CED articles from August 2004

CED archives from August 2004

Terayon's temp.(in perspective)(Terayon communication systems )
August 1, 2004... Ever, now and then there comes a tiny SEC document that carries a lot of weight. In June, Terayon Communication Systems issued a seemingly innocent Form 3 document disclosing that Rouzbeh Yassini had joined the vendor under the arcane title of...

Comcast to launch advanced compression in '06.(Upfront: latest news and insight)
August 1, 2004... Comcast plans to complement its migration to an all-digital platform by introducing more efficient compression schemes by 2006. Though Comcast has yet to settle on a specific format, Comcast is already looking at several possibilities,...

ARRIS CMTS gets DOCSIS 2.0 label.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... ARRIS' flagship cable modem termination system (CMTS), the Cadant C4, has become the latest product to win the coveted DOCSIS 2.0 qualification stamp from CabteLabs, following results from certification wave 29. ARRIS' chassis-based...

Starz!, real team on PC movie service.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Starz Encore Group L.L.C., RealNetworks Inc.)
August 1, 2004... RealNetworks Inc. and Starz Encore Group LLC have put the finishing touches on an Internet-based subscription movie service targeted to broadband users and business travelers. The premium service, dubbed Starz! Ticket on Real Movies, sells...

Time Warner keeps an eye on its drivers.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Time Warner Cable)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Cable technicians from Time Warner-San Diego know better than to drive their cable vans dangerously. All their habits--good and bad--are recorded via a palm-sized camera that mounts on the center of their windshield, a service that comes...

SBC to pump billions into IP triple-play strategy.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(SBC Communications Inc.)
August 1, 2004... SBC Communications Inc. said it will invest between $4 billion and $6 billion over the next five years on IP-based networks capable of piping video, data and voice services to residential and business customers. SBC said it will deliver...

Final RPR standard penned.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Resilient Packet Ring)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Following reams of changes over the last few years, the IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) standard reached final approval in June. The document, which carries the cumbersome title of "Part 17: Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) access method...

Microtune, Broadcom mend fences on tuner technology.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Microtune Inc. and Broadcom Corp. have agreed to settle all outstanding patent and anti-trust litigation between the two silicon tuner rivals. Although both companies expressed "satisfaction" upon announcing the settlement, it appears...

Camiant, Real prep QoS integration.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(RealNetworks Inc., quality of service)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Camiant Inc. and RealNetworks Inc. have signed an integration pact that aims to provide quality of service (QoS) capabilities to streaming video and audio applications. Under the arrangement, Camiant will integrate its QBUS Policy...

Comcast signs up with JacobsRimmell.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(JacobsRimmell)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Comcast Corp. has signed up in a big way with JacobsRimmell, tapping its APS technology to provide unified Internet Protocol-based service provisioning, as well as funneling $5 million into the London-based company to promote further product...

Converged, multiservice transport and switching: simple, scalable, reliable and proven.
August 1, 2004... RESIDENTIAL/SOHO TRIPLE PLAY VoIP CIENA's field-proven VoIP transport solution minimizes capital equipment cost while optimizing service quality. The CN 2200 and CN 4300/4350 use VirtualWire[TM] technology to pipeline VoIP traffic from...

WOW puts techs to the test.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Wide Open West )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Wide Open West (WOW) is making an effort to determine how its cable technicians measure up. The cable provider will enlist the help of Denver-based NCTI to evaluate the skills of 85 technicians in one of its three divisions. The assessment...

Charter picks nCUBE-Kasenna VOD combo.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Charter Communications Inc., )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Charter Communications has powered a new video-on-demand deployment in Malibu, Calif. by integrating nCUBE Corp.'s back office and application platform and software and servers from Kasenna Inc. There, Charter said it has deployed nCUBE's...

McBride takes helm of Interactive Enterprise.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Paul McBride )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Cable service provisioning specialist Interactive Enterprise has elevated Paul McBride to chief executive officer. He most recently served as IE's COO. In connection, IE said it will use partners to drive its business in the U.S. and...

Narad taps Norrod for top spot.(Upfront: latest news and insight)(Narad Networks Inc., James Norrod )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Commercial cable services specialist Narad NetworKs stabilized its executive ranks this summer by appointing James Norrod to CEO. Norrod, a datacom/telecom vet who has worked with a variety of startups in recent years, was the former head...

Remembering iBlast.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... Regarding "A new multi-channel competitor" (see June 2004 CED "Capital Currents"), Mr. Krauss wrote, "I never understood what a data broadcasting service is, and I still don't." When I hear people say, "they don't get it," with respect to data...

Clipping and saving.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... Thank you for a particularly meaty issue of CED magazine this month. I clipped and saved the articles on "Protecting against surge damage," "Goin' on a SIP trip," Walt Ciciora's column on "Calibration images" and the "Commercial services case...

Wallchart error.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I was re-reading the May 2004 issue of CED, and saw the "Orbital Arc chart adds" article on page 8. I found another error. On the "2003-2004 Frequency Allocation" wallchart, please look at the audio frequency for channel 22. It incorrectly...

MPLS knows best? Long a standard on major communications backbones, Multiprotocol Label Switching is now making inroads into cable networks. It could have a potential role in a future converged, all-IP cable network, but there are obstacles standing in its path as well.(Cover Story)
August 1, 2004... It's been guiding traffic on major Internet backbones for years, and now Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) may be cutting a path to a cable network near you. Cable operators appear to be looking at MPLS primarily to offer valuable...

Can DSL do HDTV? Thanks to new codecs and some bandwith-enhancing platforms, the answer appears to be a big 'yes' ... in 2005.(Digital subscriber line)(High-definition television)
August 1, 2004... Thanks to the emergence of high-definition television (HDTV), the telcos could end up with a "not me" service, rather than a "me-too" offering, if they're not careful with their technology strategies over the next year or so. Many telcos,...

A unifying intelligence: a unified optical layer could make MSOs more competitive.(Fiberline: fiber optic technology)(Multiple system operators)
August 1, 2004... Cable multiple system operators (MSOs) are faced with an ever-increasing demand for transporting existing and new services over their access and metropolitan fiber networks. Historically, MSOs have used service specific optical networking...

Slow rise for DOCSIS 2.0: thin CMTS markets and other priorities are culprits in slow start.(Networking: advanced networking technology)(cable modem termination system )
August 1, 2004... One of DOCSIS 2.0's big promises is to speed throughput for cable data networks, but the technology sure isn't speeding into deployment. More than two years after CableLabs officially inked the DOCSIS 2.0 specification, 60 cable modems are...

Testing, testing, V ... o ... I ... P: vendors add enhancements to tackle IP telephony, the upstream path.(Broadband: business and news perspective)(Voice over Internet Protocol)
August 1, 2004... The cable industry's continuing effort to roll out newer and more advanced services means different things to different people. To customers, it signifies the potential to gain access to a comprehensive cable platform that offers more than...

Fragile legacies.(Ciciora's corner)(Column)
August 1, 2004... The word "legacy" has multiple meanings Webster's dictionary says: "1. Gift by will especially of money or other personal property: 2. Something received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past." I like to say that "legacy" means "the...

VoIP and digital TV testing.(Digital television)(Voice over Internet Protocol)(Illustration)
August 1, 2004... For years, cable operators have been diligently testing their networks to ensure signal quality and to comply with national signal leakage guidelines. But as the industry adds new services to its repertoire, testing the network simultaneously...

Amping up the cable plant: amplifier upgrades can extend network life.(Broadband: business and news perspective)
August 1, 2004... As broadband-intensive services like video-on demand (VOD) and voice over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) enter American homes, cable operators are upgrading existing facilities to meet the growing demand and to compete in a highly competitive market....

FTTx splicer, drop cable.(Product Reviews)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--Sumitomo Electric Lightwave has introduced its TomCat line of handheld splicers, suited for splicing applications including in the downstream fiber-to-the premises (FTTP)/fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, the final...

Midrange leakage detector.(Product Reviews)(ComSonics Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... HARRISONBURG, Va. -- ComSonics Inc. has added the Sniffer Sentinel to its line of leakage detection meters, The new meter is a midrange leakage detector designed for those requiring more capability than the Sniffer Shadow, but less capability...

Programmable gain amplifier.(Transmission)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... MILPITAS, Calif. -- Linear Technology has introduced a new 850 MHz programmable gain, broadband amplifier that has good distortion characteristics, according to the company. The LT5514 exhibits an output third-order intercept (OIP3) of 49 dBm...

Wireless cable and fixed wireless access.(capital currents)
August 1, 2004... Wireless cable was once a promising video technology, but it turned out to be a failure. The digital point-to-multipoint technology known as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) seems to be successful in Europe and other parts of the world, but in the...