Diamond Technology Reviews 2018

Oct. 17, 2018
BTR's Diamond Technology Reviews, now in its 14th year, is a technology recognition program in which vendors serving the broadband cable industry are invited to submit information about products that have been ...

BTR's Diamond Technology Reviews, now in its 14th 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 2017).

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:

  • 0-1: Not a useful product
  • 1.5-2: Useful product, yet commodity
  • 2.5-3.5: Solid product with viable attributes that set it apart
  • 4: Excellent product with technical features and performance that provide clear and substantial benefits
  • 5: Superb product that sets new standard for performance and provides groundbreaking and new technical milestones

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 tasked our judges to evaluate each entry based on its innovation and overall usefulness to cable operators," said Broadband Technology Report Editorial Director Stephen Hardy, who served as program director this year. "Our judges took these instructions very seriously this year. And while some entries fell short of this bar, several entries made excellent impressions."

Not surprisingly, several of the entries this year focused on fiber deep and Distributed Access Architecture (DAA). But we also saw advanced technology in the test and measurement arena, in video processing and customer premises equipment (CPE). Preparing cable operators for virtualization and software-defined networking/network functions virtualization (SDN/NFV) was a common theme.

"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 should find several good options to meet their needs as they continue to evolve their networks," Hardy said.

DTR HONOREES DESCRIPTIONS

Active Network Hardware

Alpha Technologies AlphaGateway SMG-HP

Ciena 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS)

Qorvo QPA3250

InCoax Networks In:xtnd

Back Office

Amdocs Hybrid Inventory

Incognito Software Systems Digital Home Experience Solution

CCAP Systems

Cisco Systems Cloud Native Broadband Router

Customer Premises Equipment

Advantech FWA-1010VC Tabletop Network Appliance with Intel Atom Processor C2000 for universal vCPE and SD-WAN

Comcast Business Comcast Business Router (CBR)

Amphenol Broadband Solutions DOCSIS Passive Device

Evolution Digital eSTREAM 4K, powered by Android TV

Cabling and Accessories

CommScope UDS Panels

Corning ALTOS Lite Cable with Binderless FastAccess Technology

Corning LCPE with splice capabilities (with WDM module)

Corning OptiTap Field-Installable Connector

Wirewerks NextSTEP Fiber Management System - FLEX Module

Corning RocketRibbon Extreme Density Ribbon Cable

Wirewerks NextSTEP Wall Mount Enclosure with Splice Tray Modules

Wirewerks NextSTEP Fiber Management System - MINUS1U Patch Panel

Wirewerks NextSTEP Fiber Management System - 1U Patch Panel

FTTH/Optical Access Platforms

ADTRAN SDX 6210-4 - Virtualized 10G Remote Optical Line Terminal (R-OLT)

Ciena 5170 Service Aggregation Switch

ATX GigaWave Digital DWDM Optical Gateway Platform

Greenlee Communications Micro OPM

Field Test Instruments

Anritsu Handheld Network Tester - MT1000A Network Master Pro

AFL FleXpress Fast OTDR Test Mode for FlexScan OTDRs

Challenger Cable DWDM Channelized Optical Power Meter

VIAVI Solutions Home Leakage Test Kit

EXFO ConnectorMax Multifiber Source

Challenger Optics MPO Multi-Fiber Test Set

Monitoring & Analysis

Vecima Networks Entra Remote PHY Monitor

Verimatrix Verspective Intelligence

VIAVI Solutions Fiber Monitoring OMNSi and SmartOTU with Optical Test Unit OTU-5000

VIAVI Solutions XPERTrak DAA Return Sweep

Alpha Technologies Spotlight360

Network Level Test Instruments

Steren Electronics HDMI Tester with HD LCD Display and Audio

Optical Transport/Carrier Ethernet

Ciena 8180 Coherent Networking Platform

SDN/NFV/CLOUD

Metaswitch Composable Network Protocols

Casa Systems Axyom 5G Core

Qwilt Open Edge Service Provider CDN

Video Processing Solutions

Alticast Apex (Cloud UI)

Harmonic UHD HDR Streaming for Live Sports Solution

WiFi Solutions

Greenlee Communications AirScout Live PRO

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