G L O B A L . B R O A D B A N D. E X C E L L E N C E . V O L 2 7 N O.

0 5 M AY 2 0 1 0

Are MSOs
Ready for
VOD Ads?
Next Month: Optical T&M Snaps

IS HD NOW THE NEW SD?

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS! 20

MARKETPLACE
COMCAST DECISION COULD IMPACT COMPETITION 24

SMART HOME
CLIENT/SERVER COMES HOME 28

www.cable360.net/ct
 IF YOU CAN’T FIND IT
YOU CAN’T FIX IT
Imagine the ability to find and fix errors
in the return path without disabling service.
Now imagine adding this functionality
to the meter you invested in
five years ago!
Adjacent
Return Channel Traffic Trace
c
TraffiControl
®

As more services are offered the return path

Peak Noise
becomes congested and more difficult and costly
to analyze and troubleshoot. Trilithic’s exclusive
Live Noise
TraffiControl® option sorts the service traffic
from the spectrum noise and ingress, enabling
you to find the problem.

Now that you can find in-channel noise and

ingress, you can fix it. Troubleshooting the
return path in a bonded channel environment
couldn’t be easier.

From DOCSIS 3.0 to TraffiControl®, Trilithic

continues to provide the most comprehensive
test and measurement applications and no other
meter gives you this range of capabilities or
lower lifetime costs.

Be Ready For Tomorrow TraffiControl ®

Contact Your Sales Representative Today!

Exclusively av
ailabl
from Trilithic e
www.860dsp.com
INS031010

800-344-2412 www.trilithic.com
contents
G L O B A L . B R O A D B A N D . E X C E L L E N C E . V O L 2 7 N O . 0 5 M AY 2 0 1 0
Show me the money!

16 Dynamic
VOD Ads Advance
The trials are over, and deployment has begun.
features columns
Broadband
Time flies when you're having fun,
and Ron Hranac takes a walk down
memory lane as he celebrates his
25th year as a contributor to CT.
14

Results will be part of the business equation.

Can MSOs make it work? Reality Check 30
Jim Farmer takes a look at both sides
of the coin when it comes to 1 Gbps.
Does it make sense? Yes! Does it make
sense? No!

news and
opinion
Publisher's Letter 6

CT Reports 8
FCC Chair Talks Spectrum at NAB 8
Comcast Hosts 3D Golf Parties 8
Cablecos Lag In Customer Ratings 10
Fiber Spending On The Rise 11
TA Buys Into Aurora Networks 11
20 Is HD Now The New SD? Developers Get Fast-Track HDTV Tool 11
HD is here, and everyone is competing for a piece of the subscriber pie. The new
challenge for MSOs? Making sure their customers know how to program their new HDTVs
with the high-def channel lineups. reference
Business/Classifieds 29
Advertiser Access 29
departments
24 Marketplace 26 Optical Outlook 28 Smart Home
Comcast wins its P2P case, but the decision ROADMs are beginning to replace SONET CE vendors, chip makers and video providers
will benefit the competition as well. when it comes to creating new bandwidth, are bringing client/server architectures to
with the promise of saving money. the home via RVU and CEA-2014.

© 2010 by Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. Communications Technology™ (ISSN 0884-2272) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC,
4 Choke Cherry Road, Second Floor, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Editorial: (301) 354-1795. Sales: (301) 354-1785. May 2010, Volume 27, Number 05. Periodicals postage paid at Rockville, MD, and ad-
ditional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Communications Technology, P.O. Box 3230, Northbrook, IL 60065-3230. Change of address two to eight weeks notice requested. Send to the
above address or call (847)559-7314. Email: CT@omeda.com. Subscriptions: Free to qualified individuals directly involved in the cable industry. All other subscriptions, US: one year $99; two years $188.
Canada: one year $129; two years $208. Foreign: one year $149, two years $278. Canada Post PM40063731. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5.

may2010 3
 SubScribe for free to
Communications Technology
is a global resource that
provides broadband engineers,
executives and managers
with reliable information on
technology trends, strategy,
implementation and best
practices.
Sign up for a free
SubScription today
by viSiting
www.omeda.com/ct
15161
15161 CT print Subscription ad_quarter.indd 1
4 may2010
EDITORIAL
Editor, Debra Baker 301-354-1795 or dbaker@accessintel.com
Associate Editor, Linda Hardesty 720-570-5129
Senior Technology Editor, Ronald J. Hranac
Contributors: Monta Monaco Hernon, George Lawton
ADVERTISING/BUSINESS
VP & Group Publisher, Joe Rosone 301-354-1773
Publisher, Tish Drake 800-325-0156 or tdrake@accessintel.com
Eastern Sales Manager, Susan Joyce, 303-778-5976
or sjoyce@accessintel.com
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Senior Graphic Designer, Vince Lim
Production Manager, Sophie Chan-Wood,
schanwood@accessintel.com
MARKETING
Marketing Manager, Jill Braun
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Audience Development Director, Stuart Bonner
Fulfillment Manager, George Severine
CLIENT SERVICES
Advertising, 800-325-0156
Back Issues, 847-559-7314
Editorial, 301-354-1795
1/8/09 2:40:19 PM
Photocopy/reuse requests, 800-772-3350, info@copyright.com
List Sales, Statlistics 203-778-8700 x 138
Subscription Services, 847-559-7314 or e-mail ct@omeda.com
Reprints, the YGS group 1-800-290-5460,
commtechnology@theYGSgroup.com
Access Intelligence, LLC
President and Chief Executive Officer, Donald A. Pazour
Exec. Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Ed Pinedo
Divisional President, Business Information Group, Heather Farley
Exec. Vice President, Human Resources &
Administration, Macy L. Fecto
Sr. Vice President, Corporate Audience Development, Sylvia Sierra
Vice President of Production & Manufacturing, Michael Kraus
Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Robert Paciorek
Vice President Financial Planning & Internal Audit, Steve Barber
Access Intelligence, LLC, CABLE GROUP
Vice President/Group Publisher, Joe Rosone
Assistant Vice President, Seth Arenstein
SALES AND EDITORIAL OFFICES
4 Choke Cherry Road, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850
301-354-2000; Fax 301-738-8453
www.cable360.net/ct
 Membership is FREE!

Congregate...Connect...Converse

CT Chatter, the premier network

dedicated to broadband engineering
professionals!

Become a part of this

interactive community
where broadband industry
insiders congregate and
connect with CT editors,
colleagues and clients.
Niche groups offer
venues for members to
get input or expertise on specific technology related topics,
search for partners and find opportunities.

CT Chatter, an exciting way to reach the

broadband industry.

Join Today, it’s free!

www.CTChatter.com
15780
publisher’s letter

Silver and Gold

There’s an old scouting campfire song that goes like this:
“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and
the other gold.” Those words will start to ring true to
Communications Technology’s readers during the next
several months as this publication begins to ramp up its
editorial content to include stories addressing next-gen
business, converging technologies, competition and
industry tactics, and best practices while adding even
more value to our traditional market focus.
The CT brand has been providing the cable industry
with informative and actionable technical coverage for
nearly 30 years. CT was serving its cable readers before
triple and quadruple play, before VOD, and before the
massive success of and hunger for high-speed data and
bandwidth. We’ve covered them all and we will con-
tinue to do so, but we also want to be ahead of the evo-
lutionary power curve when it comes to new products,
services, industry players and technology.
As anyone in the communications industry knows,
offering a good product mix (including the next big
things) is key not only to survive but to thrive. The same
goes for business publications, which also must refresh
and retrench their news and views as never-ending de-
velopments change the competitive landscape. The new
marketplace involves convergence, not complacence.
The CT brand plans to give you with the best-possible
industry coverage in the ways you want it delivered: on
paper, as e-media on your PC or Mac, over the air and in
a tweet, via Webinars and events, anywhere, anytime. Be
on the lookout as we unveil new and engaging ways to
keep you updated.
To help make this happen, Debra Baker has joined the
CT staff as editor, bringing with her nearly 30 years of
experience in communications journalism and a fresh
perspective on what kind of savvy insight CT can and
should be offering its readers. Email her at dbaker
@accessintel.com with your ideas and input.
At the same time, I want to congratulate and thank
an old CT friend, Senior Technology Editor Ron
Hranac, for his 25 years of continued contributions
to CT and to the industry as a whole. His expertise
and insight have made the cable-business stream just
a little bit easier to ford.
Tish Drake, Publisher

Communications Technology is now available in a digital format.

View the magazine on your computer just as it appears in print. Receive it to your
laptop or desktop the day the print version mails.

Benefits include:
Subscribe to the
◆ Search issues quickly and easily digital issue now at
◆ Environmentally friendly www.omeda.com/ct
◆ Links directly to resources and advertisers
◆ Read the magazine while on the go
◆ Ease of forwarding and printing articles
◆ Get the issue and read articles before the
print version arrives
12539

6 may2010
12539 CT Texterity ThirdPg Ad.in1 1 10/3/07 11:40:21 AM
ct reports
Genachowski Talks Spectrum at NAB
Facing a potentially hostile audience of
broadcasters, Federal Communications
Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski
broached the subject of spectrum reclama-
tion at last month’s National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas.
Prior to the chairman’s speech, NAB
President Gordon Smith riled broadcasters
by referring to the recently released National
Broadband Plan as the "great spectrum
grab," but Genachowski attempted to
convince the audience that spectrum real-
location is a good thing. (Editor's note: The
FCC's National Broadband Plan calls for the
recovery of 500 megahertz of spectrum
during the next 10 years from multiple
private and government users.)
"More broadcasters are seeking to
extend their reach beyond the traditional
platform," he said. "We need to go where
the audience is going - online and mobile."
But he warned that demand for spectrum
quickly will outstrip the supply, citing some
facts: An advanced Internet-connected
Comcast Hosts 3D Golf Parties
Looking to get the word out, Comcast
hosted 3D viewing events of the 2010 Mas-
ters Golf Tournament to encourage new TV
purchases.
The MSO threw the invitation-only par-
ties in several cities, showing two hours of
live footage daily.
For the Masters in 3D, Comcast trans-
mitted the coverage in1080i side-by-side
format to the Comcast Media Center,
where it was packaged to 18.75 Mbps
using MPEG 2 and a RealD multiplexer for
final delivery to the home, according to a
Comcast spokesman, who added, "This is
the same rate that we typically deliver for
live 2D HD sportscasts."
Although David Broberg, VP of consumer
video technology at CableLabs, has said the
preferred format is the top/bottom solution,
8 may2010
To subscribe to CT’s Reports, visit our Web site at www.cable360.net/subscribe/
smartphone generates 30 times the data
volume of the cellphone it replaces. And
data from multiple sources predict a 40-fold
increase in mobile Internet demand - and
that was before the introduction of the iPad.
"While it's not the time to panic, it is the
time to plan," he said.
But what about broadcast spectrum?
According to the chairman, “Some have
suggested that all 300 megahertz now al-
located to broadcasting should be reclaimed
and auctioned. Others take the view that
the status quo is fine; no change needed.
The Broadband Plan recommends neither
course. Instead, it lays out a well-balanced
plan designed to be a win-win-win for
broadcasters, mobile Internet providers and
the American people.”
The commission’s plan gives broadcasters
the chance to enter into a voluntary incentive
auction aimed at giving broadcasters “the
choice to contribute their licensed spectrum
to the auction and participate in the upside.”
There are four salient points to the auction:
the Masters was delivered in side-by-side
format. Broberg described top/bottom as
the horizontal offset between two images
that preserves depth fidelity.
Perhaps the side-by-side choice is one
reason the Masters coverage didn't affect
viewers in the same way as did "Avatar." Ac-
cording to Gary Sasaki, president of digdia,
"If you're a golfer, you're used to standing
behind your partner as they're hitting the
golf ball. Your experience might be more
familiar, more comfortable in 3D."
Comcast's promotional materials said,
"Viewers will be able to experience the
course's undulating greens, steep bunkers,
countless azaleas and hundred-year-old
trees." And the foliage apparently was im-
pressive in 3D, providing depth interest that
wasn't always apparent previously.
• Auctions are voluntary. Participation is
up to the licensee and no one else.
• For the plan to work, the FCC doesn’t
need all, most or even very many licens-
ees to participate.
• The commission anticipates mecha-
nisms to reduce or even eliminate risk
and to maximize upside for broadcast-
ers that elect to participate in the auc-
tion. The plan could allow broadcasters
to set a reserve auction price below
which their licenses wouldn’t transfer.
And the mechanism could lock in a pay-
ment for broadcasters while allowing for
participation in upside above that level.
• Auction rules and mechanisms will be
developed through an open and trans-
parent process, with ongoing dialogue
about the best design mechanisms for
incentive auctions, focusing on what
will actually work while meeting the
country’s needs.
– Linda Hardesty
Sasaki said golf coverage requires at
least one stereoscopic camera at the tee
off, but highly action-oriented sports like
basketball would require more 3D cameras.
"The synchronization of cameras is easier
to do with golf because you don't have
to coordinate things with other cameras,"
he said. "With golf, you can control where
people are. "
Whether operators will be willing to spare
more bandwidth for higher-quality 3D is yet
to be seen. "For 3D, you're tending to allo-
cate more bandwidth for precision and align-
ment of pixels for left and right eye," Sasaki
said. “Compression plays with the pixels.
The less compression you have to deal with,
the higher the fidelity of the image."
– Linda Hardesty
 > New Innovative
DOCSIS® 3.0
Testing

Troubleshoot digital services faster!

WWW.JDSU.COM
NORTH AMERICA 1 866 228-3762
LATIN AMERICA +1 954 688 5660
The market-leading DSAM is the first field meter that tests the bonded performance
of full 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 carriers in one measurement. Add in the DSAM DQI one-button
feature proven to find intermittent digital problems that are missed by MER/BER and
you’re immediately reducing truck rolls. You’ll earn even more efficiency with
enhanced RPM3000 cards with LivePacket™ Technology for the PathTrak Return Path
Monitoring System. It demodulates live, in-service upstream packets to find problems
inside and underneath bursty DOCSIS carriers that traditional spectrum analyzers
just can’t see.
Make sure your technicians can get the job done right the first time, every time with
the industry’s most trusted, accurate, and reliable HFC test solutions available.
To learn what’s new and download a free application note on DOCSIS 3.0 readiness,
visit www.jdsu.com/DOCSIS

ASIA PACIFIC +852 2892 0990

OTDRs | Field Meters | Systems & Software
EMEA +49 7121 86 2222
ct reports
Competition Continues To Dog Cablecos
A survey update conducted by Rockville,
MD-based ChangeWave Research found
that, by a wide margin, fiber-optic TV
subscribers remain the most satisfied
customers – with 44 percent reporting
they are Very Satisfied with their television
service provider.
This compares with 27 percent for
satellite-TV subscribers and just 14 percent
for cable subscribers.
As far as individual fiber-optic TV providers
are concerned, Verizon FiOS (49 percent
Very Satisfied) continues to maintain its
strong lead over the rest of the industry in
customer satisfaction, with Bright House
(37 percent) in second place and AT&T U-
verse (34 percent) in third.
ChangeWave analysts Andy Golub and
Paul Carton also found that fourth-place
10 may2010
To subscribe to CT’s Reports, visit our Web site at www.cable360.net/subscribe/
DirecTV (32 percent) continues to hold a
substantial lead over its other major satellite
competitor, Dish Network (22 percent).
Notably, no other TV provider had a Very
Satisfied score of more than 13 percent,
and a string of cable companies did worse.
Respondents also were polled on
churn. Some 11 percent overall plan to
switch providers sometime during the
next six months, up 1 percentage point
from ChangeWave’s October 2009 survey.
Among those planning to switch, price (58
percent) remains the Number One reason.
Moreover, the percentage of respondents
citing price has surged more than 50
percent during the past 18 months – in
large part due to the recession – and there
still are no signs of a reversal to this trend,
ChangeWave said.
More important, fiber-optic custom-
ers exhibit the lowest churn rate (only 6
percent said they’ll switch), considerably
better than their satellite (10 percent) and
cable counterparts (12 percent); only 4
percent of Verizon FiOS customers plan
to go elsewhere. Cablecos Cox (8 percent
of subs plan to leave) and Bright House (9
percent will exit) are next, followed by the
AT&T U-verse service (10 percent) and sat-
ellite companies Dish Network (10 percent)
and DirecTV (11 percent).
Bringing up the rear are the rest of
the cable providers – including Comcast
(12 percent will change), Cablevision (13
percent), Time Warner (14 percent) and
Charter (18 percent).
Moving forward, the ChangeWave
survey found that DirecTV (23 percent, up 3
percentage points since the last poll) is lead-
ing among the major providers in terms of
future marketshare gains. In a virtual tie for
second are the two fiber providers – Verizon
FiOS (18 percent, down 4 points) and AT&T
U-verse (17 percent, down 5 points). Dish
Network is further back at 11 percent, with
the cable companies again coming in last.
Long term, the survey showed cable
companies facing the toughest road ahead.
However, while most cable providers lag in
terms of churn rates, future demand and
customer satisfaction, ChangeWave points
to one major advantage they hold – a huge
installed customer base.
Having said that, the fast-emerging Alter-
native TV market, including the rapid move-
ment toward Internet-connected TV, poses
both competitive threats and potential
opportunities for traditional TV service pro-
viders. Some 10 percent of ChangeWave’s
respondents have used their TVs to access
the Internet during the past six months;
however, 14 percent said they plan to do so
during the next six months.
What are they watching? The vast
majority (56 percent) is watching movies,
but others are gaming, YouTubing and
info surfing.
 ct reports
Fiber Spending On The Rise
Hundreds of small independent telcos,
broadband service providers, mu-
nicipalities and cable TV operators have
brought gigabit-enabled, all-fiber service
to a total of more than 1.4 million North
American homes - about a quarter of all
fiber to the home (FTTH) connections
on the continent - according to a report
from the Fiber-to-the-Home Council.
The study, conducted by RVA Market
Research, found that all-fiber networks
now are now to 16 percent of homes in
North America, with 5.8 million homes
now receiving TV, high-speed Internet
and/or phone service via these networks.
Mike Render, president of RVA LLC
and author of the study, said there are
many reasons independent telcos are
flocking to FTTH, including the need to
replace aging copper lines, the oppor-
tunity to include video in their service
offerings and, in some cases, the avail-
ability of rural broadband loan programs
and stimulus funds.
While a large portion of the FTTH
deployment thus far has been due
to Verizon's $23 billion investment
in overbuilding its wireline service
in many areas, the report noted that
FTTH is being deployed by more than
750 North American service providers,
most of those being small, independent
telephone companies that are replacing
their copper lines with end-to-end fiber
to help ensure their future competitive-
ness as broadband providers.
Further, the study found that more
than 65 percent of small independent
telcos that have not upgraded to FTTH
said they would “very likely” do so in
the future, with another 11 percent
saying they were “somewhat likely.”
More than 85 percent of those that have
deployed FTTH said they would be add-
ing more direct fiber connections going
forward.
Plant the
Seed for
Professional
Growth with
Jones/NCTI
Jones/NCTI announces a new
Associate of Applied Science
degree program. Students can
build a degree in the broadband
and telecommunications
industries while taking courses
from a choice of three industry-
specific tracks:
Broadband Technology
Customer Care
Telecommunications
Classes may be completed
through online and independent
study options, giving you a
versatile accredited degree that
demonstrates both job-specific
expertise and general business
knowledge. And it’s the fast
track to professional growth.

Associate’s
Degree

Tech
Masteratio Bachelor’s
n

Devs Enter
Degree

Aurora Gets
Certific

Private Equity HDTV On Ramp

Infusion
Private-equity provider TA Associates has
acquired, through a secondary purchase
from existing shareholders, a minority
stake in Aurora Networks. Terms of the
investment were not disclosed.
Founded in 1999, Aurora Networks
is a pure-play optical transport solution
provider focused solely on cable net-
work operators. The company’s array
of products includes optical transmit-
ters, node platforms and Ethernet
equipment.
Jason Werlin, a vice president at TA
Associates, will join Aurora's board of
directors.
The popbox SDK enables developers
to take Adobe Flash applications and
make them popapps; apps will be
available soon to consumers via their
popboxes.
The SDK hooks into the popbox UI
to handle remote commands, to ex-
ecute widgets and to load app-specific
data. New popapps could play videos,
music and photos; read and write
content metadata; and access files
on mounted drives and UPnP servers
from the home network or media from
the cloud.
Learn more:
ProfessionalGrowthStartsHere.com
866.427.1304

may2010 11
broadband By Ron Hranac, Senior Technology Editor
A Quarter Century
of Words
This issue marks 25 years since I started writing for
Communications Technology—my first article ap-
peared in May 1985.
Back then, Paul Levine was publisher, Toni Barnett
was editor, and Wayne Lasley—the guy who con-
vinced me to start writing for CT—was managing
editor. It had been just two months since Paul wrote
of celebrating the magazine’s first anniversary.
Way before Nirvana
What were cable’s hot topics in 1985? SCTE, ampli-
tude modulated link (AML) microwave, dabbling in
FM video transmission over fiber, addressable con-
verters, preventive maintenance, new signal leakage
rules, and ever-expanding system bandwidth are a
few that come to mind.
SCTE, at the time known as the Society of Cable
Television Engineers (the name wouldn’t change to
Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers until
1995), introduced its
Satellite Tele-Seminar
program the previous ”Sweeping and
year, and the first train-
ing seminar was trans-
leakage control
mitted on Galaxy I’s seemed to be made
transponder 3 Tuesday, for each other.“
February 19, 1985.
That first Satellite
Tele-Seminar featured then SCTE At-Large Director
Richard Covell, and was titled “dBs and dBmVs.”
Richard’s seminar was recorded at the University of
Denver by Jones Intercable and the SCTE’s Rocky
Mountain Meeting Group.
The Society’s Technical Tuition Assistance Pro-
gram was authorized by Board of Directors in 1985,
and initially funded by matching donations from
Rex Porter and National Cable Television Institute.
The BCT/E certification program was officially intro-
duced at that year’s third annual Cable-Tec Expo in
Washington, D.C., and the first exam was Category
IV “Distribution Systems.” SCTE’s Interval was a
small beige booklet included with each issue of CT.
Hughes AML microwave equipment was still wide-
ly used in many cable networks, helping operators
break up those long trunk amplifier cascades and
14 may2010
2010
1985
divide systems into smaller service areas. This was
done using multichannel point-to-multipoint signal
transmission in the local distribution service portion
of the 12.7-13.2 GHz CARS (cable television relay
service) microwave band.
What eventually came to be known as hybrid fiber/
coax (HFC) using AM transmission over fiber was
still a few years away, although FM video transmis-
sion was used in some supertrunk applications. The
outside plant architectures of the mid-1980s were
variations of all-coax tree-and-branch.
Sweeps and leaks
Preventive maintenance was an important part of
the technical arsenal in the mid ’80s. In particu-
lar, cable operators were paying more attention to
system sweeping. Remember the sweep gear from
Avantek and Wavetek? When it was used, there
were no surprises: As outside plant was swept and
the various gremlins
that caused frequency
response problems were
fixed, picture quality
improved and service
calls went down!
There was an
increasing emphasis on
getting signal leakage
under control, largely in anticipation of the FCC’s
pending new rules. The Commission had issued
a Second Report and Order in Docket 21006, and
upcoming requirements included much of what’s on
the books today.
Some of the new regulations about to descend
upon cable operators mandated quarterly monitoring
of the entire system, fixing leaks within a reasonable
period of time, leakage performance verification prior
to the carriage of signals and an annual “snapshot” of
leakage performance in the form of something called
cumulative leakage index.
(The latter reminds me of one of my pet terminol-
ogy peeves, right up there with dB versus dBmV:
One does not measure CLI or fix CLI. That is, CLI
is not the same thing as signal leakage. Rather, CLI
is a number that represents the severity of leakage at
a given point in time, and must be cal- one on new FCC rules pertaining to an Instead of using AML microwave to
culated after leakage measurements are 18 GHz allocation for CARS microwave, divide our systems into smaller service
performed. OK, off the soapbox.) one on system sweeping, and one on areas, AM fiber technology does that.
Like system sweeping, fixing leaks equipment reliability prediction. Signal leakage and ingress are more
almost always resulted in improved pic- My first article, titled “Getting the important than ever, although preventive
ture quality and fewer service calls, but most out of your bench sweep,” appeared maintenance and system sweeping don’t
also made it easier to sweep the plant. in the system economy category of the always get the attention they should.
Sweeping and leakage control seemed to magazine’s departments. Other categories Where would we be without cable
be made for each other. under departments included preventive modems and high-speed data? Analog
maintenance, tech tips (this was different TV channels are on the way out, being
Converters, amps than the “Tech Book” series that Bruce replaced by standard and high-def digital
As system RF bandwidths expanded, Catter and I coauthored later) and con- video. And who would’ve thought in
more channels were added to fill the struction techniques. Bob Luff and Ike 1985 that today’s largest cable companies
spectrum. The availability of new satel- Blonder were regular columnists. would also be counted among the largest
lite programming continued—remem- telephone companies?
ber, it was only 10 years earlier that Big changes A lot has changed in cable since the
HBO’s first satellite transmission had Fast forward to 2010. We don’t use the mid-Eighties, nearly all for the better.
occurred—and conditional access tech- term "converter" anymore; those boxes I’m truly grateful to have had a forum in
nology was front and center. in customers’ homes are called set-tops. Communications Technology during the
In the 1980s, addressable converters Perhaps the folks at SA were prescient? past quarter of a century.
were available from some companies that Modern digital set-top features and
are still around today, though the names functionality are a far cry from that of Ron Hranac is a technical leader, broadband
have changed. For instance, Jerrold be- their addressable converter predecessors. network engineering, for Cisco and senior tech-
came General Instrument, Next Level, Long ago state-of-the-art systems were nology editor for Communications Technology.
back to General Instrument, and fi- 450 MHz; today, 1002 MHz is the norm. Reach him at rhanac@aol.com.
nally Motorola; Scientific-Atlanta, which
called its converters “set-top terminals,”
is now Cisco. But do you remember ad-
dressable boxes from the likes of Mag-
navox, Sprucer, Tocom and Zenith?
Looking at the display ads in a copy
of the May 1985 CT, it’s interesting to
see which vendors are still here today,
which ones merged with or were ac-
quired by others and which ones are no
more.
Wegener Communications has a full-
page ad on the inside front cover, and
Eagle Comtronics is on the next page. Both
companies are still part of today’s industry.
Eagle’s ad promoted its 500 MHz taps,
which were pretty much state-of-the-art,
considering that typical cable system
upper frequency limits topped out at
330, 400, 440 or 450 MHz. There were
still a bunch of 220, 270 and 300 MHz
systems in operation, which were target
markets for bandwidth expansion: The
Jerrold Division of General Instrument
was advertising 330 MHz drop-in mod-
ules for its Starline 20 SJ series ampli-
fiers.
The May issue included three feature
articles about outside plant powering,

may2010 15
 DY N A M I C
VOD
Ads Advance
Th e sh ift from
to deploymenway
(finally) under
trial
t is

The technology
gives something
to operators, advertisers,
programmers and subscribers.
by Linda Hardesty Now it’s becoming a business equation.

C
omcast has issued no for-
mal announcement, but
the MSO appears to be
expanding its dynamic
video-on-demand (VOD)
advertising capability beyond an initial
trial and across its larger footprint. In
October, Comcast and advanced advertising
technology company BlackArrow said they
were trialing dynamic VOD advertising in
Comcast’s Jacksonville, FL, system.
That was six months ago. Momentum
looks to be building.
“Use of the word ‘trial’ in the cable in-
dustry is new to me,” said Troiano. “I’d say
it’s a deal, rolling across Comcast markets
as we speak.”
The idea of combining VOD with tar-
geted ads has been around for many years
along with high expectations. “VOD Ads
Ready To Take Off”—that was a MediaPost-
News headline from August 30, 2002. Eight
years later, that headline may fit today’s re-
alities. The timing of the Comcast initiative,
at any rate, looks fortuitous.
As it rolls out dynamic VOD advertis-
ing capability, Comcast has also joined
with seven other operators and a group
of movie studios to launch a $30 million
marketing campaign,promoting VOD. The
three-month ad campaign, developed in
conjunction with the Cable & Telecom-
munications Association for Marketing

16 may2010
 (CTAM), is titled “The Video Store Just
Moved In.”
At a time when more folks are watching
online video, the CTAM campaign hopes
to show consumers that VOD is more con-
venient than going out to a video store and
more comfortable than watching streaming
video at a computer.
Participants in the marketing campaign
include Armstrong, Bend Broadband, Bright
House Networks, Cablevision Systems,
Comcast, Cox Communications, Insight
Communications and Time Warner Cable,
along with studio partners: 20th Cen-
tury Fox, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Rogue,
Sony Pictures 7" x 4-3/4" Summit En-
Entertainment,
tertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner
Bros. Entertainment.
The marketing push should give opera-
tors a boost in their pay-per-view revenue.
And dynamic VOD advertising holds the
promise of increased ad revenues as well.
Apart from Comcast, other operators
are working on dynamic VOD advertis-
ing.In the first three months of 2010,
Bresnan Communications conducted a
dynamic 0457FA
VOD RGBadvertising trial in its
0310_CommTech_Ad_PRINT.pdf
Montana markets of Billings, Bozeman,
Helena and Missoula. The operator inte-
grated products from ARRIS, Avail-TVN
and BlackArrow.
In the past, VOD programming could
only accommodate static VOD ads that
were baked into an asset. The advertiser
had to provide the ad 45-90 days in advance
of its play to give the programmer time to
embed the ad asset into the program.
“Now, at Comcast and Bresnan, we have
a clean asset,” said Troiano. The TV show is
sent independent of creative assets and the
ads are inserted at time of play.
“It’s akin to how things work on the
Internet,” he said.
Cox Advances, too
Comcast and Bresnan aren’t the only ones
pinning hopes on dynamic VOD advertis-
ing. The U.K.-based Virgin Media (see page
xx) is rolling out the technology in 2010, as
is Cox Communications.
“We’ve already done true dynamic ad
insertion,” said David Porter, VP of adver-
tising product development for Cox Media,
the advertising
4/1/10 services
9:59:37 AM division of Cox.
In 2009, Cox Media and NBC Universal
conduced a test, inserting different adver-
tisements into two of NBC’s programs of-
fered the day after initial airing. The trial was
conducted in Cox’s Phoenix, AZ, system.
During the test, up to four ads in a
program were refreshed several times per
week, including ads at the beginning of the
program as well as ads within the program,
known as interior breaks.
“We started to realize VOD was a compet-
itive differentiator for cable operators,” said
Porter. “VOD brings the convenience and
control of the Internet. VOD also preserves
the economics of the TV ecosystem.”
Porter wouldn’t name systems, but indi-
cated a corporate commitment. “Through
2010, we’re going to be rolling out dynamic
ad insertion one market at a time, and en-
gaging one network at a time,” he said.
The process involves installation of ad
insertion equipment and making it work
with different components, playout gear,
reporting gear and back office systems.
“It’s not a quick, simple process,” Por-
ter said. “We’ve got about 18-20 different
unique headends.”

Simplify Your Network

Easily deploy advanced video services with RGB’s unique
solutions for MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264.
C

CM

MY

CY
BNP VMG

CMY
RGB's high-density, multi-function platforms deliver integrated
K solutions that significantly reduce the complexity of deploying
today's video services with easy scalability for expansion.

To learn more visit www.rgbnetworks.com

or see a demo at The Cable Show—booth #1255.

Driving the Video Revolution

may2010 17
 Virgin Media Layers Dynamic Ads
Video-on-demand (VOD) often provides cable operators with an
important competitive edge. Yet VOD solutions and the market
dynamics can be complex. Many of today’s subscribers, for instance,
expect nearly unlimited programming, enabled with trick-play control and
deliverable to multiple devices.
Operators count on VOD to improve customer satisfaction. With dynamic
VOD ad solutions in play, they are looking to generate new advertising
opportunities and revenue streams. How realistic are these expectations?
From trial to live
U.K.-based cable operator Virgin Media has the real-world experience to
answer that question. In October 2008, Virgin initiated a trial using ad inser-
tion technology from SeaChange. The operator concluded the 100,000-cus-
tomer trial last year. Among its results were significant increases in brand
and product awareness, ad awareness, and ad campaign effectiveness.
A year later, Virgin began rolling out this feature across its footprint, which
includes 3.7 million digital cable subscribers. That deployment is continuing
throughout 2010.
Here’s what the solution does today. Each time a subscriber starts a
VOD session, the system creates a playlist and determines which ads, if
any, are appropriate and then dynamically rewrites that playlist and delivers
it in real time.
“Determining which ads are appropriate involves ad-related and content-
related information plus context: the time of day, where the subscriber lives,
and – in the future – more information on the subscribers past viewing and
purchasing behaviors,” said Malcolm Stanley, SeaChange director of adver-
tising product management.
The system reports back on all ad impressions and subscriber viewing
activities: how long they viewed the ad, fast-forwarding or skipping the ad.
While strong VOD usage rates indicate happy subscribers (For 4Q09,
Virgin reported 35 views per user per month) increased ad revenues should
make the operator happier.
One key is leveraging existing assets. “At this point, the advertising spots
are placed around approximately 30 series that are a part of Virgin’s VOD
inventory,” explained Richard Broughton, Senior Analyst at Screen Digest.
“Virgin’s VOD usage today is dominated by free content: catch-up viewing
and archive materials. Pay-per-view films are less than five percent of the on-
demand views, but provide most of the operator’s VOD revenue.”
Look for that revenue to change, and not just from more bumper ads.
Adding dynamic ad insertion to the VOD infrastructure introduces
both opportunity and complexity. This is particularly true for VOD
advertising that goes beyond simple associative bumper ads to a
more sophisticated system.
The road map for these technologies have subscriber, ad and content
profiles being used by the operator’s advertising management system to
select the ads inserted based on the interests of the viewer, the content of
the ad, the context of the viewing and the focus of the show.
Virgin’s current advertising relies upon associations between content of
shows and ads, and the viewer’s context. Their production experience is
affirming that a system doesn’t need to be complex to provide a surprising
amount of value to operators, advertisers and subscribers.
Operators, advertisers and subscribers are seeing real process improve-
ments from dynamic VOD advertising. Unbundling the ad from the content
gives operators flexibility while reducing the duration and complexity of the
ad placement and reporting cycle. Single-copy ads liberate advertisers from
ad insertion duties, ads are quickly and easily modified, and reporting is
more useful. Viewers value and respond to ads that carry relevance.
Everyone likes what’s going on. “The technology is here,” noted
Broughton. “It’s been here for several years. The issue is in the value chain:
Are the operators, broadcasters, and advertisers ready?”
Market, not technology
How these advertisements will be sold remains a work in progress.
“In a manner of speaking, baby steps are required on the part of the
operators and the advertisers who want reach the consumers,” Stanley said.
The market is feeling its way toward the value propositions that will enable
billion-dollar revenue streams. “This isn’t a technology issue; this is a real
market issue. The players must agree on the market proposition before they
can enable the revenue streams to reach that volume,” observed Stanley.
For operators, advertisers are the crux. “When you discuss with advertis-
ers what they want today, they are looking for the accountability, efficiency
and velocity that you see more often in Internet environments than televi-
sion environments,” says Stanley. “Virgin Media’s dynamic advertising
brings a lot of that accountability and that efficiency to the television
experience and the on-demand aspect of AdPulse provides the real-time
velocity that advertisers enjoy in Internet environments.”

For the Phoenix test, Avail-TVN,
SeaChange International and Texscan
NT collaborated to support the end-
to-end workflow required for dynam-
ic ad insertion. Porter said Cox used
SeaChange’s AdPulse product, but “I’m not
suggesting that’s the one and only,” he said.
“The goal here is to use open standards.”
Sunflower links ads, nets
Sunflower Broadband in Lawrence, KS, uses
SeaChange’s AdPulse product to do pre-
and post-roll VOD ads for local avails.
At this point, Sunflower just allows an
advertiser to target a specific network for
VOD ads. For instance, a garden shop might
want to place ads on HGTV on demand
programming, or a hospital may want to
buy VOD ads on Discovery Health.
“Nine out of 10 AdPulse buys are in-
corporated in the overall campaign,” said
Misty Jensen, general sales manager with
Sunflower Broadband.
“Sunflower is using targeting that ad-
vertisers are very familiar with,” said Cox’s
Porter. “That’s a good way to start. But it is
by no means the end game.”
He said Cox eventually wants to bring
much finer targeting into its VOD advertis-
ing such as geographics and demographics.
Once dynamic VOD technology is in-
stalled and tested and ads are being sold on
a regular basis, the technology may offer the
opportunity to target ads based on specific
shows and viewer behavior, as well.
“We’re not doing that right now,” said
Porter. “Let’s get insertion gear deployed to
all our markets first.”
Linda Hardesty is associate editor of Commu-
nications Technology. Reach her at lhardesty@
accessintel.com.

18 may2010
©2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Transform Your Cable Network

Cisco can help you evolve your cable network to become a
medianet to meet the needs of today’s demanding consumers.

Learn more about Cisco’s new video over DOCSIS® 3.0 solution
and the new DOCSIS 3.0 line cards, which enable the largest to
smallest operators and everyone in between to deliver a realm
of consumer video experiences over a single infrastructure.

Visit us at The Cable Show, Executive Suite Space 78

Find out more at www.cisco.com/go/vdoc

 HD Is
Now The NEW SD?
Most so-called HD households still have plenty of SD
TVs. The transition is further complicated by consumer
challenges in figuring out how to make channel
lineups work on their new digital HDTVs.
By George Lawton
T
here is no doubt HD is the future of TV. HD is a
key driver for new premium revenues and a hook
for high-end subscribers, it’s becoming standard
in free-to-air TV broadcasts and the number of
HDTV-enabled households is rapidly growing.
“Yes, we see a migration from SD to HD similar to the transi-
tion from broadcasting in black and white to color,” said Gil
Katz, senior director of Cable Solutions and Strategy at Har-
monic Inc. “I would anticipate that most of the channel lineup
will be HD in about two years time.”
In many ways, HD is not standard, and here’s why: The FCC
still considers even the most basic set-top box with HD support
to be a smart box requiring expensive encryption; most so-called
HD households still have plenty of SD TVs that are not going
20 may2010
away any time soon; and the transition is further complicated by
consumer challenges in figuring out how to make the channel
lineup work on their new digital HDTVs.
As Katz noted, “Legacy considerations in cable networks will
mean that, for some time, operators will need to simulcast SD
side by side with HD, in MPEG-2, with a longer-term transition
to MPEG-4.”
HDTV excitement has been building
since its first public broadcast in North
Carolina in 1996. Initially, it almost
was a gimmick until the early 2000s,
when the Digital Video Broadcasting
group formally adopted HDTV
standards. Once the standards
were in place, over-the-air TV broadcast-
ers were supposed to make the transition
to digital in 2005, but they dragged their
feet all the way to 2009, when analog TV
officially shut down.
This lag gave HDTVs a chance to come
down in price, thus driving consumer
adoption for the new format. Cable opera-
tors, satellite providers and such telcos as
Verizon and AT&T have begun competing
to expand their HD service line-ups, real-
izing it can be a competitive differentiator
to attract high-end customers likely to
spend more on high-tier channel line-ups
and on-demand services.
According to ABI analyst Michael In-
ouye, “The market has moved toward HD
for North American cable in general.” He
estimated that around 7 million of the 19
million cable boxes that shipped last year
supported North American HDTV.
Who’s Outdoing Whom?
At first, there was considerable hype
around which provider had more HD
services, and providers would one-up each
other by expanding their line-ups. “But it is
less of a differentiator now,” Inouye noted.
All of the major video providers now top
or nearly top 100 HD channels, accord-
ing to the AV Sciences Forum, which has
been tracking the competition for some
time (for more information, go to http://
www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.
php?t=1058081). Verizon leads the pack
with 165, followed by AT&T (160), Time
Warner (150), Comcast (138), Dish (123),
Cox (90) and DirecTV (88).
With limited channel line-ups, opera-
tors are finding other ways to out-HD each
other. The cable and telco terrestrial provid-
ers are promising thousands of HD choices
on demand, which they can offer thanks to
local servers in their headends that transmit
individual feeds to a consumer’s home.
However, satellite providers can’t keep up
with these extensive lineups because their
bandwidth is shared nationwide (compared
with a cable headend’s smaller footprint).
Consequently, they have adopted a differ-
ent strategy to offer higher-quality 1080p
HD on demand for a few premium movies.
These are delivered in the wee hours of the
night to special satellite set-top boxes with
digital video recorders (DVRs).
In theory, 1080p (progressive) refreshes
each line every cycle in order to provide
22 may2010
twice the resolution of 1080i (interlaced),
which only refreshes every other line -- but
this is the case only if the consumer has the
right TV. At the moment, the only other
way to get genuine 1080p video is through
Blu-ray discs or special IPTV set-top boxes.
On the other hand, higher quality isn’t
not a sure bet over variety when it comes
to consumer decision-making. Just look at
the explosion of the iPod and the growth in
the market for lower-quality MP3 music at
the expense of higher-quality CD music. As
a result of this transition, industry research
has found that the market for all music has
shrunk from $14.6 billion in 1999 to $9.2
billion in 2008, CD sales are contributing a
smaller and smaller share.
Nothing’s ‘Standard’ Yet
A big part of the debate over what consti-
tutes a standard is the Federal Communica-
tion Commission’s definition of “advanced”
and “basic” set-top boxes. Currently, the
FCC considers any set-top box that pro-
vides HD service to be an “advanced”
set-top box, requiring a separable security
based on the CableCARD standard.
While this “standard” was intended to
help drive down the cost of consumer
equipment, it actually has had the op-
posite effect, said Brent Smith, president
of Evolution Digital, who explained that,
for a variety of technical and marketing
reasons, operators end up spending $250
per box to get CableCARD-enabled set-
tops compared with between $30 and
$40 for a basic SD digital box.
“The FCC has been on the fence as
to whether HD is an advanced or basic
service,” said Smith. “When the FCC
wrote these definitions, HD was seen
as a unique advanced feature. Now that
broadcasters have converted to HD, it is
hard to see how they could classify HD as
an advanced product.”
The commission has granted a few
waivers for digital HD set-tops on a sys-
tem-by-system basis, but this is both time-
consuming and expensive, especially for
smaller operators. Today, equipment ven-
dors are trying to get FCC exemptions
for basic HD-equipment that would allow
any operator to provide basic service with
integrated conditional access security. In
June 2009, Evolution Digital submitted
another waiver request for low-cost HD-
boxes. “If the FCC decides to qualify HD as
a ‘basic’ functions, then these boxes could
be deployed into the network to support
low-cost HD services,” said Smith.
Massillon Cable has been one of the
pioneers in transitioning from analog to
digital; and it was one of the first cable
operators to get a waiver for digital SD
set-tops, which allowed it to reclaim
bandwidth for adding another 70 HD
channels. However, the cableco was sur-
prised to discover how many of its cus-
tomers still were clinging to analog TVs.
As such, Massillon needed to distribute
some 100,000 digital adaptors to its
47,000 video customers.
Bob Gessner, president of Massillon,
said even customers with new digital TVs
had been watching analog because they
didn’t know how to program their new
sets to receive digital broadcasts. When
their new TVs first were installed, cus-
tomers saw a larger picture that looked
nicer than the picture on their existing
20-year-old TVs. They thought to con-
duct a channel scan because the analog C
video was already there on the screen.
M
So, when Massillon finally cut all ana-
log services, a lot of digital TVs went Y
dark. “That took us off guard because we CM
did not realize that so many people were MY
watching analog channels on their digital
CY
TVs,” Gessner said.
CMY
Tradeoffs K
There is no doubt HD will become the
new SD, but the transition will be a
bumpy one, forcing operators to mull
over many options. In the complicated
calculus of cable profits, they must bal-
ance the technical tradeoffs in offering
more channels, more video-on-demand
and higher quality with keeping the lives
of their “basic” customers simple.
As Ludovich Milin, manager of Cable
Product Marketing at BigBand Networks,
explained, “The implications of contin-
ued growth in HD and rollouts of 3D
will require greater focus on digital video
networking/video processing technologies,
which can cost-effectively accommodate
these bandwidth intensive services and en-
sure high-quality video experiences. Fur-
ther developments for HD rate-shaping and
HD ad splicing also will be needed.”
George Lawton is a frequent CT contributor.
Reach him at glawton@gmail.com.
FaultLine
TM

MPEG ANALYSIS & MONITORING SUITE

DETERMINE THE QUALITY OF YOUR VIDEO STREAM FROM A PC.

You no longer need to be an expert in IPTV to resolve Quality of Service or Quality of Experience issues. Trilithic offers a
new solution for compressed video testing on your IP Video Network that lets you monitor key IPTV (TR 101-290) QoE
and QoS metrics in real time, 24/7, right on your PC.

FaultLine features include Real-time QoE/QoS monitoring;

• IP video performance monitor with alarms and • Critical Error, Timing, & Packet Loss
email, text message or SNMP trap notifications measurements displayed and logged
• 24x7 monitoring of key IPTV (TR 101-290) QoE/QoS • Multiple video formats; MPEG-1, 2, and
metrics at any speed 4 part 2 and H.264
• Real-time monitoring for up to 1024 unique digital • Set Top Box emulation and analysis on
IPTV streams over 1 GigE connection more than 200 channels at a time

Contact your local rep for more information or visit www.trilithic.com/faultline

www.trilithic.com 800.344.2412
Marketplace
Comcast 1, FCC 0
Politicians and regulatory officials alike
are pondering how next to approach net-
work neutrality following the recent U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Co-
lumbia Circuit decision that ruled in favor
of Comcast by reversing a 2008 Federal
Communications Commission order that
barred the operator from interfering with
its customers’ use of peer-to-peer (P2P)
networking applications, including video
downloads. This order could have far-
reaching ramifications when it comes to
competition, not only for bandwidth but
for customers.
In a written statement attributed to
Sena Fitzmaurice, vice president /Gov-
ernment Communications, Comcast said,
“We are gratified by the Court’s decision
today to vacate the previous FCC’s order.
Our primary goal was always to clear our
There is some question
regarding the words “open”
and “vibrant” when it comes
to who really will prosper
from broadband services in
the long and short term.
name and reputation. We have always
been focused on serving our customers
and delivering the quality open-Internet
experience consumers want. Comcast
remains committed to the FCC’s existing
open Internet principles, and we will
continue to work constructively with this
FCC as it determines how best to in-
crease broadband adoption and preserve
an open and vibrant Internet.”
There is some question regarding the
words “open” and “vibrant” when it
comes to who really will prosper from
broadband services in the long and short
term.
In its original order, the FCC said
it was promoting video competition
by determining Comcast had violated
its Internet open-access principles by
24 may2010
blocking BitTorrent traffic as part of
network management, adding “video
distribution poses a particular competitive
threat to Comcast’s video-on-demand
(VOD) service.”In fact, the FCC included
this statement in its Comcast P2P order:
“…If cable companies such as Comcast
are barred from inhibiting consumer
access to high-definition on-line video
content, then…consumers with cable
modem service will have available a
source of video programming (much
of it free) that could rapidly become
an alternative to cable television. The
competition provided by this alternative
should result in downward pressure
on cable television prices, which have
increased rapidly in recent years.” The
three-judge panel disagreed.
Winners and losers
However, even with what looks like a
ruling that errs on the side of “let the
marketplace decide,” to some, the 36-
page opinion crafted by Circuit Judge
David S. Tatel bolsters the biggest
broadband players – i.e., Comcast, AT&T
and Verizon – perhaps at the expense
of smaller players or new entrants that
may be entering the field as a result of
broadband stimulus cash.
Katherine Waldron, CEO of Waldron
and Associates, an IT and telecom con-
sulting company focused on broadband
projects, said, "With the ability of the
major providers to freely discriminate,
now more than ever we need to ensure
that true competition exists and that
there are multiple viable multiple players
if we are to remain globally competitive
in our communications abilities.”
Waldron and her partner Christopher
Campbell directed the submission of a
second-round BTOP application for the
Florida community colleges, independent
colleges and universities, and Florida
Public Broadcasting stations. Their clients
requested $103 million to interconnect
these institutions onto a high-speed
backbone network to enhance education
statewide as well as to stimulate job
growth and economic development.
What to do?
According to Jeffrey S. Silva, senior
policy director/Telecommunications,
Media and Technology at Washington,
D.C.-based Medley Global Advisors LLC,
there are two options the FCC and “pro-
net neutrality Democratic lawmakers”
could entertain.
One involves the FCC reclassify-
ing broadband from a lightly regulated
information service to a regulation-heavy
common-carrier regime; this battle has
played out in the wireless and wireline
telecom industries. Such a prospect has
prompted Verizon and AT&T to counter
that Congress should step in to update
the 1996 Telecom Act, Silva said. Another
alternative is standalone net-neutrality
legislation, though the chances of mov-
ing a bill this year appear slim.
“While the Appeals Court decision is
a blow to the FCC, it should be noted
that neither legal clarity nor regulatory
uncertainty implicated by the Comcast
ruling are necessarily absolute,” Silva
said. “Legal decisions are based on fact-
specific issues presented to the court.
A different set of circumstances can
yield a different legal outcome. More-
over, laws can change and regulatory
formulations can be altered to achieve
a desired result if there is political will
for change. Few things are ever final in
official Washington.”
– Debra Baker
Optical Outlook
The ROADM to Bandwidth
As cable operators begin to offer more
services, they need to rethink their
strategy for connecting their regional
headends with each other and with the
Internet backbone. Many are turning to
Reconfigurable Add Drop Multiplexors
(ROADMs) as a key technology for add-
ing bandwidth while keeping total costs
lower by reducing the need for traditional
SONET networking gear.
Verizon undertook the largest ROADM
deployment to date when it launched its
FiOS network, said Andrew Schmitt, di-
recting analyst at Infonetics Research. As
Verizon began to plan the massive new
broadband network to the home, it real-
ized it needed to reassess its strategy for
wiring the central offices in order to feed
video and data to each neighborhood.
According to Glenn Wellbrock,
director of Optical Transport Network
Architecture and Design at Verizon, “We
had to rethink our strategy when we
realized how much it would cost to pro-
vide one or more 10 Gbps links to each
central office. The ROADM architecture
is more economical, which is what
drove us to deployment.”
ROADM Basics
The capacity of a ROADM is measured
in degrees and wavelengths (a wave-
length refers to a single color of light
used to carry data). A single wavelength
generally is used to carry between 10
and 100 Gbps of traffic. At the high
end, network equipment providers are
offering ROADMs capable of carrying 80
wavelengths, with a theoretical maxi-
mum capacity of 8 Tbps.
A degree is the number of separate
physical ports that exit and enter a single
device. Each degree can carry anywhere
between zero and 80 wavelengths. Each
degree generally is connected to fibers
running to different cities in a network
operator’s network. At the low end, a
ROADM might only have four degrees,
while at the high end, new ROADM
26 may2010
components from JDS Uniphase Corp.
(JDSU) are promising 23 degrees.
ROADM technology also allows
network operators to install a mesh
architecture that can provide the same
reliability as do traditional SONET rings,
using far less redundant cable. With
ROADMs, network operators can deploy
a mesh design with links between
many cities. This allows a single circuit
to provide a protection for two or more
routes, which can help reduce the
amount of fiber required to provide a
reliable network.
SONET Out
Verizon built its initial network of about
2,000 nodes using ROADMs that sup-
ported 4 degrees and 44 wavelengths.
In most cases, Verizon only is carrying
10 Gbps of traffic on each wavelength;
it recently decided to standardize on
ROADMs that support 8 degrees and
88 wavelengths. Both technologies are
fully compatible with each other, and
they can interoperate with the manage-
ment infrastructure Verizon is putting
into place.
Traditionally, Verizon has used SO-
NET rings between each central office
but, when it did the math, it realized a
ROADM-based architecture would save
between 50 percent and 60 percent of
the overall capital costs by eliminating
back-to-back network connections. With-
out ROADMs, Verizon would have had to
interconnect SONET rings that converted
optical signals into electrical ones, and
then back again, at each central office.
Verizon chose ROADM equipment
specifically from Tellabs and Fujitsu to in-
tegrate wavelength and SONET transport
and switching capabilities into a single
element. These hybrid devices bridge the
world of optical networks with electrical
switching using a common management
system. The devices are distinct from
routers that direct traffic at the level of
TCP/IP packets, as they aggregate the
traffic underneath the router so that
larger pipes can be directed to the TCP/
IP routers. Only 1 Gbps signals are used,
while lower bit-rate streams are ag-
gregated before they are fed into these
hybrid ROADMs.
The latest generation of ROADMs
uses wavelength selective switches
(WSS) from vendors like JDSU. These
raw optical components can be linked to-
gether to create colorless and direction-
less ROADMs that simplify the network-
ing architecture and configuration. These
devices then are integrated into network-
ing equipment from vendors like Tellabs,
Fujitsu, Ciena and ADVA Optical.
Using the right equipment, a network
manager can rearrange the network
backbone from a computer terminal with-
out the need for a technician to touch
any of the installed cable. However, this
management technology still is in its
infancy. One approach being cultivated
by the International Telecommunication
Union is the G.ASN set of protocols.
Another approach being developed by
the Internet Engineering Task Force is
GMPLS, which Verizon is using in its
deployment. Wellbrock said Verizon’s use
of GMPLS eventually will allow the car-
rier to add switching fabric that acts like
a cross connect for SONET or LAN traffic
at the optical layer.
ROADM technology would have made
sense, even if Verizon had not decided
to roll out FiOS, but it would have a
much more difficult to get management
buy-in. “It is always cheaper to add
one more SONET node than to install
a ROADM but, by the time you install
three more SONET nodes, a ROADM
would have been cheaper,” Wellbrock
said. “It has to be a dedicated effort
where you are determined to build them
out rather than just putting a few in. You
really have to build a network to get the
full benefit.”
–George Lawton
 FREE
WEBCAST!
Register
Today

Advanced Upstream Troubleshooting

A New Webcast from Communications Technology
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010
As the HFC return path evolves to accommodate the increased bandwidth and quality
requirements driven by DOCSIS 3.0 deployments and advanced interactive video, data, Sponsored by
and voice applications, troubleshooting methods must evolve as well.

This important Webcast will provide insight into how to troubleshoot impairments in
upstreams increasingly crowded with higher-order modulation carriers.

Join Cisco Technical Leader and CT Senior Technology Editor Ron Hranac and Mid-
Continent’s David Haigh as they share best practices for troubleshooting impairments
in a fully loaded upstream. This Webcast will be moderated by Communications
Technology’s Editor Debra Baker.

Questions to be addressed include:

Ron Hranac, Technical
● What types of HFC problems are most likely to cause common upstream Leader, CMTS Business
Unit, Cisco Systems, Inc.
impairments including code word errors?

● What is the difference between linear and non-linear distortions and how do
troubleshooting techniques differ?

● What are the differences between CNR, SNR, equalized MER and un-equalized MER?
● What are the different types of tools available for advanced upstream
troubleshooting and when is it appropriate to use each?
David Haigh, Lead
Engineer, Midcontinent
For more information and to register, go to Communications
Cable360.net/ct/webcasts/Advupstream 17483
smart home
Client/Server Comes Home
A variety of consumer electronics (CE)
vendors, chip manufacturers and video
service providers is bringing client/server
architectures to the home, using such
emerging remote user interface (RUI)
technologies as RVU and CEA-2014.
“This new approach promises to
dramatically lower the cost of offering
advanced services to every TV in the
home,” said John Gleiter, senior director
of marketing at Broadcom.
In the traditional model for delivering
interactive services for tru2way, EBIF
and other proprietary technologies,
services are delivered directly from a
server in the headend to each and every
set-top-box client. In the RUI approach,
Cablecos and other video
providers have considered
RVU, Flash, HTML and
Java to replace the
proprietary interface.
video and other data services would
be delivered to a single media gateway
server in each home, which would com-
municate with less-sophisticated set-
tops. The most expensive components
for delivering such services as multiple
tuners, a DVR, a hard drive, and Cable-
CARD security could be consolidated
into one location. The clients can be
integrated into a digital TV, a stereo or
other CE devices, thus eliminating the
need for a set-top.
To take advantage of this architecture,
cable operators will have to rethink the
ways in which services are delivered.
Today, video service providers like
Verizon and DirecTV are driving RVU,
while consumer electronics vendors like
Samsung and Philips are the impetus
behind CEA-2014. Broadcom is provid-
ing the underlying chips to enable this
transition, with two new families of chips
28 may2010
for delivering RVU and CEA-2014 to IPTV
and MoCA set-top boxes.
(Editor’s note: In January, Broadcom
decided to support the RVU Alliance's RUI
technology on its latest set-top box and
digital-TV system-on-a-chip [SoC] solutions.)
“RVU and CEA-2014 complement
rather than replace tru2way by allowing
the gateway server to manage tru2way
interactions on behalf of all the devices
in the home,” said Adam Powers, director
of standards and emerging technology
at Rovi and chairman of the Ecosystem
Committee for the Digital Living Network
Alliance. In theory, a cable system could
use the tru2way interface for sharing the
display with other devices. “RVU adds
the ability to share your screen over the
network using proprietary technology,
much like WebEx or Live Meeting do for
sharing a PC desktop over the Internet,”
Powers explained.
Cable operators and other video
providers have been looking at several
different presentation protocols, includ-
ing RVU, Flash, HTML and Java, to
replace the proprietary interface. One of
the main draws of RVU is that it allows
complete control over the user interface,
down to a single pixel. This contrasts
with the work being done with HTML, in
which the menu can change depending
on the TV and the browser.
The first application of RVU is for multi-
room DVR but, Gleiter said, once you
have the network in place, you can stream
video to any kind of IP device. Eventu-
ally, RVU could run on PCs, other video
devices, iPhones and laptop computers.
What Are The P erks?
The RUI can operate over virtually any
type of network in the home, including
MoCA, HomePNA or Wi-Fi. Accord-
ing to Gleiter, MoCA has become the
lowest-cost solution because it has
been integrated into multi-purpose, SoC
designs. MoCA has been adopted by
Verizon, which uses it on both the WAN
and the LAN.
In the RUI architecture, the tuners,
storage and decryption are centralized
on the server, which is connected to
the service provider. This helps reduce
the cost of the other equipment in the
home while still providing advanced
functionality.
The new crop of RUI-enabled SoCs
allows a media gateway to support as
many as six tuners, letting the entire
household to watch and/or record six
channels at once and more, if some of
the channels are in the same transpon-
der band.
There also is security across the
LAN: Video is decrypted and displayed
on the gateway server, re-encrypted
and stored or sent to any client across
the network. In this new framework,
Digital Transport Content Protection
(DTCP) provides the security, DLNA is
the underlying communications proto-
col, and MoCA provides the physical
network protocol. The RVU RUI protocol
provides the user interface.
“Ultimately, this architecture prom-
ises to be less expensive, especially
when putting in two or three set-tops
or more,” Gleiter explained. “The server
will be slightly more expensive, but the
other high-definition client devices will
be less expensive because they don’t
need a hard drive, tuners or network
security. They will be smaller in physi-
cal size, as small as four inches by five
inches, which is smaller than current
standard-definition platforms.”
–George Lawton
 business directory
advertiser access
ARRIS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 PTL TesT equiPmenT, inc.
ATX Networks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4a-4b Buy • Sell • leaSe • Trade
New & RecoNditioNed test equipmeNt
Aurora Networks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ C4
Factory PtL
Cisco Systems _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 19
List Price Price
$7,050.00 $3,950.00
EchoStar Technologies _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 25 WaVeTeK/JdSu Sda 5000-01
Ph: 561.747.3647 www.PTLTesT.com
JDSU _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9 Fax: 561.575.4635 email: PTLTe@bellsouth.net

to advertise call Tish Drake 800.325.0156 tdrake@accessintel.com

Jones/ NCTI _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11
We’ve just made it easier for you to get the latest broadband
PTL Class Ad 050110.indd 1 4/19/10 3:23:28 PM
communications news and market intelligence…
Mega Hertz _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4, 10, 15
Introducing
Motorola _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7
Twitter.com/CTChatter

RGB Networks_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 17
Follow us on
Trilithic _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2, 23
Today!
TVC _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 12-13 16772

16772 CT Twitter ad_BC.indd 1 11/12/2009 3:54:54 PM

Free Market
Intelligence!
How do you top that?
CTRepoRTs
Timely, Relevant News on Voice, Video and Data
CTRepoRTs is a FREE e-newsletter brought to you four
times each week by the editors of Communications Technology.
Subscribers can count on timely and reliable news on the global
communications industry.

CTRepoRTs keeps a pulse on the industry and sorts through

the news and key developments keeping readers on top of all the
market intelligence, regulatory changes and competition impacting
their business.

subscribe Now!
Go to www.cable360.net/ct/subscribe
16630

may2010 29
16630 CT Reports ad_half.indd 1 10/26/09 4:59:41 PM
Reality Check By Jim Farmer
Does 1 Gbps
Make Sense?
So Shaw has announced a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
network and is preparing to test 1 Gbps service.
That’s a hundred times what most cable subscribers
have now, and 10 times what anyone else has pub-
licly announced so far as we know. (Let’s leave aside
Google’s plan to announce by year’s end a community
in which to test 1 Gbps service.)
Does this kind of speed make sense?
Absolutely, it makes sense. With FTTH—both
EPON and GPON—you can do it easily.
Or maybe not
It makes no sense at all. You cannot download that
fast to a computer.
Several years ago, we were developing a demo for
a customer’s board of directors to show them the
beauty of FTTH data speeds. A big frustration was
trying to move data
into and out of a com-
puter consistently at
No matter how much
more than a few tens bandwidth you pro-
of Mbps.
Absolutely, it makes
vide, some clown is
sense. Homes have going to come along
networks with many with an application
computers and other
data appliances. that demands more.
It makes no sense
at all. It does you no good to deliver that kind of
speed in the last mile if you have slower connec-
tions to the Internet backbone, and we understand
that gigabit connections are still pretty expensive,
though coming down.
Absolutely, it makes sense. If you have several busi-
nesses with multiple locations on your network, you
can accommodate them—for a slight additional fee,
of course. And if you cache data or video on your
network, you can download it without burning your
Internet connection cost.
It makes no sense at all. There are few businesses
with that kind of continuous data need that will be
willing to pay said “slight additional fee.” And even
streaming HDTV, the highest bandwidth hog of them
all, only burns about 8 Mbps in MPEG-4.
Absolutely, it makes sense. It gives Shaw bragging
30 may2010
rights to really fast connectivity. We just got back
from a meeting with an overseas telco who is also
a big cable operator. He is offering gigabit service
via FTTH for the advertising value. And let’s face it:
There is a speed race going on—DOCSIS 3.0 is in the
middle of it, despite the fact that it is still an order of
magnitude slower than FTTH.
Farmer’s Law
Absolutely, it makes sense. It supports Farmer’s law.
For years, I have been trying, without the first shred
of success, to establish my place in history and to gain
fame and fortune with Farmer’s Law: “No matter how
much bandwidth you provide, some clown is going to
come along with an application that demands more.”
Gigabit connectivity gets you way, way out in front of
this important law. (Now, if I could just get anyone else
to see its importance!)
Bottom line
So what is the bottom line
to this two-headed analy-
sis? A gigabit per second
is probably is more than
any one subscriber can
use today.
Think back to the wan-
ing years of the last cen-
tury—scarcely more than a decade ago—when we
were using dial-up Internet at around 50 kbps. Then
they came out with first-generation cable modem
service at 1.5 Mbps. That was a 30-fold increase in
speed, and today we regard that as slow.
Compare 1,000 Mbps FTTH to today’s 10 Mbps
(YMMV*) DOCSIS, a 100-times increase. It should
give you many years respite from needing to increase
speed again. And the fiber is using an infinitesimal
portion of its capacity.
Already, the IEEE has amended its standard to incor-
porate 10 Gbps, and the ITU is well-into the process,
both using the same network you would build today.
*Your mileage may vary
Jim Farmer was co-founder and CTO of Wave7 Optics, which
Enablence Networks acquired in 2008.
 LIMITED SPACE
RESERVE YOUR–
SPOT TODAY!

Presents

A FREE Technical Breakfast at

Cable Connection–Spring 2010
TV UNPLUGGED
Content Delivery, Multi-Platforms and DOCSIS 3.0
A Technical Breakfast Moderated by Jonathan Tombes
Thurs., May 13, 2010
Doors open 7:00 am/Panel Begins 7:30 am
Los Angeles Convention Center

In light of growing consumer preference for multi-screen content, a blue-ribbon panel of technology executives will discuss
premium content provider strategies, successful IP video services, optimization of content across multiple devices, the role of
DOCSIS in IP services convergence and more!
Sponsored by
Secure your spot for what promises to be a lively
exchange on multi-platform content delivery!

Dallas Clement, EVP Mark Hess, SVP, Mike LaJoie, Ran Oz, CTO, EVP and Bob Zitter, Jonathan Tombes,
and Product Officer, Product Development, EVP and CTO, Time Co-Founder, EVP and CTO, HBO Moderator
Cox Communications Video, Comcast Cable Warner Cable BigBand Networks
17481

For more information and to register go to cable360.net/ct/techbreakfast10

Evolution not Revolution
Reach new customers with RFoG

Generate new revenues

FTTP architecture for:

Rural and low-density network extensions
New high-end housing developments
MDUs

Seamless operation with installed systems:

Delivers the same video, voice and data services as HFC
Leverages the installed base of set-tops, cable modems, and eMTAs
Uses the same back office and provisioning systems as HFC

Aurora’s VHub™ innovations overcome limitations:

EDFAs boost downstream reach
Digital return extends upstream reach
Optical switching provides redundancy option
Fiber management is simplified
Node PON™ module enables transition to RFPON

A whole new light, growing brighter!

www.aurora.com | 408.235.7000