CableLabs & Cisco Open First-of-its-Kind IPTV Innovations Lab

State-of-the-Art Facility Designed to Speed Transition to All-IP Video for Service Providers

ATLANTA(04 Mar 2014)

Cisco announced today it is providing CableLabs with core infrastructure and Videoscape components for a new IPTV Innovations Lab in Louisville, Colorado designed to provide cable system operator members with a state-of-the-art location for Internet Protocol (IP) video testing.

IP video is one of several initiatives being driven by multiple system operators (MSOs) to develop and advance new standards for the cable industry. Global IP traffic (fixed and mobile) is predicted to grow three-fold from 2012 to 2017. Consumer mobile connected devices will grow to 7.7 billion in 2017 (up from 5.8 billion in 2012.) The new IPTV Innovations Lab will help service providers further develop and explore the business advantages for IP video, and experiment with the innovative technologies that are advancing multiscreen and cloud-enabled user experiences.

Highlights

• Cisco will provide CableLabs with the core IP infrastructure for the all-IP solutions testing at the facility, including routing equipment, switching, cable modem termination systems (CMTS), RF Gateway-10 (RFGW-10) universal edge quadrature amplitude modulator (U-EQAM), Unified Computing Systems (UCS), storage networks, and a variety of Videoscape components.
• CableLabs operates a high-capacity multi-gigabyte pipe between Louisville, Colorado and its Sunnyvale, California location to extend the capabilities of the IPTV Innovations Lab and share VPN capabilities. CableLabs will establish a proof of concept (PoC) to support this and other research and development (R&D) projects at both CableLabs’ locations extending Cisco's CMTS technologies with Cisco's latest Remote Physical Interface (PHY) innovations.
• CableLabs plans to use these capabilities to test multi-vendor integration between components of an all-IP infrastructure, test CableLabs specifications in a controlled multi-vendor environment, and test the reliability and efficiency of all-IP video delivery under varying impairments.
• Additional CableLabs initiatives include the support of client-side application development on an all-IP platform, and the creation of specifications to facilitate the migration of MSOs to all-IP.

Supporting Quotes

• Tom Lookabough, chief R&D officer, CableLabs

“CableLabs has committed to cultivate an innovation pipeline with a three year planning horizon. This new IPTV Innovations Lab delivers on that commitment while helping our service provider members and technology suppliers refine their focus, improve overall time to market of new products and services, and share best practices.”

• Joe Cozzolino, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Video Infrastructure, Cisco

“IP is fast extending to all services, all devices. Convergence onto a common IP platform for all services drives operational savings, flexibility, and improves service velocity. Our collaboration with CableLabs on the new IPTV Innovations Lab is a significant milestone, unveiling a one-of-a-kind facility with all the latest technology in one place for cable operators to explore new opportunities for IP video and cloud-enabled experiences.”

 

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