to deal with the customer premise support and operation. This permits a high margin additional revenue source to be tapped while leveraging the organization expertise that is already in place."

For information on Whaleback's VoIP business phone solutions, see the "Next-Gen Voice" section of this issue. Also, if you're reading this from SCTE's Emerging Technologies Conference in Tampa, FL, you can stop by Whaleback's VoIP Lounge to make free calls throughout North America using the company's new SMB1500 system.

Leveraging DOCSIS

Another opportunity in the enterprise services arena comes from CableMatrix Technologies and iNOC, which recently integrated their platforms to provide a turnkey commercial services solution with "guaranteed premium performance across multiple access networks." The offering allows MSOs to provide a commercial service package that leverages the DOCSIS network, supported by an end-to-end service level agreement. Operators can now provide their commercial customers with a dedicated network solution for their corporate facilities, complemented by enhanced broadband service for telecommuters and satellite offices.

"Our solution turns diverse metro and access networks into a single, managed entity," Prasad Ravi, iNOC CEO, says. "CableMatrix's On Demand Service Platform (ODSPTM), with its ability to control QoS on a per-customer basis, turns the HFC-based commercial data service into an extension of the enterprise network."

Look for more on commercial service solutions in Part 2 of this article, which will run in the Jan. 25 issue of "BGR."

Advanced Video and Interactivity

An Integrated Channel Bonding First Touted by Broadcom

The industry's first front-end cable TV set-top box chip with integrated channel bonding technology was announced by Broadcom. Channel bonding is a DOCSIS 3.0 feature that dramatically increases the transmission speed of a cable network, enabling MSOs to migrate to an all-IP network platform.

The BCM3255 set-top box chip interfaces with Broadcom's BCM7400 dual HD AVC/VC/MPEG-2 decoder chip. The BCM7400, also just released, is a single-chip backend solution that supports the latest video compression technologies, including AVC (the ITU and ISO joint standard) and VC-1 (the SMPTE standard) for HD programming. The BCM3255 and BCM7400, when combined with multiple BCM3420 tuners, provide manufacturers with a complete HD AVC, DVR cable TV media center design that can support channel speeds of up to 120 Mbps with multiple HD AVC streams, advanced DCAS security features, up to 1600 DMIPs processing power, and a complete home networking management package.

Taiwanese Op CherryPicks Terayon

Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan recently selected the Terayon DM 6400 Network CherryPicker for its Multimedia on Demand (MOD) architecture. Chunghwa, which launched MOD in Taipei and North Taiwan in March 2004, is utilizing the DM 6400 in conjunction with an expansion of the service. DM 6400 units in Taipei are aggregating and distributing 18 MPEG-2 video streams via GigE interfaces to Taichung and Kaohsiung.

Charter Taps Arroyo for VOD

Charter reports it will use Arroyo OnDemand to support the rollout of VOD in Alcoa, TN.

"Arroyo's open standards approach to VOD allowed easy integration with the C-COR nABLE platform in Alcoa for our business management and session-resource management capabilities," Pragash Pillai, Charter VP of advanced engineering, digital video, says. "Arroyo OnDemand, together with C-COR's nABLE back-office system, provides us with a flexible, end-to-end VOD solution and the ability to add new features, functions, hardware and applications quickly and effortlessly while taking full advantage of the advancements the computer industry delivers today."

ICTV and Amiga Marry Interactive Apps

ICTV and Amiga announced a development and marketing distribution agreement that will allow ops to run the AmigaAnywhere application engines on ICTV's HeadendWare platform for the delivery and distribution of ITV. The combined technologies will enable an interactive triple play in which subs to HeadendWare-based services can interact with the same content across PCs, mobile devices and on television.

The Digital Home

Set-tops, DVRs, home networking,CPEs, CableHome, integrated cable modem gateways...

Comcast Cracks Its Wallet for New RNG Boxes

Comcast and Panasonic announced the industry's first agreement for the manufacture and deployment of Comcast's new series of digital set-tops, referred to as "RNG." These boxes will be OCAP-compliant. In another first, the companies have also agreed to make Panasonic's OCAP middleware available to Comcast, as well as to jointly explore and develop extensions to the OCAP specs. The set-tops will have HD DVR capabilities with a minimum of 250 GB storage capacity, which essentially doubles the amount of DVR storage currently available on Comcast DVR boxes. In addition, these boxes will have both MPEG-2 and H.264 decoder capabilities.

In related news, Comcast signed a multiyear digital set-top purchase agreement with Samsung. Beginning in '07 Comcast will purchase 200,000 — and subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, an additional 500,000 — OCAP-compliant digital boxes that will be capable of running advanced video codecs such as all facets of MPEG- 4 including H.264 as well as MPEG-2. In addition, these devices are designed to leverage DOCSIS 2.0 and USB 2.0 to enable advanced interactive applications. These devices also are part of Comcast's newly developed RNG series of digital boxes.

LG Makes Life Good for DCAS

LG Electronics joined forces with CableLabs for retail consumer electronics devices employing downloadable conditional access system (DCAS) technology. DCAS offers a cost-effective, network-agnostic solution for interactive two-way devices that connect to cable systems. It allows the cable op to download its conditional access system(s) of choice to devices connected to the cable network. DCAS is designed to operate with interactive cable set-top boxes as well as integrated DTVs and other retail devices that include a special chip. The Downloadable CAS Agreement is available to any consumer electronics manufacturer on a nondiscriminatory basis.

HD Box Pre-Integration Highlighted at CES

OpenTV Corp., in association Silicon & Software Systems (S3) and Nagravision, used the Consumer Electronics Show to demo the results of an ongoing collaboration to provide pre-integrated solutions that enable accelerated time-to-market for set-top box manufacturers and ops who want to deploy secure, interactive, high-def STB solutions. The demonstration was based upon the ST710x reference design platform and provides an integrated solution that includes OpenTV's Core 2.0 Middleware, S3's coLinkTV adaptation software, and Nagravision's Conditional Access System.

Network Management, OSS and Software

Bandwidth management, tiering, service control switches, provisioning and support

Adelphia Mixes Up New Digital Content Monitoring

Adelphia's system in Ontario, CA, deployed Mixed Signals' Sentry digital content monitor, which will provide digital ad tracking and auditing in the Los Angeles area for Adelphia's digital network. Sentry provides historical reporting and alerting options based on network-specific business rules, enabling ops to gain insight into their digital nets. It also provides complete ad insertion auditing for DPI systems. The latest feature of Sentry includes an MPEG/IP interface that supports monitoring of MPEG streams across MPEG/IP unicast or multicast groups.

Spotlight

All in the Digital Family: Moto Intros Three Set-Tops