CABLE TECHNOLOGY: Cablecos begin deploying converged next-gen gear

SEVERAL YEARS AFTER cable engineers first began developing the technology, large cable operators are starting to deploy next-generation devices aimed at fueling advanced video and broadband services. The big MSOs are leveraging something called the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) in their cable headends. These CCAP (not this CCAP) devices -- which are big chassis designed to combine the functions of the now-separate cable modem termination system (CMTS) and edge QAM modulator in super-dense, more efficient, less costly machines – are now emerging from the labs and into field trials and commercial deployments in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Time...