• Cable Gets Down to Business Coverage of SCTE's Business Services Symposium that took place in mid-October near Chicago.

Products

VOD-in-a-Box: C-COR Offers Smaller Market Solution

C-COR announced the n5C compact server, which enables ops serving smaller opportunities to deploy next-gen on-demand applications. Ops that serve smaller markets can launch VOD, digital program insertion (DPI) and advanced advertising, network personal video recording (nPVR), and switched digital video using "a unified low-cost video server platform." C-COR says the product offer a competitive entry point for operators serving communities of 16,000 customers or less. The server is available for deployment in Q4 2006.

The n5C employs components of the company's n5 on-demand server platform, including the nABLE complete back-office management system, and customizes it to meet the specific demands faced by smaller markets. The lower power consuming footprint offers an expandable capacity of 1,500 hours of storage and 960 streams to keep up with customer demands and growing content libraries. The server offers support for both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.

ARRIS, SeaChange Play Nice in Interop Tests

ARRIS's Keystone D5 digital multimedia termination system (DMTS) completed interoperability testing with SeaChange International's VOD system. The testing occurred several months, concluding with the success of a formal test run at SeaChange labs.

The D5 DMTS is able to support digital video EdgeQAM delivery today, while providing a software migratory solution to the much anticipated M-CMTS/DOCSIS 3.0 platform and switched digital video applications.

EGT Among First to Integrate New Features Into Video Processing

EGT introduced several new features to the software interface of its video processing products. Included in these pioneering software tools are increased graphical user interface (GUI) security, advanced data services, enhanced IPTV robustness, and remote access for distributed closed-loop architecture.

EGT says is among the first in the industry to add a GUI-lock feature to its software. This advanced security allows for ops to "lock" their GUI so that other people on the network cannot access or modify the settings of each individual video processor. Now network managers can administrate user levels and permissibility for employees, as well as set or redefine usernames and passwords.

Added data service advancements across all EGT products include automatic markup of lineups (AMOL). EGT reports that it is among the earliest vendors to incorporate AMOL as well as Gemstar2x -- the new standard for carrying TVGuide information.

EGT's ENCORE video processor's feature set has also been expanded to offer wide screen signaling (WSS) and video programming system (VPS), which are said to be critical additions for deployment in international markets. WSS enables TV sets of varying screen sizes to receive and display signals, while VPS enhancements enable multiple functions such as DVR/VCR control and multi-language switching. Also, EGT has enabled ENCORE to encode up to 32 distinct mono audio programs within a single RU encoder.

EGT is one of the first video processing companies to upgrade the IPTV robustness of their equipment enabling operators to stream over several network types, or to restrict streaming over specific networks. This enhancement also includes further smoothing of IP-jitter tolerances, making EGT IP output "the most stable in the industry," according to the company. The new closed-loop feature set allows operators to deploy video processors in remote locations and still realize the benefit of closed-loop bandwidth efficiency.

EGT's MPEG-2 digital video processors allows ops to deliver more channels of content with less bandwidth, reducing rack space and power requirements, eliminating the need for ancillary equipment, and adding future video processing application flexibility.

Antronix Rolls Out Ground Block with Surge Protection

Antronix announced availability of the CLA-15 ground block, featuring 15 kV of surge protection. According to the company, "the device will survive the most hostile environments, while providing years of reliable operation." Said to be ideal for two-way digital applications, the CLA-15 adds an additional layer of protection to withstand surges.

The device employs Antronix's Eclipse Contact Technology (ECT) F-port connectors. ECT grips along the circumference of the center conductor with greater than 400% more contact area than a traditional F-port.

Splice of Life: Scopus Announces Video Splicer

Scopus Video Networks' IVG 7500 intelligent video splicer provides ad insertion, rate shaping, and grooming capabilities for digital simulcast network architectures. The system features seamless SD and HD splicing and standards-based DPI implementation (SCTE 30 and SCTE 35) for compatibility with major ad servers and, in turn, an integrated ad insertion solution within a distributed or centralized all-digital architecture. This capability gives ops the option of inserting local ads and program content, such as off-air or PEG channels, into premium HDTV content.

In addition to its DPI capabilities, the new system offers an advanced joint transrating (JT) statistical multiplexing mechanism, as well as powerful and flexible grooming features and high-quality rate shaping. Advanced management and redundancy solutions built into the IVG 7500 help users maximize uptime.

Feature: Getting Busy on Business Services -- Part 1

Cable engineering execs had 120 billion reasons to meet near Chicago in October at SCTE's Business Services Symposium. That's because by some estimates, the business telecommunications arena represents around $120 billion, and the confab provided an open forum in which to discuss the latest approaches that cable can use to grab a big chunk of the market.

Time Warner's VP of Product Management Kurt Fennell kicked off the discussion by pointing out that cable has many more technology choices than it has in the past for reaching businesses. That means there is a plethora of engineering choices for mining the untapped "gold" from the HFC network that business services represent.

For example, next-gen wireless "is now in cable's reach," according to panelist Dave Park, VP of product marketing at BelAir Networks. He went on to describe a fully mobile metro-wide broadband wireless service that he said allows cable to leapfrog years ahead of competitors' capabilities.

The term "quadruple play" took a drubbing from Paul Braun, senior manager of business development at Motorola who said he didn't like its implications, because wireless offers more than one service opportunity.

In other words, wireless doesn't just add one service, but many opportunities -- wireless voice, wireless data, wireless video and more. Braun believes that the advent of Metro WiFi and the significant WiMAX activity present additional options to MSOs to provide a more ubiquitous wireless service for the commercial community by extending the reach of their current nets to the mobile business customer.

Wireless technology options that enable cable ops to provide fixed wireless to previously unreachable customers were reviewed by Arcwave VP of Marketing Chris Martin. Those choices include WiMAX broadband wireless access (BWA) overlay, WiFi Hot Spot and DOCSIS-based wireless plant extension (WPE), which Martin reviewed in his accompanying white paper.

CommScope's Manager of Application Engineering Mark Vogel described a new option for serving commercial subs that involves a tapped fiber architecture that mimics an HFC network, but is fiber all the way to the customer. The benefit is that it supports core cable services, but it can extend to support wavelength services or a PON architecture. This allows the cable op to provide higher level services like T1 and GigE in addition to core services, Vogel said.

No Less Than the Best

In the "Delivering Carrier-Grade Services" session, Dan Estes, director of network architecture at Cox stressed the fundamental role of service excellence when it comes successfully reaching business customers. "We are going to be the best provider. A customer is not going to experience an outage," he said. "It's an attitude that goes back to the core DNA of Cox when it rolls out a new service."

An analysis of carrier Ethernet in metro networks was offered by Kevin Daines, CTO of World Wide Packets. "Carrier Ethernet has the flexibility to terminate, aggregate and backhaul a wide variety of current and emerging service offerings," Daines said in his white paper. "Based upon solid, interoperable standards, carriers will enjoy its benefits for years to come."

Businesses 'Dying for a Way Out'

At the symposium's keynote luncheon, Dave Pistacchio, EVP and GM at Optimum Lightpath (a Cablevision company) stressed that small and medium businesses have been ignored by many telecom providers. "They are dying for a way out," he said.

Optimum Lightpath boasts the most advanced and fiber-rich network in its geographic footprint, and high network performance and reliability, according to Pistacchio. "We operate on simplicity," he said. That means simple, published pricing plans and easy transactions.

"We nail up bandwidth vs. over-subscribing -- giving customers what they pay for, not less," he continued. "We offer solutions, not just bandwidth."

In order to win in the Metro Ethernet business, Pistacchio offered up the following suggestions:

• Price disruptively.
• Build the best to take market share.
• Provide unparalleled service and be flexible.
• Focus heavily on technical support and service.
• Learn how to sell to businesses because it's not the same as selling to consumers. MSOs need to get better at understanding how businesses think, decide and buy.
• Build channel partnerships.

Watch for Part 2 of this story in the next issue of "Broadband Gear Report."

Deployments

• BendBroadband launched C-COR's On Demand network personal video recording (nPVR) service. The service uses C-COR's real-time encoding and playback technology to offer broadcast programs on the On Demand platform with full PVR capability from the time the scheduled program begins.
  
  The deployment with BendBroadband marks the launch of C-COR's new Local On Demand Packager (LODP) that manages the ingest and metadata entry of real-time content. The LODP platform and C-COR's video server combine to enable nPVR capability. The system is said to be ideally suited for local programming, sports events and highlights and other live events, and scales from a single program to as many as the operator decides to offer. The recorded programming can also remain on the video on demand system for the convenience of digital cable subscribers. The Bend deployment currently includes local news with plans for additional content including high school sports, cooking shows, city council meetings and public broadcasting programs.
• Charter is expanding availability of its triple-play services with a network based on the Cisco Systems Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture. Charter deployed the Cisco uBR10012 CMTS to maintain the expansion of broadband speeds and to support the company's growth of next-generation Charter Telephone services. Charter also utilizes the Cisco ONS 15454 multiservice transport platform (MSTP) with reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing (ROADM).
• Bresnan Communications is deploying MetaSwitch's softswitch media gateway and application server products to provide business telephone services in early 2007. MetaSwitch's technology will allow Bresnan to provide a broad range of services, including Centrex, digital PBX trunks, and traditional telephone services to small and mid-sized business customers using HFC plant and multi-line EMTAs.
• Time Warner Cable selected SURPASS next-generation IP-based voice feature servers from Siemens Networks to help accelerate VoIP deployments of the op's digital phone service, now in use by 1.6 million of its 14.4 million U.S. subscribers. Capable of multiple network configurations, the Siemens SURPASS hiQ platforms have the capacity to support as many as 150,000 subs in a single voice feature server, along with carrier-grade reliability.

The Playing Field

• Concurrent appointed Michael Pasquinilli as director of advanced engineering. In his new role, he will be responsible for the design and development of new products and applications to meet the growing needs of the on-demand industry. Pasquinilli joins Concurrent after seven years with Cox, where he oversaw design and development of the op's ITV technologies, including VOD. Prior to that, he was a technical program manager with Scientific-Atlanta, where he also worked with VOD products.
• 
  Eng
  EGT hired David Eng as eastern division VP of sales. Previously, he was senior director of cable business development for Tandberg Television, where he led the sales effort for the company's video compression business in the North and South American cable markets. Eng also served in a similar role at C-COR in video technology sales.
• RGB Networks added Jim Dolce, most recently EVP of worldwide field operations at Juniper Networks, to its board of directors. Dolce joined Juniper in July 2002 through the acquisition of Unisphere Networks, where as CEO he guided the growth and eventual sale of the company.
• David Temlak was named SVP, customer service at SupportSoft. He will be responsible for the SupportSoft Expert Center, which will deliver technology support services to consumers based on the SupportSoft technology platform. Most recently, Temlak served as SVP of customer care at Time Warner Cable.
• Vyyo announced a series of promotions and personnel additions. The changes include:
  
  Tee Harton, previously director of sales engineering, was promoted to VP of marketing for cable solutions, with responsibility for Vyyo's spectrum overlay and XMTS product lines.
  
  Dan Paone, senior director of engineering support and product management, will be responsible for all sales engineering functions. Kameron Cultice was promoted to manager, field service engineering, and will report to Paone.
  
  Mary Mansson has been promoted to director of marketing from marketing manager.

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