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Three Screen Transcoding & Ad Insertion
- Jeff Chen: Senior VP Advanced Technologies, Bright House
- Tom Gorman: VP, Field Operations, Charter
- Jim Kersnowski: VP Technology Integration, Video Support, Time Warner Cable, Advanced Technology Group
- Bob Legg: VP of Technical Operations, Suddenlink
- Patrick O’Hare: Senior VP Field Operations, Comcast
- Tim Templeton: Engineering Manager, Sunflower Broadband
- Alan Tschirner: VP Hardware, NCTC
- Ken Williams: Director, HFC Architecture, Cox
NEW - BelAir Strand Picocell
5 Diamonds | Booth #951
- Combination of licensed and unlicensed bands on a single base station
- Carrier-grade edge based security
- Edge-based policy enforcement integrating with cable operator’s policy management systems
- Network-wide mobility and QoS.
Upgraded - Imagine ICE System With Video Quality Assurance
5 Diamonds | Booth 431
- Enabling up to 50% more streams over the existing network. This benefit can be used to add or expand new revenue generating services, or to reduce edge QAM expenditures associated with each individual service
- Improving per‐program video quality and service reliability, reducing churn and quality related truck‐roll costs
- Reducing rack‐space and power requirements
- Cutting labor, materials and core router port use costs by up to 97%
- Video quality: The ICE Broadcast System has been tested by video quality professionals and subscribers, and is ranked as a top product for HD and SD high-density multiplexing and bit rate clamping.
- Video quality assurance (VQA): ICE VQA is fully integrated into the ICE Broadcast System. The benefit of that integration is that quality grading is not a separate and adjunct process. The quality grades reported by the ICE VQA are used to more efficiently compress the streams. It is physically impossible for the grading mechanism to reflect anything other than the moment to moment “truth” of the system performance, Imagine says.
- SW flexibility:The ICE Broadcast System is a unified platform for a wide array of advanced video processing applications. MPEG‐2 statistical multiplexing and rate‐clamping, multi‐codec transcoding, real‐time and off‐line file processing, multi-rate, multi‐resolution and multi‐screen stream adaptation, IP aggregation, 3D stream synchronization and processing and many other applications can all be loaded on to the same unified hardware infrastructure.
- Operational efficiency: The system offers stream‐count density, QAM density, IP cabling, rack‐space and power savings and hot‐swap system components.
NEW - ARRIS ServAssure Live!
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1053
ARRIS’ ServAssure Live! deserves 4.5 Diamonds, says one judge, because it is a “proactive vs. a reactive network management” tool.
- Gathers real-time data from network devices for instantaneous service and network visibility
- Offers a subscriber-centric view for rapid troubleshooting of customer issues
- Provides real-time network discovery for minimal impact and no scheduled polling of devices
- Includes Web services for flexible integrations with existing OSS systems
- Provides a consistent source of data for all OSS tools
NEW - ARRIS Whole Home Solution
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1053
Upgraded - Harmonic’s ACE Any-to-Many Transcoder
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1251
- “Any-to-Any”: Transcodes any combination of MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, HD, SD and numerous audio codecs, including HD to SD down-conversion.
- “Any-to-Many”: Multiple output streams per input service to simultaneously support broadcast digital simulcast/triplecast, switched digital video and VOD services.
- Support for mixed statistical multiplex pools of transcoded and encoded services with Harmonic’s DiviTrack statistical multiplexing.
- Enhanced audio processing including transcoding and level adjustment, able to transcode any broadcast audio codec.
- Control and management: ACE can be configured and operated either through a standalone Web interface or with Harmonic’s NMX Digital Service Manager for mass configuring, monitoring and automated redundancy in centralized or distributed architectures.
Upgraded - Harmonic’s Electra 8000 3D Capability
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1251
NEW - IneoQuest Expedus DVA
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 2139
Upgraded - InnoTrans Communications Chromadigm
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 2215
- Unlike other O-Band and 1,550 nm direct modulation transmitters, InnoTrans’ “Chirp Free Technology” results in distance independent performance and is immune to optical filter ripples. Its patent-pending technology is not based on specific link distances.
- InnoTrans’ transmitters offer a higher OMI (optical modulation index) than the industry standard, ensuring a higher performance at a lower optical power. These lower powers reduce the cost and improve the reach while allowing more wavelengths to be launched in the fiber.
- Chromadigm has a built-in circuit that minimizes laser clipping. This benefits the cable operator in two ways, InnoTrans says. It allows for higher OMI transport and it results in the industry’s highest QAM specification of 38 MER and BER < 1E-09.
Upgrade - JDSU’s PathTrak and MACTrak Technology
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1644
This upgraded product allows “the technician to identify impairments to service and to filter on a customer’s MAC address. The tech can determine when the problem occurs and if a problem fixed was really the one that was causing the customer’s issue. "The operator’s arsenal of weapons to combat repeat service calls just grew larger,” one Diamonds judge explains.
PathTrak builds on JDSU’s capability to demodulate live customer modem packets in bursty DOCSIS upstreams by adding MACTrak capability in WebView 2.5. With MACTrak, operators can see the MAC address for each packet demodulated allowing localization of certain impairments down to a street address using their existing back-office billing systems.
In addition, WebView 2.5 adds codeword error detection to indicate which impairments are impacting packets at the data level. Operators can know, not guess, which impairments are affecting their customers experience and see the impact in real time with codeword error detection.
NEW - JDSU Fiber Inspection and Test System
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 1644
With proactive inspection, broadband engineers can reduce network downtime, reduce troubleshooting, optimize signal performance and prevent network damage. With JDSU’s new HP2 Series, engineers get a portable fiber inspection and test system that combines the two most fundamental fiber optic test tools – an optical power meter and an inspection microscope. This pairing gives operators a low-cost product for inspecting and testing fiber in a single device, JDSU says.
For broadband engineers, the result is a significant increase in workflow efficiency. The HP2 streamlines inspection-test procedures, reduces cycle times and improves throughput. Furthermore, it costs less than purchasing those devices individually.
“JDSU’s fiber inspection and test system makes it easier than ever to keep contaminants out of optical networks,” a Diamonds judge says.
Upgraded - Spirent Tech-X Flex Field Solution
4.5 Diamonds | Booth 604
That’s why the company created the Spirent Tech-X Flex, which offers operators a field test product with a modular architecture that provides measurements for cable services delivered using DOCSIS 3.0 over HFC networks and MoCA home networks. Specifically, Spirent reports that the solution helps cable engineers:
- Reduce operational cost: The modular platform enables field technicians to test multiple in-home networking technologies such as RF, DOCSIS 3.0, MoCA WiFi, CATV and IP video, which ultimately reduces the cost of maintenance, upgrade and handling in the field.
- Reduce capital costs: Field technicians no longer need to invest in separate and expensive field test tools for RF, DOCSIS 3.0, MoCA WiFi, CATV and IP video.
- Improve technician productivity: The unit’s technology increases technician installation and maintenance productivity through automated test scripts with pass/fail thresholds, backoffice integration, trouble-ticketing and cutting-edge test features.
- Improve problem identification and resolution: With features such as MoCA, WiFi, and IP video, technicians can now verify proper CPE functionality before returning units for repair.
NEW - ARRIS CORWave DW
4 Diamonds | Booth 1053
The CORWave DW is available in both front and rear fiber connections, providing flexibility based on the cable operator’s headend design. It’s also optimized for both analog and digital channel loading, supporting cable operators’ efforts toward the digital transition. Backwards compatible with legacy CHP chassis, it does not require a cable operator to make a completely new investment. The CORWave DW uses the existing CHP chassis power supply and application slots. In addition, the product offers an extended linearized version suitable for European operations that value reduced footprint and powering.
Upgraded - Aurora Next-Gen RFoG Solution
4 Diamonds | Booth 1552
By deploying the RFoG platform, Aurora says cable operators can eliminate costs associated with maintaining legacy HFC equipment by reducing the number of amplifiers and line extenders in the network. Cutting the number of actives results in reduced energy costs and maintenance/repair issues associated with these devices.
Also new for the RFoG product is the OR3144 module for direct-fed “all passive” deployments, which integrates filtering and four analog receiver functionality into a single device. The OR3144 provides low-noise performance and is optimized for DOCSIS 3.0-supported broadband services providing up to a 10 dB improvement in performance.
“Considering that no technology works if the network is down, Aurora has designed a solution that applies engineering science where it’s needed the most – behind the curtain,” one Diamonds judge says.
Upgraded - BigBand vIP PASS
4 Diamonds | Booth 1421
“BigBand provides a great solution to further migrate to IP video delivery schemes over multiple devices,” one Diamonds judge says. Another judge adds that this product is “useful for the small operator. It offers an off-the-shelf IP video solution.”
Cost savings is another reason judges liked the vIP PASS upgrade. According to BigBand, the vIP PASS approach has the ability to save the industry up to 75% of its capital expenditures for CMTS expansions, or up to $2 billion over the next two years. That’s certainly worth 4 Diamonds.
NEW - CommScope BOS-RX Receiver
4 Diamonds | Booth 736
- Low equivalent input noise (EIN): The receiver has a <1.5 pA/rt Hz EIN. Conventional receivers on the market are at 8pA/rt Hz or higher.
- Optimized for low optical power into the receiver: The RPR input power specification is -13 to -28 dBm, much lower than traditional receivers built for point-to-point applications, CommScope says.
- Optimized for chaining receivers: Because the outputs of multiple receivers are often combined before feeding other equipment, it is important that an individual receiver not adversely impact the network, CommScope points out. To prevent this, a muting capability is implemented at the output of the CommScope receiver. As a result, there is no RF signal at the output of the receiver circuit when no RFoG ONU signal is received.
“The key features that set this product apart are increased return link budget, muting, which is very important with RX’s shared by relatively few ONUs (at least initially, thus minimizing the noise contribution on combined RF upstreams in the RFoG PON environment,” one Diamonds judge comments.
NEW - Harmonic Scalable Node
4 Diamonds | Booth 1251
“While other manufacturers are reducing node sizes and cutting features/options, Harmonic has kept at the functionality of a full-sized scalable node, which is very important to retain segmentation capabilities even at fiber’s deeper locations,” a Diamonds judge says.
PWRBlazer 3134 also boasts the following cost-saving features:
- Up to four high-level outputs enables cost-effective network design.
- Four-way segmentable forward and return paths allow efficient network segmentation to support expanding interactive services.
- Separate RF slope and level controls provide maximum flexibility in network configuration.
NEW - IneoQuest Cricket AdapStream
4 Diamonds | Booth 2139
Calling the product a new enabler, one Diamonds judge says: “It will enable operators to expand offerings and the QoS required of those offerings to multiple screen types.”
IneoQuest reports that Cricket AdapStream supports the top adaptive streaming protocols in the market including Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming and Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming. The product also integrates into the end-to-end monitoring system of the delivery network allowing for centralized management of the video and audio signal throughout all processing points for quick fault correlation and resolution.
NEW - Motorola EDGE Service Assurance
4 Diamonds | Booth 1245
The software provides a single platform for the management of the home network, combining monitoring of deployed Motorola or third-party devices with integration into existing legacy provisioning and support systems. The software platform includes a variety of applications and including WiFi, voice and mobile manager modules, HomeNet application for home network management, HomeCenter multi-screen self-service consumer interface, video set-top management solutions, SpeedTest, DevicePortal cloud-based remote gateway interface and eCare remote PC assist tool for help desk agents.
“EDGE can give customer contact teams the ability to solve home network and customer premise issues quickly, some without a tech visit, saving money, satisfying subs, and allowing operators to target service visit efforts for quick resolution,” a Diamonds judge says.
More features of the software include:
- Provides remote end-to-end management software for service and device monitoring, including TR-069, SNMP, OMA-DM,WIB, Telnet and HTTP DL Server protocols
- Provides visibility into the home network to other LAN devices
- Automates activation and troubleshooting, monitor usage and broadband performance
- Can be hosted by Motorola or licensed for on-site deployment
- Dashboard console reporting
- Is expandable to new use cases with built-in Java scripting
Upgraded - RGB Networks VMG
4 Diamonds | Booth 2025
RGB says its VMG provides a converged model for delivering and monetizing video across various consumer electronics devices, while delivering digital broadcast services in a modular and high-availability platform.
Its video processing capabilities include transcoding, transrating, IP video packaging, ad insertion and program substitution for HD, SD, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 program streams. It’s also available in an integrated, flexible configuration. By combining these capabilities within a single, carrier-grade chassis, the VMG reduces the costs for operators to expand their current MPEG-2 services, begin delivering MPEG-4/H.264 services and prepare their networks to deliver programming to PCs and mobile devices, RGB explains.
“This is a major product consolidation option for operators with many single function devices. The forward capability of multi-format outputs is a plus for operators,” one Diamonds judge says.
NEW - Spirent TestCenter Live
4 Diamonds | Booth 604
“TestCenter is one of the most comprehensive suites of performance management for Ethernet networks available. It enables SLA management and support for multiple classes of service through Layer 3,” a Diamonds judge says.
According to Spirent, some of TestCenter Live’s features allow MSOs to:
- Perform active testing to emulate customer traffic for accurate “first-time turn-ups”
- Provide sectionalization of service issues and prove restoration of service
- Obtain performance metrics and receive proactive notification of degradations that allow them to ensure the health of their Ethernet networks
- Deliver competitive service level agreements with proactive service monitoring
- Conduct simultaneous on-demand testing and performance monitoring on a single probe.
“As cable operators find SLA maintenance and verification a requirement rather than an option, this platform offers a single solution to provide that capability both in the core and access network elements,” another Diamonds judge adds.
NEW - Tektronix Video Quality Software
4 Diamonds | Booth 2127
“The ability to display impairments via the virtualization tool is a great feature, enabling engineers to truly see and understand what is impacting their QOE,” a Diamonds judge comments.
The product can be used in three different modes:
- With any Tektronix network monitoring probe
- Connected directly to a network switch with a video service routed to the PC running the VQS1000 software
- As a standalone file analysis application for offline assessment of video quality in captured streams
Upgraded - Tektronix Sentry
4 Diamonds | Booth 2127
For EBIF-based applications to work properly, says Tektronix, triggers must be embedded into program streams and when these triggers are activated -- by viewers -- the additional data needs to be delivered to set-top boxes. Unlike competing products, the company says Sentry doesn’t solely rely on measuring packet loss to determine errors in EBIF-based applications. Instead, Sentry provides visibility into the underlying EBIF data -- both bound (i.e., a request for more information) and unbound (i.e., a game unassociated with a live program).
Complementing its detection capabilities are Sentry’s EBIF reporting features, which allow video service providers to identify issues and trends over time. Sentry catalogs all key transactions and interactions it monitors for EBIF for up to 60 days so operators can analyze performance issues at a very high level or closely examine a particular element.
NEW - Trilithic TPNA-1000 Analyzer
4 Diamonds | Booth 1847
With a full range of testing capabilities and automated quality assurance tests, a simple user interface, large color screen and a price point of $1,795, the new TPNA-1000 is a cost-effective multi-function analyzer, Trilithic says.
Other benefits of the TPNA-1000 include:
- Speed:Simple, quick access to measurements is enhanced by the use of a color display, soft keys and a spin knob. The analyzer performs a variety of user-prescribed measurements in automated tests that are initiated with a single key press, speeding the installation test.
- Reliability:The analyzer is hand-held, designed for rugged field use and offers a battery life of more than six hours.
- Efficiency:The instrument’s color display makes measurement interpretation easy. Automated tests shorten the test process and automatically record measurement results. Firmware updates can be performed using the USB interface.
- Capacity:The unit operates over the complete 5 MHz to 1 GHz frequency range, includes simple return path tests for ingress, and provides a set of QAM analysis/troubleshooting tools.
- Diagnostic ability:The analyzer performs test functions needed to certify a home network, in addition to providing troubleshooting assistance through QAM constellations, equalizer tap graphs and error vector spectrum displays that enable seeing the spectrum within the QAM channel.
Upgraded - Triveni PSIP Generation System
4 Diamonds | Booth 125
Designed with an intuitive user interface with drag-and-drop functionality, the GuideBuilder lets cable operators take on metadata management without maintaining extensive knowledge of PSIP data. Operators also can improve their profitability with GuideBuilder, says Triveni, as it supports deployment of DTA boxes with EPG information, in turn boosting revenues and opening the door to introduction of more advanced features and services.
“This is an essential product for PSIP generation into DTV content. Tight integration to various transport, multiplexing, and switching equipment set it apart,” a Diamonds judge says.
The following products scored 3.5 Diamonds in this year’s program, and merit an “honorable mention” as products to watch.
• Alcatel-Lucent Modular Cooling System (3.5 Diamonds): Calling Alcatel-Lucent’s Modular Cooling Solution (MCS) a “well-engineered product that provides a safe, effective answer to the problem of removing heat from electronics in headends,” the Diamond judges agree that this is a product to watch.
Alcatel-Lucent says its MCS has the potential to reduce the primary cooling loop energy by as much as 90%. The company says it also reduces the carbon footprint of the headend and uses a safe, non-water coolant that is eco-friendly. MCS uses low pressure pumped refrigerant in a two-phase process to transport “waste heat.” The refrigerant is non-carcinogenic, non-conductive and converts to gas at standard temperature and pressure. The MCS is the only cooling product that is NEBS (Network Equipment Building Systems) compliant, and supports servers oriented front-to-back and back-to-front, Alcatel says.
This product “answers multiple needs. It reduces operational costs, it offers a better use of space in a telecom facility and it supports green initiatives,” one Diamonds judge comments. (Booth 2039/www.alcatel-lucent.com)
• ARRIS VIPr 2800 (3.5 Diamonds): Converting HD video channels to SD to support SD subscribers, while also increasing local ad sales revenue, is a challenge faced by operators today. To do this, operators need to splice format specific ads into both the HD and SD programs. Currently the solution to these multi-level challenges is a combination of satellite receivers, video encoders, rate shapers and ad splicers.
But with the VIPr 2800, says ARRIS, all of these functions can be performed in a 1RU chassis. The VIPr 2800 down-converts the HD program to SD and also performs ad splicing for local ad insertion. In addition, it supports Automatic Format Description (AFD), which allows the video programmer to specify whether the down-converted SD feed is displayed in either letter-box or center cut format. Because all of these functions are available in a 1RU chassis, cable operators can realize facility savings in rack space, power consumption, and air-conditioning, ARRIS says.
“Ad splicing format conversion, AFD support and audio level normalization onboard make this product a valuable addition to an operator’s arsenal,” said one Diamonds judge. (Booth 1053/www.arrisi.com)
• Blonder Tongue HDE-2H-QAM (3.5 Diamonds): The HDE-2H-QAM is capable of receiving two inputs in HDMI or component formats, and to encode and multiplex the two program streams into one QAM RF channel, allowing MSOs to provide more programs streams on their existing RF networks without costly upgrades, Blonder Tongue says.
Other standard features of the HDE-2H-QAM include:
- Sub-band QAM output channels T7-T14;
- GUI-based monitoring and control menu via web browser;
- Real-time Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio encoding; and
- Supports EIA-608 closed captioning, PSIP configuration and is equipped with an EAS interface.
The Diamonds judges point to the integrated AC-3 support and the sub-return RF output channel selection, as “especially handy for operators that want to upgrade their remote LO feeds to HD.” (Booth 1815/www.blondertongue.com)
• RGB Networks’ BNP3xr (3.5 Diamonds): Able to simultaneously process more than 760 video streams in 2RU, the BNP3xr is a high-density product for digital video grooming, statistical multiplexing, transrating, digital program insertion (DPI) and digital overlays, RGB says. The Diamonds judges agree, calling the BNP3xr “a lot of power and flexibility in a small package.”
An advantage of the BNP3xr, says RGB, is that it enables operators to use the MPEG-4/H.264 bandwidth to roll out HDTV services, while continuing to use traditional MPEG-2 infrastructures for their SD programming. RGB reports that this cost-effective approach reduces operators’ cost to expand their HD offerings in a format that consumes less bandwidth than MPEG-2.
Another key feature of the BNP3xr, says RGB, are the new digital EAS capabilities, which comply with the SCTE 18 standard. This feature enables operators to fully integrate the BNP3xr with their existing EAS management systems. Beyond traditional EAS, the true value of these systems comes from their ability to support promotional campaigns, helping operators to drive viewership of new shows and channels, and improving the uptake of new services, such as VOD, RGB says. (Booth 2025/www.rgbnetworks.com)
BGR would like to thank the 2010 Diamond Technology Reviews panel of judges. Without their time and expertise, this program would not be possible.
