Diamond Technology Reviews 2019

BTR's Diamond Technology Reviews, now in its 15th year, is a technology recognition program in which vendors serving the broadband cable industry are invited to submit information about products that have been released or upgraded since last year's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (held in October 2018).

Each entry was assigned to at least three of our expert volunteer judges. To help ensure fairness, similar products from different vendors were reviewed by the same group of panelists. Judges based scores/comments on written material provided by vendors, as well as their own experience with or knowledge of the specific technologies. Review panelists were informed that scores/comments would remain anonymous.

Specifically, judges used the following scale to determine Diamond scores:

1-2: Not a useful product
3.0: Useful product, yet commodity
3.5: Solid product with viable attributes that set it apart
4.0-4.5: Excellent product with technical features and performance that provide clear and substantial benefits
5: Superb product that sets new standard for performance and/or breaks new ground

Each entry’s scores were averaged and rounded to the nearest full or half Diamond. Note that products are grouped by score (with the highest Diamonds ranking first), and then in alphabetical order.

Scores of 3.5 or above are considered superlative and reflect a very positive opinion from the panel. Only products receiving a 3.5 or above are included in this article.

We continued to see several entries applicable to fiber deep and Distributed Access Architecture deployments. Advanced technology from within the test and measurement arena also had a strong showing. Preparing cable operators for virtualization and software-defined networking/network functions virtualization (SDN/NFV) was a common theme as well.

"This year saw in increase in entries based on software, most with an SDN or cloud influence," commented Broadband Technology Report Editorial Director Stephen Hardy, who again served as program director this year. “Our only two 5.0 Diamond recipients fell within this category, which demonstrates how cable operators are moving in this direction.”

As always our Diamond Technology Review judging panel proved tough but fair. “Broadband Technology Report thanks the judges for their hard work and diligence in evaluating so many entries. This year’s Diamond Technology Reviews entries indicate that cable operators continue to benefit from innovation across the network technology spectrum,” Hardy concluded.

DTR HONOREES DESCRIPTIONS

ACTIVE NETWORK HARDWARE

Alpha Technologies AlphaGateway, 4.5 Diamonds

Alpha Technologies XM3.1, 4.0 Diamonds

Luster Teraband HomeTRAN 2.5, 4.0 Diamonds

Alpha Technologies XMBS with Auto Sync, 3.5 Diamonds

BACK OFFICE

IQGeo IQ Network Revenue Optimizer, 4.5 Diamonds

Ciena Blue Planet Inventory, 4.0 Diamonds

CABLING AND ACCESSORIES

Wirewerks NextSTEP 3-Series Modules, 4.5 Diamonds

Wirewerks LGXtra Patch Module, 4.0 Diamonds