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• How to Address the Packet Cable Environment's Unique Challenges JDSU's Roger Lingle discusses ways to avoid VoIP service quality pains.

Products

Monitor the Monitors: Mixed Signals Rolls Out Medius

Mixed Signals announced Medius, a solution for large systems that require a greater number of the company's Sentry units to support their networks. With Medius, Mixed Signals' customers have access to features such as remote alarm management, an ETR 290 "dashboard" display, visual drilldown displays for alert notification and activity detail down to the individual PID and MPEG table level. Medius allows ops to produce management reports on the efficiency of their entire system, and allows for the aggregation and correlation of reports from multiple locations. It provides a centralized console for ops to communicate with all remote Sentrys.

Mixed Signals says that key benefits of Medius include:

• Configuration of any Sentry digital content monitor on the network, including program grouping and mapping, port names, carousel settings, digital ad insertion, multicast groups and system settings.
• Convenient access to remotely monitor and manage Sentry(s).
• "Dashboard" view to provide an alert summary, aggregating alerts from various Sentry units across the network and allowing users to immediately focus on and address individual problem areas;
• "Alert Console" allows users to create and configure individual, grouped, or global alerts that apply to Sentry units on the network.
• Ability to group any channels or programs with the same or similar characteristics (by connection, location, nature of programs, audio only, etc.) across different Sentry units to more easily identify and troubleshoot issues and better understand operational inefficiencies.

SMC Revs Up EZ Router

SMC Networks announced the new EZ Connect commercial cable modem router, the SMC8004-BCM. Designed for small- to mid-sized business, hospitality and ISP applications, the router is DOCSIS 1.1-certified and 2.0-ready. It is equipped with 4 MB Flash ROM, 16 MB SDRAM and TurboDOX technology to provide downstream data transmission rates of up to 38Mbps and 30Mbps upstream.

The EZ Connect SMC8004-BCM is said to be designed with the robustness of a commercial router with static IP support via RIP v1 & v2, and offers remote troubleshooting with CLI and GUI to help eliminate truck rolls. With dual ports (USB & Ethernet), it supports up to 16 simultaneous users in the default cable mode. The SMC8004-BCM has a GUI that allows two logins for static IP and DHCP server settings. It supports Class A address space and has an 8 CDIR block in router mode, and provides cable ops with remote management access via Telnet, HTTP, HTTPS or SNMP, secured by Radius authentication. IP address filtering and DES data encryption ensure the privacy of information transmitted over the cable net.

Sigma to Take Over C-COR Service Management Assets

C-COR will transition the product development and support for its Service Activation Manager (SAM) and Service Provisioning Manager (SPM) to Sigma Systems. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and should be completed this quarter. On closing, Sigma will obtain an exclusive interest from C-COR in the SAM and SPM products and assume all of the service provider licensing and software maintenance contracts for the products. C-COR will continue to wholly own its other OSS products, including Key Distribution Center (KDC), Policy Service Manager (PSM), Network Service Manager (NSM), Mobile Workforce Manager (MWM), and CableEdge.

C-COR and Sigma Systems have also agreed to terms whereby the companies will co-market and co-sell integrated OSS solutions to the global cable marketplace.

Carrier Access Psuedowires CableLabs Conference

Carrier Access Corp. demonstrated its pseudowire solution for managed wireless backhaul services during CableLabs Summer Conference in Colorado earlier this month. The MASTERseries platform is a rack-mountable eight- or two-slot configurable chassis that adapts to various customer configurations using hot-swappable service modules. Compatible with RAN legacy platforms, it has been deployed in tens of thousands of cell sites in Tier 1 wireless service provider networks. Powered by Carrier Access' innovative FLEXengine network processor technology on FLEXmaster Service Modules, the MASTERseries enables a software-definable transport network evolution for service providers from voice to multi-media applications with support for all RAN traffic types, including legacy, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA/CDMA/EVDO and LAN.

Cedar Point Highlights New SIP and IMS Developments

Cedar Point Communications showcased new developments in SIP-based and IMS applications for cable telephony providers at the CableLabs Summer Conference August 6-9 in Keystone, CO. The company showed advanced SIP applications that increase subscriber dialing flexibility, and highlighted interoperation with core elements that support the anticipated migration to IMS platforms for fixed mobile convergence.

The only totally integrated carrier class VoIP switch that incorporates all of the components that make up the voice switching infrastructure, SAFARI C³ provides seamless evolution to SIP-based features and an IMS architecture, according to Cedar Point. Additionally, the company reports that SAFARI C³ provides superior performance and reliability, significantly reducing capital expenditures, system integration and operations costs for cable operators offering telephony services while increasing network integrity, security and privacy.

Sandvine Highlights Tiered Services at CableLabs Confab

Sandvine demonstrated application-based tiering services using PacketCable MultiMedia (PCMM) at CableLabs Summer Conference in Colorado this month. Using gaming (Xbox) and video streaming (Slingbox) services as examples of subscriber applications, Sandvine's PCMM-enabled architecture is said to combine subscriber awareness with application awareness to ensure subscriber QoS. Sandvine demonstrated how PCMM can be used to implement tiered-application levels, protecting the online experience from competing traffic and the impact of network congestion.

In both examples, a subscriber was identified by Sandvine and presented with a customer care portal. The sub was able to upgrade and improve his or her service by indicating the availability of advanced service levels offering guaranteed QoS for gaming and video streaming, respectively. In the example, the sub was dissatisfied with the jitter tainting the game-play or video streaming, and elected for a new service level. From that point onwards, the corresponding customer profile showed the sub as a premium customer and Sandvine explained how it ensures low latency and jitter, improving the sub's online experience.

Do You Have the Digital Video Chops to Be SCTE Certified?

The exam for the new SCTE certification program, Digital Video Engineering Professional (DVEP), was finalized and is now available for all industry professionals interested in pursuing the new credential. The Society put the 100-question, multiple-choice online exam through a beta-testing period recently to help fine tune the final product.

This new SCTE professional credential certifies knowledge in the engineering aspects of digital video systems as deployed in the cable telecommunications industry. The scope of the DVEP certification includes the design, analysis, testing, integration, deployment considerations and troubleshooting of a variety of digital video systems. Specifics include engineering management and professionalism; facilities and physical aspects; digital video theory; digital video systems design and performance analysis; digital video systems test and integration; and digital video systems deployment.

Anyone interested in pursuing the SCTE DVEP certification or any of the Society's six other certification programs can find details in the Certification section of SCTE's Web site.

Andrew Bows Out of the Merger Dance

Andrew Corp. and ADC Telecommunications mutually agreed to terminate the merger agreement announced on May 31. The companies believe that "current market considerations raised serious questions about the ability to obtain necessary shareholder approval." In related news, the board of directors of Andrew voted unanimously to reject the unsolicited proposal from CommScope to acquire Andrew.

Ciena and Nortel Make Nice

Ciena and Nortel reached an agreement to settle two patent lawsuits between the companies that were pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Pursuant to the settlement, the companies entered into a long-term patent cross-license agreement. Both the original lawsuit brought by Ciena against Nortel in January 2005 and a second patent infringement case filed by Nortel against Ciena in April 2006 are to be dismissed.

Cisco Invests Big in Nuova Systems

Cisco has made an investment in Nuova Systems Inc. to accelerate next-generation product development in its data center. Cisco said it has committed certain technology and $50 million of funding to Nuova Systems with the possibility of up to $42 million in additional funding in the future. Nuova Systems will be 80% owned by Cisco, with the remaining 20% held by Nuova employees. Cisco has the option to buy the remaining 20% and if it exercises this option, the transaction would occur in late 2008 or early 2009.

Feature: How to Address the Packet Cable Environment's Unique Challenges

By Roger Lingle, JDSU

When deploying VoIP, today's cable operators — since they operate in a packet cable environment — face many unique technical challenges when compared to delivering high-speed data and TV services.

Consider that VoIP is highly sensitive to network conditions and voice quality is significantly affected by packet loss, jitter and delay. To complicate matters, these degradation factors, from an end-to-end network perspective, can be introduced at any point as the voice travels through many different network elements and different transport mechanisms. Elements in the network where trouble may arise include the MTA at the subscriber home, the DOCSIS channel over the electrical and optical HFC access network, the CMTS router, a PSTN media gateway, or an announcement/voicemail server.

This sensitivity places intense demands on an operator's customer service and engineering organizations to manage voice service quality and workflow between disparate groups (both corporate and regional) spanning the HFC plant, CMTS hub site, IP network and voice PSTN gateways. The potential result? A large increase in the number of truck rolls as compared to high-speed data and a lengthy MTTR. The cause is a lack of coordination for dispatches and lack of information sharing between groups, making voice service management unsustainable even at minimum penetration rates.

Sectionalize and Conquer

To help avoid these service quality pains, it is essential for a cable op to have the ability to sectionalize the network from a centralized location. That way they can detect voice service problems and effectively pinpoint issues to the HFC plant, IP network, PSTN hand-off or customer premise, as well as identify whether a systemic network issue is affecting multiple customers versus a single customer.

From our experience, the following is a typical troubleshooting scenario at a major cable operator. A customer complains to the operator about poor quality "garbled voice" on a call he had placed an hour ago. To troubleshoot this problem, the technician needs to be able to determine the voice call quality over the last few hours for not only the hub site, but also the CMTS to which the customer is connected, and the customer's MTA. With the proper test and measurement tools and system in place, the op is able to monitor and report on voice call quality through all of these network segments.

In this scenario, an analysis reveals no significant call quality degradation at the hub site or at the customer's CMTS during that same time period, indicating the problem is unlikely to be systemic and most probably limited to that particular customer. Next, the technician can view the call quality at the customer's MTA to determine if the problem is intermittent or chronic and how significant the call quality is impacted. The technician can then drill down into the voice RTP stream statistics (MOS, packet loss, delay, jitter) and determine if the problem is directional (i.e., upstream, downstream or both).

Further, the MOS of the call from the customer premise to the far-end turns out to be very poor, while the MOS score in the other direction is good. This narrows the problem area options to the upstream direction. Additionally, the technician notices that there is significant packet loss in the upstream direction, which is indicative of an RF upstream issue in the cable access network.

The technician has successfully sectionalized the problem and identified it to be a physical layer issue causing significant packet loss and routes the trouble ticket to the RF plant engineering/operations group for further troubleshooting.

By using the proper test and measurement tools and systems, built from an intimate understanding of a packet cable environment, the cable op has avoided the costly and time-consuming process of dispatching multiple technicians to find the problem, and has dispatched the right technician to fix the problem, helping to ensure voice quality.

Roger Lingle is VP, Service Assurance Solutions business unit of JDSU's Communications Test and Measurement (T&M) group.

Deployments

• Time Warner Cable signed a two-year purchase agreement for the ARRIS C4 and C³ CMTS products. The MSO already deployed the 1RU-size ARRIS C³ CMTS in several of its systems and, in anticipation of this purchase agreement, placed its first C4 CMTS orders.
• Scopus Video Networks said it received "a significant initial order for its UID-2912 dense edge decoder from a leading U.S. MSO." This particular MSO selected Scopus' UID-2912, an essential component for edge decoding, as part of its comprehensive digital simulcast architecture.
  
  The op certified the decoder for deployment following a number of months of testing, and the deployment marks the first with this particular MSO. This order follows the company's recent announcement that another U.S. cable operator selected Scopus to deliver its IVG-7500 Intelligent video splicer for digital ad insertion.
• Volicon's Observer server platform was selected by Time Warner Cable to provide early and expedient detection of off-air channels. The Observer RPM will monitor over 500 channels at Time Warner network operations and headend facilities. Serving as an advanced desktop video monitoring solution, Observer RPM systems will provide Time Warner Cable staff with intuitive interfaces and capabilities for comprehensive video and audio quality assurance.

The Playing Field

• Auspice Corp. appointed Doug Potts as VP of corporate strategy and product development. He joins Auspice from Comcast, where he served as VP of national voice operations since November 2002, and executive director and VP of network operations for Comcast (AT&T Broadband) since July 1999.
• C-COR named Roger Sherwood VP of service and development for its on-demand and OSS solutions. Sherwood reports directly to John Caezza, president of C-COR's Broadband Systems Solutions, and is based out of the company's Beaverton, OR, facilities. Previously, Sherwood served as C-COR's director of customer solutions, EMEA and AsiaPac, where he helped spearhead international pre-sales and delivery of the company's network management systems. Prior to C-COR, Sherwood served as systems engineering director for Sigma Systems where he built a technical support and solutions delivery team for major projects in Europe.
• Imagine Communications appointed Jamie Howard as president and CEO. Howard joins the company with more than 20 years of experience in the digital media, cable and broadband communications markets. He has held executive engineering and general management positions with Tier 1 MSOs in major markets including TCI in Chicago and Continental in Los Angeles. Most recently, he was COO of BigBand Networks.
• Mark Graves joined Trilithic as applications engineer for the company's instruments group. He has more than 20 years of technical management experience from his days with Northland Cable and various other MSOs. Throughout his career, Graves has held several positions in technical applications, quality assurance and project management. He holds multiple technical certifications through the NCTI and SCTE and is a certified SCTE Proctor.
• Volicon appointed J. Kelly Bloomer as director of sales of the company's cable and broadband department. Bloomer will be directly responsible for the introduction and sales of Volicon's Observer RPM (Remote Program Monitor) products to the U.S. cable industry. Prior to joining Volicon, Bloomer served as the managing director of sales for Perical Solutions LLC. He also has held positions at James Cable Partners, United Artists, Cablevision, Warner Communications and Times Mirror Co.

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