LAS VEGAS – The show floor seemed a little lacklustre this week as compared to most other years but there were a few gems out there that we saw.
Beyond Broadband Technology – assuming its technology really works as advertised – can provide an affordable end-to-end system that will allow small operators of as small as 150 subscribers to upgrade to digital. The BBT solution employs a downloadable security system for content access control. The system is comprised of an uplink facility, headend equipment costing about US$15,000 and a low cost set-top device. “The BBT Solution answers the difficult question of how a cable operator can provide an inexpensive, highly secure digital video delivery to the home viewer,” says the release.
The uplink facility aggregates over 200 SD and HD video channels and encodes them into MPEG2 and MPEG4 signals. The headend equipment combines the satellite receive from Avail Media, MPEG multiplexer and QAM modulator into one unit allowing the operator to easily groom the signals into efficient QAM channels. Channel-mapping is done by the cable operator.
The low cost set-top device supports analog, digital and HDTV signals. BBT was founded by a trio of independent U.S. cable operators.
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At the Cisco and Scientific Atlanta booth demonstrations included solutions that extend and scale cable networks, from switched digital video and universal session resource management to advanced video compression encoding and DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding. The companies also showed updates to its Connected Life home network and next-generation OpenCable Applications Platform-ready set-tops, which are separable security set-tops to meet the July 2007 FCC deadline.
In Canada we have no such deadline and OCAP is nowhere north of the border.
In the content delivery arena, Cisco and Scientific Atlanta highlighted personalized and on-demand services, video to the set-top, personal computer (PC) and mobile devices, addressable advertising and Internet video services. Internet streaming will be introduced on the Cisco Content Delivery System, enabling Video 2.0 experiences across a wide range of devices.
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From pausing a high-definition program and moving it to a mobile device for a cross-country flight, to instantly buying a featured product on a TV show, Motorola, showed off a number of new technologies that enable media mobility for cable customers, its Follow Me TV solution, which allows customers to move content between rooms in the home and to portable devices.
With more applications comes the need for more bandwidth. And as consumers download more video, more music and more games, network operators must optimize their networks for ultimate performance. Motorola is helping cable operators maximize bandwidth through three technologies:
• Motorola’s RF Sentry is a new PC-based application that helps operators maintain DOCSIS-based networks and subscriber environments. By displaying data graphically, RF Sentry helps operators make rapid performance adjustments, continually optimize bandwidth, and streamline maintenance activities
• A new software release for supporting the channel bonding within DOCSIS 3.0 on installed BSR 64000 systems, which allows cable operators to deliver more than 145 Mbps to a single cable modem. With a simple software install, existing BSR 64000 customers with 2:8 modules can now leverage standards-based, downstream channel bonding for improved bandwidth
• Motorola’s Cable PON technology, a combined hybrid fibre-coax and passive optical network (PON) architecture allows operators to extend service via PON while setting the stage for seamless evolution to Motorola’s proven GPON enabled fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) platform, while utilizing resources already in place.
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C-COR unveiled an optical upgrade that transforms installed C-COR trunk and bridger amplifiers into optical nodes. Upgrading existing trunk and bridger amplifiers to optical node functionality provides a versatile way to reduce service group size for increased narrowcast capacity, according to the company. The Opti Max 2700 Optical Upgrade was created in direct response to the needs of network service providers seeking cost effective ways to expand capacity of their existing networks with low cost and minimal service disruption.
The Opti Max™ 2700 Optical Upgrade is already being deployed in the U.S. cable market, effectively reducing the cost and complexity of network upgrades and leveraging existing network architecture to provide additional network capacity.
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HDNet has launched a new channel, HDNet movies, featuring uncut Hollywood movies.
www.hd.net
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SeaChange tapped Snap TV’s DVD video games library for a new on-demand game service that debuted at this week’s Cable Show. Available now, the turnkey “DVD Game Pack” service merges Snap TV’s interactive content with SeaChange’s widely deployed set top middleware to empower operators to establish a high-quality subscriber game service.
SeaChange’s DVD on Demand set top software application is the key to the DVD Game Pack’s entirely unique gaming opportunity. It enables on-demand television services to store and stream sophisticated DVD files (chapters, navigation, commentary, etc.) like any other on-demand asset.
Snap TV’s games combine full-motion video with interactive game play to ensure exciting and enjoyable consumer experiences. The software merges with on-demand television operations and, by utilizing set top remote controls already in place, eliminates the need for operators to invest in gaming peripherals or other additional customer premise equipment.
