CED articles from May 2002

CED archives from May 2002

Working at cross-purposes. (in perspective).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Imagine what life would be like if all the different stores you frequent used different and proprietary currencies. What if the grocery store didn't accept the same money that the hardware store did? Or fast-food places all had their own forms...

Digeo and Moxi merge to energize set-top software. (Upfront: latest news and insight).
May 1, 2002... Digeo Inc. emerged last month as the suitor of Moxi Digital Inc., creating an entity that aims to change the face of set-top box software. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the combined company will assume the Digeo moniker. The...

CableLabs greenlights more DOCSIS 1.1 gear. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CableLabs said it certified a record 12 DOCSIS 1.1 cable modems and embedded multimedia terminal adapters, and qualified and requalified a total of three cable modem termination systems following the completion of wave 21. CableLabs says...

Movie man Cameron could boost MPEG-4. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(director James Cameron and iVAST Inc. to develop MPEG-4-based interactive programming)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... If MPEG-4 needed a big name to help it build some momentum against its proprietary competition, it's got one now. Academy Award winning director James Cameron has joined forces with software start-up iVAST Inc. to develop a slate of...

FCC ruling: multiple ISPs not forced on MSOs. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Federal Communications Commission )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... In a 3-to-1 vote that marked a huge win for the cable industry, the Federal Communications Commission declared in mid-March that cable modem service is an information service, rather than a telecommunications service, meaning MSOs are not...

Motorola, N2 forge content delivery system. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Motorola Broadband Communications Sector and N2 Broadband unveil new satellite-based digital asset management and delivery system)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Aiming to tap existing bandwidth to create a more efficient platform for on-demand content transport, Motorola Broadband Communications Sector and N2 Broadband have unveiled a new satellite-based digital asset management and delivery system....

BigBand reaches digital milestone. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(BigBand Networks Inc.'s Broadband MultimediaService Router serves more than 500,000 digital cable subscribers in North America)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... BigBand Networks Inc. said its Broadband MultimediaService Router (BMR) now serves more than 500,000 digital cable subscribers in North America, thanks in part to deployment deals with Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Blue Ridge...

AT&T Broadband pilot glimpses gateway potential. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Although most "real world" home networking technology involves simple bandwidth sharing among PCs and printers, much more exciting things could be on the way if recent MSO trials involving advanced "residential gateways" prove to be any...

Ikusi, Coresma hook up in Florida. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Ikusi Telecommunications and Coresma turned a former one-way cable system in Florida into a two-way plant, upgrading the basic cable and dialup services to much faster connections and services. The two companies installed and deployed...

Sunflower taps `Ultraband' to serve tech center. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Sunflower Broadband will deploy Advent Networks' proprietary "Ultraband" platform)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Sunflower Broadband said it will deploy Advent Networks' proprietary "Ultraband" platform as part of a plan to serve small- and medium-sized business subscribers at the University of Kansas' Information and Telecommunication Technology Center...

Free space optics go commercial-class. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(AirFiber Inc. has launched the AirFiber 580)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... Seeking to eliminate outages for the emerging free space optics (FSO) sector, AirFiber Inc. has launched the AirFiber 5800, an FSO platform that incorporates new levels of fault-tolerance and immunity to beam interference caused by birds and...

US Cable picks Terayon for DOCSIS roll-out. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Terayon Communication Systems)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... US Cable of Coastal-Texas has selected Terayon Communication Systems as its primary supplier of DOCSIS gear for its broadband services rollout. Montvale, N.J.-based US Cable, a top-25 MSO, serves more than 150,000 subscribers in 10 states....

Pulsent claims new compression scheme puts MPEG to shame. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... After toiling away in stealth mode for more than four years, Pulsent Corp. emerged with claims that its streaming media codec is superior to block-based MPEG as well as proprietary derivatives offered by companies like RealNetworks Inc. and...

XML the centerpiece for rival iTV initiatives. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Claiming that interactive television applications and content are riddled with too many proprietary elements, two separate groups are pushing new open standards for iTV production based on extensible markup language, or XML. The first is...

Conexant chip integrates cable modem and MPEG decoder. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Conexant Systems' CX24430 chip)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Conexant Systems has launched the CX24430, a set-top box chip that combines a cable modem and an MPEG decoder for interactive cable applications. In addition to digital set-tops, the chip could also be deployed in broadband home gateways...

CableLabs issues CableHome 1.0 specs. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Cable Television Laboratories Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CableLabs has issued specifications for CableHome 1.0, an industry-wide effort designed to extend DOCSIS to home networking devices. CableLabs said it expects to begin CableHome product certification testing during the second half of 2002....

Scientists envision A.I. for set-tops. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A team of BIAP Systems scientists outside of Washington, D.C., working on intelligent agent technology for the company's government projects, shrunk the resulting software's footprint and adapted the technology for set-top boxes. The...

Powell asks for digital volunteers. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Michael Powell)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell in early April issued a plan that aims to goose the digital-television migration. Noting that the plan is "voluntary," Powell suggested that ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and pay nets HBO and...

Jedai assembles executive team. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Jedai Broadband Networks)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Jedai Broadband Networks said it has fleshed out its executive team as the startup prepares for future product deployments designed to extend cable plant into the business sector for high-speed data and voice services. Leading the way is...

e-BOX paints an MPEG-4 future. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Seven high-profile companies have pooled their products to form e-BOX Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based venture that will supply North American and Asia Pacific operators with a digital cable platform based on MPEG-4 technology. Pushing e-BOX Corp....

802.11x extends market reach. (Upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... With the Bluetooth wireless protocol failing to live up to expectations in the wireless networking world, competing wireless technologies on the 802.11x platform continue their rapid growth into new markets across the globe. In April,...

Unlicensed bands worth watching. (Letters).
May 1, 2002... Your article ("Movin' on up," page 40, April 2002 CED) focuses on the licensed wireless bands as if such offer the only spectrum worth mentioning. You entirely neglect unlicensed bands (not WiFi systems). While the MMDS license holders wring...

Incanta coverage. (Letters).
May 1, 2002... Until the end of last week (early April 2002), I was senior vice president of business development at Incanta. I wanted to thank you for your coverage of our company in what I read to be a fair and accurate reporting of the road we...

Video-on-demand's great escape: existing and looming VOD specifications and standards aim to pick the lock on proprietary systems, shave down costs, speed up deployments and, eventually, forge a common template for wide-scale everything-on-demand services. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
May 1, 2002... Buoyed by industry-wide standards and specifications already agreed to or currently underway, cable operators appear to be on the verge of breaking free of their proprietary video-on-demand prisons. Today, MSOs that deploy VOD in a...

Probing the minds of cable's braintrust; five of the industry's best and brightest discuss their agendas for advanced services such as iTV, VOD, HDTV, VoIP and home networking.(interactive television, video-on-demand, high-definition television, voice over Internet protocals)(Interview)
May 1, 2002... Now, perhaps more than ever in the cable TV industry's storied past, the future is unpredictable. Competition is stronger than ever. Economic pressures are extreme. The industry has spent billions over the past five years to upgrade its...

Speeding up digital rollouts; taking a new approach to networking saves time, money. (Fiberline: fiber optic technology).
May 1, 2002... Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) providers now have the unrestricted ability to offer local programming, threatening a competitive advantage long enjoyed by MSOs. As a result, it is more important than ever for MSOs to quicken the pace of...

iTV pauses, takes stock, changes course: competition compels MSOs to rethink interactive TV. (Networking: advanced networking technology).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Once again, interactive TV seems to be on the brink of something. Life or death is too draconian--for everyone familiar with its 30-year struggle knows that iTV never really dies. Circumstances intervene, and it goes back into hibernation....

Taking the guided tour; electronic/interactive program guides playing a crucial role. (Networking: advanced networking technology).
May 1, 2002... A program guide used to be a fairly straightforward tool. You scrolled through a somewhat lengthy, albeit simplistic, list of program offerings, saw what you liked, punched the remote and assumed the couch potato position. Today, the guide...

Online gaming: getting down to business; an introduction to business components, architectures & more. (Networking: advanced networking technology).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... As the electronic gaming industry has grown, it has reinvented itself many times. Through these cycles of gaming evolution, each game stimulates more senses, is more realistic and permits more people to play the game--all in an attempt to...

Cutting the fat out of the network; business efficiencies are money in the bank for cable operators. (Broadband: business and news perspective).
May 1, 2002... New revenue streams may be the go-to strategy for new-century networks, but it's cost reductions and business efficiencies that are floating the revenue boat. Efficiently operating and maintaining today's complex, powerful networks is now...

The simplest things. (In the loop).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Wowie Zowie! Some of my old classmates have started preparing for our thirtieth (thirtieth!) year high school reunion, and we were musing about where some of the class characters are now. One of those was a good friend, but I lost touch with...

Dialing up the cost of cablephone; examining the economics of cable telephony architectures. (Broadband: business and news perspective).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Cable operators seeking to deploy new, revenue-generating services often face multiple technology choices, each one offering a different mix of technology, function and--most important--return on investment. Operators of all sizes are...

Smarts on the edge: VDSL and GigE are closing the MTU/MDU connection gap. (Broadband: business and news perspective).(Very High-Speed DSL)(Gigabit Ethernet)(multi-tenant unit/multi-dwelling unit)
May 1, 2002... Looking back on the telecom market crash-and-burn, a sort of unofficial network inventory count can be taken. Amidst the rubble of once high-flying long haul networkers, idealistic competitive broadband providers, and stodgy incumbent...

Intelligent optical networks. (New products: product reviews).(advertisement)
May 1, 2002... ANAHEIM, Calif.--Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced test solutions and components to support more efficient and intelligent optical networks. Agilent's range of products includes optical component test equipment, installation and...

Planar lightwave circuit splitters. (New products: product reviews).(advertisement)
May 1, 2002... SUNNYVALE, Calif.--Alliance Fiber Optic Products Inc. has released a 1x8 Planar Lightwave Circuit Splitter to aid design engineers in cable TV, access, APON and other broadband system applications where exceptional split characteristics are...

Gigabit Ethernet switch. (New products: product reviews).(advertisement)
May 1, 2002... IRVINE, Calif.--Broadcom Corp. is shipping in volume the first member of its MetroSwitch product family, the BCM5632, a 12-Gigabit Ethernet plus one 10-Gigabit Ethernet switch processor for Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) optical access,...

Optical testers. (New products: product reviews).(Sunrise Telecom Inc. has announced the SunLight family of optical handheld testers)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... SAN JOSE, Calif.--Sunrise Telecom Inc. has announced the SunLight family of optical handheld testers, designed for telecommunications network applications. The testers' precision and ease-of-use make them suited for fiber cable...

Wireless cables for flexible applications. (New products: product reviews).(advertisement)
May 1, 2002... HICKORY, N.C.--CommScope Inc. has announced the development and introduction of a new cable technology. Extremeflex cables are now available to complement the family of CommScope Wireless products for the Third Generation Wireless (3G),...

Surface-mount power amplifiers. (New products: product reviews).(advertisement)
May 1, 2002... HAVERHILL, Mass.--Alpha Industries has introduced new broadband mm wave medium power amplifiers (AA026P2-A4 and AA032P1-A4) that incorporate the patent-pending Alpha-2 surface mount package for performance and cost advantages, says the company...

24-ribbon fusion splicer. (New products: product reviews).(AFL Telecommunications introduces 24-ribbon fusion splicer)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... SPARTANBURG, S.C.--AFL Telecommunications has introduced a 24-ribbon fusion splicer. Designed to meet the needs of high fiber density networks, the FSM-40R24 Fusion Splicer has the ability to splice ribbons as large as 24 fibers. With the large...

Fiber cross-connect products. (New products: product reviews).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CALABASAS HILLS, Calif.--Lynx Photonic Networks has introduced its new Photon. FXC (Fiber Cross-Connect) product family, which enables intelligent, software-controlled, fully dynamic configuration of bi-directional, high-speed optical...

Fiber distribution panel. (New products: product reviews).(Americable enhances its SMART Platform of fiber distribution panels and frames)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--Americable has announced a high-density enhancement to its SMART Platform of fiber distribution panels and frames. The new Americable 144-Port F23 delivers a high density fiber distribution solution in a 23-inch chassis...

Optical Ethernet transport. (New products: product reviews).(Internet Photonics Inc. introduces Optical Ethernet product line)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
May 1, 2002... MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--Internet Photonics Inc. says it has introduced a product line that brings the best carrier-grade attributes of Sonet/SDH to Optical Ethernet. New products include the LightStack MXA, LightStack MX, and LightHandler PC. They...

NCTA Cable 2002: May 6-8, 2002.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... 3ABN 3631 A & E Network 2935 A & E Television Networks 2935 ABC Cable Networks Group ...

Cable modem technical standards. (capital currents).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... What do you think about letting franchising authorities impose technical standards for cable modem service? Pretty scary, right? But that's the direction the local cable advisory committee is going where I live. First, I have to disclose that I...

Putting VoIP the crash-test; while some MSOs opted to take the early plunge on circuit-switched telephony, several others are driving down the VoIP path as the technology continues to mature.(voice-over-Internet protocol)
May 1, 2002... "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." Those words, as telephony lore has it, were spoken by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to his assistant Thomas A. Watson after Bell accidentally spilled battery acid on his knickers. As everyone...

Cable starts dialing for dollars with VoIP; operators--through a mixture of lab and field trials--are starting to test the financial mettle of IP telephony services.(Voice-over-Internet protocol)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... The business case for Voice-over-Internet protocol services is out there... somewhere. Just where, and how compelling it's likely to be, are two burning questions being answered in a few select trials and in a smattering of labs around the...

Walking the dog that is VoDSL; the technology that marries multi-line voice services with DSL data has been stuck, spinning its wheels, and unique market factors may keep VoDSL from ever gaining the momentum needed to reach critical mass.(Voice-Over-Digital Subscriber Line)
May 1, 2002... Like the CLEC market itself, the technology that adds multi-line voice capabilities to data-only DSL loops, called Voice-over-DSL, has suffered through a series of ups-and-downs, and stops and starts. At one time, VoDSL was viewed as a...

Cable architectures draw up an IP future; new network approaches aim to help cable operators migrate to an all-IP voice platform without stranding capital on legacy gear.(CableLabs' PacketCable 1.2 specification provides blueprint for Internet Protocol-based cable telephony)
May 1, 2002... With the blueprint for Internet Protocol-based cable telephony completed following the release of CableLabs' PacketCable 1.2 specification, the cable industry is inching toward the deployment of full end-to-end IP voice service over its new...

Why Canada's cable telephony trials crashed and burned; though ambitious, Cogeco's and Videotron's initial work with packetized voice services was fraught with technical and operational tribulations.
May 1, 2002... Just a few short years ago, Voiceover-IP (VoIP) via a cable TV infrastructure seemed a sure bet in Canada. In fact, both Groupe Videotron and Cogeco Cable--at the time Canada's second- and fourth- largest MSOs respectively, in terms of number...

Piecing together the VoIP puzzle; tightly tied with 2002's slate of DOCSIS testing waves, CableLabs has embarked on its assessment of gear based on PacketCable specifications.(PacketCable infrastructure is more or less complete.)
May 1, 2002... Like a nearly-complete jigsaw puzzle, the picture that will become PacketCable is finally starting to take shape. Thanks to DOCSIS 1.1 certifications and qualifications recently handed out by CableLabs, the underpinning of the PacketCable...

AM's innovative operations solutions.(cable operators expanding multimedia services of video, voice and data)
May 1, 2002... The evolution of the cable industry into a dynamic, multi-service business is pushing cable operators and their vendors into uncharted waters, and what they're discovering is a complex, sophisticated new world of networks replete with a host of...

Education, training are now mandatory.(e-based learning from AM Communications and the New Jersey Institute of Technology)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Sophisticated, new-era networks are prompting a resurgence in training and education, along with an urgent call for people and companies with increased skills and knowledge necessary to manage, maintain and grow these high-powered networks....

AM leads with software and automation.(AM Communications)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2002... Maneuvering through the uncharted waters of today's sophisticated networks is prompting cable MSOs to manage their networks more diligently than ever, with particular emphasis on cost, efficiency, reliability and seamless information flow. The...

North American VOD deployments.(tabular information only)
May 1, 2002... NORTH AMERICAN VOD DEPLOYMENTS Service provider Market Launch date Adelphia Bethel Park, Pa. April 2002 Cleveland, Euclid, Sept. 2001 ...