HAMILTON – Clearcable Connects and McMaster University announced Wednesday a new partnership with the aim of deploying artificial intelligence in the management of broadband and distributed energy networks.
Clearcable Connects, a Hamilton-based technology company, and McMaster’s Computing Infrastructure Research Centre (CIRC) “will collaborate on pilot projects to explore the feasibility of innovations in network management through proof of concept and heavy engagement with end-user groups in each segment,” reads the press release.
The projects are co-funded by Clearcable, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).
Clearcable provides broadband deployment services to communities and telecommunications companies. Two of the company’s flagship solutions are its NOMS operational support system and Cartograph DOCSIS PNM software both used by cable operators throughout North America and internationally to provision, manage and troubleshoot DOCSIS cable modems networks.
"We've been monitoring and collecting telemetry data on DOCSIS cable modems for well over a decade and are able to provide extremely useful reports and diagnostic details to cable operators that help pinpoint problems. Adding artificial intelligence using machine learning through this collaboration with CIRC will allow us to take our solution to the next level", said Ryan McCann, president of Clearcable Connects, in the press release.
The Computing Infrastructure Research Centre (CIRC) at McMaster aims to develop market-ready technologies which often have disruptive potential. The two-year-old centre has already developed four products for its partners that are selling worldwide.
Two “pilot-scale” projects, both involving machine learning tools to do real-time enhancements in infrastructure. The broadband networks initiative will be led by Dr. Ghada Badawy and Professor Rong Zheng. The second for energy distribution networks will be led by Dr. Mohammad Esmalifalak and Professor Mehdi Narimani, says the release.
The final step in the pilots will be to create a strategic roadmap that will enable Clearcable and CIRC to collaboratively develop best-in-class software tools for real-time enhancement of broadband and power distribution networks.
Capabilities include prediction of faults and failures before they happen and prevention of failures through intelligent control measures. These are features that the telecommunication industry has been talking about for decades but have not been able to realize yet, notes the release.
The products developed from this collaboration are expected to hit the market next year and then hopefully grow to be a “household name” in their respective fields.
Clearcable will be launching proactive maintenance software for distributed energy and smart grid implementations as well. "As we expand our software's reach into distributed energy networks we are confident that the AI component will allow our software to help prevent and predict critical faults in power distributions systems, thus improving service reliability for the greater community," added McCann in the release.
